Resident Evil: Survivor

"Why does everybody trash this game?"

At the time of writing this, I've been readin' some horrific reviews of the game - and I want to begin by stating that it is very different to what they would have you believe (*cough* videogamespot *cough*). I was very excited about this game, and I am NOT dissapointed with the end result.

GAMEPLAY / CONTROL:
'Biohazard: Gun Survivor' is Capcom's latest entry to the Biohazard series on the PlayStation (it is more of a side-story, really). Donning the genre description ''Survival Gun Shooting'', Gun Survivor takes the series to new places. While essentially a light gun shooting game, it also operates as a Biohazard game in terms of exploration. Using a combination of on-screen and off-screen shooting with button pressing, the player is able to move around freely in a 3D environment, while taking care of the Biohazard baddies along the way with the gun.

What does this mean? Well, instead of being dragged along a set path (a la Time Crisis, Elemental Gearbolt) - you can walk around, enter rooms, pick up files, grab items, and so on (all from a first person perspective). This system is better than you think for combat, since you can run to the best vantage point available, turn around and start capping the nearest undead. However, you do all this in a rather strange fashion. Shooting off screen once walks you forward (holding to keep walking), while shooting twice quickly off screen walks you backward. If you pull the trigger again while walking, you break into a run. Additionally, the A and B buttons on the sides of the GunCon move you left and right respectively. To shoot, you aim at the screen and pull the trigger (duh!), and to go to the status screen you press A and B simultaneously. Because of this system, it is virtually impossible to move and shoot too much in combat. Rather, it becomes a matter of finding a suitable place to stop and then shoot to kill (and then repeat if neccessary).

It is all a bit confusing at first, and you find yourself panicking with the control before you get used to it - but despite the pretty steep learning curve, once you master it - you will start having lots of fun. In the status screen you can select your item menu, file menu, and map (all using the gun's controls intuitively). The unlimited item menu is traditional Biohazard fare - including mixing multicoloured healing herbs, storing various ammo and managing your weaponry. You can basically do everything you can do in other Biohazard games in this menu, too - like reloading your ammo clip to save taking time reloading during shootouts. Speaking of weaponry - it is best said that the main focus of the game are the guns. There are 8 different guns to collect - including a wide variety of pistols (with different strengths and weaknesses - incl. firing rate, and reload time), the shotgun, magnum, grenade launcher, etc. Your health is managed in a Biohazard-type pulse box which goes from ''Fine'' (green) to ''Caution'' (orange) to ''Danger'' (red), and also ''Poison'' (purple).

One particularly cool feature in the game is that at certain points, the game can branch into different paths. For example, right at the beginning of the game you get a key to open one of three doors, and so depending on which door you pick, your path through the beginning of the game is different. These changing paths also make slight differences to the storyline (which I will get to later). Eventually, all the paths converge, only to split up again shortly afterwards (this happens several times throughout). This means that you can't get everything in one play through the game - once you beat it, you save, and start again with your previous inventory to follow different paths and _eventually_ collect everything there is.

The game itself takes between 1hr30min to 2hrs depending on how fast you like to take things. My first time playing the game - I finished it in 2hrs in rather good shape - with an A ranking, and using no continues. This doesn't mean the game is a pushover, it certainly has its share of difficult situations. It is also possible to save during the game - but it will no doubt lower your ranking. Also, for added replayability, there are two difficulty settings - easy and normal. Enemies that pop up are all from Biohazard and Biohazard 2 - including zombies, lickers, hunters, Mr. X, Tyrant, giant moths, and even the giant Alligator! There is even a new enemy for you to deal with as well. All are taken out in their own way - it is up to you to determine the best fighting strategy and the best weapon to use. The game has a couple of little quirks to help you with shooting - such as the lock-on feature. Once you shoot an enemy dead on (or get very close), your viewpoint will shift so that the enemy appears right in front of you, in the centre of the screen. To help matters, if the enemy starts running around it will usually track it for you. Most of the time this is pretty useful - and then other times... well, lets just be thankful it doesn't happen too often in hectic situations. However, my only dissapointment arrises from the exclusion of a collision detection system on the enemies - you can shoot an enemy straight in the head, but it seems to only damage it as much as a shot to the leg. Pity.

