Resident Evil

Download Resident Evil and experience the survival horror that started a gaming revolution! Explore the terrifying Spencer Mansion, solve puzzles, and survive the horrors lurking within. Face your fears and play now!
a game by Capcom
Genre: Action
Platforms: GameCube, PC (1997), Playstation
Editor Rating: 9.2/10, based on 9 reviews, 11 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.6/10 - 54 votes
Rate this game:
See also: Horror Games, Old School Games, Cult Classic Games, Resident Evil Games, Coronavirus Games
Resident Evil
Resident Evil
Resident Evil

You've seen gore god Romero's TV ads for the sequel. You may have cacked your shreddies enough already playing it on the PlayStation. But the closest you'll come to soiling-yer-briefs on the PC is with this, the original and surely the first 3D accelerator-only title to appear in the cheapy bins. It's upgrade time again for you poncy P90 owners. Sorry, but that's the way it is. Lesson over.

So while we scratch at the walls waiting for the PC sequel, we're going to have to just get on with the first horror adventure. If you've never played a 3D adventure before you'll love this one. The puzzles are simple enough, and the blood-soaked graphics are excellent. The music really does add to the shit 'em up factor, and the entire mood of the game is scary enough to stop you playing when it gets dark outside (unless you fancy having nightmares), and cheesy enough to allow the odd snigger to pass your drooling lips.

On the downside, the consolestyle save feature and inventory system is a little annoying. Even more upsetting is the irrelevant creaking door cut-scene that's been slipped into every location change. That said. Resident Evil is probably the scariest adventure you'll play, and at this knockdown price all can be forgiven. Buy it now.

Download Resident Evil

GameCube

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Playstation

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

The storyline is so corny you could melt butter on it. Basically, things have gone badly wrong in some top secret installation and bespectacled scientists with bad breath have turned into flesh-eating zombies with halitosis intact. Even the household bugs have mutated. Contact was lost with the first team who went to investigate, so you and your crew have volunteered to get to the bottom of things.

You can control either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Chris is pumped so full of steroids, his manhood must be severely compromised, and seeing as he likes a challenge, he starts off with just a knife, whereas Jill is armed with a pistol although Chris does rescue her at choice intervals. Jill can also pick locks, which inevitably makes gameplay much easier.

Pure Primula

Kicking off in a deserted hallway, you begin by looking for your missing team member, and it isn't long before you come across your first zombie. Killing them is one of the game's gory glories. The pistol does the job well enough, but the shotgun you find later will take a zombie's head clean off at close range.

The characters are superbly animated: zombies shuffle along with arms outstretched, while slavering dogs with gnashing teeth pounce through the air. The camera angles keep the atmosphere tense without being disorientating, and the neat cut-scenes ensure that the cheesy storyline oozes along nicely. However, although the pre-rendered backdrops don't actually detract from the gameplay, they are a bit fuzzy, especially when set against the sharp 3D characters. We were also promised some groovy lighting effects, a promise that has been barely realised.

Touching cloth

There's a cracking good adventure to be had as well. Staying alive and exploring aside, there's always something to do, whether it's searching for keys and ammo, solving puzzles or shuffling items in your little satchel. Alright, so the puzzles are fairly easy and the adventure pretty linear, but you don't really notice it. In fact, not being a hardcore adventuring fan, I found that the difficulty level was set just right.

Sound-wise, the orchestral music is excellent. Ominous violins keep the heart pumping at a healthy 100bpm while the full cardiac arrest-inducing orchestral stabs should maintain regular bowel movement.

Sounds licky so far, eh? Well, I'm sorry to say there are a few nuggets at the bottom of the pan that just won't flush away. Yes, the graphics have been improved and the slow access times have been minimised, but the awful sequence where you're treated to a creaking 3D door when you enter a room hangs heavy very quickly. Not only that, but the inventory system is awkward and the developers really should have made more use of the mouse control and the Save Game feature common to the PC.

A bit more tweaking could have made this game a classic. It demands a hefty wedge of disk space for what it is, but that said, Resident Evil is generally a triumphant conversion of an excellent game. You won't be disappointed.

The rating you see to your right is not a misprint and we haven't taken leave of our senses.The hype is real and the horror is indescribable: Resident Evil lives up to its advance word and emerges as one of the most amazing video games that we've ever come across.

