Support NeoGAF

[Vampire On Titus]

Recently over the summer I got deep into survival horror playing through the original Silent Hill games and loving each one of them (still need to play through 4). Super into the horror aesthetics, creepy atmosphere and adventure game design I sought out more titles. I had Dino Crisis on PSN so I booted it up on a whim. Not really intending to complete it, and just never stopped playing (great game). Never knew Dino Crisis was Shinji Mikami directed and since I enjoyed it so much, Resident Evil was a clear choice to play next.

I had some familiarity with RE1, a couple years ago I played through maybe the first hour of it emulated. I remembered a lot more of it than I expected. A testament, I think, to how memorable a game Resident Evil is.

What I didn't remember was just how ugly a game RE1 is. In a thread I made about Silent Hill I praised it's graphics as an example of retro low poly visuals being a legit aesthetic. Resident Evil is not a point for that case. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beyond barren. Lacking detail to the point of looking unfinished at times. The underground environment actually made me laugh out loud seeing it for the first time.

It says a lot that in the face of this I had a fucking blast playing RE. Also, that despite it being terribly ugly, Spencer Mansion was one of the most fun adventure environments I'd ever explored. It's just such a memorable setting. Nearly every room is unique in some way that stuck with me. I can close my eyes now and walk through every single room in RE 1's Mansion and that's not something I can say about a lot of games.

Also that super camp ass VA. Holy shit! Every cut-scene in the game is fucking hilarious. Master of unlocking and Jill Sandwich get all the love but there's some real gold toward the end of that game too.

Resident Evil 2, tho... after I finished RE2 it had solidified a spot as one of my favorite games of all time. Getting thrown right into the thick of it with the intro sequence was awesome. Its worth mentioning how much I've come to love tank control in these games. It makes navigating through a crowd of zombies exhilarating as all hell and encourages a type of very deliberate motion that I find fosters immersion when exploring in a way I really appreciate.

Resident Evil 2's opening really takes advantage of both. In the "oh shit it's on!" run through Raccoon City and the eventual (and short lived) reprieve of early RCPD exploration. Only now the visuals aren't getting in the way. The environments in 2 are a crazy leap forward. Packed with attentive detail. There's a bit of that 90's CG "too smooth" plastic-ish look to the rendering in environments but they still look really good for the most part.

Essentially RE2 took everything awesome about RE1 and made it more awesome. With the exception of Spencer Mansion being a tad more memorable. The puzzles are cooler, the design is more ambitious, way better boss fights, greater challenge, WAY better art direction (some of those bosses designs legit look cool as fuck) and the story was surprisingly good too. simple but executed with charm & really enjoyable characters. Chief Irons is such a glorious piece of shit.

The VA is generally better too but it still definitely has its moments.

Spoiler

ADDAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I think the most fun I've had in the entire series was in RE2. Running through a several narrow openings in a crowd of zombies, getting enough room to turn around and lure them close together... then head shotting them all in a single blast right before they'd have bitten me. So cool. The RE2 shotgun is one of the best in all of gaming.

So pumped, was I... After having just found and completed a new favorite game of all time, to then play the next Resident Evil 3. Playing through Nemesis I had a great time but was also a little let down in comparison. It definitely carried enough great design over from RE2 to be a ton of fun. But RE3 is really all over the place. Trying a dozen new ideas out at once half of them working and the other half slightly dragging the game down.

The best of the many changes was probably the shift the largely more sprawling outdoor environment of Raccoon City. It doesn't breed the same type of intimate familiarity of RE1 & 2 but it's definitely memorable just because it's such a stark departure. It's also cool to get a look at what was going on outside of Leon & Claire's insular Police Department environment during the events of RE2.

Some other changes don't rate quite as high. The crafting system is pretty cool. I liked trying out different combinations on Nemesis and seeing how effective each was. But it's mostly inconsequential & slightly complicates inventory management over 1 & 2.

The quick-event-choice-decision making things were cool. Maybe it a bit gimmicky, but it's the kind of thing that helps give RE3 a distinct identity. Another somewhat inconsequential feeling addition. But I'd honestly have to replay the game to know for sure.

Then comes the bad stuff... The dodging mechanic is ass. It only works well when fighting Nemesis. In typical encounters it does more harm than good because you dodge with the same buttons you shoot with. It fucked me over a good few times during RE3. Rolling me into a random inopportune position. Or refusing to actually let me fire my weapon while enemies got repeated swipes at me.

There's also interactive objects in the environment. You can shoot an explosive barrel or a crane carrying heavy planks to kill a bunch of enemies and save ammo. It'd be fine if shooting the objects wasn't at odds with the auto aim prioritizing shooting zombies. There were definitely a couple times I lined up an environmental shot and waited for the zombies to approach. Only for the game to start firing at the enemies I clearly wasn't aimed at and fucking it all up.

Also the story & characters are really kinda dull compared to RE2, outside of a few stand out moments, and that's a shame. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with RE3, there's still that enjoyable Resident Evil core and the unique Raccoon City environment. I appreciate that it took so many chances even they didn't all work out too well.

Oh yeah, adding the quick turn was pretty cool.

