As an action packed, expertly crafted game of horror themed survival, it delivers all that you could ever want.
Not to spoil much, the game begins with Leon S. Kennedy being escorted into a remote part of Spain. Leon is a top secret agent for the US Government, who was sent to investigate the disappearance of the president’s daughter… and happens to stumble on an eerie village, and that’s where things begin to move.
The graphics… all it takes is looking at a screenshot and you already see the work that went into this game. Viewing videos doesn’t do this game justice. The environments are large and expansive, and very finely detailed. Since the majority of the game is at night, the designers made sure that even under the worst light that the game’s real time rendered backgrounds would look absolutely stunning. In a certain area of the game, you can see a thick foggy cloud layer moving through the sky as you walk by a mountainside. The cut scenes are rendered using the same in-game graphics engine, meaning there will be a seamless transition. And just because there is a cut scene doesn’t mean you’ll be safe… on various occasions you’ll be prompted to push buttons to save your butt from what is about to happen. You’ll have to be on your toes if you want to survive.
As a third person shooter, the game sports a behind the back point of view, and when Leon hold his gun up, the camera locks into place as the control stick now controls where your gun is pointed. Guns come with a laser sight, and when you shoot, the enemies in this game react to whichever area you shoot them in. If you decide to shoot them in the leg, they’ll slow down to clutch their leg, or if you perhaps decide to take a head shot, you’ll have a nice juicy, satisfying explosion. And bosses are not in short supply… each and every boss in this game is thought out well, and the only repetitive ones are the “El Gigantes” that you’ll come to hate. You have a large supply of weapons to choose from, of course, supposing you get the money needed to buy them.
Each gun is upgradeable in these main ways: Firepower, Firing Speed, Reloading Time, and Capacity. Each one of those are equally important, as you’ll see that in order to succeed in this game you have to efficient in how you take out your enemies. Often times, you’ll be hard pressed with little ammo, and a horde of Ganados (powerful villagers) or other vile inhabitants. And they’ll all sport a variety of weapons, from swords, to slashing poles, to shooting arrows, to flaming sticks, even dynamite. And don’t suppose just because you are facing one way you’ll be safe… enemies can and WILL come from behind and attack. Gone are the mindless, groping zombies of other games, these enemies are much smarter and even come with many other sinister surprises.
With Dolby Pro Logic II support, surround sound systems will enjoy the game’s top notch audio. Each gun sounds powerful, and the Ganados and other enemies even yell out phrases in Spanish, that even alert you to their own location. In a surround sound setting, if an enemy is behind you, and they yell, “Behind you imbecile!!” (In Spanish of course) you’ll hear it in the back of the room, and sure enough, that annoying enemy is somewhere behind you. The music is tuned especially toward your current plight in the game… if you perhaps defeat all the enemies in an area (however rare that is… you’ll find that the game uses almost any action on Leon’s part to send more enemies into the area) then the music will calm down.
And it truly blows nearly everything in its entire PLATFORM away. If you have a Gamecube, and happen to be in the market for an action packed game… this game has your name written on it. As an action packed, expertly crafted game of horror themed survival, it delivers all that you could ever want. There truly is nothing wrong to be pointed out in this game… perhaps its only weakness is its Mature rating… easily accessible even by those new to the franchise, you don’t even have to like the whole Resident Evil concept… because the whole game is THAT good. Its one, if not THE best game you’ll ever play.