Resident Evil
- Resident Evil (2002 on GameCube, 2008 on Wii, 2015 on Windows...)
Description official descriptions
A team of S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics And Rescue Squad) members are called to investigate a series of murders near Raccoon City. While searching the woods near the city, the team is attacked by bloodthirsty dogs and they have to retreat to a nearby mansion.
The player chooses between Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield and starts to explore the mansion. It soon becomes very clear that it isn't just any mansion, but a hellish place where the undead walk the corridors, and other horrors are lurking in the darkness, waiting to eat some heads. While solving puzzles, collecting keys, and shooting monsters, the player has to unravel the mystery behind this mansion and, if possible, get out alive.
Exclusive to the SEGA Saturn version is a Battle Mode bonus mode, where, with limited ammo and under the threat of limited time, the player must survive a series of rooms filled with monsters.
Spellings
- バイオハザード - Japanese spelling
- 惡靈古堡 - Chinese spelling (traditional)
- 生化危机 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
Groups +
- Biohazard / Resident Evil series
- Boss Fight Books games
- Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
- Games made into books
- Games made into comics
- Games made into movies
- HUDless games
- Live action cut-scenes
- PlayStation Platinum Range releases
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Setting: 1990s
- Setting: Future now past
- Theme: Law enforcement
- Theme: Zombies
- Video games turned into board / card games
- White Label releases
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (PlayStation version)
94 People (90 developers, 4 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 85% (based on 54 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 222 ratings with 13 reviews)
Not the original survival horror title, but the one that re-defined it.
The Good
Resident Evil was probably the first game that I found to be truly terrifying. The visuals displayed beautifully rendered rooms and corridors with realtime 3d monsters that make your skin crawl. Music is, for the most part, wonderfully orchestrated haunting melodies and sharp, shock inducing starts that make you jump out of your seat.
A lot of fears and phobias have been addressed. Hate spiders? You'll find giant ones in here not to mention all the sharks, snakes and zombies you'll encounter.
The events are generally interesting enough to keep you going but it's the environments that really push you forward because it's always thrilling to see what comes next (I won't spoil them for you.)
Gameplay wise there's a lot of adventuring to do and the exploration and battles are good enough to keep you glued to the screen for hours.
The Bad
The voice acting has gone down in history as some of the worst acting ever in a video game and with good cause. The dialogue and delivery are both horrible and inappropriate. The story is fairly weak and the combat system is fiddly at times.
Lastly, the puzzles are far too simplistic for my tastes and have clearly been aimed at the common console gamer. There are very few exceptions to this rule and most of the time you'll only get stuck if you forgot where the door was that you have to unlock with the key you found.
The Bottom Line
Resident Evil is a great Survival Horror title which, while being surpassed by it's numerous sequels, has a certain atmosphere about it that none of the titles since have ever been able to replicate.
PlayStation · by Sycada (177) · 2002
The Good
This is a review where I would like start straight off at the bad section, but anyway, Resident Evil is surprisingly similar to Alone in the Dark, which is mainly the good to say about the game. I loved the AitD series, so it's nice to play something similar. It's just too bad everything is pale in comparison. Resident Evil has better graphics though, that's one plus.
The Bad
Okay, you've probably heard this a million times but I have to say it... this game has perhaps the worst voice acting ever heard in a game before. The game would perhaps be better off being text only. The storyline is to puke of, it's full of cliches and there's nothing original or new to be seen, the game would be much better off being without it... at least then the player could decide for himself why the zombies were in the game instead of hearing the horrible explanation the game has. The game also fails where just about all console games fail... almost no options, cutscenes impossible to skip, redudant save system, and yada yada...
The game isn't exactly any much scary... at least, there was no time I jumped out of my chair. The puzzles are just a mere joke, they can't even be called puzzles, more like "fetch item A and combine it with item B, puzzle solved", they're extremely obvious and simple, and those which aren't are simply frustrating in the way there's no good hints given and being just illogical. And the game is perhaps a bit too combat oriented.
