Well if it isn’t an HD remake of the grandparent of the survival-horror series that was Resident Evil, released back in 1996 when full-motion cut-scenes involving actors mostly made of ham were seen as a pretty nifty idea. Actually, it isn’t. Instead it’s a remake of the Nintendo GameCube remake of Resident Evil that was released in 2002, then in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii.
That remake replaced those meat-filled cut-scenes with stylishly unamusing computer-generated imagery and ever so slightly more professionally delivered dialogue, extra puzzles and extended areas, but kept the static pre-drawn backdrops. Oddly, considering its lineage, this remake of a remake won’t be appearing on the Wii U despite appearing on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well as Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC – and despite Nintendo’s console blatantly being up for the job.
It’s a Nintendo-shy remake of a Nintendo-borne remake, then, or a non-Nintendo remastering of an exclusively Nintendo remake if you prefer. That mostly means a number of improvements designed to bring its sound, controls and visuals up to a modern standard, but sadly none that bring back those original FMV clips and the extra portion of absolute cheese that they provided. Most importantly it will feature a resolution upgrade and so run at 1080p, though not on last-gen consoles that will instead have to deal with a 720p resolution that we now know causes blindness in lab animals.
The original (remake) came out so long ago that it was solely designed for those ancient and now practically impossible to imagine televisions that had a 4:3 screen ratio, so at least all versions will enjoy a full and optional 16:9 widescreen experience. To do that, further alterations have had to be made that involve the camera being zoomed in to old but now redrawn scenes, then raised or lowered to follow either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine as they walk up or down.
All dialogue and sound effects have also been remastered to work with 5.1 sound systems, but it’s the new controls that will really chime with those who’ve never played a classic Resi Evil game before. Back in the days before games understood how people moved, you see, you’d have to steer characters like ships clumsily sailing through rooms full of zombies.
These days you get more realistic human movement from robotic vacuum cleaners and, so as not to cause alarm to younger players, it will also be possible to move your chosen member of STARS by simply pushing the analogue stick in the direction you wish them to move. Had you demonstrated that trick to a Resi player in 1996 you’d have been burned for being a witch. Well, at least if you demonstrated it to a lost Amazonian tribe that had never seen Mario 64 in action.
While we would have preferred a complete reboot directed by original director Shinji Mikami, having another chance to revisit the Resident Evil remake is certainly welcome. It might even still be frightening, and for all the right reasons.
FORMAT: PS3, PS4, X360, Xone, PC
PUBLISHER: Capcom
DEVELOPER: Capcom
RELEASED: Early 2015
ONLINE: No