Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ask anyone what the scariest game they've ever played is and they'll invariably mention Resident Evil (unless they're trying to be a smart aleck and choose Rise of the Robots). Six years after its original release the mix of cinematic camera angles, shock-horror movie atmosphere and the constant state of panic that having virtually no ammo or health gives you has still never been bettered.
Although films and music are forever being remade, remixed and generally reheated, games never seem to get the same treatment. Resident Evil is bucking that trend, though, and is back with almost another game's worth of extra rooms and puzzles and what are arguably the best graphics ever seen in a video game--we're talking near-photo-realistic characters and a subtle use of light and shadow as has never been seen before.
Ignoring the stodgy control system and incongruous puzzles, the genius of Resident Evil is that you genuinely don't know what'll happen next. Just deciding whether to risk opening a door can be a fearsome and suspenseful experience. The fact that you can only hold half a dozen items at any one time forces you to plan what you're going to do in far more detail than any other action game, deciding which monsters you can afford to shoot and where you can run to if things go pear-shaped. In short, if you're a Resi fan this revamp will be like manna from heaven; if you've yet to experience its dubious delights, you'd better break out the brown trousers right away. --David Jenkins
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