Resident Evil

Forget the movie for a second. "Resident Evil," the game, works just as well theatrically as it does in terms of gameplay -- it's an addictive experience with haunting visuals, a creepy perfectly suited score and tense, suspense-building action that propels into bloody gore.

I've never felt so nervous and sweaty while playing an RPG before. This is the type of game that builds up all the tension until finally, out of nowhere, a zombie appears and it really freaks you out. Unlike the film, it takes its time getting to where it's going and works well as such. The only game I've ever felt as paranoid playing in the past was "Aliens vs. Predators 2," which in the marine campaign was really scary and took its time delivering the action.

Don't get me wrong. I thought the "Resident Evil" movie bashers were overly-cruel. It was, after all, just a silly action movie and worked as such entertainment.

But the game is better.

Much better.

Nine years later it still packs a bloody punch and is one of the best games ever. I'd rank it in the top ten.

Best of all? It's got brains, too. It doesn't just require a quick trigger finger.

Highly, highly recommended.

I remember fondly I was at a friend's house looking at a rental copy of Resident Evil one hot summer day in 1996. I wasn't familiar with Playstation, as I was ignorant of the next-generation consoles (partly because I couldn't afford $300+ price tag). Resident Evil, along with Initial D and Battle Arena Toshinden, were the first PSX games I played. Actually, I observed a friend or two play these games since I was new to the world of Playstation, and I was still a loyal Super Nintendo fan at the time.

After playing Initial D, which I wasn't impressed with despite its cool computer-generated cinematic moments, I watched a friend pop in a copy and play Resident Evil. I thought that game looked strange as I've never seen it before - a 3-D environment with a playable character facing the first zombie using only a knife and there were bursts of blood. I was very impressed and wanted to play it after a friend's character dies from zombie bite attack.

The first time I started, I watched a very entertaining yet cheesy introduction sequence in live FMV. I figured this looks like a seriously fun game. After the chatter with Albert Wesker in the beginning, I encountered a zombie eating Kenneth. When the first zombie walks towards the character to grab him to bite I was seriously scared. I've never been this scared playing a video game before, and it was an incredible accomplishment - the groundbreaking gaming moment of 1996. I knew Resident Evil was this great.

Resident Evil is an incredible game in polygon 3-D environment and convincing pre-rendered backgrounds. In fact the bright, illuminated hallways and rooms gave it a very tense atmosphere reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. That made me nervous playing the game looking around the corner to avoid zombies popping out of the corners.

The story is very well-plotted with memorable characters, monsters and twists, albeit with awful dialogues. But that's what made it feel like a campy horror movie as a video game.

Quite frankly, Resident Evil is one of the best video game moments I've ever had in my life because of the wonderful feelings I had the first time I played. I finally bought a PlayStation console and a pre-owned copy of Resident Evil on my 18th birthday later that year. Resident Evil completely changed the way I perceive how video games can accomplish - immerse yourself into the video game world - something that The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy series achieved to a certain extent but not yet whole.

I'm now one of the devoted Resident Evil fans and I look back to the introduction of the first game with a nostalgic sense of wonder.

one of the best games in the world to date,and still going strong,this has paved the way for games such as parasite eve and silent hill in my opinion,resident evil truly is a classic,from the graphics,to the suspense of walking down a dimly lit corridor,with eerie music being played in the background,wondering whether you heard the squelch of a footstep behind you,to the plot of the games(i'm not going to give anything away!).sure enough there are flaws (the dialogue is atrocious,but it doesn't bother me) but every game has flaws,i've bought near enough every resi game thats followed on from this,and will carry on to do so,i'm hooked! amazing 10/10 :)

This game is a classic, a gem, one in which is very hard to find. The Storyline isn't a rip-off,the Mansion is so creepy you want to memorize every inch of it, and the Suprises scare you each time you play. There are very few other modern Horror games that are worth playing. Some great oldies are Snatcher, Alone In The Dark, Rise of the Dragon, and Night Trap. Snatcher is,in my opinion, the best ever, of the Videogame horror genre, but it is hard to find, because it is solely a Sega CD/PC videogame. In Terms of Resident Evil, the first is the best, the 3rd is 2nd best, and Code Veronica is 3rd best. Resident Evil 2 is interesting,yes, but I have never cared for it's characters much. This series is one of the very few reasons I still play Playstation.

"Biohazard Director`s Cut"(called "Resident Evil" outside of Japan) contains three different versions of "Biohazard". The first version is exactly the same as the first game, the second one is the same as the first game but a lot easier, and the third version is what this game is all about: the re-arranged version. In this version there is quite a few changes that`ll please veterans. The two main-characters now have a new set of clothes, some of the camera-angles have been changed, some new dialogue is put in there, the clothing on some of the walls have changed, there are more zombies and monsters and all the items in the game are to be found at different places. All these changes have been made to make the game as different from the original as possible, and it is a huge success. I love "Biohazard" and I was very pleased to learn that a director`s cut-version of the game was coming out. If you already got the first game, and aren`t particularly fond of it, you shouldn`t really buy this game, but if you love the original game, this is worth picking up, and remember that the game comes with a playable demo of "Biohazard 2". 10/10