This small space can't do the game justice. Everything about Resident Evil screams "classic". It's a challenging, brain-twisting, shock ride filled with sudden scares, fiendish puzzles, and more atmosphere than a dozen planets. People will actually stop in their tracks and watch while you play this one, because it's better than most flicks. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Last issue we hipped you to Capcom's upcoming blood and guts test Resident Evil. Even though the game was hardly 20% complete, we were absolutely blown away I by its nothing short of amazing graphics, movie quality sound and innovative interface. This month, we've gotten our hands on a newer version of the game that has more areas to explore, more characters to interact with, and more weapons to blow away zombies with, so we Just had to give you another glimpse of what we think is going to be one of the hottest games of 1996.

Resident Evil takes place in and around a mysterious mansion that housed the headquarters of a secret government lab charged with the development of a top-secret new biological warfare device. True to Murphy's Law, the worst possible thing has happened: total loss of contact with the facility. In the game, you take on the role of an operative sent by the government to investigate what went wrong. Upon arrival, you find the house deserted, and as you explore it, you discover that it has been overrun by an army of zombies, giant spiders, vicious frog mutants, and much, much worse. Using your wits (and weapons) you have to run the terrifying gauntlet of the mansion, it's sub-houses, a cemetery, and more to find out how to keep the horror from spreading to the outside world. If you're lucky, you might even find the escape helicopter and get out of there with your sanity intact.

The new version of Resident Evil includes a playable female character in addition to the first's male character. It also has a host of new rooms and outside locations to explore. In addition, graphic tricks--like the use of mirrors-- have been added to up the game's "wow-cool" factor. One of the most interesting new developments is the addition of an inventory screen. It doesn't sound too exciting, but it looks great. The main reason it's so cool is the fact that whenever you select a weapon for your character to use, you can look at a 3-D modeled version of it at your leisure. Cool.

Keep in mind that this is still a far from complete version of the game, so it stands to reason that much will be changed before it hits the shelves. Keep reading VG so you can get the scoop.

Departing from the familiar formula of fighting games, Capcom takes up temporary residence in the action 'hood. From the looks of Resident Evil, an intriguing third-person-perspective action game, Capcom's comfortable in its new digs.

Resident Evil has a variety of gameplay and eerie, detailed graphics that tempt you to look closer, but repel you when you get too close. Using shifting camera angles in a 3D environment, this action disc combines role-playing and puzzlesolving gameplay.

You're sent to investigate a foreboding mansion where government scientists are conducting top-secret biotechnology experiments that stretch the limits of science. The scientists have mysteriously vanished, and contact with the outside world is cut off. You have an assistant, but he's more hindrance than help, and you have a pistol, which isn't much firepower when you find out what you're up against.

Through areas including the mansion, the garden, the tower, and a graveyard, you encounter vampiric zombies, giant spiders, and other mutant creatures. You must also avoid hidden traps, solve mind-bending puzzles, find critical items like maps, fire extinguishers, hammers, and medicine. Locating weapons like crossbows, bazookas, chainsaws, and shotguns increases your chances of survival long enough so you can uncover the scientists' fate and find the hidden helicopter to escape.

Resident Evil's rendered 3D backgrounds are heavily detailed, depicting shadows and light sources. The character moves amid multiple camera angles that heighten the suspense and assist you in your mission. The game employs minimal screen text, which forces you to explore your surroundings carefully and analyze all possibilities for clues.

Whether its premise is paranormal or perfectly normal, Resident Evil looks like paramount fun.

Not for the faint of heart, Resident Evil possesses the PlayStation with a spectacular round of murderous monster mayhem. This terrifying tale leaves you quaking in your shoes, and its breathtaking graphics and riveting gameplay will lure you back time after time.

The Plot Thickens

It is, naturally, a dark and stormy night when your squad enters Raccoon Forest to investigate the disappearance of Bravo Team. Unnerving reports of families in the area being butchered and eaten had sparked Bravo's foray, but they never returned. Attacked almost instantly by monstrous dogs, you flee to a nearby mansion, where you must investigate the evil that resides within.

Inside the mansion, the action begins in earnest. Playing as either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, you explore your surroundings, searching for your missing companions and a way out. A B-grade full-motion video intro and corny cinematics wrap the game with an ongoing story line that's mostly laughable, but they interfere little.

The Haunting

Carefully blending challenging combat with brain-busting puzzles and exploration, the gameplay maintains a gripping pace. You fend off carnivorous zombies and gigantic snakes on the way to uncovering the clues you need to open the mansion's multitude of locked doors. Less obvious puzzles, like using sheet music to play a tune on the piano and open a secret door, also crop up frequently. Some of it's downright scary-the first time the dogs leap through the window, you'll have to check your Calvins for yellow streaks.

