A good few years back Sony Corps. PlayStation console saw the birth of the Resident Evil series. But now Capcom has promised us that Resident Evil will be exclusive to the Nintendo Gamecube. With this they will bring all previous RE games and of course brand new games to the series to our beloved console. And they started by totally remaking the first game of the series.

The game has been rebuilt from the ground up and is a showcase for the Gamecubes graphical abilities and is what I can say is the most realistic game ever made so far. This is not the exact same game as the PlayStation original with just beefed up looks mind you but it's very close to it. More furniture has been added to the mansion to give it a more eerily believable feel that this is real. New rooms and outdoor locations have been added, puzzles have been changed or moved within the game structure and items have been moved or taken out.

That said those of you that are familiar with the original may know this game fairly well but it is likely you will still become surprised, shocked or stumped with a puzzle you don't recognize.

Graphics:

When I look at the graphics in this game and the word amazing comes to mind it still seems like an understatement. This is by far the best looking game currently available on any of the three consoles (at the time of writing). The backgrounds are done with pre-rendered graphics and are just astonishing. Everything inside the mansion from the carpets to the furniture to the just everything you can see looks so real and good enough to touch. The outdoor locations are a sight to behold; watch the grass and leaves on tress as they gently sway back and forth in the calm wind and a misty fog slowly creeps across the ground. The lighting effects are done with real time graphics and add even more to the realism of the looks. Lightning flashes come through windows and create eerie shadows on the floor and walls. Every source of light in the game will create a shadow perfectly and shadows are not the old black blobs anymore. All shadows are totally lifelike and move as you move perfectly in sync with your character or a hanging lamp that's swaying slightly on ceiling. And best of all everything that can create shadow does so, not just your character but your enemies and objects in the rooms too. Also there are some great mirror effects, all mirrors, puddles of water and even windows produce perfect reflections.

And that brings us to the characters themselves, which look almost so lifelike it's uncanny. And that is no longer just in the FMV scenes as it was before. Now at last the characters and graphics are the same both in cut scenes and during gameplay. This further adds to the game and especially the scariness of the game. How you ask? Well if you played any previous RE games you'll know that they weren't that scary, they probably made you jump from time to time but as you walked around the mansion, police stations or labs but you weren't really that scared…were you? I would put that partly to the difference in graphics between gameplay and FMV, it didn't make you think that it was real so you didn't get scared. But now that's all changed the game looks the same all the time and the amazing realism makes you feel like your not only watching a horror movie but your drawn into the game so much that you can almost feel like your in that mansion and that's how the graphics play such a big part in scaring you out of your pants.

And of course the zombies look great, with dead grey eyes, rotting flesh and blood soaked clothes, they are truly a gruesome sight to behold. And then there are the little touches like moths fluttering around lamps outside, flies buzzing around the table in the kitchen and insects crawling on ground in some dirty rooms and dripping water from wet ceilings. It seems like no detail too small has been overlooked in a successful attempt for outstanding realistic visuals. But remember great graphics don't make a great game, so lets see what else this game has to offer.

Sound:

If you are one of those games players that likes to play your cd player while playing games then your gonna have to change your habits if you play this game. Your ears will be a very useful tool both in helping keep you alive and giving you a good scare. Like the graphics the sounds are all so real, from the ticking clock in the dining room to creaking floorboards, footsteps both yours and undead to the fluttering of the moths that gather around outside lamps. Moody music plays as you explore the mansion which helps keep the scary feeling going when your doing nothing, the music will then jumps up a notch when you get attacked or a zombie remembers how to open a door.

As you walk over different materials (carpets, marble/wooden floors, mud, puddles of water) the sounds are all captured perfectly, once again providing that eerie sense realism. Couple the sounds with the graphics and all you need then is to really get into the game and you will be scared as you slowly walk down a hallway for the first time trying to hear for signs that you might not be alone. The voice acting is good, not great, but not bad either. The voices all fit each character perfectly and give a sense of what that character is like.

Gameplay:

There's only one playing mode and that's all it needs. The game intro starts off in the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) Alpha team helicopter as it flies over a forest in search of the members of the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team that has gone missing while investing the mountain and forest areas near Racoon City where a number of people have recently gone missing. You get to play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, each is accompanied by slightly different storyline and each will meet his or her own unique characters during the game. And not only does this provide you with two different endings but there are multiple endings to view depending on what you do and whom you save. Most these however aren't too different from each other but there are a few that are a decent bit different but they are all roughly the same length and only real fans will make a good effort to want to see them all.