Code Veronica is awesome. Right from the intro cut-scene I knew this shit was gonna be magical... lmfao. Code Veronica is definitely where RE went ultra left field, doubling down on RE1's camp. I'd struggle to say Resident Evil was ever "grounded" but it definitely wasn't this. This as in, being chased around a massive castle by a lunatic aristocrat who's both in love with & pretending to be his sister. Matrix ass reincarnated Wesker and the melodramatic Canadian mess that is Steve. Jesus Christ, that miraculously forced ass romance with Claire & Steve!!! The part where Steve spaces out staring at Claire and smashes a crane into pipes holding poison gas. It came out of fucking nowhere!!! I was fucking dying. God tier.

It bothered me a bit initially that this was the direct story sequel to RE2. Since I found 2's story legit enjoyable. But after a while I let it go and embraced the camp and it was beautiful.

The game itself dialed back a lot of the RE3 changes I didn't particularly care for. Making it more fun overall to play. There's some odd downgraded aspects,though. The animation is actually a fair bit shittier than RE2 & 3 despite Code Veronica being a Dreamcast game. Claire's running & walking cycle's are pretty stiff looking. And she awkwardly snaps into place whenever you climb steps.

The real time environments make the camera angle transitions a lot smoother, which is appreciated. But a lot of environment detail was sacrificed in ditching the pre-rendered backgrounds. Really, Code Veronica for the most part just stuck with a winning formula. But the bat shit insanity in the game gives it so much personality. There's a mountain of gold here. Definitely a game I'm gonna replay with friends some time soon.

REmake is a game that I'd overheard the hype on for a looong time. The minimal experience I did have with the game gave me the impression that it would be phenomenal. So I intended to save it for last in my RE stint.

Resident Evil 02 is one of a very few experiences where massively high expectations are not only met, but subsequently trounced. It's sooo fucking good. The environments are gorgeous. Much effort was taken to eliminate the typically "static" feel of pre-rendered environments. Swinging chandeliers, dancing candle flames, lightning flashes illuminating dim corridors. It adds so much to the atmosphere.

And it's the atmosphere of REmake that is 2nd to none in the series. I'll never forget an early moment, slowly creeping through that dark hallway in the mansion's west wing. The one leading to the stairwell with those crows and the bird cage. It's not a very blatantly eventful moment but the camera angles, lighting and sound design made it a remarkably tense one that I constantly think back on.

There are so many stand-out moments and additions. How they fleshed out the outdoor and underground environments is amazing. That cabin, man... that fucking cabin. I love how the game trolls you, subverting expectations from the original RE. "Thought you solved that piano puzzle, did you!?" The only bad thing about the game is that it's no longer funky looking and weird enough to enjoy the moments of sub-par VA. It doesn't come up too much at all, but when it does it is a total mood killer. Wesker is especially shit. I don't know how that early "Jill, no!" made it in to the game.

At the end of it the Resident Evil series had another blatant classic. A masterpiece. I go keep going back and forth between REmake and RE2 as my favorite in the series. After REmake being so awesome I couldn't get enough. So I decided to check out the other GameCube RE game, Resident Evil 0.

Resident Evil 0 makes me so sad. Even right now having just pulled screens from 0 for this thread... I feel like I should like it so much more than I do. Just looking it the game it appears to be another REmake tier entry into the series. It's not.

RE0 starts of so strong, too... The train sequence is easily the highlight of the game. The double decker train itself is a unique locale for the series. The early going mystery of Billy is fairly intriguing. There's that cool ass part where you're walking across the top of the train car during a storm. Introduction to the bad-ass save room music. The whole thing culminates in a tense partner puzzle where you rush to opposite ends of the train car to activate an emergency break.

It's a shame that essentially everything after that is either dull in comparison to the rest of the series or just frustrating. For most of the game you're exploring a low rent retread of Spencer Mansion. Which I guess makes sense given that 0 also takes place an Arklay Mountains Umbrella facility. But it means the game has no distinct personality to speak of. Compounded by the extra weak story that's neither goofy enough to be fun like RE1/CVX or actually good enough to engage with like RE2 or REmake. Also that room with the dumb ass giant chessboard like it's a Wu-Tang music video.

Everything good about RE0 is done better in the other games and all it's changes to the formula I'd much rather do without. Having to constantly manage a 2nd character is too often a nuisance. Zero is one of the most resource scarce RE games I've played. To avoid wasting few precious resources I found myself having to manually walk each character separately through environments so the dumb AI wouldn't get caught up by enemies. Effectively doubling the walking distance for many parts of the game.

Playing Resident Evil 0 was kind of a sour note to go out on. Toward the end of the game I was playing it while listening to podcasts lol. Something I'd have never even thought to do playing through the other games. Not an entirely terrible game but a significant step down for the series.

Now having played most of the main entries; Resident Evil is among my favorite game series'. Many truly great games and two stand out classics. Well... actually three, but I wasn't late to RE4. Not bad at all. I'm kinda surprised there hasn't been a kickstarter retro revival project for old-school Survival Horror in the vein of Yooka-Layle or Bloodstained. Searching around for one I only found 1st person horror games that look like either Amnesia or P.T (some of them looked cool to be fair). But at least there's the forthcoming RE2 remake that I'm now extremely excited for. I really hope that's good. Seriously.

Still not burned out on Survival Horror yet, maybe I'll see whats up with Fatal Frame next.