Along the way, you'll find better weapons, including a shotgun, bazooka, and flamethrower. Other items, such as decorative shields and gems, play a role in the puzzles that grant you greater access into the house and its mysteries.

Such intricate puzzle-solving and item collection definitely builds an RPG flair into Resident Evil, but action fans shouldn't turn tail and flee. There's enough grisly zombie-bashing to sustain all but the most frenzied thumb-thumpers. The well-crafted gameplay, along with the incredibly long floors that you explore, add up to a phenomenally deep game.

Handling This Resident

At first, successfully steering your character poses a serious challenge. With intensive practice, the unusual but effective controls become intuitive. You'll die a few frustrating deaths before you master the learning curve, though. Shooting and fighting, however, handle without a hitch, and managing your inventory is a simple process.

Evil Beauty

If you could boot out the monsters, this surreal mansion would be your dream home. As you pass through stately dining rooms and hallways lined with suits of armor, every detail of the rendered 3D environment is lavishly portrayed in bright, gorgeous colors. Remarkable texture mapping covers every wall with beautiful wallpaper and paintings. Likewise, the sprites move with lifelike fluidity as they clamber up stairs and slam new clips into their guns.

The unique perspectives give you a different angle on each new area, which creates intriguing variety despite the times where you get stuck in an out-of-the-way corner. The load time between rooms, however, can occasionally try your patience, but Capcom's pushing the PlayStation hard.

Beautiful sounds accompany every element of Resident Evil. The dialogue comes through with crystalline clarity, and the awesome music ranges perfectly from spooky to peaceful, depending on what's happening.

Best of all, the excellent effects breathe impressive realism into every room. Zombies groan with hair-raising horror, spent rounds clatter to the floor, and your footfalls change as you move from marble to carpet.

Redrum

Long the lord of Street Fighter, Capcom's clearly taking a new tack with this killer game, and the results are outstanding. Resident Evil stands tall as a topnotch second-generation PlayStation game that's well worth the green.

ProTips:

  • Be sure to save your game before you fight the snake.
  • Before the first dog jumps out of the window, push aside the third table and grab the lighter that's hidden behind it. Use the lighter upstairs to f light the fireplace.
  • When you're confronted by the dogs, use either the shotgun or the bazooka to make them play dead. The handgun affects them less than a mosquito bite.
  • Your shots damage enemies more severely when the enemy is close to you.

The original Resident Evil paved the way for the horror genre as it entered the world of 3D games. In fact, it's the game that coined the term "survival horror". Mostly due in part to its intense scenarios and limited player resources, the game gets a reputation for being challenging. The story is simple enough; a group of elite special agents search for some missing team members in the woods, and eventually stumble upon a large and ominous mansion. While searching the mansion, the team comes across grotesquely reanimated, and must survive the night.

At its core, Resident Evil is a puzzle and exploration game with plenty of scares to boot. Although it might seem like a shooting or action game, guns and ammo are often scarce and hard to find, as are health items. As you search around the giant mansion, you'll uncover many locked doors and hidden passageways. These are often filled with booby traps, forcing you to think on your toes or meet certain death. When you're not fighting the traps of the house, the zombies that roam it give you plenty of reasons to be afraid. Not only are they horrifying, but they're also incredibly strong. Taking just a single attack from a zombie can significantly impair you, and you'll to find rare herbs to heal yourself. There's also a collection of large-scale bosses that will strike at your most innermost fears. If you don't like spiders, snakes, or any assortment of creepy crawlers, Resident Evil will get under your skin.

In its original form, Resident Evil had serviceable visuals, as it appeared on the PlayStation 1. Unfortunately oh, the voice acting was so wooden and ham-fisted that it goes down as one of gaming's most ridiculous sets of dialogue tracks. There were eventually a few remakes of Resident Evil in later console generations, which pumped up the graphics and the voice acting to meet modern standards. While these remix feel better to play and are more aesthetically pleasing, there still an undeniably campy charm to the original game.

One of the coolest parts of Resident Evil is it dual protagonist system, which allows you to play as either the beefy Chris Redfield or the swift and evasive Jill Valentine. Those characters have unique weapons, different paths through the mansion, and will experience different scenarios. While not wholly unique, playing as each of the two characters is different enough to warrant multiple playthroughs. Both characters are good enough at defeating the undead, but I recommend you play as Jill Valentine, the master of lockpicking.