While I think Capcom have done a pretty commendable job merging two different genres, it is not without its fair share of problems. Firstly, there is no strafe action - which can make some combat situations harder than they should be. Secondly, you have absolutely no periferal vision giving enemies right NEXT to you a chance to attack you before you know they even exist. This could have been fixed with a simple indicater that appears on your side letting you know there is something there so you can react accordingly. Finally, there are several problems with the camera. Sometimes an enemy (Lickers or Dogs) get so close to you that they are at your feet and you can't see them in order to shoot them - you cannot look up and down, but locking on can shift your viewpoint down if you're lucky. In this situation, you usually need to back off (by double clicking off screen) and then blast them before they get near you again - but it is taxing to pull this off in the midst of enemies. Similarly, when Lickers crawl up onto the ceiling, they tend to move right above you so cannot locate them since you can't look up. Even with the game's lock-on aiming, these enemies can prove to be unneccessarily annoying. However, the system is generally very impressive for a first attempt. On the flip side, it is refreshing in a light gun game to be able to put the gun down for a while to explore, instead of constant action which requires you to simply hold and shoot for long periods of time. Overall - you will either hate the gameplay or love it. Those who hate it obviously havn't mastered the control... :)

STORY:
'Biohazard: Gun Survivor' is actually a side story rather than part of the actual Biohazard series. The story takes place on an Umbrella controlled island, sometime soon after Biohazard 2 (I think). It begins with a helicopter crash, one man falls and dies, while you regain conscienceness nearby. The problem is you've lost your memory. Thus, for the magority of the game you don't know who you are. Over the course of the story, you will discover all the answers and understand who you are and why you're there.
For a shooting game, the plot is actually pretty cool - and the way it ties in with the mainstream Biohazard series will make you smile. The best part is that the storyline changes depending on the paths you take - sure, it only changes very slightly - but there ARE subtle differences which makes replaying the game less mundane. The story scenes (in 3rd person view) let you see your character interact with the others - which helps break up the gameplay a bit, and give you a little rest from the norm. The story may not include any major characters from the series - but then again, as a side story, it doesn't have to - but it ties in nicely and that is what matters.

GRAPHICS / SOUND:
As much as I would like to, I cannot argue that the graphics really push the PlayStation to *any* kind of limits. To be fair - some parts can be pretty impressive, but generally the graphics in Gun Survivor are not brilliant. They can be downright pixellated, and can be very ugly at times. Then again, the environments themselves are generally very recognisable - all of which are fully 3D, so some crudeness in the visuals is forgivable. The enemies can sometimes act very awkwardly, looking a bit choppy here and there - but nothing horrible whatsoever. What is important is that each enemy looks exactly like they are supposed to - completely recognisable and act like they do in the 3rd person games. Nice. The characters themselves don't have the highest polygon count I've seen, but they look OK nonetheless. It is best said that the graphics are slightly above average at best. For a shooting game, it DOES pull off some nice effects at times, but they are few and far between. Lighting effects and atmosphere is created tastefully, and there will be times when you jump and feel uneasy. Even with the absense of pre-rendered backgrounds, the visuals just ooze Biohazard... which is no dissapointment indeed.

The sound effects are awesome. The gun shots sound solid, and the enemies make all the same noises they do in the mainstream games. I've heard people complain about sound glitches, but I have not encountered ANY. So maybe their version is faulty? Either way, the sound effects are nice - with little details such as different footstep noises for walking on different materials - more than enough to make you jittery the first time. Also, the sound effects can really help locate and identify enemies. With the limited view, this is certainly appreciated. Voice acting is far from terrible, but seem to fall short of RE2's standard.

I don't know what others think in this field, but I can safely say the music is more action-movie orientated than atmospheric when compared to other Biohazard games. It may be eerie one moment, but then heavily beating the next, pumping you up in a nervous kind of way. Generally, in the midst of a gang of enemies - action music will play until one of you falls. Overall, the music is pretty cool - it sounds unmistakably Biohazard, and yet seems to suit the game completely despite the prominant differences in style. Impressive.

OVERALL:
Gun Survivor is not as bad as everybody is saying. I cannot find enough reasons to trash it, and everytime I look - I tend to find one more reason why I'm enjoying it. It has a few problems, but these are merely nuisances than real problems. Put simply, you could do much worse than picking up this game. If you like shooting games, and you are a huge Biohazard fan (like me) - then maybe you should give it a try. Otherwise, pass. Given the game can be completed quickly and easily (if you try hard enough, or often enough) - it would make a good rental, although I've been coming back to it again and again just for fun. You decide.

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

NOTE: There has been an announcement that the US release will not retain the gun support. Thus, the game will be retitled 'Resident Evil: Survivor'. This is the worst mistake they could make, since playing with the pad - while not terrible - is no where near as fun as playing with the gun. Be warned.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/00, Updated 02/06/00