TOKYO: Video games are rarely allowed to age with grace. A scant number of titles — Super Mario World, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and Final Fantasy VI to name a few — sit upon a pedestal, free of scrutiny. By and large, the progress of time beleaguers the annals of gaming history.
The industry’s biggest strength as well as worst weakness is the need for improvement. Gameplay mechanics that are the calling card of a series can ameliorate. The graphics of an older console fade and are shunned in lieu of more powerful hardware. Progress is the goal.
No game proves to be a better example of this than Capcom’s survival horror classic Resident Evil. Released in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, the Japanese-developed action game paved the way for 3D adventure and horror titles. Since then, the series has spawned a bevy of sequels, spin-offs, feature films, and imitators.
The original Resident Evil was given an update in 2002 with a remake on the Nintendo GameCube, dubbed REMake by fans. Overhauling the art design, voice acting, and large chunks of gameplay, REMake was widely loved and respected. Progression had improved a beloved, if flawed game.
Capcom has gone back to the well with a high-definition remastering of the 2002 remake. Despite an HD makeover, Resident Evil is the same game it was in 1996 and 2002, for better and worse. Despite a beautiful graphical overhaul, RE suffers from a lack of updates to tired gameplay mechanics and design.
Resident Evil is a classic for a reason: the title was the first game to successfully bring exploration and horror into a 3D world. Set in 1998, the game follows the exploits of Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, special forces agents stranded in a massive mansion in the mountains of Colorado.
Each playable character has their own unique twist on the same story. Investigating the Spencer Estate mansion, horrors such as zombies and biological monstrosities await within the claustrophobic halls of the manor. Even in 2015, Resident Evil is still one of the best examples of the survival horror genre done right. Many games in the modern era have struggled with the core of what makes a game scary. Resident Evil relies on atmosphere and tension, making the mansion itself a character in this story for survival.
Make no mistake, REMake is tense and terrifying. An air of foreboding wafts over every step taken. A single wrong decision can lead to a swift demise. Even with weapons such as shotguns and grenade launchers, it is easy to get overwhelmed because of indecision caused by stress and terror.
The game’s outstanding upgraded visuals add to the horror. The 2002 remake had already made the original game into a beauty to behold. The new HD version has taken the improvements further. The PC version runs at a smooth 60 frames per second and all versions have a widescreen mode, opening up even more of the screen. The backgrounds are rendered in 1080p, making each area of the mansion a work of art and a drastic improvement over the PS1 and GameCube era.
Despite the visual remastering, Resident Evil suffers most from an inability to update the gameplay in a compelling way. The HD remaster has a new, optional control scheme allowing for free movement in any direction, replacing the “tank-like” controls of the original. This is where improvements come to a halt.
The limited and inane inventory system is cumbersome. Players can only save their progress in specific rooms, requiring possession of a limited item to do so. Combat controls are iffy at best, with attacks sometimes missing outright. A key takes up as much inventory space as a rocket launcher. The list of archaic gameplay mechanics is staggering.
