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1UP Resident Evil DS review

Score: 8.0

Perhaps the biggest "problem" with Deadly Silence is that it's just not scary anymore. The genre has picked up and since introduced far greater frights than what the original offered (Silent Hill and Fatal Frame, take a bow), and downsizing the original Resident Evil to a handheld experience takes away a lot of the fear. It was mostly, after all, the atmosphere and mystery that made up for the slightly broken gameplay, and all these years later the question must be asked, "Who is going to want to play this again?" Besides those who've never tried this game before, probably not too many people. Though an impressive port, it's a port of a game that's been ported (and even remade on GameCube) time and time again. The Rebirth mode alone is not enough to warrant recommending this to Resident Evil veterans, although the multiplayer modes make it an easier sell (provided you have enough friends with their own copy). Even then, despite the wealth of characters you can unlock for that mode, you never actually see any of the people you're playing with onscreen (other players are represented by colored stars). From a purely technological standpoint, Deadly Silence is a mostly excellent game, but one that is -- in terms of fixing what was wrong with the original -- only partially successful. If you're a black-and-blue Resident Evil veteran who's been down this path before, there's not a ton here worth replaying. But if you've only hopped on as of the last couple episodes and want to see what all the fuss was about nearly a decade ago, then by all means jump right in.
 
Reilly said:
They gave it a low score because it wasn't scary anymore? :lol
Well... as much as we all love RE, let's be honest to ourselves: why else would we like it if it wasn't scary?
 
Mihail said:
Well... as much as we all love RE, let's be honest to ourselves: why else would we like it if it wasn't scary?


It's just a port of the original. I'm not sure what anyone was expecting. It's like saying movies that were considered scary in 1930 suck because they aren't scary anymore.
 
Reilly said:
It's just a port of the original. I'm not sure what anyone was expecting. It's like saying movies that were considered scary in 1930 suck because they aren't scary anymore.

Quoted for truth.

Someone actually expected a first person shooter. :lol Apparently that person forgot about the Gun Survivors.
 
8 is low?

I would say 8 is too high for another RE1 game, even with all the extras.

Archaic gameplay ftl.

The only way RE1 should have been remade again is with the RE4 control scheme. Can't go back anymore.

Hopefully this game bombs in USA like it has in Japan. Capcom needs to make more RE4 type games and less RE1.
 
It's more like remaking a "classic" 1930's scary movie in black and white and making you watch it through binoculars.
 
I thought REmake was creepy as hell. But still nothing to date is on par of the first time going through Resident Evil. The game was an amazing breakthrough and was unlike anything I had ever played before.

Sure I love my Nintendo moments a great deal, but the Playstation had such an incredible feel to it near the begining. Even games like Jumping Flash, Twisted Metal, Wing Commander 3 to name a few are all expierences I will never forget yet if done today would mean absolutely nothing and would just be another Mace Griffon: Bounty Hunter.
 
Parallax Scroll said:
The gameplay was never broken. Not even slightly.


The means of controlling your character (arguably the most important part of any game) was inferior to most 3D games at the time.
 
Mrbob said:
8 is low?

I would say 8 is too high for another RE1 game, even with all the extras.

Archaic gameplay ftl.

The only way RE1 should have been remade again is with the RE4 control scheme. Can't go back anymore.

Hopefully this game bombs in USA like it has in Japan. Capcom needs to make more RE4 type games and less RE1.

GODDAMNIT IT'S THE SAME CONTROL SCHEME
 
cvxfreak said:
GODDAMNIT IT'S THE SAME CONTROL SCHEME

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THOUGH. COMPLETELY CHANGES THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED.

And I still think there are some improvements which need to be made on top of RE4. But lets go forward and not backward! ;)
 
Mrbob said:
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THOUGH. COMPLETELY CHANGES THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED.

And I still think there are some improvements which need to be made on top of RE4. But lets go forward and not backward! ;)

Okay, fair enough. :D

Still, an RE4-style RE1, RE2 or even RE3 is a recipie for mediocrity compard to RE4.

But please let it be known: the control scheme is exactly the same.
 
cvxfreak said:
But please let it be known: the control scheme is exactly the same.

a_med_eg_rev_phoenix_004.jpg


The aiming is different. :D
 
The comments that always follow a RE thread with "should control and have a camera view like RE4", with "All other RE games are shit before RE4", or "Remake another RE game with RE4 controls/perspective" are getting annoying.

I'm this close to using Reilly's avatar.
Same here.
 
Speevy said:
The means of controlling your character (arguably the most important part of any game) was inferior to most 3D games at the time.


Bad control is an element of RE's gameplay. Disorentation resulting from the tank controls adds tension to what would otherwise be a pretty simple shooter.
 
I'll definitely be picking this up. The first RE was the only reason I gave a damn about console gaming back when I was a PC whore. Luckily the best original version ended up the PC anyway. I remember buying a voodoo card just to play it. :D
 
The biggest difference between RE4 and the rest of them is not the perspective or control scheme, but the increase in the amount of both the ammo and enemies...

And I can't go back to that series without some kickass firepower!
 
Tanks can not turn on the spot, can they? So stop saying tank controls.

One of my first survival horror experiences was with Metroid II on Game Boy.
Playing this in darkness will be scary. Only a few inches away from the action, and with headphones it will get even more immersive.

