Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 53

53: Resident Evil (remake) (Gamecube)
Developer: Capcom
Year: 2002

I think I’ve played through the original Resident Evil game at least a dozen times, in all its versions. I’d rented the second game on N64 and needed to know what the game was like in its first incarnation. So I rented the original and beat it twice, then rented the dual shock version and, again, beat it twice. By the time this game came out and I’d beaten it twice, there were the first six times I’d blasted through it. Since then I’ve tackled the Gamecube remake enough times to make up for the other half, with its increasing difficulty levels and new challenges to overcome. To say that the Resident Evil on Gamecube is the best remake of a video game ever is simple and accurate. And no top 100 list would be complete without the most important survival horror game of all time on it in some form.

The first game’s plot should – hopefully – need no introduction; if you’ve played any of the subsequent games (in particular Code Veronica and/or RE5) then you’ve had your refresher course on Umbrella, Wesker, the T-Virus, and the Spencer Mansion. But, for those of you who don’t know, the game’s plot can be explained in very simple terms: A pharmaceutical company has secret, underground bases in which it conducts biological warfare-based experimentation on plants, animals, and – you guessed it – humans. One of the samples gets out and GULP! there are zombies loose outside Raccoon City. Chris, Jill, Barry, and the gang (all members of S.T.A.R.S., a top-tier recon and action squad of police officers) head out into the mountains and uncover conspiracies, monsters of all sizes, and that the evil looking guy that wears sunglasses ALL THE TIME is, in fact, evil. While the Gamecube version doesn’t really touch the plot, here, it does tie up some loose ends (such as the case of Lisa Trevor, but more on her in a bit) and fixes up the scripting that was, shall we say, as pitiful as Wesker the first time around.

Let’s look into the major thing that sets this game apart from the original, then: the graphics. Here is just a simple example of the different in visuals:

original

remake

Here we have to images of the same shot from the game’s first moments. You can easily tell which one is the better looking game. And while static images don’t really do the game justice, it should be noted that spending time comparing monsters on Google’s image search results in an understanding; they took their time, here. But the monsters, while very impressive looking in comparison, are cool, the environments got the real face-lift, now featuring much better looking, almost picturesque pre-rendered backdrops and rooms. Some of the best looking areas in any game I’ve ever played are featured in the end sections of this game and, when paired with the incredible detail to the models of characters, it creates a whole new game, entirely. The new lighting effects and camera angles add to this, too, in staggering ways.

The gameplay changes, too, are of note, here. They’ve included a number of features in this remake that are found in games that came after the original, including having visual indicators as to your character’s health and the ability to do 180-degree turns easily. These things are small, right out, but help make the game better. Of course, the primary core of the game – exploration and zombie killing – remains mostly unchanged, with some rooms, puzzles, keys, and monsters out of place or altered enough to make the experience fresh for veterans of the genre. But the coolest part is the inclusion of the Trevor family legacy; a new, unkillable boss monster, Lisa is an alarming terror and something to be avoided, a la Nemesis, but in her own way. Add to this zombies that get back up if not burned (Crimson Heads!) and you’ve got enough gameplay alterations to make it enjoyable to anyone that’s already finished the game billions of times.

All in all, Resident Evil games barely get better than this (although I have two titles in the franchise that I’ve placed higher on this list!) and while its fair to debate over which – the original or the remake – is really the best version of the first title in the series, I have to stick with the Gamecube version if for no other reason than the fact that the game, a bloody and disgusting game with murder and zombies eating people alive, showed up on the Nintendo system in a time in which everyone and their dog accused the company of only producing games for small children. Don’t let your 5-year-old play ANY Resident Evil title, is my recommendation, least of all this one.

Classic Moment:
You know those dogs are going to burst through that window… you’ve played this game a dozen times already, and you know they’re gonna burst through that window. Go at a snail’s pace because they are totally coming through that… win… where are the dogs? Hm. They must not come through anymore. OK, let’s just move on down the hall and round this corner. Cool. I was worried about those dogs. What a baby I was. I’m almost through this hall with no worries. Dogs. Pffft. What a coward I was, then. Haha, I was such a HOLY FUCKING SHIT THEY CAME THROUGH A DIFFERENT WINDOW OH MY FUCK FUCK FUCK! JESUS GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! HOLY! DOGS! DOGS EVERYWHERE! FUCK! FUCK YOU RESIDENT EVIL! AAAUGH!

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Added February 21, 2017
I have the HD remaster and I got about a fifth of the way through it. I really should spend a night some night that Aubrey is out and just blast my way through it, again. The visuals, alone.
There was an announcement a while back where Capcom said they were going to remake 2. Hope that comes to pass, it is the better game.