Pros: Everything about the series.
Cons: No light gun support for Survivor.

Mission Statement: To provide an overall opinion of The Resident Evil Series.

General Topics: Storyline, Game Control System, Graphics, etc.

Method of Review: A very opinionated look, that will not even entertain the idea of a better series existing, ever.



Welcome to the world of survival horror... Let me give you a brief background of my "love affair" with this highly frightening, completely consuming, somewhat disturbing, always entertaining series.

Years ago a friend loaned me his Playstation to take for a test drive in order to help me decide between buying Sony's system or a Nintendo 64. He sent me home with the PS, and a wide assortment of fighting games, racers, and a helicopter flight simulator. While I had his system, another friend stopped by with what he called "A totally new kind of game, it's a little scary, and totally whacked out!" This game was called Resident Evil, and would single handedly transform me from your average "Jarhead" into a total game geek. It severely wounded my social life, I just couldn't quit playing long enough to leave the house, and was responsible for me living off of potatoe chips, microwaved burritoes, flat coke, and beer for days at a time.

Needless to say, I bought a Playstation, and a copy of this awesome game. Fortunately, my obsession doesn't stop there. Because of this series I have also purchased a Nintendo 64 for the upcoming Resident Evil Zero, and a Dreamcast for the absolutely killer Resident Evil: Code Veronica. I know, I need help. I didn't realize how seriously addicted to this series I was until I saw it in writing!

If you are new to the world of survival horror, let me give you a little information concerning this genre of games. You take control of a character trying to "survive" being placed in a deadly situation. In the case of the Resident Evil series a strange, experimental virus has caused people to metamorhasize into zombies, plants have turned into canibalistic monstrosities, and dogs, birds, and bats are now blood hungry scavengers. Survival Horror games are geared towards making you jump out of your seat, strangle the game controller in a white-knuckled death grip, and leave your muscles aching, stomach churning, from the tension!

If anyone is still awake and reading this let me get to the series itself. This series has been produced by Capcom, a company that is highly renowned for its fighting games. There are basically 3 games in the series: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Other Resident Evil games that I don't really consider part of the series, because they don't really follow the storyline include what I consider a "side story" Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, a newly released light gun game, that doesn't include light gun support in the U.S. (I'll explain later) Resident Evil Surviver, and a gameboy color game.

Geez, this review is getting long! If anyone actually reads this far into the review drop me a comment, it'll surprise the hell out of me! Here are my thoughts on the more important information pertaining to each game:

Resident Evil: This is the game that started it all and was released for the Playstation only. You take control of either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, with Jill's game being a little easier. I suggest it as an introduction to the playing style. You are members of an elite group of combat specialists known as S.T.A.R.S., and find yourself investigating reports of strange happenings in Racoon Forest. The game begins when you reach a creepy looking mansion and the team gets split up.

This game has, by far, the worst graphics and voice acting of the series, but it is still an awesome story and well worth playing through (again and again). This game offers tons of cool weapons, some really great puzzles, and totally chaotic game play. The voice acting gives the game a very B-Movie feel, and I love it! Classic lines include stuff like "I'm the master of un-locking." Really cheesy stuff when put into context. The control system of this series has a high learning curve if you are a new gamer, but a little persistence will have you blasting zombies like there's no tomorrow.

Resident Evil 2: The second game of the series was origionally released for the PS and later ported to the N64. Resident Evil 2 provided us with more of the same excellently crafted storyline, but with a few new features, better graphics, and 2 new faces. You could play as Claire Redfield, looking for her MIA brother Chris, or Leon Kennedy, a rookie Racoon City Police Force member who arrives in the city only to be greeted by hordes of decaying corpes mindlessly wandering the streets looking for a bite to eat! Later in the game you get to control two other characters, one is a small child who faces the evil unarmed!

This title gives you the opportunity to explore a small part of Racoon City and introduced the "zapping" system. This "zapping" system forces you to make several decisions during the first characters scenario that will effect the gameplay during the second scenario. "Should I leave this item for Leon?" he may need it later, that type of thing. What you do in one scenario directly effects the other.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis I stated earlier that this seems like a side story. To explain: I feel that you could skip this game and not really miss anything important pertaining to the saga as a whole. I definitely don't recommend skipping it though, it's entertaining, adds some new moves, and there's a huge monster chasing you through the whole game!

In this installment of the series you once again take control of Jill Valentine. She has resigned from the S.T.A.R.S. team and your quest is a journey to escape a severely overpopulated (by zombies, of course) Racoon City. There are a few new moves (dodge, quick turn-around, map button) and the Tyrant chasing you, but all in all the gameplay remains the same.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica: This game has only been released on the Dreamcast, and as far as I know isn't planned to be ported to any other console (The Playstaion 2 maybe?). You begin this game as Claire Redfield searching for Chris. The setting is a remote lab in Europe. The game play is the same as the other titles in the series and the mood remains dark, mysterious, and frightening. Later you take control of Chris and journey to the Antartic.

The story is interesting and well written. The action is totally up to par for the series. But what really sets this game apart from the rest is the graphical power of the Dreamcast. Character animations are smooth, lighting effects are cool, and the backgrounds are gorgeous.

Resident Evil Survivor: This is basically a first person shooter, meant to be played with a light gun, released on the Playstation. Due to the recently growing outbreaks of violence in America Capcom weaseled out of any potential problems by not incorporating light gun support into the U.S. version of the game. With this said, let me state that I have not, nor do I plan on purchasing this game, unless a way to play it as it was intended is made accessible to the U.S. gamers. I have read in certain magazines that the Bleem! for Dreamcast will allow you to play import Playstation games. If this game is supported and I am able to play it with a light gun I'll be the first in line to import a copy!

Summary: It's late, I'm tired, and you guys that are still with me are probably bored of reading this by now, so I'll hurry up and finish. This series is above all my favorite of any genre, it even kills the Final Fantasy series in my mind! If you are looking for intense action, creepy chills, and a "bloody" good time, pop in any game from this series. Turn off the lights and enjoy. Just don't say you weren't warned if you find your heart racing and your veins bulging out of your neck!

These games have received a much deserved "M" rating from the ESRB and are not intended for small children, drunken giraffes, or even the most courageos penguin in the world.


Rum...