Resident Evil

(Capcom, 1997)

While it probably was introduced on the Playstation the prior year, I was introduced to it on PCs in 1997, hence the year mentioned above. This was the Resident Evil game that started it all, although in truth, it was Alone in the Dark which started it all, with this game's playing style a lot like that 1993 classic. However, with 3D accelerators still in their infancy, many people were drawn in with the high-res (though still-image) backgrounds, allowing all 3D polygons to be used exclusively for the foreground characters. Speaking of which, these characters --members of an elite task forcem that suddenly must fight undead mutants of a secret experiment-- spawned three sequels (as of this re-review) on the Playstation, in addition to various spin-offs for alternate systems.

One nice touch was that you could play as either the hero Chris or the heroine Jill, as they search to uncover the secret of a decaying mansion's "resident evil." Animation was fantastic, right down to a wiggle in Jill's walk; talk about accuracy in detail! Even better; the PC version was the "director's cut," which Playstation owners would have to wait for! An amusing thriller, in the spirit of the classic Alone in the Dark trilogy.

Rating : Large Crater.

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