Resident Evil: Survivor

"Can you survive THIS horror?"

'Resident Evil' has long been a very well respected video game series, with many sequels and even a movie to its name. But there have been a few blunders by Capcom, and this is one of them. While 'Resident Evil: Survivor' is not a terrible game, it is far from a good one, and no-where near the quality of its prequels. The concept is sound; 'Resident Evil' from a first person perspective, but sadly it is the execution that lets it down.

'Resident Evil' games have long had rather intricate plots filled with many twists and turns, but unfortunately 'Resident Evil: Survivor' does not live up to this strong legacy, oh no, far from it in fact.
After a helicopter crash you awake with a serious case of amnesia and a gun in your hand. You have no idea who you are or how you got there, but all you know is that your first priority is to get off the island, and kill anything that stands in your way.
The game follows the struggle of your character as he is led to believe he is a man named Vincent, guilty of murder and experimentation on children. That's right, experimentation. If that's meant to be intimidating it's not, and the game will have you in stitches laughing so hard at it.
The characters on the whole lack depth and as another reviewer pointed out, have no motive whatsoever as to why they do what they do.
The story is just a toned down version of a 'Resident Evil' game, with little character development or actual plot depth. Very disappointing, especially for a 'Resident Evil' game.
Story: 6

Graphically, 'Resident Evil: Survivor' is lacking in almost every regard, and even going so far as to use models from previous games. The zombies for example look exactly as they did in 'Resident Evil 2' right down to the colour of their clothing! The models also suffer from excess clipping and bland texturing. The world itself is nothing special. Walk up to a smashed window and you will only see blackness beyond it. Some of the animation is also horrible and rather jolted, for example a sniper shoots at you early on from a distant window and just slides away to the side, with no movement whatsoever!
The textures also have a tendency to warp as you get closer to them, creating for an unfinished and unprofessional look. Come on Capcom, they set a high standard with 'Resident Evil 2' and now they have to follow up on it again.
The rooms you enter are often devoid of any objects and are often tight and inclosed. There have been many better-looking games of PlayStation then this!
Graphics: 7

Perhaps the 'Resident Evil' tradition has always been for corny voice-overs, for that B grade movie feel, but here the voices are beyond B grade, they are just terrible. The main character lacks any emotion, and questions himself in the most pathetic of ways. The character is hard enough to relate to as it is thanks to a shallow plot, but a voice devoid of any emotion does little to help this problem. The other characters aren't much better, and are just laughable.
The zombies sound just like they did in every other 'Resident Evil' game, only this time you don't get the scraping noise when you enter a room, so you have little indication of whether they are in a room or not if you can't see them. Strangely the military team that is sent in to cleanse the island all sound like howling monkeys when they die, and further more they bleed green blood, making you wonder what the heck they're meant to be.
Music was strangely absent, which was odd to say the least. Maybe there was some here and there but I never noticed it.
Sound: 3

'Resident Evil: Survivor' takes a different approach from its prequels, as it is played in the first person, and if you own the Australian or Japanese version, with a light gun.
'Resident Evil: Survivor' has full support for a G-Con compatible light gun, but oddly the game refused to work with my light gun, which is not a G-Con but a 'Predator 2' with G-Con support. Strangely this gun works fine on any other G-Con game.
However the game is a pain to play with a light gun, as the gun simply does not have enough buttons for a game like this. Perhaps if it had been on-rails like 'House of the Dead' it would have been more enjoyable, but as it is, it's awkward to play. Which leaves us with a controller. The controls aren't too bad using a Dual Shock, although do become rather clumsy. For example trying to turn around a wall to see what's behind it you must manually turn, you can't just strafe, a cardinal sin not to have a feature like this in a first person shooter.
The puzzle solving elements of all previous 'Resident Evil' games has been almost taken out completely, with little genuine thought needed. Most of the puzzles just involve taking something and using it somewhere else. Your inventory is also different from previous 'Resident Evil' games as now you can hold any number of items, removing the need for item crates. Also, your characters pistol has unlimited ammo, making the game a bit of a push over.
In a very odd move, Capcom have chosen to take out the save feature, so you can't save in game.
A 'path' system has been introduced into the game, where quite often you will have to choose one of three paths to take. Going down a different path will show you different areas of the town, different enemies, and often different guns.
This adds little incentive to play though, as the areas all link up the same way after a few rooms, and the games ending is always the same.
Probably the biggest blunder of 'Resident Evil: Survivor' is the fact that there is not hit detection. Shooting a zombie in the toe will yield the same result of a headshot. A hit detection system would have made this game a lot more fun, but as it is the game is both monotonous and repetitious.
To make matters worse 'Resident Evil: Survivor' is probably the shortest 'Resident Evil' game to date, and only takes a few hours to complete, and that's not even going through the game quickly!
Gameplay: 5
Life Span: 3

Pros
+ New concept
+ All the classic monsters
+ Gun support

Cons
- Clumsy controls
- Enemies recycled from other games
- Voice acting
- Graphics
- Music, or lack thereof
- Short (or maybe that's a good thing!)
- Lame story

There is just too much wrong with 'Resident Evil: Survivor' to recommend it to anyone. It's both a disgrace to the series and a disgrace to gamers everywhere. Don't waste your time or money here; it's only worth a rental, if that.
Overall: 5

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/16/02, Updated 12/16/02