Resident Evil

The Good
Resident Evil: Rebirth, as it's called in Japan, is a complete remake of the original game, released for the PlayStation in 1996. Sporting new, and highly detailed character models, enemies, and backgrounds, Resident Evil is the best looking game on any system to date.

Graphics - Resident Evil cannot be beat in the graphics department. This game sports real-time lighting, real-time shadows, both on you and enemies, beautiful, high-res pre-rendered backgrounds, and accurate muzzle flashes. Lights will swing back and forth, causing shadows to move, blood will splash on the floor and on the wall, sometimes dripping, sometimes not, carpet textures can be seen through blood puddles depending on the brightness of the texture, and much more. Water effects are amazing, with accurate waves and ripples. The cutscenes are simply beautiful.

Sound - The sound is just as good as ever. Creepy, atmospheric, orchestrated music really lends to the overall atmosphere of the game. Sound cues will alert you to enemies, and disappear when an enemy is dead. Environment sounds are top notch as well. You can hear grass brush against your pants, moths hovering around a light, the sound of a lightbulb flickering. There are more then ten different footsteps, depending on the type of surface you're walking on, be it carpet, wood, metal or concrete. Water sounds amazingly realistic, with weapons and footsteps causing accurate splash noises.

Story - Resident Evil provides the same story as the original, but also divulges more with the addition of new files, re-worded files, and a whole new set of diary entries, the "George Trevor Diaries", from the person who built the mansion. The game is extremely story heavy, and plot twists and turns will be handed to you in the form of CG's and cutscenes.

What's New? - Fear not veterans, there is plenty of new things to keep you interested! One of them is the addition of defense items. You can now carry Dagger's (both characters), Flashbangs (Chris) or Tazers (Jill) for use on zombies. When a zombie grabs you, and you have a self defense item, you can get away unscathed by sticking a dagger in their head, shoving a flashbang in their mouth (and later detonating it), or giving them a shock. This allows you to get away without being hurt, giving you ample time to shoot or run away. There are also a bunch of new areas that you've never seen, such as the Abyss, the Forest, and the Death Mask Hut (which looks cooler then it sounds).

The Bad
While the graphics are top notch, the game doesn't support progressive scan, and there is the occasionally clipping problem, where your character's body will move "into" the wall, or go right through an item.

The dialogue, while improved, is still pretty bad. Some of the worst lines have been removed ("You, the MASTER of unlocking..."), the new dialogue is only partially better.

The Bottom Line
If you played any of the original Resident Evil games, or you like survival horror games, definitely give this game a try. If you haven't played a Resident Evil game, give this a rental, as it might be difficult for newcomers.