Resident Evil (Wii)

There have been a number of gruesome murders in the forests on the outskirts of Raccoon City. The city's normal police department appears to be incapable of finding the culprits (whether they are animal or human) so the STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) have been drafted in to help. Bravo team was sent in to do the initial sweep but their helicopter malfunctioned and they had to make an emergency crash landing. With nothing being heard from Bravo team since their last Mayday call Alpha team (lead by Captain Albert Wesker and including Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Barry Burton) have been sent out to rescue their colleagues. Unfortunately for Alpha team things do not go to plan and they find themselves fighting for survival in the abandoned Spencer Mansion.

As a new convert to resident evil I decided I needed to play all the games - firstly for the fun and secondly for the back story. I am a fan of the live-action films, but after playing Resident Evil 4 I noticed some references - Chairman Wesker, T Virus, Umbrella Corporation, etc - but I didn't understand them fully and I needed to know more. So I decided to start at the beginning and bought the Resident Evil games that were available for the Wii - Resident Evil Archives: Zero, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles to go with my Resident Evil 4. There is also a version for the DS - Resident Evil: Deadly Silence

I was about to start with Resident Evil Zero but then a friend told me that REZ was in fact a prequel and I should start with Resident Evil instead, so I took this advice but Zero on hold and pop this disc in.

When the game starts it gives you several options: firstly, it asks you to choose between "hiking" and "mountain climbing". The "hiking" option is the normal difficulty level, and the mountain climbing is the professional harder level.

Once you have chosen the level you wish to play out you get a choice of Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. I initially chose Chris Redfield - since he was offered as the first option I had assumed that it would be easier character to play with; once again my assumption was wrong. Apparently I should have chosen Jill Valentine.

Jill has more spaces for carrying objects though she does take a higher rate of damage than Chris when she is attacked. She also comes with a set of lock picks meaning that she does not have to search around for several of the keys.

Chris has too fewer carry squares than Jill, but loses health at a slower rate. With Chris you have to run around searching for keys in order to open doors, desks and cupboards.

The first thing I noticed was that the movements are very sensitive to the touch; I have literally had Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine running in circles and slamming into walls.

The second thing was the inability to aim the weapons, something which became increasingly frustrating as I played - I wasted a significant amount of the rare ammunition that the game provides you with. One benefit of this was that I had to learn to dodge and use the knife earlier than I normally would have.

Once you get used to the controls the game play movement seems to get a little easier but I still manage to have them running into the walls every now and again, not a good thing when you're in the middle of a boss fight as it can cause a restart.

This brings me to the third problem. Because you have to carry a typewriter ribbon in one of your save spots, and typewriters are particularly rare, you can find that you have travelled a great distance, and fulfilled a number of tasks before you can save. If you have the misfortune that the character you're playing dies before reaching the typewriter then you may have a long way to go back over. You will have to remember what you've achieved since the previous save point and what you need to do again - this is not always easy. Typewriter ribbons themselves can cause problems, they have a limited usage, and there is a temptation to leave it behind when you find your storage area is full.

The game itself is free movement (not an on the rails game) so you can choose where to go and when. This means that every time you play the game is different even though the underlying story is the same.

One thing that is missing for me is the bonus material. I admit that I have been spoilt by the masses of extras in RE4, and I realise that this is a remake of an older game, but the extras seem a little on the poor side for such a great game.

The main premise of the game is puzzles, working out what you need to carry and what you can leave behind, while trying to stay out of the way of the zombies and destroying the bosses when needed.

I'm extremely glad I played this and I have now played it with both Jill and Chris, and though I have ... sorry, *they* have died a number of times I've enjoyed this game a great deal and have returned to it a number of times. It has give me that background in RE that I would never have been able to get anywhere else, and it's much more fun than reading a summary in a book.

This is still by far the scariest Resident Evil and still the best one in the series in my opinion. Ok, it's not got the looks of Resident Evil 4 or 5 but it's definitely much more creepier and I'm not joking!

The graphics although very detailed look dated and look virtually identical to the Gamecube version if not a tad sharper. Yes, the backgrounds are static and don't move in 3D like Resi 4 & 5.

Sadly no wide-screen mode has been added and this results in ugly black borders at the sides. While this is annoying, you soon forget about them after 10 minutes of play. Surely this could have been rectified ??

The controls are nothing to get excited about and definitely don't use the Wii's capabilities. You can use the nun chuck, wii-mote on it's own, the classic controller and the Gamecube control too. All these types of controls feel dated, so as i say don't get excited.

Game play is where this game excels. Yes, you do actually have to try and survive by not wasting bullets and herbs and think very carefully about your next move. Even failing to burn a dead zombie may end up in tears.

On the subject of zombies, I much prefer killing them than shooting something that actually looks like a person.. cough ** Resi 5 ** cough.

The sound has been well done and is very spooky in places. If you play this game alone in a dark room you'll definitely feel a tingle run down your spine.

So overall, this game is worth adding to your Wii collection if you like survival horror and do actually want to feel scared. Both Resi 4 and 5 didn't scare me at all and felt like playing a standard shooter.

Resident evil archives makes you cringe every time you enter a new room.

For the money you cannot knock this excellent game and only buy it if you dare!

I bought this game on the wii because it was cheaper than buying the gamecube version which are now mostly preowned. The game is virtually the same as the gamecube but with wii controls. You can use the wiimote and nunchuck, wiimote on it's own or the classic controller. I used the classic controller as using the wii mote still doesn't allow you to aim the gun like in RE 4. The old fixed camera angles and tank like movement is very frustating to start with. This is because the angles suddenly changes and you get bewildered as you need to become orientated very quicky as an enemy could be aroung the corner. You do become used to it, and it does make the game more challenging and scary. The mansion is very creepy and you feel worried turning every corner. Jump scare moments are still in the wii version. The backgrounds look very good and realistic. However the cutscenes on my Tv look pixelated and blurred, I do not know whether this was what the cutscnes are meant to look like. I think this may be becuase it is a direct port of the 2002 gamecube version. To me the gameplay look better than the cutscenes.

The limited amount of saves you can make is annoying. This is because it prevents you from being able to play the game is short spells as you would want an ink ribbon on a small amount of progress you have to make. This game has to be played in bigger sessions. There are 3 difficult levels and you unlock various other play modes after completion. The game plays in 4:3 aspect ratio, but if you set the wii to 4:3 you can stretch the screen by setting your tv to widescreen.

Overall this game is very atmospheric and creepy suiting the survival horror category very well. The price is good value.

Overall:8/10
Graphics:7/10 minus the cutscenes which lag frequently with pixelation, the game is however a port of a 2002 game.
Replayabilty:7/10
Gameplay:8/10
Sound:9/10 Very scary and builds atmosphere.