 

[GrayChild]

I envy everyone experiencing the magic of the old-school RE for the first time.

Still not burned out on Survival Horror yet, maybe I'll see whats up with Fatal Frame next.

It's not possible to get burned on survival horror. Pity it will be remembered as possibly the most mistreated genre in gaming.

With that in mind you may also want to try the Siren series as well.

 

[AdaWong]

Yep. RE2 is the best classical RE game. RE0 is a bit too bland while RE3 is a bit too uninspired (especially coming after RE2)

RE2 is amazing.

By the way.

RE2 REMAKE IS HAPPENING.

OMG.

[fangirling happening, again, for the billionth time or so]


By the way, you should try the newer games (RE4, RE5, RE6, Revelations 2 [please skip Revelations 1]) RE4 is still one of the best action games ever, it aged so good.

 

[MetalSlug]

Nice that you enjoyed Code Veronica!
It's a little bit too easy, but it's one of my favourite games in the series

 

[Sumio Mondo]

It really is one of my favourite games series out there. RE2 is undoubtedly my favourite of the bunch. I'd definitely play RE4 if you haven't already yet, it's a classic. And Fatal Frame rocks too, you're on the right track there. I agree the fellow above saying try out the Siren series, Keiichiro Toyama (creator of Silent Hill and Gravity Rush) and a bunch of the guys who worked on Siren are former members of Team Silent who made the Silent Hill games. I honestly prefer Siren series to Silent Hill series. It's just so fucked up and amazing.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Obviously a fan of the games too, if you want to dig a bit deeper with the older series, Outbreak 1 & 2, while designed as multiplayer games, are single-player, and have a lot of interesting mechanics different from the rest of the series, including character-specific abilities and an infection rate. It was way ahead of its time, and if you don't mind tinkering around for a day or two, they can still be played online on some fan servers either via modded PS2 or emulation. However, while multiplayer-focused, the games are worth playing for a RE fan, and have a lot of interesting twists and one of the best OSTs in the franchise.

And while not classic camera angled, I think Dead Aim is a lot better than many give it credit for. It's the fourth Gun Survivor game, the third Resident Evil-themed one. It starts off a bit meh, but its middle section is actually quite good and I think worth playing. It's kind of a mix between horror and action RE, the game that came out in the transition between the older games and RE4. You can see some of RE4's things in Dead Aim but not fully developed yet, but it also retains its horror moments. The ship has some cool areas, the game has some unique bosses, and there's a cool middle area where you go to a B.O.W. disposal facility and fight failed RE monsters, which is actually a bit twistedly creepy.

---

Fatal Frame is a fun series, I think it has a really fun combat system and the Japanese horror really shines a lot through it. I recently have been trying to finish the few FF games I haven't yet with FF5 on the horizon, finished the fourth game and to play the Wii remake of 2.

Also, as others have said, if you require a taste for these games, you don't get burned out on them easily. I play several horror games a month usually, and not burned out on them, though I do wish there'd be more older-styled horror games on the market in the current age. But things are better than they were a few years ago, and speaking of RE, REmake 2 is happening, so hope that turns out great.

 

[Manu]

after I finished RE2 it had solidified a spot as one of my favorite games of all time.

Good.

 

[badcrumble]

A lot of what's best about RE3 is its massive replayability (tons of little choices have big effects on later parts of the game, down to which weapons you obtain when and when Nemesis decides to ambush you). It's not randomized but it's variable enough to feel like it.

Oh and ONLY PLAY IT ON HARD.

 

[AdaWong]

Obviously a fan of the games too, if you want to dig a bit deeper with the older series, Outbreak 1 & 2, while designed as multiplayer games, are single-player, and have a lot of interesting mechanics different from the rest of the series, including character-specific abilities and an infection rate. It was way ahead of its time, and if you don't mind tinkering around for a day or two, they can still be played online on some fan servers either via modded PS2 or emulation. However, while multiplayer-focused, the games are worth playing for a RE fan, and have a lot of interesting twists and one of the best OSTs in the franchise.



And while not classic camera angled, I think Dead Aim is a lot better than many give it credit for. It's the fourth Gun Survivor game, the third Resident Evil-themed one. It starts off a bit meh, but its middle section is actually quite good and I think worth playing. It's kind of a mix between horror and action RE, the game that came out in the transition between the older games and RE4. You can see some of RE4's things in Dead Aim but not fully developed yet, but it also retains its horror moments. The ship has some cool areas, the game has some unique bosses, and there's a cool middle area where you go to a B.O.W. disposal facility and fight failed RE monsters, which is actually a bit twistedly creepy.



---

Fatal Frame is a fun series, I think it has a really fun combat system and the Japanese horror really shines a lot through it. I recently have been trying to finish the few FF games I haven't yet with FF5 on the horizon, finished the fourth game and to play the Wii remake of 2.

Also, as others have said, if you require a taste for these games, you don't get burned out on them easily. I play several horror games a month usually, and not burned out on them, though I do wish there'd be more older-styled horror games on the market in the current age. But things are better than they were a few years ago, and speaking of RE, REmake 2 is happening, so hope that turns out great.

I agree that you should also look into the Outbreak series! However, I'm not sure if I should recommend Dead Aim. The game actually starts as a good game but it keeps going down from there.

