Purists may not like it, but the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil is an acceptable entry into the series.
In 2002, Capcom, following an exclusive contract with Nintendo, was to release three games exclusive to the Gamecube: Resident Evil 0, a remake of the original Resident Evil, and Resident Evil 4, which would later come out on the PlayStation 2 later in 2005. As opposed to a simple cut-and-dry port, the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil drastically changes the original game, changing it from a corny B-movie to something more serious in tone, putting it closer to the other games in the series.
Like the original PlayStation version, you have the choice of playing as Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Each character has their pros and cons. For instance, Jill can hold more items (8 as opposed to Chris’s 6), but she’s more resistant to damage than Chris. Throughout the game, you’ll find out the inner workings of Umbrella, and find out one of your supposed allies is actually a traitor.
The game itself boasts pretty damn good graphics for the Gamecube. The game looks real good, even if most of the areas are likely pre-rendered pictures. As opposed to the original PlayStation game, which featured cutscenes of the characters played by uncredited actors, this uses CG like the other games later used. I find this a welcome addition, even if the cutscenes also make infamous Engrish lines such as “You almost became a Jill sandwich!” and “You, the master of unlocking, can use it” disappear.
However, the game keeps the somewhat clunky control scheme from the other titles in the series, but it adds features such as being able to a quick turn with the C-stick. You can use either the directional pad or the control stick to move the character, but I was able to get better movement with the pad than with the stick, where I constantly ended up running into walls. Also, the game keeps the fixed camera angles scheme that would stay until Resident Evil 4, which makes it real hard to tell if there’s a zombie present until you either get hit or see him lurch onto the screen very slowly.
The game also has a quirk for these zombies that was not added to any other Resident Evil game before or since: if you kill a zombie, it can return as a deadly “crimson head”, which does a lot of damage and is very fast. In order to prevent this, you must decapitate them, shoot off their kneecaps or burn them after they’ve “died”. This is somewhat annoying, especially with the game’s save system, which requires you to have an ink ribbon and get to a typewriter to save any progress. This becomes troublesome as one of the save rooms might be near a room where a crimson head roams and you’re down to “Caution.”
The game’s item system is somewhat interesting: you can examine items (which are essential to finding hidden items and solving certain puzzles), combine items together, among other things. However, once you’ve filled all your slots, you have to go find an item box, and there are only a few item boxes in the entire game. Which means sometimes you’ll have to do a lot of backtracking to put away some items and pull out some other ones essential to completing a certain segment.
You start out with a standard issue S.T.A.R.S. Beretta, but as you progress, you’ll find stuff like a Magnum revolver, a shotgun, and a grenade launcher (if you’re playing as Jill). As you get closer to the end of the game, you’re gonna find fewer zombies in the game, making your Beretta pistol useless except only in certain parts.
The game also has a multitude of endings. In order to get certain endings, the player must do certain requirements, and some of them even have the player make decisions to whether or not a character dies. These are nice, and let the player decide a character’s fate, and also ups the replay value.
Once you complete killing zombies, throughout the course of the game are puzzles for the player to complete. Most of these are just pushing a certain statue or something into a certain spot so you can get an item or open a new path. These are a nice breather from zombie killing.
Since the game takes a more serious tone, all the voice acting has been redubbed with new actors, and some of the lines sound a bit off, but others sound very good. Once again, this may annoy the purists of Resident Evil, who loved the original, corny Engrish lines. The game also features ambient music, which play during certain events, such as if zombies emerge from the window, or if you’re in the room where a puzzle takes place. It’s not distinctively memorable, but it fits the mood rather than something brash and loud.
Once you complete the game, you can unlock bonus outfits for Jill and Chris (such as Jill’s outfit from Resident Evil 3, or an outfit reminiscent of Sarah Connor from The Terminator), and be able to play the game in hard mode. There are also bonuses for beating the game under a certain time limit, and beating it under a certain skill level. This, coupled with the multiple endings, makes the player come back for certain bonuses, which ups the replay value.
Now, purists of Resident Evil may disown the remake since it’s not like a B-movie with corny lines and horrible delivery, but to be honest, it doesn’t make sense when the other games kept a more serious tone. This remake puts the game up to par with the later games in the series, and is a welcome addition to a Resident Evil fan’s collection.
Pros: Game changed from a B-movie to a more serious tone, good music, extra goodies and multiple endings
Cons: Zombies resurrect as “Crimson Heads” if the player doesn’t decapitate or burn them, control scheme’s a bit wonky, the fixed camera angles make it hard to see things, Holding only a certain number of items means having to go back and forth to save rooms and item boxes constantly.