Resident Evil Gaiden Review

Resident Evil Gaiden is quite different from the other installments in Capcom's Resident Evil franchise. The game is played primary from a top-down perspective, which eliminates the spooky camera angles and blood-curdling surprises that have become hallmarks of the survival horror genre. Likewise, there are no item slots, item boxes, or other such artificial limits placed on your inventory--an adjustment that increases your ability to explore, but also makes this Game Boy Color chapter less suspenseful than its console counterparts.

Generally, zombies with tentacles are dangerous.

Strictly speaking, Resident Evil Gaiden is ordinary. What remains after the alterations listed above, as well as those detailed in the rest of this review, is a straightforward action game with a mild emphasis on puzzle solving. Besides the Resident Evil namesake and a well-crafted story, there's nothing that sets Gaiden apart from any of the countless other action games available for the Game Boy Color.

The most noteworthy aspect is the story, which is a clever whodunit that keeps you guessing as to the true identity of the villain. The Umbrella Corporation is up to its old tricks, using people as fodder in ghastly genetic experiments, but this time it's doing so aboard the Starlight, a luxury cruise liner. Leon S. Kennedy, a former member of the Raccoon Police Department, is ordered to investigate, but he promptly disappears. Barry Burton is then sent to rescue Leon and uncover the truth behind Umbrella's latest experiments.

Leon S. Kennedy gets personal with a shotgun.

Eventually, the two heroes team up and proceed to liberate a young girl from the clutches of a BOW, a bioorganic weapon capable of assuming human forms and transforming people into undead zombies. The plot has many twists and turns, and the ending is a surprise that should please longtime fans of the franchise--especially those who wonder exactly what happened to Kennedy in between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica.

Playing through the entire game, however, requires incredible patience. In order to find Leon and rescue Lucia, you have to search the entire ship. The Starlight has more than 100 different rooms and passages, many of which are locked initially, so the challenge is to find out how and where to obtain the key or item that will unlock the door obstructing your path. Many of these items are lying in plain sight, but some are hidden in furniture or under dead bodies or carried by zombies.