What I dislike about Remake

[Andyfer_Ruu]

Myself, i love this game more than the psx version. I remember the first time i played it, it scared the crap out of me and i couldnt help but admire the graphics. Then of course i got to the point were horror games dont scare me anymore, but i could still feel the tension and atmosphere in it.
(cube version of course)

[TheSelfishGene]

1. The graphics.

The Remake attempted to re-design everything, and the graphics were updated. However, the feelings of atmosphere were gone. That's right, gone.

What the original Resident Evil delivered, Remake failed on this. Believe it or not, but darkness didn't deliver atmosphere. The original had way more atmosphere than Remake did. I liked the lighting in the first game.

Also, the occassional thunder and lightning in Remake wasn't that great either. I saw nothing scary about it, and I found it to be lame. It was like "try-hard" to scare the gamers. I didn't like anything about it.

Why the first game delivered atmosphere in my eyes:

To me, the first game will always give me the feeling that what happened in the game, you could actually imagine seeing that happen in real-life. The first game was a masterpiece.

I think that the lightning and thunder was cliche sure, but I really disagree that this is the only thing new in the remake that gives atmosphere.
The mansion in the remake had a feeling that it had been lived in, something that the original fell short on. Sure, you could argue the fact that it didn't feel lived in made it a bizarre place. But in the remake, there are other bizzare things, mostly in the new areas. The casket in the basement of the graveyard. The bird cage in the new stairwell. The busts in the corridor with the mirrors. These make it feel like a strange place. At least in my opinion.

I'll give you an example. In the hallway where you fight the first zombie, the zombie eating Kenneth's corpse, this is an example of atmosphere.

There was a window right on the wall there. And the hallway was completely quite. And here you are shooting at a creepy creature called the zombie. The lack of music really helped here. And seeing that window made you wonder if that viscious creature that chased you into the mansion was still out there.

Remake's take on this:

The camera angle is different. There is a door there. The hallway is dark. There is lightning and thunder sounds on occassion. Everything that the original produced to give me that "feeling of realism" was gone.

There is still a window there, and a brilliant flash of lightning comes through it before you find the zombie. I'm not sure what you're saying is missing from this scene. All they've done is added lightning and thunder.

What is a shame about the game industry today is that they think everything is graphics. Sometimes TOO MUCH DETAIL can hurt the game. And that is what I felt Remake was like.

I don't think there is such thing as 'too much detail', but I think that during devlopment of some games, then developers can spend too much time on details, and neglect other parts of the game. If the other parts of the game are good, then the detail isn't all that important. Personally I found REmake to be great, and the level of detail wasn't a detraction at all.

Overall, the graphics in Remake didn't really impress me. The new camera angles and lighting, plus the thunder/sound effects weren't really anything to brag about.

And Remake re-did the intro scene, where now it is 3 cerberus chasing the team, where in the original, they never really showed the whole face of the mysterious creature, we can only speculate that it was a cerberus, but we don't know for sure.....

There's alot to be said about being frightened of the unknown. Watch Alien. You're on the edge of you seat the whole way through, and you don't even see the creature you're scared of until about 2/3 of the way through.
Having acknowledged that, I don't think this is what they were going for in the opening of Resident Evil. I think it was just budgetry contraints / poor editing / cutting a censored edit that means that you don't really know what's attacking. I prefer the remake style, in that you can see what is killing the people, and then you have a reason to be scared for the characters.

Even in the original, if you try exit the mansion via the front door, you can see the dog that was chasing them.

There are parts where you can see zombies bashing on outside windows trying to get in. Out near the boiler dogs can jump the fence and get in. On the path to Lisa's shack there are zombies. You get a sense that there was more going on then was just in the mansion and guardhouse. Something that the original didn't really deliver at all.

2. The Enemies:

Yes, I found the enemies in the original to be more scarier than in Remake, especially the hunter.

The hunter in the original scared the shit out of me, where as in Remake, the figure of the hunter was different, those same creepy sound effects that were made in the original were gone, and now I just looked at the hunter like another monster.

