Resident Evil: Dead Aim

"Brilliant! But wait.. where's the rest of it?"

It's impossible to deny that the Resident Evil saga is quite an extensive one. Sure, as with many other successful gaming franchises that extend their count of sequels to a number higher than three, one could blame Capcom for simply squeezing a popular name for all the milk it's worth. And in some cases, the blame would be placed correctly - with the "Gun Survivor" series being the prime example. It would be natural to assume that "Dead Aim" would continue in the same veins as its predecessors (Dead Aim is actually the fourth Gun Survivor title from Capcom), but such an assumption would have been as fatal a mistake as releasing a dangerous virus onboard a huge cruise ship.

Speaking of releasing viruses onboard huge cruise ships - This is exactly what happens in Resident Evil: Dead Aim. Being infected with the T-virus is a bit more hazardous than having a cold and it does not take long before the whole ship becomes a floating zombie nation. Other creatures, such as hunters, frogs and bees also break havoc at sea (The frogs and bees have gained some noticeable size and killer instincts, of course). Behind all this is crazyman Morpheus Duval. On a mission from the US government, Bruce McGivern must clean up the mess that is the T-virus's awful creations and stop Morpheus from realising his plans, whatever they possibly could be.

This is a game made for the PS2's GunCon 2 - the lightgun. The regular PS2 controller may be used instead, but since that certainly isn't to play the game the way it should be played, this review will purely base itself on how the game plays with a lightgun.

As you start the game, you'll be introduced by a quick summary of why the heck you're on a cruiseship lost in the middle of the Atlantic and then by a stunning movie sequence. The looks of this FMV, and any other FMV throughout the game, hold a high standard. Animation and graphics in the sequences are superb and because of this, it is difficult not to become interested in the game from the very beginning. It would be an exaggeration to proclaim that these visuals continue on in-game, but it would be absolutely correct to indicate that the in-game graphics are well done. They are certainly not the best around, but raises the bar slightly from the previous RE game in 3D, "Code Veronica". That's right - the environments are done fully in 3D and does not come with pre-rendered backgrounds as in the original RE games (except for the other gun survivors and the aforementioned Code Veronica). Your surroundings are still detailed enough, and places which lack lots of detail or objects are areas who shouldn't contain lots of detail or objects in the first place. In true RE-style you'll get to play two different characters throughout the game, and their models and animation look really nice. This generally goes for the enemies too, especially bosses. The regular zombies are not as detailed, but they sure are ugly enough to make you want to kill them quickly, so that won't bother you. The lighting in the game is very atmospheric and also helps monsters to look even creepier.

Creepy is the word of the day, as the audio in Dead Aim follows that of other Resident Evil games - You guessed it, it's creepy. Hearing zombies moaning and hunters running towards you from behind soaks the handle of your lightgun in sweat and weakens your aim from shivering. However, even if these feats fulfill the basic needs for sound in a horror game, it could have been so much more. If you have played the previous non-lightgun games in the RE franchise, you probably know of their highly qualitative ambient music. It puzzles me why Dead Aim almost completely lacks this sort of mood-setting feature, as that would have made for nothing but improvements. The only noticeable background music appears when you must complete a task before the time limit runs out. Although this is an effective way of heightening the tension, the music is a bit lacking productionwise and sounds outdated. The quality of the sound effects are nothing spectacular either, but it works. Weapon sounds are above average quality, while the rest are nothing more than alright.

So the game has alright sound and while the graphics are good, they are far from mindblowing. The story is a somewhat cheap spinoff and not exactly an inventive one at that. What could possibly make one want to play this game? It nearly sounds as weird as frogs with laser eyes and an unstable stomach - This Resident Evil game has some good gameplay. After a decade of RE games with control issues and simplified combat, Dead Aim shows a rebellious attitude. The story has been toned down and makes way for the integration of a lightgun to the standard formula. Holy cow, what a difference it makes. The procedure of shooting monsters in Dead Aim involves pressing the trigger of the gun once to enter an "aiming mode", which is a first person view, and then it's blasting time. This gives the concept of combat in Resident Evil a whole new dimension. In addition to the well-known preservation of ammo and the strategic munching of herbs to keep you from dying, actually having to aim at enemies to kill them becomes a part of the challenge. The game keeps you from losing the overview of the battlefield while aiming too, as the interface displays arrows in the direction of enemies you cannot see (white or red, depending on how close they are). A quick tap to the left or right with the controlpad automatically turns your view towards those unfortunate creatures who thought today's dinner would be an easy catch. You can also move while aiming, so backing up while shooting gives a little more time for well-placed projectiles. A bullet in the head causes more damage than one in the arm, so taking the time to perfect your aim greatly enhances your chances of survival. When cornered by enemies, a well-timed press of the escape-button lets you dodge the coming attack. While you're not in "aiming mode", you walk around in a third person view. The cameras are not fixed as in most RE games, and this is a substantial enhancement to the otherwise blocky controls. It takes about a good 15-30 minutes to get really used to controlling your character with a lightgun, but once you do, you can run, turn and strafe like there's no tomorrow. Additionally, the popular 180-degree turn is a good implementation.

Dead Aim successfully combines the concepts of adventure and lightgun shooting games and creates a truly remarkable blend. The storytelling of the original RE games is toned town to make way for the lightgun action, but the lightgun action is in return toned down to make way for the pacing of RE. This might seem like two shortcomings, but the fact is rather that they complement each other superbly. Granted, there are some annoyances in the gameplay such as not being able to look up or down while aiming and not having a melee weapon for moments when you run out of bullets, but these won't be noticeable for the most part.

Lasting value is a completely different story though. You're likely to spend 3-4 hours on the game your first time through it, and if you are an experienced RE player or an experienced lightgun shooter or both, chances are that you'll complete the game in not much more than two hours. Replay value is almost absent, as the usual rewards for completing RE games are nearly all gone. You'll be able to unlock weapons with infinite ammo by completing the game fast enough, but this doesn't serve as enough to play through the game again. It's also possible to start off with the secondary character after you beat the game, but this is only ridiculous as you'll still see Bruce in the movie sequences and you get to play with both characters the first time anyway. There are three different difficulty levels which adjust how much ammo and health you'll pick up and also how strong your enemies are. The easiest level is extremely easy, and you would probably surf through the whole game even if you pop caps in zombie torsos gangsta-style without even aiming properly. The middle level of difficulty provides you with some challenge if you don't make all your shots hit someone and while the hardest level provides you with a much greater challenge, it still isn't enough to play the game more than once. The overall difficulty of the game is easy, with a few challenging bossfights.

Resident Evil Dead Aim is a fresh and welcome addition to the franchise. It manages to keep up with the relatively high production standards of the other games and of games in general, while successfully fusing adventuring with first-person shooting. It renders the previous gun survivor titles beyond obsolete and should be a safe bet for both Resident Evil and lightgun enthusiasts. However, the game is extremely shortlived and may only apply as a suitable purchase for the most hardcore Resident Evil fans. For everyone else with a lightgun, it's the perfect rental.

GAMEPLAY: 9
GRAPHICS: 7
SOUND: 7
VALUE: 5

OVERALL: 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/11/04