The Bottom Line
You'll perhaps be surprised when I say this, but I actually enjoyed the game. The first time through it was nice enough... I'm a big AitD fan so I guess that's the only real reason why I liked it. It's no game I'd like to recommend, it's far too "light" and simple, go and play the original Alone in the Dark series instead.
PlayStation · by Kate Jones (416) · 2001
"The logo that started it all"
The Good
When was the last time you ever brought a Playstation and start thinking a title that defined taking the pages out of every horror movie?
For starters, I never heard of a video game titled "Resident Evil" before. I know it stands for BIOHAZARD in Japanese, but I will never ever forget the great and wonderful work the big bad guys of Capcom introduced to the genre called "Survival Horror." But "Resident Evil" killed it! It has great cutscenes, including my favorite moment in the beginning of the game, when you play Jill Valentine trying to investigate through a haunted police station until all of a sudden, a vicious type of zombie dog came though the window and I was totally freaked out. It's like "Saw" meets "Friday the 13th."
The characters are outstanding. My favorite "Resident Evil" character was Albert Wesker. He was the Hannibal Lecter of evil geniuses. When he starts making a eerie grin on his face, you know that something bad is going to happen when it comes to flesh-eating zombies and disgusting creatures.
The Bad
Although I had a few problems on how the game starts, here's how the game almost lost its mark:
Voice Acting: This was a bad example of dialogues in a video game. Remember when Barry used to say to Jill: "Jill, Here's a lockpick. It might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you." I wasn't sure what that means but as far as I concern, he should be taking shooting lessons instead of stand-up comedy. I know Jill won the hearts by many critics and nicknamed her "The Master of Unlocking" or "The First Female Protagonist of a horror game," but Barry is by far the utmost worst character in Capcom history.
Another bad idea in the game is the "You Died" or "You Are Dead" game over screens. I hope Capcom should get rid of those pesky screens. What happens when your ammo is running out and there's nowhere left to run with no safe rooms to save the game data and hordes of zombies shows up and you got eaten by brain food? I hope this will be the last time in every "Resident Evil" game with those restrictions to be disappointed by fans.
The Bottom Line
Everyone should revisit the same year that "Tomb Raider" got started. 15 years, more "Resident Evil" games coming out, 4 successful movies, a book series, everything. Man, I wish I was the only one stranded in the house playing the game for more than "an hour."
"Resident Evil" is not just the greatest franchise of all time, it's truly reminds me of a flashback of what makes horror so much fun. A truly, great classic and a masterpiece. That's what the first "Resident Evil" game was all about. "Resident Evil" is the greatest game of the Playstation Era.
PlayStation · by Kadeem Gomez (31) · 2011
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
What is your favorite Resident Evil? | TwoDividedByZero (114) | Apr 16, 2010 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Resident Evil appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Cancelled Port
Significant work on a port to Game Boy Color was completed before Capcom pulled the plug citing quality concerns. This port was a fairly direct adaptation of the original with characters moving about in 3D on prerendered backdrops.
Cut Content
- When originally released in the US and Europe (for the PlayStation), the game had several cuts in its cutscenes, and some death sequences. Thankfully the PC version (excluding the UK version) restores all the missing stuff and plays like the original Japanese release.
- The Japanese version had a color intro but in the Western release the intro was Black & White and was censored.
Dewey
Bravo Team's pilot, Dewey, was originally conceived as a thin African-American member of STARS who would've also served as the game's comic relief. He and another character named Gelzer (a giant man with cybernetic implants) were planned to appear in the game, but were discarded from the final version. The Edward Dewey in Biohazard 0 is a tall Caucasian and is a departure from the character's initial concept. The thin African-American 'comic-relief' character was eventually recycled into Jim from Resident Evil: Outbreak.
Ending
Along with the remake, this is the only Resident Evil to feature a "best-case-scenario" ending which does not elude to a possible sequel or spin-off and suggests that "everything is finally over". The reason for this is possibly because the company was uncertain how well the game would be received, so this game could stand on its own story-wise if it failed economically.
