Resident Evil: Deadly Silence

"Review from a guy who's never played the original game."

Yes, I've never played the original Resident Evil on the Playstation. It's a shame, I know, but I got a chance to redeem myself by playing its excellent port/remake: Resident Evil Deadly Silence.

Story: 9/10

The story that brought the survival horror genre mainstream is excellent. The game takes place outside of Racoon City, in a mansion of a head employee of the drug company Umbrella. You can choose to play as one of two characters, choosing either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, both members of Racoon City's elite STARS team. Your mission is to investigate strange sitings around the mansion, as well as find out what happened to STARS bravo team, who went before you and hasn't returned. Good luck, you'll need it!

I knew how good the story was well before I got around to playing the game. The Resident Evil series is well known, after all. I didn't realize the story was so deep, though. Throughout the game you will interact with many characters in and around the mansion, each encounter sparking you to go further. There are also multiple "files" that tell you how the story came up to this point, as well as provide you tips for surviving and progressing. Well done, Capcom.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay is very good. Essentially, you must explore the mansion (and other areas), and find objects to open the next area, all while fighting off everything trying to kill you. Depending on which character you pick, you can hold either 6 or 8 items. This is very important, since you will need to carry around items to solve the mansions puzzles, as well as weapons and healing supplies. Thankfully there are multiple "safe houses" in which you can save your game and store excess items.

The fighting system is well done. You must first equip an item than hold a button to aim (which is done for you), than you can shoot. Also, your character moves like a tank, either straight forward, or straight back. Thankfully, this is somewhat remedied by the fact that you can run (which makes turning much easier), and do an 180 degree turn.

As I mentioned earlier, a large part of the story is from the various files you will find. All of these are stored for quick reference in your main menu, where you can also equip different weapons and try to "use" the items you find in the mansion to try to solve different puzzles. Overall, the gameplay is great, and highly addictive. The only thing I can think of complaining about is the way you transition from one screen to another can be pretty abrupt. For example, if your running away off to another screen, it will switch automatically for you (with no slowdown, another good point about the game). While this sounds good, sometimes you'll be presented with a different view, and start to run a way you don't want to go! This can be rather annoying, but it's easily avoidable as long as you remember your about to change views.

Once you start playing you won't want to stop.

Graphics: 9/10

The Graphics aren't bad. All the characters look really good, as well as the enemies. I like the fact that they have multiple looks for the same type of enemy in the game. The backgrounds, I believe, are all pre-rendered, but everything looks like it belongs. It really helps the eerie feeling of the mansion. I wouldn't recommend this game to young kids (parents should watch what their kids play, right?), as there is quite a bit of adult content. If it helps anyone to know, you can also change the blood color from red to green.

There are also multiple cut-scenes in the game, as well as a "real-life" (actors and everything!) intro scene. These are done very well, really adding to the games mood. The graphics really make the mood. You won't be disappointed.

Music and Sound effects: 8/10

The music is done well, not outstanding, but well. As you would imagine, most "tracks" are quite and eerie. I really liked the "save room" music though, as anyone would, since you only hear it in safe areas. The sound effects are well done also, all the weapons and items sound good, as you would expect. Hearing your enemies die is also extremely enjoyable. The voice acting is well done. You don't get to hear it very often, but the voice actor's voices fit their characters well.

Re-playability: 8/10

If you've played the original you may be asking yourself "are there any reasons why I should play this again"? Well, besides replaying a classic game, there are many new features in Resident Evil: DS. For example, the touchscreen is taken advantage of numerous times throughout the game. There are certain chests the can only be opened by solving a color matching puzzle which uses the touchscreen. But perhaps the biggest use of the touchscreen is using your knife to stab and slice at enemies. You can only do this at certain times, though, but often these extra encounters are rewarded with extra items.

There is also a "Master of Knifing" mini-game that you can play which only uses the knife through 5 increasingly difficult levels. You can also use the DS's wireless feature to play against friends who also own the game.

Overall: 9/10

I really should have played this before now, but I don't regret it since this excellent port came out. I strongly recommend this game if your a fan of survival horror and puzzle games. Have fun and keep playing! Later...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/07