 

[Compbros]

Resident Evil 2 is without a doubt one of my favorite games of all time and it fights with Dragoon as my favorite PS1 game.


Still argue that Resident Evil isn't Survival-Horror though.

 

[Arttemis]

RE2 is one of my favorite games of all time. I can't freaking wait to get that experience remixed in a REmake quality package.

Code Veronica jumped the shark. Story-wise, I hate it and everything that has come after it; they ruined Wesker. I wish that writer saved those ideas for some unique IP. Gameplay-wise, I really liked it.

 

[Joey Ravn]

This is exactly what I did earlier this year. It was the first time that I ever played through the RE series and had a blast with it. I think RE3 was my favorite of the original releases, but REmake (HD) takes the crown overall. Code Veronica X was really poor and lasted twice as long as it should have.

Spoiler

Then I played RE4 and now I don't want to touch this franchise ever again.

 

[Rean]

I don't think the dodge mechanic in RE3 is that bad it just takes a specific timing to do well. Also I'm pretty sure R2 exclusively aims at the enviromental stuff like red barrels and planks.

The Live Selection stuff will actually change certain events too. For example, in the train if you use the emergency break Jill will start in a more advantageous area and Carlos will destroy Nemesis' rocket launcher before the boss fight, but if you jump out the window Carlos will give Jill some ammo later on, but Nemesis will keep his rocket launcher in the boss fight. The live event at the end of Raccoon park affects the ending of the game as well.

 

[Fancy Clown]

RE2, 3, and REmake are all absolutely incredible games and its hard for me to pick favorites. I rate 3 higher than you and think it's about as good as 2, better in some regards and not as good in others. REmake is overall the best of the classic games I've played, although it has the weakest bossfights of the trio.

RE4 is still da best in the series though, even though it's totally different game design.

Don't know if you've played it yet, but Revelations 2 is pretty fun as well.

 

[supermetfreud]

I just don't get the love for RE2. I finally finished it recently and was a little let down by it tbh. The mansion is just so much cooler than the RCPD. I loved the idea of an eccentric chief of police making it so you had to jump through all these hoops to even just arm yourself, but then they went and turned him into a goddamn rapist and the whole conceit lost its cooky charm. I love Leon's dopy heroics in RE4, but he's just so plain and straight faced in RE2. The boss designs seemed uninspired to me with the whole "idk slap a giant eye on a deformed pile of flesh and claws" thing. Something about the level design didn't quite click with me either. It just didn't make sense to me like the mansion did. I guess the best example of this is the part in which you have to douse the helicopter wreckage in order to get to a door in a hallway. The game failed to communicate its space in a way that felt cohesive or natural. But that's just me I guess since everyone seems to love it to death.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

By the way.

RE2 REMAKE IS HAPPENING.

OMG.

[fangirling happening, again, for the billionth time or so]


By the way, you should try the newer games (RE4, RE5, RE6, Revelations 2 [please skip Revelations 1]) RE4 is still one of the best action games ever, it aged so good.

I've been so psyched on this remake since I played RE2. Then my levels of psyched-ness increased 10x once I played REmake. RE2 getting that treatment is just... god damn I want that game.

I've totally played RE4 & 5 btw. Played 4 in '05 when it came out and its always been a favorite of mine. I replayed it too after REmake but didn't say much about it because that OT was already looking far too beastly.

Obviously a fan of the games too, if you want to dig a bit deeper with the older series, Outbreak 1 & 2, while designed as multiplayer games, are single-player, and have a lot of interesting mechanics different from the rest of the series, including character-specific abilities and an infection rate.

Fatal Frame is a fun series, I think it has a really fun combat system and the Japanese horror really shines a lot through it. I recently have been trying to finish the few FF games I haven't yet with FF5 on the horizon, finished the fourth game and to play the Wii remake of 2.

Where would you rate the Outbreak games among the main series out of interest? For some reason I always assumed they were single player only but I'll definitely look into them now.

A lot of what's best about RE3 is its massive replayability (tons of little choices have big effects on later parts of the game, down to which weapons you obtain when and when Nemesis decides to ambush you). It's not randomized but it's variable enough to feel like it.

Oh and ONLY PLAY IT ON HARD.

Lol I played on hard. Checked out easy after I completed the game and it was actually kind of crazy how much easier they made it. You have like every weapon and 3 million health sprays.

I don't think the dodge mechanic in RE3 is that bad it just takes a specific timing to do well. Also I'm pretty sure R2 exclusively aims at the enviromental stuff like red barrels and planks.

The Live Selection stuff will actually change certain events too. For example, in the train if you use the emergency break Jill will start in a more advantageous area and Carlos will destroy Nemesis' rocket launcher before the boss fight, but if you jump out the window Carlos will give Jill some ammo later on, but Nemesis will keep his rocket launcher in the boss fight. The live event at the end of Raccoon park affects the ending of the game as well.

I honestly didn't mind the timing. I could pull it off pretty reliably during boss fights. It's just in certain parts of the game it really fucked me over. There's this one narrow path in the park area. I'm not sure if it was hunters, but they're enemies that jump on you like hunters. As soon as I enter the area they all start taking turns jumping at me. In any other RE game they might have got a few hits before I could fire the Bazooka at them. But in RE3 Jill just keeps dodging. I'm standing there trying to shoot them for like 10 straight seconds just repeatedly dodging when I don't want to. Eventually the hits start landing so I die and have to start over.

