Let me be the first one to get on top of a soap box and tell you the million reasons why the original Resident Evil deserves a spot among the greats in video game history. This 1996 horror survival/puzzle game blew away both players and sales charts in numerous countries. Just think about the vast number of Resident Evil games, movies, novels, comics… you name it. Resident Evil/Biohazard is a monstrous franchise almost 19 years later to this day. Just how many times do we really need a remake of this classic though?
What’s the saying about letting a sleeping dog lie? If you mess with a classic too many times, doesn’t it become corrupted? While I love the original PlayStation version of Resident Evil, I fully admit that the voice acting was terrible and the graphics don’t hold up today compared to what were capable of. But that doesn't matter. While the voice acting is horrendous, it’s also classic and memorable. The graphics don’t hold up today but how could they? We’re talking about a game that was made 18 years ago. Much like the voice acting, these graphics are all part of the nostalgia and were great at the time. Why mess with a good thing?
A direct port is one thing. Is allowing the classic to be brought over to new consoles so fans can play it on what is current really a crime? Of course not. Well… while we’re making a direct port, we might as well tinker with the graphics a bit for the new power. Might as well add a new mode or two as well, after all, longtime fans will want something new – right? The voice acting was sort of weak, let’s recast all the voice actors. While we’re at it, why not add some Easter Eggs from more recent Resident Evil titles now that they exist to reveal how they are linked. Ahhh, perfect!
That’s me playing the extremist devil’s advocate, yet, a lot of that is kind of accurate. Merely a year and a half after the original was released in the US March of 1996, we got the Director’s Cut only a year and half later. While this move was to compensate for the sequel folks were chomping at the bit for, what was given to the public was something truly interesting. This Director’s Cut ended up being sort of this delightful trolly version of what the fans already new. Graphics and gameplay reminded the same, but your knowledge of the game was completely thrown out the window. Costumes, puzzles, items, objects, order… they were all swapped to give players a “new” experience in the same game.
Not even a year later we’re looking at Resident Evil: Director’s Cut DualShock Ver. As the very title of this game suggests, the point of this remake was to add DualShock control functionality. This isn’t something to roll your eyes at. Adding analog stick controls to the classically oppressive ‘tank controls’ of Resident Evil is a big deal. The controller's vibration functionality for warnings and jump scares – not to mention a new score, was a pretty big deal. This version later came out on PS3, PSP, and became a digital downloadable title on PSN – you know, in case it wasn’t released enough already.
Even before the DualShock version came a port to the Sega Saturn. This is where the game started adding mini games such an enemy elimination mode – I guess a sort of predecessor to future Mercenaries Mode of modern Resident Evil games. Then in 1999 the survival horror game made its way to the PC for first time. Now we’re playing a four-year old game with 3D accelerator power and some more outfits for Jill and Chris because why not?
Some years went by with more chronological games being added to the franchise, but then in 2002 something magical happened. Nintendo and Capcom jumped into bed further than ever before, some sexy stuff went down, and out popped Resident Evil (2002) for GameCube. This is the remake of remakes. What we’re looking at here is a brand new recreation of the environment you once knew and made them, well, pretty. The gameplay remained nearly the same but everything just looked better. Even new story information was added to make the game easier to follow. This version was later ported to the Wii in 2008. The MOST recent remake is this version in coming January 20th 2015 in HD for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC-Steam.
To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Resident Evil, a Deadly Silence version was released on the Nintendo DS. This versions went nuts with modern technology adding touch-screen elements. We’re talking about a “Classic Mode,” “Rebirth mode,” new puzzles – involving knife fights, and multiplayer modes. This version became the ultimate hodgepodge of everything in the last decade of gaming. While I dig the direction of the GameCube remake, this specific version went too far.
Alright, so here we are back in 2015 with a ‘brand new’ HD remake coming out in only a few days. So we’re talking about a transition from PlayStation era polygons to GameCube level remake goodness, into the (current) final form of GameCube built in high definition. That’s quite the journey but at the same time completely logical for a classic transcending nearly 19 years of existence, ports, and remakes. So is this too much for a single game? Sleeping dogs idiom? More the merrier?
Here’s the thing, as mentioned numerous times, Resident Evil is a classic. It’s true that all the remakes are taking the game further and further from the original. The first time I heard Barry not say “that was too close, you were almost a Jill sandwich” part of my childhood died forever. On the other side of this, the HD version of the GameCube version looks absolutely stunning. The game even offers circular, modern, controls instead of tyrannical tank controls of yore as an option. I like this direction. Leave aspects like the tank controls to the masochists as an option – this way the new school and old school players can both be happy with the evolution.
So do we NEED another remake of Resident Evil? Probably not. Am I going to play the hell out of this HD remake? Absolutely. That’s the thing with classics you grew up, there will always be a near magnetic pull towards them. Hell, if a remastered Final Fantasy VII or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out tomorrow, how many fans would sell their souls to play that? Countless. Nostalgia makes us happy. By giving us a game we’ve played a million times, with amazing graphics, on the newest consoles, filled new/old age options, at a low launch price – you’ve done it right Capcom. Give me access to the old voice acting and I couldn’t be happier. Will this HD remake be the last we see of Resident Evil? My educated guess says no.
