Same great taste but with a little more flavor
Gameplay: In this game you play as one of two S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Squad) members, either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Both having their own special abilities. Like for Chris, he excels in weapons handling and he can pull off some amazing gun wielding feats if caught surrounded by enemies. As for Jill, she has a large item capacity (unlike Chris) and she can also lockpick certain doors which is pretty nifty. Well anyways, there are 2 main single player modes to play, the first is Classic mode which is has the same game as the Original Resident Evil on Playstation. The premise of the gameplay is you have to survive through the night of this mad house, uh, I mean mansion. You'll have to fight through an array of scary ass mutations such as zombies, zombie dogs, giant spiders, and many more. To fight off these creatures of the night, you'll find a nice arsenal of weapons such as a handgun and combat knife (both which you start out with), shotgun, flamethrower, .357 Magnum and many more. Don't get your leg caught by a zombie, if that happends than you can simply kick it's head off with a couple taps of a button. It amuses me so. If you get damaged there is a nice healing herb and first aid spray to help you with your medical needs. Very useful. There is also a nice venue of bosses just dying to meet you like a giant spider code named: The Black Tiger. This boss still gives me the creeps. Along with just busting a cap in a zombies head, you also have to solve some puzzles. They're all pretty simple accept for this one that has to do with wires, yeesh! Ok, now for the other mode which is called Rebirth mode. Rebirth mode is somewhat the same as classic mode accept they added more zombies and you get to use the DS features. Those DS features include the new 1st person knife battle mode where you can use a stylus to slash zombies on the bottom screen which is pretty fun and addicting. With that said their is also a knifing minigame called Master of Knifing that you can unlock by beating the game the first time on classic or rebirth mode which is pretty tight. Another DS feature is using the stylus to solve puzzles on the bottom screen which is pretty fun and another feature is using the microphone which you blow into and it's used for at least one puzzle that has candles and the other is for recessitating your friend Richard, who is dying from a fatal snake bite. Opps, I said to much. Now for the best DS feature of them all and a first in any Resident Evil game is Multiplayer mode. It's Wireless DS Multi-card Play which is freakin' awesome. There are 3 different stages to play which include the Mansion, the Guardhouse, and the Laboratory. My personal favorite is the Guardhouse. There are 9 characters total to play with but you only start out with Jill and Chris, but you must unlock the other 7 . Well, anyways the multiplayer modes include a Versus and Co-op mode. For Versus, the objective is to compete for the fastest escape time or highest score based on enemies defeated. Their are some weird but cool little gameplay quirks to it such as when you kill a certain colored enemy, it will affect your opponents somehow like for example if you kill a purple enemy, then your opponents will be able to run. It's crazy. The versus mode is both fun and challenging but I still prefer Co-op anyday. Ok, now for Co-op, you guys just work together to escape the place you chose (ex: The Mansion) before time runs out. The gameplay quirks in this one is you and your allies share the same life bar so a good way for everybody to survive is teamwork. Another quirk is when everyone is in the same room, you get an attack bonus, which is pretty cool. I forgot to mention that at the end of each multiplayer mode that you must fight a boss before exiting. You didn't think you were gonna get off that easy, did you? Co-op is definetly fun against the boss because your friends got your back.
Graphics: As far as graphics go in this game, it's pretty similar to the Playstation version and as far as 3-D games go on the DS this definetly one of the best looking in my opinion. Though the live action intro at the beginning looks just plain funny to me. The levels look great like The Mansion for instance when you go into the bathroom and you can see your self in the mirror . Now that is great detailing. I also like when you open a door and you can see it open and it's dark, it gives it a nice eerie feeling. The characters and the monsters look awesome especially in first person where you get to see the zombies up close, there creepy. From the gun smoke of firing your gun to the bloody splatter of a zombie's head after a decap from your gun is pure eye candy.
Sound: This game has some of the best video game music ever made. It's creepy and ambient at the same time. The music is a treat for the ears. My favorite tune is where you find a room with a typewriter in it and it's all abandoned and it starts playing this calmly soothing but eerie music which is just plain weird because your in a horror game and it's playing peaceful music. I still like it though. I own the soundtrack for this game, so yeah, that tells you how good it is. From the groans of the zombie to the zombie munching on human flesh is just a treat for the ears. Also, hearing the gunshot of your weapon sounds so authentic it almost sounds like a real gun. The voice acting in this game is so bad it's funny. The dialogue and the way it's presented at times is just plain hillarious. Like for example, the very famous line by Barry Burton, his most famous bad line is the legendary "You were almost a 'Jill Sandwich!'" line, just comedic gold right there.
Replay Value: This game is definetly replayable anyday of the week. It's a very good game for a long roadtrip. Both the single player and the multiplayer will definetly keep you coming back for more. Whether it be just to play some multiplayer co-op with some friends or to replay the single player game all over again. Even if you beaten it a million times, chances are you'll still come back for more.