Product Description

Resident Evil takes you into the heart of terror as you battle the unthinkable -- the walking dead.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1825 in Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Model: 20001
• Released on: 2006-08-07
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: GameCube

Features

• For Play on Your Gamecube
• Mission is to kill all zombies
• Published by Capcom
• 1-4 Player Capability
• Game Genre: Action/Adventure, Game Sub-Genre: Action

Amazon.com Product Description
Resident Evil, the game that is often credited with starting the survival-horror genre, is being reinvented for the GameCube. For those unfamiliar with the series, a mysterious corporation has secretly been performing ungodly biotech experiments in the sleepy little town of Raccoon City. When reports of gory attacks come in from nearby areas, two crack military squads are sent to investigate. Players take the role of either sharpshooter Chris Redfield or demolitions expert Jill Valentine to track down the source of the town's problems--specifically, something in a decaying mansion that's mutating animals into grotesque killers and turning humans into bloodthirsty zombies. Supplies and ammunition are scarce, so players have to know when to fight, when to run, and how to keep their wits about them. Players can't afford to waste their shots and expect their characters to survive.

The story is being retrofitted with motion-captured animation, next-generation graphics, real-time lighting and shadow effects, new areas, and newly rendered in-game video segments to create an even more cinematic experience. Also, a redesigned combat system lets players attack and defend themselves with a variety of items found in the environment.

Amazon.co.uk
Ask people to name the scariest game they've ever played and they'll invariably mention Resident Evil (unless they're trying to be a smart aleck, in which case they'll choose Rise of the Robots or something similar). Although films and music are forever being remade, remixed, and generally reheated, games never seem to get the same treatment. Resident Evil is bucking that trend. Although it's 70 percent all-new material, this GameCube version is still familiar enough to tug on a few nostalgic gamers' heartstrings.

For anyone who wasn't around video games in 1996, Resident Evil is an arcade adventure that has you trapped in a B-movie mansion filled with zombies and various other nasties. Considering the controls in the original were horrible, the puzzles incongruous, and the script diabolical in all the wrong ways, it's fair to say the game was far more than the sum of its parts. It's annoying to see that none of these glaring faults have been addressed in the remake, but presumably they're all assumed to be part of the nostalgic fun.

What really made Resident Evil enjoyable was its genuinely unsettling atmosphere, specifically as created through the various weird camera angles and the fact that you never seemed to have enough ammo or health. All of this is retained in the GameCube version, along with what must surely be some of the best graphics ever seen in a video game--we're talking near photorealistic characters and as subtle a use of light and shadow as we've ever seen before. If you're a Resident Evil fan, this new title is like manna from heaven; if you've yet to experience its dubious delights, you'd better break out the brown trousers right away. --David Jenkins

Customer Reviews

change my shorts
RE, how do I rate thee?

CONTROLS, EASE OF USE:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a controlling a helicopter in a gale-force sleet storm with no prior flight experience and 10 being controlling a food-pellet dispenser, I rate the controls ease of use a 7; I don't like steering Redfield around like a tank any better than you do, but with a little effort it can be mastered.

GRAPHICS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Pong and 10 being Resident Evil for the Gamecube, I rate the graphics an enthusiastic 10; maybe the backgrounds are prerendered, but the art in this game must have been a labor of love. It's drop dead gorgeous at every turn, and Redfield, Valentine, Zombies et all look fantastic and are well animated.

DIFFICULTY:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a walk in the park and 10 being calculating the square root of pi with a slide rule, I rate the difficulty a 6; the puzzles in RE are pretty simple and don't provide a huge challenge, but staying alive in the mansion while maintaining your inventory and ammunition can be difficult at times.

GAMEPLAY HOURS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the amount time it takes for a healthy adult male to empty his bladder and 10 being the amount of time it takes an elderly tortoise with gout to complete the Tour de France on foot, I rate the gameplay hours an 8; the game doesn't take forever to complete, but there's two characters, providing a small amount of replayability. You may take into account the fact that I have a full time job and so I can't burn too many hours playing video games. RE provided a nice amount of gameplay for me.

CREEPINESS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being your average carnival spook house and 10 being a walk through a haunted graveyard alone at midnight naked, I rate the creepiness a 10; keep an extra pair of shorts handy when playing this one, or fit yourself with a diaper. You've been warned.

OVERALL ENJOYMENT:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hit in the crotch with a falling icicle and 10 being a nice frosty bowl of Quisp, I rate the overall enjoyment a 10 - heck, RE is BETTER than a nice frosty bowl of Quisp.

I wholeheartedly recommend you run right out (or, I guess you're here, so why bother running right out, just click it) and buy RE immediately.

The Most Thrilling and Fear-Provoking Game Ever Conceived
... An all-new renovation has taken place with Capcom's second greatest franchise (the first being Street Fighter). Titled Biohazard (truly a better name than the laughable "Resident Evil") in Japan, the latest installment makes its way onto the Nintendo machine. And let me be among the first to say, this is probably the most thrilling and fear-provoking game ever conceived. Past attempts haven't hit this mark of steep graphical horror nor haul up the sensation of numbing dread. Konami's Silent Hill 2, eat your heart out and whimper, Capcom's Resident Evil has never felt or looked so gosh-darn spectacular. Don't listen to those who believe that the GameCube's version is merely a rehash of the PS1, half of the game is based on totally new areas, and not to mention even more explosive, edge-of-your-seat restlessness.