I actually only got through that area because there were different enemies after I died the first time.

Problems like that could have been really easily avoided if dodging and shooting weren't the same buttons. It only happened maybe 2 or 3 times in the whole game but it was really annoying when it did.

I never tried R2 for aiming at objects. Little weird that they didn't mention it in those inventory manuals the game makes you read at the start but maybe it was in the actual manual you got with the game or something. I'll try that when I play through the game again for sure.

RE2, 3, and REmake are all absolutely incredible games and its hard for me to pick favorites. I rate 3 higher than you and think it's about as good as 2, better in some regards and not as good in others. REmake is overall the best of the classic games I've played, although it has the weakest bossfights of the trio.

RE4 is still da best in the series though, even though it's totally different game design.

Don't know if you've played it yet, but Revelations 2 is pretty fun as well.

The bosses in REmake were fairly easy. But the typical enemies are pretty challenging (they made the dogs SO MUCH harder) and it's easily the most ammo scarce along with 0 so I wasn't complaining too much.

Still think 3 is a great game btw even despite my belief that some of its gameplay additions fall short. If REmake and RE2 were a 10 I'd give RE3 like an 8.5 to break it down numerically.

RE4 has been a favorite of mine for a while. I don't quite know where I rank it right now. My heart is telling me the best games are RE2, REmake and RE4 in that order. But RE2 and REmake are clearly benefiting from me having experienced them just recently for the first time and being blown away.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The bosses in REmake were fairly easy. But the typical enemies are pretty challenging (they made the dogs SO MUCH harder) and it's easily the most ammo scarce along with 0 so I wasn't complaining too much.

Still think 3 is a great game btw even despite my belief that some of its gameplay additions fall short. If REmake and RE2 were a 10 I'd give RE3 like an 8.5 to break it down numerically.

RE4 has been a favorite of mine for a while. I don't quite know where I rank it right now. My heart is telling me the best games are RE2, REmake and RE4 in that order. But RE2 and REmake are clearly benefiting from me having experienced them just recently for the first time and being blown away.

One thing that RE3 definitively does better than the others that I don't think you mentioned is that it has the best puzzles in the series hands down. I actually think RE2 is the weakest in this regard. But I agree with some of your complaints against 3, particularly ammo mixing just being sort of an unnecessary complication, and I don't think it's quite as tight of a game as REmake or 2.

Yeah, I recently replayed REmake with the HD port and I wouldn't blame anyone for having that as the best game in the series, but my regard for RE4 is just too strong even if the games are very equal. 2 is my third favorite and is a masterpiece as well. Has the best soundtrack too.

 

[Rean]

I honestly didn't mind the timing. I could pull it off pretty reliably during boss fights. It's just in certain parts of the game it really fucked me over. There's this one narrow path in the park area. I'm not sure if it was hunters, but they're enemies that jump on you like hunters. As soon as I enter the area they all start taking turns jumping at me. In any other RE game they might have got a few hits before I could fire the Bazooka at them. But in RE3 Jill just keeps dodging. I'm standing there trying to shoot them for like 10 straight seconds just repeatedly dodging when I don't want to. Eventually the hits start landing so I die and have to start over.

I actually only got through that area because there were different enemies after I died the first time.

Problems like that could have been really easily avoided if dodging and shooting weren't the same buttons. It only happened maybe 2 or 3 times in the whole game but it was really annoying when it did.

I never tried R2 for aiming at objects. Little weird that they didn't mention it in those inventory manuals the game makes you read at the start but maybe it was in the actual manual you got with the game or something. I'll try that when I play through the game again for sure.

Yeah, i know what you mean. It areas with multiple hunters or small hallways I don't usually try to go for the dodge and instead try to kill them as fast as possible before they even get to me. Dodging against walls or in corners don't help all the time either because you can get hit in the animation or the dodge won't stop you from getting hit. That area in the park that you're talking about has a couple red barrels in it IIRC. That area and a few others in the game are set up like that so as soon as you enter the room you can just aim at the barrel and kill them instantly. The game having live events and several costumes upon completion probably explained why they set it up like that in case you play it multiple times. Also the controller setup menu shows R2 with a (Lock On All) message, and I know that doesn't specify that they target enviromental things someone told me thats what the button does.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Where would you rate the Outbreak games among the main series out of interest? For some reason I always assumed they were single player only but I'll definitely look into them now.

It's a harder to answer question that you think since there's a lot about the Outbreak games. I'll first explain what's different in them, and then my personal thoughts.

Outbreak has two entries, was supposed to be a third but sales were unfortunately low. There is Single Player, but you'll be working with AI comrades (they aren't bad, though), the games were kind of designed with multiplayer in mind but the official servers are dead now, but there are fan servers that are fairly active, a bit of work to get it set-up but can play online through them via a modded PS2 or via emulation. All the information on the fan servers are here: http://obsrv.org/index.php

Now on the games themselves. Both games are split into five campaigns each, and each campaign is radically different. Some take place in familiar and expanded RE locations, there's a campaign in the first Outbreak which is an expanded underground lab from RE2, there's a campaign that's an expanded Hospital from RE3, in the second game there's a campaign that's a fully explorable RPD Police Station from RE2/RE3, and so forth and so on. But also has unique locations for the campaigns, including a Zoo, a subway system, the forest on the outskirts of the city, and more.

