Resident Evil: Dead Aim

"Much better than Survivor for the PS1, but it isn't perfect."

I've always enjoyed anything that has the title Resident Evil on it. I never picked up this title when it first came out because in all honesty I forgot about the game. It didn't seem to have much publicity, and I didn't see it in many stores. When I finally did see it at my local game store, I picked it up. I wasn't disappointed with the game, and was happy to add it to my large Resident Evil collection.

Since there was a FPS Resident Evil game for the Playstation 1, and now for the Playstation 2, I can only hope that the Playstation 3 will also have a game like this for their system. Imagine how the graphics and gameplay could be for a title like this on a new gaming system! It would look awesome, and the challenges could be out of this world. Hopefully in the next few years, these questions could be answered in the form of another FPS Resident Evil game.

Presentation
Anyone who enjoys the First Person Shooter's should have fun with this title. Even though you can switch from third person to first person, this is still a FPS game. The game can be challenging on the harder difficulty settings, since the enemies can take more damage, and the ammo/health isn't as available as it would be on the easier settings.

The story for the title is a bit weak. You really don't get too involved with the characters, and you don't feel for their struggle. The ending is really lame in my opinion, but I won't ruin it for you. Even though you are only in a few areas in the game, the enemies are only a handful. So you'll be seeing a lot of the same faces when you shoot them.

The main bad guy/girl (you'll see what I mean) isn't very interesting at all. You know very little about him, and when he changes into a she, it really doesn't make much sense. But since all of the characters don't have much back-story on them, it really doesn't matter I guess. 7/10

Graphics
I was amazed at how beautiful the levels looked for this game. Each area looked almost life like. The characters that you use in the game could have been designed better, but it's not as if they looked horrible. The FMV's that you see during the game are done really well.

I also liked the detail placed on the enemies for the game. They looked really good, especially all the different kinds of zombies. If you shoot a zombie, depending on where you aim, you'll get to see them react to the blast and then the blood that appears will be different as well. Clear out a room full of zombies, and the floor will be covered with blood, which I like.

For a Playstation 2 game, I was impressed with this title. My only complaint in the graphics department would have been how the main male character looked. Other than that, they did a great job. 9/10

Sound
Not much to talk about here. Sure, the weapons sound good but that's about it. The background music (when it's available) isn't breath taking. The voice acting is just horrible. Sure, the female part is okay, but the main male character shouldn't ever do voice work again! He was that bad. All in all, there isn't much to talk about here. 4/10

Gameplay
I'm one of the people who actually enjoyed Survivor for the Playstation 1. This game is much better than the Playstation 1 game, but should have had more levels and more enemies to fight.

Being able to switch from third person to first person to shoot was a nice touch. I didn't like the targeting though, since you cannot change the up/down for targeting to a reverse movement. I usually prefer to press the right analog stick down, and see the target move up. But after getting used to up is up for targeting, I was able to kill quite fast.

Some areas would have you almost surrounded by enemies, which was fun since you had to either shoot really fast, or find a safe place to shoot from. The way that the zombies moved was really smart. Some would walk normally, others would move quite fast. There were some zombies that would weave back and forth while walking, making it hard to target their head. Plus, some zombies would stumble while walking; so getting a head shot would be hard in this instance.

The final boss was a bit cheap, especially on the harder difficulty levels. But if you study the pattern, and have a quick targeting skill, you can defeat him (or should I say her, lol) without any problems.

This title was rather fun to play, even though it is incredibly short. I love all Resident Evil titles, so I'll be playing this over and over. If you're a fan of the Resident Evil games, then you should like this. If not, then maybe this game is only a rental for you. 9/10

Lasting Appeal
The game is really short. As in you can finish this in under four or five hours even if you haven't played a Resident Evil game in your life. I was able to complete the game in a little over two hours, and I took my time and killed everything that I came across.

The mission on the boat was fun, but it seemed to be the longest part of the game. Once you leave that section, the other areas seem really short. The end of the game seemed rushed, since you fight the final three bosses in a matter of minutes is seems. There are only four bosses in the game total, so if the game was longer, they could have been spread out more.

You can unlock weapons, and infinite bullets for them depending on how fast you complete the game. It isn't much, but if you enjoy shooting the undead, then this feature would be good for you, and would add to your replay value. I enjoyed the game, so having all the guns in the beginning, along with infinite bullets would make the game more enjoyable. 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/05