Capcom has obviously decided that the GCN version of Resident Evil was not enough.
For enthusiasts who want to play the latest (and of course the definite) version, this game is the one to get.
 
demi said:
When is Release Date? I'm buying this.

Sarcasm? I thought I remember you bashing this? Anyway it ships Tuesday, should be in stores Wednesday. We'll fight the good fight against the zombies together!
 
SailorDaravon said:
Sarcasm? I thought I remember you bashing this? Anyway it ships Tuesday, should be in stores Wednesday. We'll fight the good fight against the zombies together!

You must be thinking of the demi who likes Psychonauts.
 
hahahax said:
Tanks can not turn on the spot, can they? So stop saying tank controls.

I believe they can. That said I never had a problem with the RE controls. It was the fighting enemies that are off camera that pissed me off.
 
The control in RE is NOT broken. Nor is it bad.

People simply suck.

It's a relative control scheme.
It was the norm in the 80s and early 90s.

The traditional REs HAVE to be this way.

If you're holding UP and you go through a camera change, that UP will take you in a different direction.

It would be impossible to run down a hallway by holding a direction. You'd gave to switch with the camera. In RE games you don't know when the camera will change (unless you've played it before, of course).

Relative controls - right makes character turn to his or her right, as opposed to right makes character move to right of screen - are much more natural to me. They also help to remove a layer of abstraction. Instead of focusing on the plane of the screen, you focus more on the character.

Also, relative controls make it easy to back up - hold down. If you had typucal action controls, down would turn your character to face the bottom of the screen and then move there. No backing up while you face an dshoot at your enemy.

Zelda has this shit down, with Z-targeting. Contrary to what people will tell you, 3D games had shit controls back in the early days. Exceptions were games like Zelda and mario, which people tried to emulate. Then you had camera problems.

But something like Z-targeting would suck for an RE game.

People also often complain about RE controls because they tried to play them on the Dual Shock and expected analog controls. Most "analog" ps games simply let you use the stick and mapped it to the d-pad. Up on stick = up. Left = left, up left = up + left. Most games never gave you more than that. If you were lucky, you got a walk and run based on how far you tilted the stick.

Oh, and a final point.
You're not supposed to run through a Resident Evil game. You're supposed to walk and explore and try to figure out what the hell is going on. Then, ZOMG ZOMBIE!!!
RE is not an action series. RE4 is nice and action packed, and it was done well. Very well. But I still love me some regular RE. (REmake being the best of them)
 
conker said:
If you're holding UP and you go through a camera change, that UP will take you in a different direction.

It would be impossible to run down a hallway by holding a direction. You'd gave to switch with the camera. In RE games you don't know when the camera will change (unless you've played it before, of course).

Relative controls - right makes character turn to his or her right, as opposed to right makes character move to right of screen - are much more natural to me. They also help to remove a layer of abstraction. Instead of focusing on the plane of the screen, you focus more on the character.
Those are a couple of big reasons why I like this control scheme so much.

When I enter a room in a RE game, I have a mental map of the room and my character's position in it. If I decide that I want to run past the bookshelf and make a right towards a door, it doesn't matter how many times the camera angle changes, because the buttons I press to walk that route will always stay the same.

And you're right, Resident Evil games were never about action.
 
Exactly.

Navigating a room is much easier with the relative scheme. Expecially if it's a room you've been in before and already cleared out.
 
conker said:
The control in RE is NOT broken. Nor is it bad.

People simply suck.

It's a relative control scheme.
It was the norm in the 80s and early 90s.

The traditional REs HAVE to be this way.

If you're holding UP and you go through a camera change, that UP will take you in a different direction.

It would be impossible to run down a hallway by holding a direction. You'd gave to switch with the camera. In RE games you don't know when the camera will change (unless you've played it before, of course).

Relative controls - right makes character turn to his or her right, as opposed to right makes character move to right of screen - are much more natural to me. They also help to remove a layer of abstraction. Instead of focusing on the plane of the screen, you focus more on the character.

Also, relative controls make it easy to back up - hold down. If you had typucal action controls, down would turn your character to face the bottom of the screen and then move there. No backing up while you face an dshoot at your enemy.

Zelda has this shit down, with Z-targeting. Contrary to what people will tell you, 3D games had shit controls back in the early days. Exceptions were games like Zelda and mario, which people tried to emulate. Then you had camera problems.

But something like Z-targeting would suck for an RE game.

People also often complain about RE controls because they tried to play them on the Dual Shock and expected analog controls. Most "analog" ps games simply let you use the stick and mapped it to the d-pad. Up on stick = up. Left = left, up left = up + left. Most games never gave you more than that. If you were lucky, you got a walk and run based on how far you tilted the stick.

Oh, and a final point.
You're not supposed to run through a Resident Evil game. You're supposed to walk and explore and try to figure out what the hell is going on. Then, ZOMG ZOMBIE!!!
RE is not an action series. RE4 is nice and action packed, and it was done well. Very well. But I still love me some regular RE. (REmake being the best of them)

I'm glad there are other people that agree with me.
 
hahahax said:
Tanks can not turn on the spot, can they? So stop saying tank controls.

Yes, they can. One tread turns one way, the other tread turns the opposite way.



And someone should save that jumbo RE-defensive post up there, to post in every thread relating to the RE series. It's masterful.
 
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