The initial thing players will react to (after noticing the graphical tour de force) is that those brainless, sauntering zombies past games expounded are gone. Replacing them are deadlier packs who hound your tail in a startling game of cat and mouse. Crammed with smarter AI, a host of zombie fiends make an appearance. Such menaces are the ones with elongated claws that cleave wind and flesh, chasing the player down hallways. RE's arsenal of the undead just don't know when to quit either. Not only frighteningly grotesque, the undead are relentless, no longer stopping in front of staircases, adding a deeper depth of suspense. Oh, and if you still assume that refuge is taken behind a door, think again, these zombies crash right through them and continue their chase for Jill's voluptuous. . .um, brain.

The combat and puzzle system work in much respect of its predecessors. Surely, Resident Evil fans will dive headfirst but find the surprise of all-new challenges. At the start, the player decides a role to choose, in this case Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, and a difficulty level. Depending on the difficulty level, the game will not be as simple as before, however Redfield's scenario is generally tougher. Jill's less taxing scenario is just the icing on the cake, whereas Redfield's scenario is plagued with an escalation of unforgiving fiends, reduced amounts of health and ammo, and strict puzzle advancement.

Players now have the access of 3 different control schemes. Because I easily adapted to the default control , I ignored the concept altogether. Also, a knife defense system, an inventive tactic, has been implemented onto the game. It works when a zombie gets a hold on the player, then mechanically Chris or Jill will thrust the zombie's attack off with his or her knife, and stab it directly in its skull. This allows an opportunity for the player to break free before the zombie bars its teeth on some flesh. Like bullets, the knife defense can be exhausted and are collected all through the mansion. For those who like to conserve, the player may set it on manual mode. Quite an additional number of moves are whipped out, such as slipping a grenade in a zombie's maw and watching its head detonate. Picturesque, indeed.

Fastened with fresh lineups of innovation, Resident Evil swims in a whirlpool of excellence. While hard-hitting with obstacles every so direction, the game doesn't go into a point of hopelessness. Such moments are when hordes of rushing undead, along with brand new creatures and bosses, come into the fray. Scare moments are back, and even more unsuspecting than ever. Currently in a time where the big screen has fails to make me [excited], Resident Evil on the GameCube goes well beyond that and wins legendary status.

Kiss your senses goodbye and place a bib on your lap. The visuals will daze you, leave you drooling, and inflate your own personal wow factor into the heavens. This stuff is mind-blowing. I thought I seen it all when I sat through Episode II: Attack of the Clones's trailer , but this is proof that computer technology is boundless. Unbelievably detailed and decisive with every graphical effect, the atmospheric tone behind RE is gorgeously macabre. I have to admit, after playing the original RE, I zipped through the other offerings without a trace of fear. Bursting with GameCube muscle and a physically charged environment, this is a whole different story. All around, the surroundings actually work against you, playing tricks of illusion. Illumination from flickering candles or hanging light bulbs emit shadows and at times it's hard to distinguish if the movement is simply nothing or a creature stirring all too near. Layers of rolling fog obscures insinuations of approaching fiends charging at you. Our favorite canines are back, quicker, and realistically crash into the environment when they miss the player. Detailed to the extreme, from the audio of guttural moans to masterfully designed backgrounds, the game's aesthetic nature is seamlessly provocative. Originating from thousands of polygons, mixed with dazzling special effects, and just the right amount of gore, this is the best looking game in which all others of the genre will now be measured by.

I could ramble on and on about the spine-chilling venues, but I'll leave that for you to ensue. Shinji Mikami, the man with the vision of the Resident Evil dream, must be gloating right now. Of all the RE games released, this is probably what his vision truly was. Refining his skill from all prior games, he finally hones perfection in his franchise. In terms of audio, graphics, gameplay, but most importantly in scaring the soul outta' gamers, RE gains pounds of its novel trademark. Mark my words, DO NOT MISS OUT on this masterpiece.

Welcome back GameCube & Resident Evil
I purchased a GameCube at launch and had many hours of fun playing Madden, Monkey Ball, and a couple other games. However, in recent months, I had found myself playing my X-Box more frequently and my GameCube very rarely, until I went out on May 1 and picked up a copy of Resident Evil. The only Resident Evil I had ever played was RE3: Nemesis but I loved it. I have played all the way through this new version of the original Resident Evil, with Chris, and have started again this time using Jill. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone over the age of 16. A warning to those expecting a First (or Third) Person Shooter: This game is more about conserving ammo than trying to blast every enemy in sight. The game is most difficult at the very beginning. You have very little ammo and not a whole lot of space to carry items. Now to break down individual aspects of the game:

Graphics: 10 out of 10- Very realistic from the character models to the rooms of the old mansion. You can almost smell the stale air as you walk through different rooms.

Control: 6.5 out of 10- The most negative aspect of the game for most players will be the bulky controls. I got used to the control scheme very quickly but some people will not.

Sound: 9 out of 10- The sound effects are amazing. You can hear every grunt a zombie makes. The music is pretty sparse but when it kicks in, you know something major is about to happen.

Depth: 8.5 out of 10- To me depth is the most important aspect of a game. Resident Evil has decent replay value with two characters with somewhat different stories along with multiple difficult levels and game modes. Throw in some unlockable secrets and you've got a game that most people will want to play through at least twice if not more.

Overall: 9 out of 10- One of the best reasons to own a GameCube. A very good looking, creepy game whose overall fun goes well beyond what any screenshot could show. I would highly recommend this game to most GameCube owners who are old enough to handle the bloody, scary subject matter.