Resident Evil (PC) Review

The original Resident Evil was never the best title in the franchise, but it has that special magic that first instalments tend to have when compared to their otherwise - mechanically - better sequels. It's hard to point at something specific, as said magic is the result of a variety of elements. For example, the "creepy mansion" trope is corny? Yes, but it's a trope that has endured the test of time because mansions are creepy. The other thing that makes this stand out from the rest of the series is that, being the first, the "lore" behind it is refreshingly minimalistic. A simple story, with a bunch of characters that just try to survive, and a plot that mainly revolves around a big bad company doing big bad company stuff. Old-school simplicity at its finest.

…But it definitely needed a new coat of paint, even after a few years from its release. GameCube's remaster did exactly that, and after the upgrade of the upgrade with the new HD textures it's hard to go back to the past. Resident Evil "HD Remaster" as many call it, looks absolutely beautiful. It's Resident Evil the way it was always supposed to look, with the heavily recrafted pre-rendered backgrounds making almost every scene wallpaper worthy, especially due to the much more realistic lighting. This great facelift extends to the - few - cinematics, as well and the character models themselves, with Jill being particularly stunning in her new look. As for the baddies, the zombies look less like dirty old toys, and more like actual corpses, and the big bad of the show looks stunning is all its frightening badassery.

Two aspect ratios are available, but since the widescreen one crops much detail, you are advised to use the default setting. A somewhat harder choice to make is amongst the two control options. Being a remaster and not a remake this still uses pre-rendered backgrounds, which have the benefit of making many of the screens more cinematic due to the dramatic perspective. The downside is the fact this inevitably leads to tank controls - at least it is a downside for those who don't like those. The remaster introduces a directional mode where you simply point the analogue stick where you want to go, but this is a blessing and a curse. Evasions and overall movement become much better, but it's easy to mess up things when going from screen to screen as it will take you a second or two to tell your brain that directions have changed. Be sure to master that if you want to try your luck at speed-running.

Other than that, don't expect any major changes in mechanics. Still can't move while shooting, combat is somewhat slow, the control scheme is pretty much the same, and even the door opening sequences have been left intact - no longer as a neat way for the bloody thing to load the next area, just an - atmosphere-enhancing - nuisance that for some reason can't be deactivated like in the Nintendo DS port of the original. This remaster has also kept those annoying Push-X-on-Y "puzzles" and has even added a few more for some reason, not to mention that it has also included more key items, which actually slows down the pacing a bit more than before, for no particularly good reason.

While this is just Resident Evil with a new coat of paint, there are a few new additions that will even manage to surprise those who have melted the original. For starters, some slight changes have been made to the design of the manor itself, so veterans will need to throw away the mental map they have painstakingly created during their last speed-running session. Secondly, in many occasions the zombies will be able to follow you around! Even worse? They will eventually turn unto a stronger, faster, (and redder) version of themselves, which is a big no-no if you don't want to waste your precious recourses, especially in higher difficulty settings where everything becomes a bullet sponge. This leads to a new piece of "equipment:" fire! A can of gasoline and a lighter can be used to burn a downed enemy, which, in true survival horror fashion, is a tactical decision due to the limited supplies - and very annoying if you are playing as Jill, as you'll need to carry two items.

In terms of tone, it's a bit creepier than before due to the improved audio-visuals, but not that much that it matters. Early Resi titles were never that spooky, and the same thing applies to the remaster. What about the cheese, though? Is the cheese intact?! Yes… sort of… well, it occasionally makes an appearance. In all seriousness, this has lost part of its cheesy, b-movie vibe, mainly because of the better voice-acting - but it's still cheesy, don't worry about that. Corny or not, the whole thing is very entertaining, with the only two flaws being the aforementioned added key-items and box-pushing segments that slow things down a bit, something that is mainly noticeable after repeated play-throughs, which has always been part of Resident Evil's charm.

This is meant to be replayed again and again. Apart from its relatively short length (with newcomers needing about six to seven hours), it is structured in a way that it lets you try out different tactics with each new playthrough. Like all great survival horror classics, this isn't about simply aiming and shooting, but about making difficult calls. Dodge this enemy or bring it down? Carry a health item, or save that inventory space for something else? Follow path 'A,' or go through the harder but faster alternative 'B.' And so on and forth. It's nice that this upgrade makes the difficulty all-inclusive, by offering various settings - but note that the normal mode is actually harder than what the original had to offer, at least in the first two hours, which will pleasantly surprise veterans.

This remaster keeps it simple on the extra content, with players having to complete the game multiple times, or get better times to unlock a few costumes (BSAA Jill is worth the trouble), and the same goes on with the multiple, but truth be told, samey endings. In the end, if there is a hot take here, that would be that visuals put aside, this is only slightly better than the original. It includes some new and neat stuff, but it also offers some things that don't really add to the experience. It's definitely the better pick amongst the two, but only by a small margin, which is to be expected by something that is mainly a beautification. A pretty good one, honestly.