Gaming’s most famous mansion hits the PS4…
I got my hands on the Gamecube REmake of Resident Evil back in 2002, and at the time I thought it was the best looking game I’ve ever seen. 13 years on and I still find it a beautiful game to look at, especially this new remastered version that lets those who missed out on the REMake to take it all in.
This remastered version is true to the Gamecube REmake; essentially it’s just a shiner, prettier version. It still has the door animations, fixed camera angles and the controls are more or less the same, Chris and Jill still handle like tanks and the shooting isn’t the most accurate…but it’s a game of survival and you’ll have more than your fair share to contend with, not just zombies…but gigantic spiders, rabid dogs, crows, bees, a massive snake (no pun intended) and of course, the loveable Lisa Trevor.
The story follows the S.T.A.R.S squad who are sent to investigate the missing Bravo team and run to the Spencer Mansion to escape from the rabid dogs chasing them, depending on who you choose to play as, the game plays out differently. For example, if you pick Jill then Chris will go missing, and vice versa. If there’s one thing I forgot while playing, it was how many puzzles the game had beforehand and I did get stumped a few times, the mansion and other areas are pretty big and confusing to get around. I did get lost a lot; I can’t see myself getting the trophy for finishing the game in less than 3 hours anytime soon!
How does it hold up compared to games today? Well, you can see it’s dated in its design. Chris can only carry 6 items, while Jill can hold 8. But these include ammo, health packs, guns and any particular items you need to solve puzzles, as well as keys. This results in a lot of running back and forth to your item boxes that are scattered over the mansion to regain/deposit items you need or to free up space. Luckily the items transport between the other boxes, at least on the easier difficulties. Those crazy enough to attempt a hard playthrough will have to remember what item boxes contain what items.
Like I said before, the game looked great back in 2002 and this remake is just as amazing to look at. I did notice a few errors with the subtitles like words being jumbled together, but it’s such a small issue it’s barely worth mentioning. The framerate never seems to dip and the load times are really small, I’d wager they weren’t really needed for the door animations in this remastered version, but kept more for nostalgia.
The Verdict
While it doesn’t add much new to Gamecube REmake, Resident Evil on PS4 looks superb, it has it’s issues with controls and backtracking, but overall it’s still a classic game that newcomers and veterans must try. It still remains one of the best survival horror games and one of the scariest too; I hope they remake RE2 and 3 at some point. Come on Capcom, make it happen!