In each campaign there's randomized elements to make them replayable, and they mostly work lik the old RE's, fixed camera-angles, tank controls, item collecting and door opening, monsters and limited supplies, all that. But there are a few unique features here. The first most noticeable one will be the infection meter. As you play, you get slowly infected. You can't take away your infection, but you can get items to halt temporarily or slow its progress. Certain enemy attacks, like getting bit by a zombie, will raise your infection levels. When you reach 100%, you die and turn into a zombie for the other players to deal with.

The second biggest difference you'll notice is that there's actually big differences between characters. There's 8 playable characters, and each has some different abilities, skills, items, and such. These differences range from some characters being better to certain weapons, one character has additional inventory space, one character can open their map when in a room and see where all items in the room are located (but not what they are) as simple examples... But there's more complex ones, including a character that has a coin they can flip, and every time they flip heads their chance increases to get critical shots, but if they get tails it resets. And things like one has a lock-pick, some can take more hits, generally each character has 4-6 unique traits to them (and more traits were added to each character in the second game).

There is a story in the game, it ties in with the main series, with cutscenes and such. Different versions of many cutscenes depending who you're playing as, the characters in Outbreak are spare survivors during the Raccoon City incident who are trying to fight to escape the city. Each campaign ends with a boss fight. Most of the monsters from older RE games appear in some form in the campaigns, from regular zombies, Lickers, and Hunters, to less expected returnees such as Leechmen from Zero, Neptune from RE1, G-monsters from RE2, and so on. There's also a lot of unique monsters to Outbreak, ranging from zombified elephants, giant ticks, etc. I also mentioned earlier each campaign was quite a bit different, and this is true. While they follow the RE formula, some campaigns mix it up a lot. One campaign has an invincible 'Axe Murderer' stalker who comes after you randomly through the campaign. One has hidden messages you need to get out of a labyrinth like area that uses a special item. And each has randomized elements that can sometimes drastically change what must be done to finish. There's also a lot of hidden goodies and unlockables.

And as I said earlier, the soundtrack is amazing.

While I wouldn't say it's the absolute best RE game, I would say it's definitely up there. I really hope Capcom does some sort of HD Remaster of these games, it's a hassle to get playing online but the online is very fun, but still worth playing by yourself if you're a fan of the series, some of the campaigns in Outbreak are some of the best RE gameplay in the series. There's also no other co-op game quite like it, and it's a very good RE game in its own right even ignoring the online.

 

[Woody Invincible]

Playing Code Veronica on the DC at launch was one of my favorite gaming memories.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

One thing that RE3 definitively does better than the others that I don't think you mentioned is that it has the best puzzles in the series hands down. I actually think RE2 is the weakest in this regard. But I agree with some of your complaints against 3, particularly ammo mixing just being sort of an unnecessary complication, and I don't think it's quite as tight of a game as REmake or 2.

Thinking on it I probably agree with that. RE3 did have some pretty boss puzzles. Some of the best inventory style adventure gaming puzzles in the series for sure. If you're talking worst of your best 3 I can get on board with RE2's puzzles being the worst. If we're talking worst in the overall series it's gatta be RE0 imo. It's like they built the one cool emergency break puzzle on the train then fucked off for the rest of the game.

Yeah, I recently replayed REmake with the HD port and I wouldn't blame anyone for having that as the best game in the series, but my regard for RE4 is just too strong even if the games are very equal. 2 is my third favorite and is a masterpiece as well. Has the best soundtrack too.

I played through REmake on the gamecube just because that's the copy I could most easily get a hold of. Played a bit of REmake HD at a friends house and I gatta say I was slightly disappointed with some of the environments. The graveyard behind the mansion in particular looks straight up BUSTED. They put some garbage filter on it. The rest of the environments were fine. The film grain looks cool too. But honestly I think the game looks better in SD. Which really surprised me.

The game having live events and several costumes upon completion probably explained why they set it up like that in case you play it multiple times. Also the controller setup menu shows R2 with a (Lock On All) message, and I know that doesn't specify that they target enviromental things someone told me thats what the button does.

I am looking forward to trying out the different live event options on a 2nd playthrough. I didn't do all the Nemesis fights either to get the secret weapons. Wanna give that a shot.

It's a harder to answer question that you think since there's a lot about the Outbreak games. I'll first explain what's different in them, and then my personal thoughts.

Outbreak has two entries, was supposed to be a third but sales were unfortunately low. There is Single Player, but you'll be working with AI comrades (they aren't bad, though), the games were kind of designed with multiplayer in mind but the official servers are dead now, but there are fan servers that are fairly active, a bit of work to get it set-up but can play online through them via a modded PS2 or via emulation. All the information on the fan servers are here: http://obsrv.org/index.php

Now on the games themselves. Both games are split into five campaigns each, and each campaign is radically different. Some take place in familiar and expanded RE locations, there's a campaign in the first Outbreak which is an expanded underground lab from RE2, there's a campaign that's an expanded Hospital from RE3, in the second game there's a campaign that's a fully explorable RPD Police Station from RE2/RE3, and so forth and so on. But also has unique locations for the campaigns, including a Zoo, a subway system, the forest on the outskirts of the city, and more.

