Back in 1996 Capcom released a game that had the gaming community buzzing. It not only became one of the most influential games of the decade but also propelled the already well-known Capcom to god-like status. If you haven't already guessed what I'm talking about, the game was Resident Evil.

Fast forward to September 13th 2001. Capcom have called a press conference, nobody was expecting anything big with Nintendo with the launch looming so near, but all of a sudden Shigeru Miyamoto and Mr. Mikami (the man behind Resident Evil) appeared on stage. Then came the handshake that lived in infamy and changed the direction of the upcoming console war world over. The future Resident Evil games were now exclusive to Gamecube and 1-3 and Code Veronica are being remade for the so-called "kiddy" console. Resident Evil 2, 3 and CV are just being graphically done up but the original? Well, that's a entirely different matter...

For those of you who have been living in a hole for the last few years here's the deal. Resident Evil sees you take the role as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine who are part of the STARS team sent to the games mansion to investigate the suspicion that mega-corporation Umbrella are doing strange experiments. Seems like the start of a typical horror movie, eh? As you can guess, things go a bit pear-shaped once Chris and Jill reach the mansion. The mysterious T-virus that Umbrella has being experimenting with infects the residents of the mansion, turning everyone there into zombies and other assorted nasties. But that's where I'll stop because the plot plays an important part in Resident Evil and I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you. Lets just say it'll have you at the end of your seat from beginning to end.

Lets get something straight right now; RE isn't for the faint-hearted. Now the series has had the scare factor declining with each sequel but make no mistake, thanks to GameCube's powerful hardware RE is as scarier as ever, even more so. You'll be walking past a door with very calm and quiet music when all of a sudden a zombie will bust out and grab you while the music switches to a panicky fast-paced tempo. Or you'll walk into a room covered in shadows when a bolt of lighting lights the place up revealing a zombie hiding in shadows right behind you. I remember in the 2nd Resident Evil watching my friend play through the police station when from nowhere a Licker flew through the window at him. I swear, I near "soiled my underwear" to put it in a nice way. But it isn't just quick scares that'll get you, oh no. A lot of it is psychological, though not as much as say, Silent Hill. Like when you're creeping along and a long groan echoes through the hall, or when you find a corpse on the ground missing a head. What happened to its head? You don't want to know. Resident Evil will slowly draw you in to its sick, twisted and downright scary world.

And another thing, it looks the absolute business. Now the backgrounds are still pre-rendered but they have been done-up quite a bit to be worthy of such a fine-looking game. Pre-rendered backgrounds do have a advantages though, it means that all of GameCube's polygon-pushing power can be concentrated on making the real-part part of the engine (i.e. the characters) look fantastic. But being the nice folks that they are, Capcom have made sure the pre-rendered backgrounds are much more eye-catching the Playstation version. Blank walls now have added touches like fans spinning, a fire flickering in a fireplace or a candle casting small shadows. The characters' detail is jaw dropping too. You can literally see the flesh hanging off the zombie dogs and the actual zombies really look as if they rose from 6 feet under, not to mention the lavish-looking STARS members. But the most exciting graphical improvement has got to be the lighting. The original Resident Evil had a colour palette of relatively bright colours, detracting somewhat from the whole horror experience, but this one has much darker textures and backdrops, giving the game the look it deserves. Because of this darker look, the lighting has been necessarily upped. Lightning flashes outside send shadows dancing over the walls, illuminating the darkness and revealing god-knows-what lurking in the corner. Each source of light has its own casts its own light too. It has got to be the most impressive lighting ever seen in a game.

But the breathtaking lighting isn't the only addition. With every stream of new shots you can see new rooms, corridors and even whole new sections of the mansion. Capcom estimates they're adding around an extra 50% of the game, meaning this is more than a done-up rehash. One example of this is at the beginning of the game; in the PS version you just started at the beginning of the mansion However in the GameCube one you have to travel through the outside forest, fighting off zombies in the trees (and having the ability to impale them of broken tree spikes, yeah!). The existing parts have been redesigned too, a previously blank edge of a corridor now has a table, lamp, fireplace and a window complete with eerie moonlight. With all these great additions lets not forget the original gameplay of big guns, puzzle-solving and tension-building camera angles. Granted, it may not be perfect but I have a feeling Capcom will improve on it a bit. Not like you'll be noticing it with your face hidden behind a pillow anyway.

For those of you not happy with GameCube's "kiddy" games, Resident Evil will be a godsend. This is true next-generation survival horror… Believe me. Back in 1996 Resident Evil stunned gamers and had them trembling with fear, not daring to turn off the light. Five years later, it's set to do the same thing all over again. Only better. Be afraid… Be very afraid.