What happend to those hunters that made those clicks when they walked, and the eerie remixed mansion music that accompanied them? And when there was no music, things seemed just as tense.

When you come back to the mansion, and everything has changed, you realize that you must have done something wrong that made these creatures show up.

Now the whole mansion is crawling with hunters!

I agree, hunters were alot scarier in the original. And I was scared of them because 2 could corner you and then just keep swiping you until you die. Or if one wanted to, it could decapitate you instantly.

The remake failed on this too.

But I disagree that the original had scarier enemies. The remake introduced crimson heads. The variability brought alot to the gameplay. And not knowing how many enemies you'd face in a corridor can truly build tension.

Bottom Line: Those special feelings that the original gave me, I didn't get at all from Remake.

Subjective. Each to their own I guess.

3. Remake changed the routes, added new rooms.

I really didn't care for the new routes you had to take, and the new rooms. They seemed un-necessary, and they seemed like they were added just to show off the graphics. Having the original game with the graphics redone would have been enough.

Bottom Line: It's not a remake if they are adding new things that drastically change from the original. The new routes you had to take were un-necessary.

Another point I disagree with. The new areas were for people like myself who played and cherished the original. Instead of offering a mere graphical update, they offered more. There was quite a bit of fanservice thrown in too. The dog failing to jump through the window, Richard helping against the Yawn or Neptune. Things like this made it unpredictable, even for people who played the original.

SUMMARY: I don't think the remake is a bad game. I have it, and I plan on buying the Wii version as well, for the collection. However, if you couldn't understand where I'm coming from in this review, the best way I can explain is that Remake didn't do anything for me that the original did.

The original did it spot on. Everything. And it showed that you don't need total darkness to give the player a feeling of atmosphere and scariness.

Where as, when I played Remake, there was nothing intriguing about it. I would play the original over Remake any day.

It might be difficult for some of you to understand where I'm coming from, but it is more about feelings. Special feelings that the original gave me, and the fact that the original seemed like that those things could happen in real life, where as Remake didn't evoke any of those feelings. Remake felt like a new-age game that cared more about graphics.

But that is my opinion. You will probably have your own opinion. I would like to hear what you think.

Original > Remake

Personally I much prefer the remake. Now, that doesn't make me a graphics whore, and I still really enjoy the original. But I think that the remake just took everything that was great about the original, and then made it enjoyable to play again. As well as providing something for people who hadn't played the original, and providing something for people who just wanted a good, scary game.

[REmaster]

^ Well done. One of my favorite parts of the remake is when you're going down to the neptune area, and right before you get to the room where the sharks are, you have to walk this corridor flooded with water. I remember turning the corner, than seeing the water come up to my waist. As you walk towards the door, the water gets deeper, and the light shining out from behind the door onto the water was heavenly. All of this, plus the neptune music...doesn't get much better than that. Than of course the crimson heads...brilliant. Having to face off against zombies is one thing, killing them than trying to burn all their bodies is another. The second I walked into a room with a little bit of kerosine left and realized the body was gone...wow. I probably crapped myself even before the crimson head did an electric slide behind me and starting chasing me down the hall Epic.

[The_15th]

Remake would be one of my favorites if it weren't that I could never understand how the minuscule analog stick worked in it. It's the only RE game that scared me. The only thing I hated was the damn keys. I screamed like a girl in the forest on my way back from my play date at Lisa's house when what I think was a crimson head came at me. The extra bed room also creeped me out. I guess, I guess the butterflies coming alive was pretty lame though. The graphics are gorgeous, you don't need 20000000000000000 normal maps to make a pretty game.

It would've been cool if you had had the kick move. I mean, come on, you could kick enemies in that resident evil rip off called Alone in the Dark that came out several years before. ;)

[Andyfer_Ruu]

Remake would be one of my favorites if it weren't that I could never understand how the minuscule analog stick worked in it. It's the only RE game that scared me. The only thing I hated was the damn keys. I screamed like a girl in the forest on my way back from my play date at Lisa's house when what I think was a crimson head came at me. The extra bed room also creeped me out. I guess, I guess the butterflies coming alive was pretty lame though. The graphics are gorgeous, you don't need 20000000000000000 normal maps to make a pretty game.

