"Stale @ $40, calling once... twice... three times... ....four"

Resident Evil, the name itself is attached to that of a million words and about a dozen games. Back in the year 2000, there was a brand new SUPER system creating havoc in the market. The infamous 9.9.99 project… Dreamcast. It was a system so superb and great when compared to that current generation of gaming that, it made one's eyes fall out of their sockets. This was much like what Sega Saturn did during its time of first exposure. News was coming to light that a new Resident Evil was in the makes. It would be forever known as Resident Evil Code: Veronica! It was a glorious game for its time and much like what the original Resident Evil was for the Sega Saturn… This was to be the new breathe of air for the series and games in general. The truth was that the formula worked out well. It wasn't a perfect formula, but it worked well enough to garner it great appraisal.

Like the Saturn, the Dreamcast died as that next generation began to roll. Playstation 2 was in the market and so were the threats of Nintendo's Gamecube and Microsoft's Xbox. Capcom decided to do what the company does best… Port over Resident Evil Code: Veronica for a new generation to play! The PS2 version contained slightly improved character models and even new story improvements! As an extra incentive, the title came packaged with a special bonus DVD that would give an informative run-through on super-villain, Wesker. It was an excellent package and for the year 2001, we loved it with open arms!

After the announcement of the Resident Evil REmake and 0, more tidbits came in the form of porting. Capcom would port the previous entries of the RE series onto the cube, leading up to the grand finale, Resident Evil 4!

So how does the port of REC:V actually stack up?

STORY: 8 “Glamorous and winding!”
The story of the game is very much like a proper Resident Evil 3 story should entail. The original RE3 was more of a side story to RE2 and because of that, there wasn't much progression. REC:V has more substance and really tries to show you what happens behind the scenes of the world's most influential pharmaceutical/BOW corporation. It follows up on Claire Redfield (survivor of RE2) who is searching for her brother, Chris Redfield (survivor of RE1). She gets caught penetrating one of the Umbrella labs and is transferred to an island out in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, in the midst of her unconscious state, she awakens with a big surprise (not to us, though)… The entire island has been attacked by some sort of air-attack and now the virus that mutated the town of Raccoon City is loose yet again. Along the way of trying to escape, she meets up with a guy named Steve who reminds us of a very young adolescent boy who finds courage in angst. The story has a lot of drama and interesting characters that will keep you fighting through the game. The only thing that the game's story lacks is the actual use of scares. It's pumped with action but really nothing that one would consider “horrific”. It is balanced though and has some interesting-close moments, so it's worth the effort. The added story bits give those who've only played the Dreamcast version, a taste of what they missed in the PS2 version.

VISUALS: 7 “Odd..”
Back in the game's prime of release, it was a brilliant technological looking monster that tried its hardest to capture the realism and spectacle in true life fashion. The entire game is executed in 3-D real-time which is a big step for Capcom as they had commonly used background plates for environments. The detail was plenty and with so much to see, you couldn't help but continue to be amazed by such tweaks. Fast forward to today and you have an average looking game. It doesn't hold itself well in the standards of today and with blurry textures (due to Dreamcast origins) and robotic moving models, you can find yourself looking at the game awkwardly because of the character's odd motions and gestures. Another thing to note is the use of such a bright color palette in some portions that it loses a ton of its realistic appeal. Since when did zombies/creatures ooze cool-aid? Sometimes even the once eye-popping FMV's look rather bland and unimpressive just because of the aging of the cheese. Overall, the game isn't horribly ugly but it's not the most beautiful creation either.

AUDIO: 7 “Look ma! My gun sounds like popcorn!”
The audio is an aged bunch of wood as well. It serves its purpose but doesn't give you the “wow” of yesteryear. The musical score is its best face. It's cinematic and heightens the mood in eeriness and can help raise your tension level into overdrive. It's a really beautiful soundtrack and should be heard by all! The voice-acting drops some points because it's too forced and not as smooth as RE2 and RE3 had made it. Granted, that isn't saying a whole lot really, but it could have been slightly improved. The sound effect design is truly where the game completely lets go! The guns sound so weak and trivial… it's hard to even feel like you're going around with much more power than a water gun. The shotgun is the biggest downfall, as it sounds like an air-cannon. Poof! The doors sound fine opening and closing but other than that, everything else is muffled and too subdued for its own good. We love that music score though!

GAMEPLAY: 6 “You've played one, you've played them all”
The series has really gone stagnant over the years with its old control scheme and overly-tried puzzles. Granted, this was more than acceptable back in 2000, but six years later… and this game loses all its marbles! So for those of you who have been following in the footsteps of my reviews for REmake, RE0, and RE:DS… This one uses the same exact formula but with a lot less emphasis on puzzle difficulty or regards to being rational! One can say, if you've played one RE, you've played them all (except for RE4). So the basic breakdown is like this. You run around killing zombies and monsters. You solve tons of puzzles, backtrack to finish off grabbing collectibles, and fight challenging bosses every once in awhile. The game is rather easy when compared to the other games in the chain, but this one has the boss battles that really pull the envelope. In some fights, you'll find yourself sniping as you avoid putrid poison body odor (disturbing… yes). You'll have to avoid being hit with a 10 foot axe wielding- monster at the same time as you try to dive for safety. You'll be testing your trigger finger's speed and even have to play a sort of targeting game to nail a pesky fly. Heck, you may even have to catch up on a past enemy of the series that really tests your skills of avoidance. In general, it's a mixed package, but the final result is a rather stale formula that we can enjoy only for nostalgic reasons.

REPLAYABILITY: 6 “Not much to this package, that's for sure”
Outside of the main game which will hold out for about 4-7 hours, there isn't much of anything to keep you coming back. There is a first-person bonus game which takes credit from the trashy Resident Evil: Survivor, but just like its origins… it's undeveloped and creates more frustration than what is needed. There is an extra bonus for beating the game in less than 4 hours, but I never found it to be that exciting or cool.

OVERALL: 6 “Stale”
There is one word that comes to mind in describing the adventure. It's stale. The outdated portions leave the game in a half-hearted limbo of accomplishment and in the end… is no more worth the $40 than any of the other out priced ports. If it were maybe $10-20, Id feel more encouraged to give it the extra half point and jump the overall rating to a 7… but with the cost of $40… This is absolute lunacy. Go out and buy RE4 for the cube at $20! That's good money well spent!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/06