In each campaign there's randomized elements to make them replayable, and they mostly work lik the old RE's, fixed camera-angles, tank controls, item collecting and door opening, monsters and limited supplies, all that. But there are a few unique features here. The first most noticeable one will be the infection meter. As you play, you get slowly infected. You can't take away your infection, but you can get items to halt temporarily or slow its progress. Certain enemy attacks, like getting bit by a zombie, will raise your infection levels. When you reach 100%, you die and turn into a zombie for the other players to deal with.

The second biggest difference you'll notice is that there's actually big differences between characters. There's 8 playable characters, and each has some different abilities, skills, items, and such. These differences range from some characters being better to certain weapons, one character has additional inventory space, one character can open their map when in a room and see where all items in the room are located (but not what they are) as simple examples... But there's more complex ones, including a character that has a coin they can flip, and every time they flip heads their chance increases to get critical shots, but if they get tails it resets. And things like one has a lock-pick, some can take more hits, generally each character has 4-6 unique traits to them (and more traits were added to each character in the second game).

There is a story in the game, it ties in with the main series, with cutscenes and such. Different versions of many cutscenes depending who you're playing as, the characters in Outbreak are spare survivors during the Raccoon City incident who are trying to fight to escape the city. Each campaign ends with a boss fight. Most of the monsters from older RE games appear in some form in the campaigns, from regular zombies, Lickers, and Hunters, to less expected returnees such as Leechmen from Zero, Neptune from RE1, G-monsters from RE2, and so on. There's also a lot of unique monsters to Outbreak, ranging from zombified elephants, giant ticks, etc. I also mentioned earlier each campaign was quite a bit different, and this is true. While they follow the RE formula, some campaigns mix it up a lot. One campaign has an invincible 'Axe Murderer' stalker who comes after you randomly through the campaign. One has hidden messages you need to get out of a labyrinth like area that uses a special item. And each has randomized elements that can sometimes drastically change what must be done to finish. There's also a lot of hidden goodies and unlockables.

And as I said earlier, the soundtrack is amazing.

While I wouldn't say it's the absolute best RE game, I would say it's definitely up there. I really hope Capcom does some sort of HD Remaster of these games, it's a hassle to get playing online but the online is very fun, but still worth playing by yourself if you're a fan of the series, some of the campaigns in Outbreak are some of the best RE gameplay in the series. There's also no other co-op game quite like it, and it's a very good RE game in its own right even ignoring the online.

Wow man, thanks for the break down. This honestly got me pretty hyped to try the games out. I do have a modded ps2 so I'm gonna look into what I need. It's a shame there's no offline multiplayer. Seems like a really cool game to play with friends and that'd be the easiest way. But I'm definitely gonna check all this out either before or after Fatal Frame.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Thinking on it I probably agree with that. RE3 did have some pretty boss puzzles. Some of the best inventory style adventure gaming puzzles in the series for sure. If you're talking worst of your best 3 I can get on board with RE2's puzzles being the worst. If we're talking worst in the overall series it's gatta be RE0 imo. It's like they built the one cool emergency break puzzle on the train then fucked off for the rest of the game.

I definitely meant that 2 is weakest in regards to puzzles, not overall haha. 2 is my third favorite RE game. I didn't finish 0 (holding off for the HD port) but I wasn't super impressed with what I played. The emergency break puzzle was cool though.

I played through REmake on the gamecube just because that's the copy I could most easily get a hold of. Played a bit of REmake HD at a friends house and I gatta say I was slightly disappointed with some of the environments. The graveyard behind the mansion in particular looks straight up BUSTED. They put some garbage filter on it. The rest of the environments were fine. The film grain looks cool too. But honestly I think the game looks better in SD. Which really surprised me.

I actually thought the port was pretty good. The areas were kind of inconsistent but I didn't think any looked terrible (even the aqua ring). Mostly though, I was just happy to play it on my console, in HD, with a solid frame-rate, because the only other time I played it was on my laptop running through dolphin at like 15fps and had lots of graphical glitches. So REmake HD was a godsend. My biggest issue with is that they changed the font! Why would they get rid of the typewriter font (which made sense) for whatever bland ass font they picked. Minor issue, but still.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

I'm so happy you put pictures in your LTTP thread

Great hearing you enjoyed the classic RE games which are one of my all time favorite classic games.

REmake is in my top 5 of all time ( FFVII - Xenosaga 3 - FFIX - Tomb Raider Anniversary - REmake ). I finished the Remastered version 6 times in a raw and can't wait for the Origins version to re-visit the mansion AGAIN.

This is my my list of the classic RE game from the best and on:

REmake > RE2 >RE:CVX > RE3 > RE0.

 

[Korigama]

I consider RE3 the best overall of the old school REs (having started playing the series with the Director's Cut of RE1), often very underappreciated. As for ammo mixing, I don't consider it an unnecessary complication, but rather one of the best things about the game because of the sheer amount of freedom it grants in customizing according to playstyle preference.

Hated C:VX, and personally consider it the weakest old school RE. Still consider RE4 my favorite in the series, though.

 

[YaGaMi]

Its good to see someone play RE 2 for the first time recently and hold it in high regard. It'a my favourite of the old school formula.