By completing the game in certain times and difficulty settings you can unlock hidden modes of play (which can make the harder not easier), new costumes for each character and of course new weapons. In the beginning of the game you have only two choices for difficulty "normal" and "easy", but it's not as simple as that, when time comes to select difficulty you are given a question. Not to spoil anything I won't give anything away and let you figure that out yourself but don't worry it's not that hard. After you've completed the game for the first time no matter what difficulty it was you will then have the choice to play the game in "hard" mode, this is not for the faint heart when it says hard in means near impossible.

Also choosing your character can make the game slightly harder or bit easier. Jill can carry more items than Chris and she gets a lock-pick while Chris has to find small keys to get open certain doors. The addition of defence items is very welcome and could be what keeps you alive. Both characters find small daggers, Chris can also find Flash Grenades, which will blow up a zombie's head, and Jill has a Stun Gun and has to find batteries for it, it doesn't inflict as much damage as Chris' grenades but does temporarily immobilize your foes.

The basic of this game is simple "Survive" you do this by taking down Zombies and other undead victims of the T-Virus (but sometimes trying to run past them can be better as ammo can become very scarce as the game goes on), solving puzzles and out information on what exactly happened in the strange mansion.

The fixed camera angles work well and make it so you can't see around corners so any zombies smart enough to not moan and groan will give one hell of a surprise. You will either love or hate the camera there is no middle ground. Obviously RE veterans will be right at home where as new comers may take some time to get used to it.

Oh and one more thing if you play as Chris you'll get what feels like a small teaser of RE: Zero when you get to take control of Rebecca Cambers for a very short period of time.

Playability:

RE regulars will be well familiar with the default controls. Push forward and you move forward and when the camera angle changes you don't have to change the direction you push the stick/D-pad, simple. Turning left/right might take some getting used to as when you try to turn right the character turns to his/her right not yours. I just had one problem with them. Capcom didn't make full use of the analogue control stick like they did with RE2 on the N64 where the further you pushed the stick forward the faster you moved. Here you will have to hold the B button while moving in order to run.

I didn't like this and so I tried the two other control types on offer and found that Type C is just perfect and that's the system that you see to the left of this.

The control stick/D-pad this time is only used for turning or moving backwards. To move forward press the R button, just pressing it softly and you will walk but press harder (taking advantage of the digital sync) and you will run. This system is a lot more comfortable and I recommend this type to everyone. One welcome innovation with controls is by giving the C-stick a flick you will turn around 180 degrees, so if you go through a door and hear something you don't like give the C-stick a quick flick and go back through door, very nice.

Lifespan:

The first time you play the game and providing you never played the original it'll probably take up ten hours give or take a few hours depending on how well you play the game in terms of saving at the right times, conserving ammo and solving puzzles. The second time you play the game that time should at least be half as long as you remember where everything is. But with two characters and a slightly different story for each not to mention multiple endings depending on certain things you do or don't do during the game, if you're an avid RE fan and/or anything like me you won't be able to put this down until you see the game and story in everyway possible.

There are also secret modes/weapons/costumes to unlock, which can be found by completing the game in certain times. Most people will most likely be happy to just complete the game once with each character, those of you who crave for more while we wait for RE: Zero will likely go over it at least twice with each character for the different endings. And the die-hard RE fan base will likely not stop until there's nothing left to unlock. And even after that whichever one you are you will most likely come back to this time and again when you want a good scare. So sooner or later you'll probably end up unlocking everything anyway.

Final Say:

I'll try and put this simply, if you're a fan of Resident Evil then playing this game will be like a dream for you. This is how Capcom must have wanted to do it the first time but couldn't due to limiting technology of the time they got the idea. I guess you could say RE came before it's time…kind of like Leonardo de Vinci making plans for a helicopter. But now with the cube they have the means to make RE the way it was meant to be. No self-respecting fan of the series should be without this game. For those of you that never liked Resident Evil in the past then it is highly likely you won't like it this time round either, but I suggest that you do at least rent it, you never know you could change your mind.

And those of you that never played an RE game before it would be a good idea to rent first. If you like your games filled with non-stop action then this might not be the game for you. If you like a good creepy story, tension and puzzles then you should give this game a look.

All in all I think this games deserves to be at least rented by every Gamecube owner, you'll never know what you're missing unless you give it a try. Go on and "Enter the Survival Horror"

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