It would've been cool if you had had the kick move. I mean, come on, you could kick enemies in that resident evil rip off called Alone in the Dark that came out several years before. ;)

I didnt think it ripped off resident evil that much because it revolved around super natural spirits and what not.

[Helegad]

Resi Evil ripped off Alone In The Dark 1.

Haunted mansion? Check.
Zombies? Check.
Police force? Check.
Set camera angles? Check.
Very limited ammunition? Check.

Nope, AITD didn't rip anything off RE. It was the other way around.

[consoul]

I really don't think RE owes anything to AITD. There are similarities, but I wonder whether Mikami was even aware of AITD's existence when he began making Biohazard. The original Biohazard is clearly based on Capcom's Famicom game Sweet Home, which predates AITD by several years. That's where the whole premise of a team of people heading into a deserted mansion in the forest populated with zombies and other monsters comes from.

[missvalentine]

I couldn't agree more with theselfishgene.

Nope, AITD didn't rip anything off RE. It was the other way around.

RE didn't rip of anything, it just improved upon previous things.

Anyways if you read The 15th's post again you will notice he was winking when he said that anyway.

[Andyfer_Ruu]

Ahh, fair enough.
I found Alone In The Dark to be a hell of a lot harder than Resi Evil though, i actualy never completed The New Nightmare game.

[kevstah2004]

I think it owes something to the original House On Haunted Hill too
infact the 1999 remake could be seen as proper live action Resi Evil 1 film.

[Harry Mason]

Resi Evil ripped off Alone In The Dark 1.

Haunted mansion? Check.
Zombies? Check.
Police force? Check.
Set camera angles? Check.
Very limited ammunition? Check.

Nope, AITD didn't rip anything off RE. It was the other way around.

Never before in the history of video games did another series before Alone in the Dark 1 make a 3d game using load-a-picture graphics combined with 3d models...

But Resident Evil didn't rip off the story, they just borrowed the game engine and improved it.

**On topic the only beef I have with REmake is the lack of gore (burning carcass, heads exploding, Uncut Cerebus intro with spraying blood as its face gets shot, Joseph's mutilation..the rest is pure awesomeness.

[Stars1356]

Ahh, fair enough.
I found Alone In The Dark to be a hell of a lot harder than Resi Evil though, i actualy never completed The New Nightmare game.

Same here, you can actually download the strategy guide for free from prima. I also don't think RE ripped of AITD, that game was just a inspiration for the game play.

[J_Man757]

I nevered played the PSX version of one I did have the Saturn Version however, and I remeber I got the gamecube while I was sick in the hospital and all I wanted was REmake with it and Im also very much whatever to horror and jump scares but as my Heart monitor can detestit had me going lol.

Also the main reason outside of the graphics overall for wanting the game was need I say it, "Lisa Trevor". thats the sickest and saddest story inside RE I feel.

[[STARS]TyranT]

In reply to the intial post I can easily see where you are coming from.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that when Resident Evil came out on the PS way back when no one had really experienced anything like it aside from the hardcore PC gamer fanbase who had played such games as Alone In The Dark, but again Resident Evil even then was something completely different. And I've always said that the best experience that I have ever had playing Resident Evil was the very first time I stood in the hall in the original and had no idea with what to do at all.

And with your second point, yeah the hunters was far far scarier simply because they were a complete loose cannon. Headswiping while you are on fine after running all the way back from the guardhouse was not a nice experience. The fact that you could only hit them while they were stood or jumping made it even more difficult, in the Remake you just blast one to the floor and finish it off there.

Despite agreeing with those points, I do feel the game was improved upon in every way, and I think Crimson Heads make up for the scares we lost in other areas, and Lisa Trevor's addition is masterwork and proper actual horror.

[BCZ 13]

The first Resident Evil had more of a creepy charm to it but Resident Evil remake has more of a darker and scarier atmosphere to it. I personally like REremake better bc it was a great game and my first resident evil game so it holds a special place in my heart.