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Dom Robinson reviews
Capcom 
- Price: £39.99
- Players: 1
- Widescreen: No
- NTSC 60Hz: Yes
- DTS sound: No
The Resident Evil serieshas long-built a solid reputation on complex puzzles, strange camera angles,creepy crawlies and eerie locations. I loved the first game, especially. Itwas one of the few games, along withThief II: The Metal Age,both of which really scared the shit out of me when playing late at night withthe sound system turned up louder than it should be. Thesecondwas fun, but I didn’t play it through all the way with both combinations ofcharacters. Gamesthree (Nemesis) andfour (Code Veronica)bored me silly because, by then, it was more of the same and the plodding aroundsoon became dull with a complete lack of excitement of any kind whatsoever.
Then, on the original Playstation, Capcom via Eidos, released what was meant tobe a combination of the famed series and the House of the Deadshooter-on-rails,Resident Evil: Survivor.It sounded like an intriguing proposition, but turned into the dullest gameI’ve ever played, and also the only game I can remember which actually put meto sleep – literally!
So, this new game had a lot to live up to. I never got to play last year’s PS2title, Resident Evil: Survivor 2: Code Veronica, a shooter version ofthe Dreamcast adventure, but figured that by now they might have got thingsright. Who knows… perhaps there’s no actual way to do it without making itlook too much like aHouse of the Dead IIIripoff?
Upon starting my first game, one thing I instantly noticed was how you can only- extremely annoyingly – move the gun-sight horizontally. You cannot look upand down and this immediately indicates how limited this title is about tobecome. I also had to use the standard PS2 controller as this game does notsupport the original G-con controller, mainly because you have to move aroundinbetween blasting away.
That’s presuming you have something to shoot at. Early on in the game, there’slots of bodies lying around but only one or two actually try and have a gowhile you find this key or that electronic keycard, along with bullets aplenty.If you can sustain the boredom thus far, then they all seem to jump up and headyour way. You may not find enough bullets, but on the medium level of difficultyI at least managed to find ample sustinence with which to regain my strength.
On an audio-visual scale, the graphics are not a great deal to shout about -not terrible but not particularly outstanding either. As for the sound, theship creaks (oh, I forgot to mention you’re on a deserted cruise ship) andthe zombies moan and groan at you like a multiple orgasm being played at thewrong speed. Or perhaps they’ve just received their VISA bill since havingpaid full price for this tosh.
To summarise, this is more like a normal Resident Evil game, but without therestrictive camera angles and with the first-person shooting element inbetweenthe third-person wandering about. The storyline is incredibly lame and there’slittle difference in the enemies you face – just groaning full-height adultsto kill. At least the adventure-style games had enemies of differing statureand the ability to shoot high and low.
As your starting man, Bruce McGivern, hold your gun up high in a defensiveposition while staggering back and forth and you’ll look like a Spanish dancerwalking about. Ole! For those looking variety, you might find it inthe Chinese government agent Fongling, if you make it that far.
Rent this if you must, but at least try before you buy.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.