Resident Evil: Survivor

"A very strange addition to the Resident Evil series...."

My story is this....

''Oh, joy!'', I thought. ''Capcom's making a Resident Evil first-person shooter! It's like DOOM (one of my favorite games) mixed with Resident Evil (another one of my favorite games)! What could be better?''

I could think of several things.

Resident Evil Survivor certainly didn't meet my expectations. It's a pretty pathetic game that doesn't live up to the rest of the Resident Evil series (not to mention the DOOM series!)...but, I never said that it isn't fun!

The story is this. You are...wait, who are you? You don't remember...anything. There's not a single clue to your identity. All you know is that you have a gun. It looks like you're going to have to solve the mystery of who you are...while blasting your way through hordes of flesh-eating genetic mutations!

Great story, don't you think?

Graphics- Hmm...I'd have to say that they're pretty bad. Many areas are very grainy and pixelated, and sometimes you can't even tell where you can go. Once, I was lost for, about, twenty minutes or so just because I couldn't see a door that was blended in with the wall. Not all of the backgrounds look terrible, but, then again, they never look quite good, either.

The character graphics aren't too bad. Some of the enemies look rather freaky. It's just the animation that's bad. Capcom is known for quality animation, so, I'm beginning to wonder if Capcom actually worked on this game? There are far too many times where you shoot a zombie full of bullets, and then, after staring at you momentarily, it's already on the ground. It didn't fall down, it kind of just appeared on the floor, suddenly. I mean, not all of the animation is terrible. Some of it's pretty good. But, it's just pretty sad for a Capcom game, especially since it's a Resident Evil game.

Sound- The sound effects are mixed. Some sound pretty neat (like the Tyrant stomping after you), and some sound plain bizarre (why do the troopers sound like wild cougars?). Thankfully, there are more good SFX than bad ones.

The voice acting is bad (basically, a Resident Evil...well, actually, a Capcom trademark). The main character sounds very stupid (he sounds like Chris Redfield from RE1, who, as we all know, is stupid), the little girl tends to overact, the main bad guy has that stereotypical bad guy voice, and the little boy sounds like a little girl. The dialogue doesn't help things out (apparently, and I quote, there's a factory full of ''tons and tons of scary monsters''. Oh, boy...).

The music seems odd, as well. There's many times where the music is very upbeat when it shouldn't be. It isn't a very tense situation, but the music makes it out to be one. It just doesn't belong, sometimes. The rest of the time, the music is very subtle and creepy, almost to the point where you don't even notice it's there. The worst part of the music, though, was a track near the end of the game. It sounded okay for a second, until these strange little honks and beeps were thrown in. I thought it was a joke! Or, if not a joke, a synthesized music track that got really screwed up, and had bad instrumentation. Go figure.

Play Control- Controlling your character is no piece of cake. Walking and running is done easily (even though you move VERY slowly), and picking up items and activating things is done automatically (which can be weird at times. You don't have to press anything. Just walk into it). Maneuvering can be a pain, though. There are no buttons that let you sidestep. All first person shooters should have this function! Not being able to strafe makes moving around obstacles a much greater task than it should be, and makes it more difficult to evade and set up attacks. The quick look function that points you towards exits and areas of interest is very nice, though.

Something that's really bad is the shooting function, which is, pretty much, the focus of the entire game. You can't move while shooting, which is very bad when you've got a fast-moving foe to contend with. I mean, this is how it's always been in Resident Evil games, but it's very annoying in Survivor. Even worse is that you can't look up or down. You can aim up and down, and you might lock onto something on the floor or ceiling that will cause you to look up or down, but there's no other way to do it.

Speaking of the lock-on function, it's both a blessing and a nightmare. It let's you get more accurate shots when fighting fast-moving creatures, but also prevents you from shooting other things at the same time. For example, if two zombies were standing next to each other and you shot the one on the right, it would lock on to it. So, when you try to shoot the other zombie on the left, the lock-on function moves the gun sight back to the one on the right until you eliminate the right zombie, or reholster your weapon, then aim and lock on to the left one. It's a small, but noticeable nuisance, and it can't be switched off like in Mega Man Legends.

Capcom (or whoever actually made this game) could've worked a little bit harder on the play control, too.

Challenge- Very little. How little? I beat the game in one day on my very first try without dying once. That's how small the challenge is. There are several factors for this.

For one, there are almost no puzzles. Very odd for an RE game. You won't be scratching you head over this one. Second, the dreaded Item Boxes are gone. You can carry all the supplies you need anywhere at anytime. You have bottomless pockets. Third, the game is very straightforward. You'll hardly ever have to backtrack. And fourth (probably the biggest factor), the enemies aren't much of a problem. Their attacks can usually be avoided by taking a couple steps back before they strike. Even if they do hit you, they cause little damage. You may not find many healing items, but, you won't really need them. The only concern is that when enemies actually hit you, it stuns you temporarily. Thus, if you're cornered, you could really get your butt kicked.

Anyway, to top it all off, the game is also surprisingly short. Okay, Resident Evil games aren't known for their incredible length, but this is just ridiculous. I can easily beat the game in, about, 2 and 1/2 hours without even trying to move quickly.

Still, sometimes is nice to run around and mindlessly blow things to pieces with very little effort, just like in Mega Man X4!

Replay Value- Well, there are several paths to take in the game that don't connect to each other. You'll sometimes end up in a place that has at least three areas, and you can only choose to enter one in each play of the game. For example, you could trek through the church first, then head to the arcade, and then, on your second trip through the game, you could head into the movie theater first, then the hospital. Thus, you can play through the game a bit differently each time through. Also, you can save your game after you complete it so, when you start a new mission, you'll have all of the weapons you had collected from the previous game. This is the only way to collect all of the weaponry in the game. There is no one path you can choose that has all of the guns in the entire game (even though, if you find Handgun B or C, that's probably all you'll need for most of the game).

So, to sum it all up...

Graphics- Somewhat poor backgrounds, and lousy animation, but okay enemy graphics.

Sound- Some sound effects and music that seem out of place, and dumb voice acting, but not too harsh on the ears.

Play Control- Maneuvering your character and aiming efficiently is a difficult task at times. I've seen worse, though.

Challenge- Very low. It's a challenge trying NOT to finish this game without losing.

Replay Value- Medium. Multiple skill levels and pathways give you reasons to pick up the controller and play one more time.

Other Gripes- I don't think I can possibly complain about this game any more.

Overall- What do you get when you mix DOOM and Resident Evil? A game that has yet to exist. Resident Evil Survivor lacks the creepiness, puzzle solving and strategizing of a Resident Evil game, as well as the blistering action and easy controls of DOOM. If you're looking for a good Resident Evil game, don't look here. Pick up RE2 instead. This game is good for a nice, stress-free romp while you shoot everything to bits, nothing more. Still, I'm sure there's people who'd still like this game. Maybe you will.

Rent or Buy?- I'd definitely go for a rental first to see if you like it. Die-hard RE fans might be turned off by this game's odd gameplay. Even fans of shooter games might find Resident Evil Survivor not to their liking. You really should rent it first. Heck, the game's so easy, you could probably beat it with one rental, and not have to buy it at all!

Other Suggestions- If you liked Resident Evil Survivor, you might also enjoy Resident Evil 2 for the Playstation, or Jurassic Park for the Super Nintendo.

I bet that if this game were released several years ago, like in '96 or '97, it really could've been a contender. It just came out too late.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/01, Updated 02/22/01