GameCube Remake
Completely redone for the Nintendo GameCube: includes better graphics, CG FMVs (rather than live-action), different item placement and other goodies. Part of the Resident Evil exclusive GameCube deal which includes ports of other instalments as well as Resident Evil Zero.
Inspiration
- Resident Evil was originally inspired by the Japanese game Sweet Home for Famicom (NES).
- The American film Night of the Living Dead was credited as inspiration for this, the first game in the series.
Japanese Voice-Acting
Although Japanese games with English text/dialogue are not uncommon, Resident Evil was originally intended to have Japanese dialogue for its domestic release. These were discarded before release, however, and to date the only Resident Evil media to not have spoken English in its home land has been Resident Evil: 4D Executer, a short movie that played over an "interactive ride" that was only shown in Japan.
Name Change
Originally entitled Biohazard, the game's name had to be changed to Resident Evil in US and European versions because of copyright issues - the name Biohazard was (and is) being used by an American metal band.
Novels and Movies
A book adaptation of this game was published in 1998 by Pocket Books, written by S.D. Perry and entitled The Umbrella Conspiracy, launching a seven-book series of novels by the same author adapting from the Resident Evil games (described under the individual games' trivia sections) and inspired by their themes and premises -- of those latter, notably number 2 in the series, 1998's Caliban Cove, and #4, Underworld, published in 1999.
A separate series of novels inspired by Resident Evil has been published in Japan:1. Biohazard: The Beginning (1997), by Hiroyuki Aniga; 2. Biohazard: The Beast of the North Sea (Biohazard Hokkai no Yôjû) (1998), by Kyu Asakura; 3. Biohazard: to the Liberty (2002), by Suiren Kimura; and 4. Biohazard: Rose Blank (2002), by Tadashi Aizawa.
Of course, the series has also inspired two movies starring Milla Jovovich: Resident Evil: Genesis and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, with which you are likely to be far more familiar, each of which also boasts novelizations of their own.
Parental Consent Trial
In 2002, St. Louis Judge Stephen Limbough reviewed a videotape of four games, in order to decide whether or not parental consent would have to be granted for children to purchase M-rated games. There was much hilarity online when the original Resident Evil, one of the four games, was incorrectly identified by the court and its reports as The Resident of Evil Creek. In the end, the judge's decision said the city could regulate video games because they were not free speech protected by the First Amendment.
References to the Game
This game is referenced in the Eiffel 65 song My Console.
Sales
According to publisher Capcom, Resident Evil has sold 2.75 million copies worldwide since its initial release (as of June 30, 2016).
Sega Saturn Release
The Japanese Sega Saturn release of Biohazard does indeed contain the uncensored introduction but it is still monochrome. Joseph's death is extended and there are shots of the Cerberi being torn to pieces by the gunshots.
Awards
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
- May 1996 (Issue 82) - Game of the Month
- March 1997 (Issue 92) - Adventure Game of the Year runner-up (PlayStation / Saturn version) + PlayStation Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) + Adventure Game of the Year runner-up (PlayStation version) (Readers' Choice) + Game of the Year runner-up (All Systems) (PlayStation version) (Readers' Choice)
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #1 (Readers' Top 10 Games of All Time) (PSX version)
- 1998 Buyer's Guide - Worst Voice Acting Runner-Up
- Retro Gamer
- October 2004 (Issue #9) – #37 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
Information also contributed by Ace of Sevens, Andrew Pine, J. Michael Bottorff , Kyle Levesque, Lain Crowley, Matthew Bailey, MegaMegaMan, Oyn, Pseudo_Intellectual, Sciere and Tiago Jaques
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Related Sites +
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Resident Evil Fan
With tons of videos, artwork, interviews and a Resident Evil encyclopedia, this fansite contains everything that the passionate fan could ask for. -
Wikipedia: Resident Evil
Information about Resident Evil at Wikipedia
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Matthew Bailey.
SEGA Saturn added by Kartanym.
Additional contributors: Trixter, Zovni, Unicorn Lynx, tarmo888, Foxhack, Alaka, DreinIX, —-, Paulus18950, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.
Game added March 27, 2000. Last modified March 8, 2024.