If you haven't played RE 4 you're in for a treat.

 

[gelf]

I wish I could wipe my brain and experience these games again like you have now.

I like that you got a kick out of the tank controls despite being new to the series. Some would have us believe that only the rose tinted would still like those.

 

[badcrumble]

I consider RE3 the best overall of the old school REs (having started playing the series with the Director's Cut of RE1), often very underappreciated. As for ammo mixing, I don't consider it an unnecessary complication, but rather one of the best things about the game because of the sheer amount of freedom it grants in customizing according to playstyle preference.

Hated C:VX, and personally consider it the weakest old school RE. Still consider RE4 my favorite in the series, though.

My man.

(though RE2's zapping system is still the coolest thing)

 

[FlashbladeGAF]

When you beat RE2, did you replay the game with reversing your character choice order.


so if you played the game like this

Leon A ---> Clair B --> Ending

make sure you replay the game like this

Clair A --> Leon B --> Ending (This scenario is the tougher out of the 2)

 

[Brhoom]

Before playing Fatal Frame I would like to recommened a couple of games to play:

1:Alone in the Dark (1992)

This game is considerd the grandfather of Survival Horror, once you play it you will see how Resident Evil was inspired by it, you can get it on GOG with AitD 2 and 3 for 5'99 I think which is a steal if you ask me.

2:Clock Tower (1995)

This series started back in 1995 on the SNES, yes I know how can an SNES game be scary? But you will be suprised once you play it, there is a fan translation online because this game never made it outside of Japan and this leads me to my next game:

3:Clock Tower 2 (1996)

The next game in the series was released in the US as Clock Tower but in Japan it was Clock Tower 2, the game is a direct sequel and is really a fun game to play on a weekened at night.

4: Haunting Ground (2005)

Now I think you can play Fatal Frame before this one because it was released after Faral frame 1 and 2 I think, anyway, Haunting Ground was Clock Tower 4 at first but Capcom changed the name (to not pay SunSoft?) So this game is really one of my most played games, and after asking a lot of people you either love it and become a fan or it doesn't click with you and you hate it, but I really would recomemend you stick with it until the second boss to see if it does or not.

I can go on and on but I think I will post the rest here for you to search on them:

Clock Tower 3 (2002)
Rule of Rose (2006)
Siren 2 (2006)
Siren Blood Curse (2008)
Alien isolation (2014)

I think this is all I can think of for now, I hope this helps you

In case you were wondering why I skip agame in a series (Clock Tower Ghost Head, Siren 1) it's because they are games which were a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people and I did not want to leave a bad taste while you were just getting into things

 

[Manu]

Hated C:VX, and personally consider it the weakest old school RE. Still consider RE4 my favorite in the series, though.

I dream of the day when more people share this opinion.

Code:Veronica is terrible.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

When you beat RE2, did you replay the game with reversing your character choice order.


so if you played the game like this

Leon A ---> Clair B --> Ending

make sure you replay the game like this

Clair A --> Leon B --> Ending (This scenario is the tougher out of the 2)

I started another play-through with Claire A --> Leon B briefly after finishing REmake but decided to stop and play Zero instead. Definitely plan on finishing that 2nd play-through, sometime soon, though.

I consider RE3 the best overall of the old school REs (having started playing the series with the Director's Cut of RE1), often very underappreciated. As for ammo mixing, I don't consider it an unnecessary complication, but rather one of the best things about the game because of the sheer amount of freedom it grants in customizing according to playstyle preference.

Hated C:VX, and personally consider it the weakest old school RE. Still consider RE4 my favorite in the series, though.

I can definitely see how it would be someone's favorite in the series. It's a really unique departure in aesthetic, tone and in some ways structure while still retaining the classic underpinnings. I both appreciate it for that and ultimately rate it lower for the same reason.

I like running through the streets of Raccoon City and how you're never in one place for too long in RE3. They really do make it feel like Jill's escape. At the same time it sacrifices that intimate nature of mostly exploring through a smaller scale mansion/haunted house type environment. Something I really loved in 1,2 and REmake.

I do definitely appreciate that they did something different, though. Resident Evil 3 is a great game.

I wish I could wipe my brain and experience these games again like you have now.

I like that you got a kick out of the tank controls despite being new to the series. Some would have us believe that only the rose tinted would still like those.

I really don't get the disdain for tank controls. The controls in the Resident Evil games, especially, are actually really tight and responsive. The way they work is perfect for the series. I said already in the OP but they make dodging a crowd of zombies thrilling and tense in a way that is just absent from newer games. Also they allow for that hella evocative camera work.

I played a little Until Dawn at a friends house and I remember actually wishing that game did have tank controls. Having to adjust for every angle change was annoying and they'd have been a perfect fit for the games methodical exploration.

Before playing Fatal Frame I would like to recommened a couple of games to play:

I definitely have had my eye on the Clock Tower/ Haunting Ground stuff. I don't know If I'll play Alone In The Dark, though. Even looking past the super primitive graphics the character & art design itself is so ultra fugly. I've definitely looked up a few videos though and it's beyond clear that it directly inspired Resident Evil.

I dream of the day when more people share this opinion.

Code:Veronica is terrible.

Man, how could you hate Steve?