Resident Evil: Director’s Cut Review (Sony PlayStation, 1997)

It might not be the first survival horror game (Alone in the Dark predates it by four years) but Resident Evil is the one that popularized this sub-genre. Since its inception this has been one of my favorite genres, and it’s sad to see that in modern times it has mostly faded away. Resident Evil was originally released on the Sony PlayStation in the mid 90s and it inspired many copycats. Not all of these were blatant rip-offs; some developers came up with some interesting twists and created successful series based around them. Still, there’s something ‘magical’ about the first Resident Evil, and today I’m here to talk about the director’s cut which was released a year later.

Resident Evil’s story focuses on an elite task force in the fictional American town Raccoon City. This team, called S.T.A.R.S. is sent out to investigate a rash of bizarre murders in the woods on the outskirts of the town. Upon arrival they are attacked by disfigured dogs and chased to a nearby mansion. Inside awaits an army of zombies hungry for their flesh. You must solve puzzles and battle the undead all the while dredging deeper into the secrets of this unholy place. What’s cool about this game is the fact that you’re given the opportunity to play as two different characters; Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. While the story unfolds in pretty much the same way for both scenarios there are several differences that make both worth playing.

Resident Evil: Director’s Cut makes use of the common for its time polygonal characters set against pre-rendered backgrounds technique. This limits movement to tank controls wherein you turn your character with the left and right buttons on the directional pad and walk forward in the direction they are facing by holding up. Many people have complained about this in the past, but I never had a major problem with these tank style controls. In Resident Evil you guide your character through a series of rooms within the mansion fighting zombies and solving puzzles. The action is displayed from a set camera angle which sometimes prevents you from seeing forward, but it makes the game significantly more unnerving in my opinion. When you walk to the end of the screen the camera snaps into a new angle which can be a little jarring, but these views are often dramatic and help show you were to look in each room.

Your basic weapons are firearms, but ammunition is limited and you have to make every bullet count. The mansion is full of undead monsters and on a pretty frequent basis you’ll find yourself low on supplies. When things are particularly dire you can rely on your knife, but it’s extremely ineffective and puts you right in harm’s way. Enemies don’t drop bullets, and ammunition is generally found in pre-determined places throughout the mansion. To further complicate matters you’ll find several different types of guns, and they use different types of bullets. There’s a lot of inventory management required in this game because you will also need to carry keys and puzzle elements and your item capacity is limited. This is alleviated by storage chests located primarily in save rooms, but nothing is more frustrating than when you don’t have room to pick up an item you need in order to progress.

Puzzles are generally nonsensical. They usually require that you simply bring an item and use it on an element in the environment, but sometimes they involve matching objects and pushing furniture. Nothing is particularly difficult, but the game is often vague and relies on riddles which can be a little frustrating. Additionally this game requires a significant amount of backtracking. When you first start out most of the doors are locked, and when you finally do get the key (indicated by symbol) you have to return in order to progress. This can be a little annoying because it’s easy to forget which doors are where, and even now I find myself getting lost because the mansion is huge. A rudimentary map is available to help navigation, but I preferred to not use it because it’s a little clunky. Remembering the layout of the mansion is still tricky.

Where Resident Evil: Director’s Cut absolutely excels is in its atmosphere. The game is extremely spooky, and the developers were able to nail this aspect. The immersion is fantastic, and the mansion actually feels like a real place after a while. Conserving ammo, and not being sure you have enough to proceed makes for some stressful situations. At specific points in the game new enemies appear in areas you’ve already been to which is downright startling. The story develops at a slow pace, but notes left behind keep you interested and give some unsettling insight into the world. Jump scares are infrequent, but they are extremely effective. The developers put a lot of work into making the Spencer mansion an oppressive place, and they did an absolutely amazing job.

There are a few differences between this and the original release. Resident Evil: Director’s Cut adds an arranged mode to the package which changes camera angles, item placement, and makes things altogether more difficult. You also get a few new costumes, but if that isn’t your thing then it’s hardly noticeable. Easily the biggest new change is the addition of an auto-aim feature. Now your characters automatically target the nearest enemy when you go into targeting mode. This was incorporated in a few of the later games, and some consider it cheap, but I really like it. Auto-aim is a game changer, and makes the original Resident Evil much easier to return to. You’ll save a lot of time from not having to pivot your character around constantly. That’s for sure.

The graphics have aged quite a bit since the original release. Characters are blocky low polygon models, but they are at least recognizable. The pre-rendered backgrounds help this game out a lot. The environments are full of detail, and though they’re just static pictures they still look really nice. Because of them the framerate holds nicely which makes this game perfectly playable even today. The live action intro is very cheesy by today’s standards, but this just makes it more memorable. The soundtrack is eerie and extremely effective. The only problem is that in this release some of the music was re-worked, and some of the original tracks are huge downgrades. It’s not a huge issue, but it’s noticeable when you’ve played the first release. The voice overs are laughably bad. The acting is terrible, and the dialogue is really weird on occasion. It makes this game feel like a b-movie, but given the setting and themes it works in its favor.

While the Gamecube remake is better in my opinion the original game (and this Director’s Cut) is different enough that it could almost be considered a different title. The horror elements are amazing, and the gameplay is fun. There are some frustrating elements, such as the required backtracking and awkward controls, but these are forgivable because the overall package is so strong. Resident Evil deserves a place in every serious fan’s collection. I prefer this Director’s Cut version because the additions it make enhance the game. Auto-aim alone is worth it, but the new play mode is cool too. It doesn’t feel like a ‘director’s cut’ so much as another port of the original title, but I recommend seeking it out. Be sure and get the version with Chris holding the shotgun on the boxart otherwise you won’t get the original music.