Although horror games existed before Resident Evil, this game propelled the genre into the modern age and did so with style. Exploring the mansion, uncovering clues, and solving puzzles is just as rewarding now as it was when it first released. The scares hold up as well, and you'll be hard pressed to make it through the game unscathed. It's an adrenaline-filled game packed with horrifying enemies and head-turning puzzles, and simply one of the best horror games ever made. It kickstarted a franchise that is well known in the horror genre now, well over 15 years after the original release of the game. The fact that it still feels fantastic to play is a testament to the solidity of the game design.

After its first appearance on the PSX, I knew Resident Evil was something special. Over the top, hammy, poorly performed dialogue, combined with a bizarre plot centered on genetic research, rolled together with the horror of a cheesy Romero-esque zombie film, Resident Evil had made its mark upon gaming the instant it rolled off the presses. Many years later, a few extra games, and one feature film underneath its belt, the Resident Evil franchise receives a much-needed update in this title for the Gamecube. Like the original, Resident Evil is a survival horror using creative camera angles (fixed angles with rendered characters) and undead to drive its story and gameplay.

Deep in the woods near Raccoon City, a mysterious force has been unleashed. The S.T.A.R.S. special police force, a crack unit of the Raccoon City PD, has been sent in to investigate. After Bravo Team disappears in the forest, Alpha Team is sent in, only to find a wrecked chopper, and mutilated bodies of the Bravo Team members. Pursued by strange dogs, Alpha Team is forced to take shelter in a strange mansion deep in the woods, harassed by the undead within. You can play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, officers from Alpha Team, each with a different part to play in the Resident Evil story.

With completely reworked graphics, and audio, the game now looks absolutely stunning, and sounds even better. Gone are the cheesy voice actors, replace with more serious ones, and even the gameplay got a bit of an update, now featuring defense items to help you survive. Make no mistake however'this is still the same Resident Evil and gives you the same bang for your buck. Get ready for the fixed camera-angle look of the original, because it hasn't changed.

And so, the Survival Horror begins.

Capcom's ultra-scary adventure game for the PlayStation is nearing completion. We just acquired a new copy of the game that has even more to it than what we showed you a few months back. First, there has been more animation added to the characters. After you shoot a zombie, he may not die. You now have the ability to grind his skull with your boot. Eeew!

Second, the playing area has been increased in size, with lots of places to explore in the giant mansion. Each room is rendered realistically, with different camera angles as you move about the mansion.

Last, there are also more enemies to face. Aside from the relentless undead, birds and spiders will hunt you down. Werewolf-like beings will pounce unexpectedly. Weapons have been added, with guns of all types hidden through the maze of corridors. Resident Evil looks like it'll be one of the , most unique and terrifying games to hit a video game system. We'll have more info fon this one as it becomes available.

  • MANUFACTURER - Capcom
  • THEME - ACTION
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1

Resident Evil is Capcom's latest game exclusively for the PlayStation. You may have heard of it as Biohazard, but it has been renamed.

This CD is similar in theme and style to the Alone in the Dark series that appeared on the PC format. You and possibly a friend (there can be a second player...) must search a haunted house that teems with dangers.

Each enemy is digitized and every room is rendered.

What makes this game stand out is seeing it in action. Everything is so smooth and lifelike. To enhance the mood, Capcom has even added some nifty camera angles.

Resident Evil is one of the coolest games that I've seen in quite some time. You can be sure that you'll be seeing more of this game in future issues.

Chris and Jill/went up to kill/some zombies Umbrella disturbed/ Wesker went nuts/and Barry, the putz,/ran off with all their green herb. Did ya understand all of that old children's tale from the sea?

No? Consider yourself lucky--this summer you can experience the creepy action of Capcom's original Resident Evil for the first time. All the (deep breath) head-explodin', ammo-reloadin', dog-chewin', blood-spewin', puzzle-solvin', magnum-revolvin', storage-boxin', shotgun-cockin', crow-flockin', master-of-unlockin' (phew) gameplay that put this game in our top 100 of all time now comes with some of the best graphics we've ever seen. Even those who know the mansion floorplan by heart will enjoy the new areas, puzzles, rendered movies, a revised combat system and more (we'd bet on a few new weapons at least).

Snapshots and Media

GameCube Screenshots

PC Screenshots

Playstation Screenshots

See Also

Viewing games 1 to 15