Resident Evil became one of the best Playstation games in 1996 and in an example of how video games and horror could be melted almost perfectly. Six years later,
Capcom designed exclusively for Gamecube an exemplary remake in which the renewed graphic aspect and the playable novelties made our visit to the Spencer mansion one of the great experiences of the new century. Now, twelve years later, the Japanese company launches for the second revision of its classic Survival Horror.
A remaster HD of the remake that we saw in 2002. The best excuse of all to revive a game for which the years do not pass and that is also capable of offering the consoles of past and present generation a demanding, complex game formula and every time less frequent in the current industry. It reaches € 19.99.
To speak of Resident Evil is to do it from the live history of videogames. From a genre that had its peak among the generations dominated by Playstation and Playstation 2 and that little by little, from Xbox 360 to the new platforms, has been lost in pursuit of a more and more pronounced presence of the action in each game that pretends to be a Survival Horror.
But Resident Evil is the title that serves as a perfect example of what users are missing in the current titles, ammunition surplus and guides and less demanding with the user who is on the other side. Resident Evil means terror, means shortage of ammunition,
management of objects, constant puzzles, labyrinth level design. It means exploration, suffering by going to save the game before dying and losing our advances. It means getting lost, not knowing what to do. And for all this, the years do not pass.
The story, for those who do not know it, puts us in the role of several members of the STARS team , who are looking for some fallen comrades in the middle of a forest, the Bravo team. The presence of strange dogs, aggressive and half dead, ends with
the characters running and entering a Mansion. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are the protagonists of this adventure, participating from their point of view -and different nuances- in a macabre plot with few explanations. One shot, the presence of a monster. The disappearance of our colleagues. Here begins Resident Evil.
We are facing a tremendously intelligent title that will force us – if we do not know how to advance or do not remember it – to explore, try, go back and look for new clues.
An adventure of exploration and puzzles rather than action. In fact, it is advisable to dodge as much as possible certain enemies rather than waste ammunition on them. The system is as follows:
we explore the open areas of the mansion looking for details and elements that can help us discover new rooms and corridors of the mansion … which in turn allow us to access new objects. Both for the adventure and to get extra weapons or supplies of all kinds.
Examine the objects that we collect -they are not always what they seem- fit pieces in places where, a priori, they do not seem to be related and stop for a moment before that painting,
Resident Evil is always talked about as an example of Survival Classic horror, of puzzlesbrainy, but only when you play it and finish it again do you understand what everyone praises. The exploration system is so free that maybe we will find objects in our first two hours of play and we will not use it until five have passed.
This also brings confusion to the user, who is obliged not to pass by or leave anything unexplored. For what it may be. The system of exploration and constant backtracking is added elements that complicate the thing: the characters have a limited inventory (six objects Chris, eight Jill)
and therefore have to leave objects in the trunks, which are all linked together . The other factor to keep in mind is the way to save the game: it only saves writing on
typewriters and ink is needed to do it. If we waste the ink, we will not be able to save. This relationship between the need to ensure our advances or “throw a little ahead” to avoid wasting plays tricks. And, if not, at the time.
The puzzles are the key to the game. Use chemical elements to kill a plant that does not let us pass, explore an arrow that becomes a piece that opens a grave, move some statues in a specific order or change the color of some paintings to get some masks that in turn they open up
new paths, order books to find a secret passageway, decipher codes and passwords to unlock doors from a computer … there are so many and so successful the puzzles (combining objects that separately do not help at all) that the feeling of satisfaction once we overcome them is enormous.
