Survivor finds itself in limbo as it unsuccessfully tries to blend the first person shooter genre with resident evil.
CONS: uninspiring story and characters, sluggish controls and pacing, no GunCon, short game play.
First off, this game is a major departure from the series, deviating from the third-person perspective of the previous games to a first-person view. Unfortunately the Japanese version of the game allowed use of the Namco GunCon, a light gun that gave the game a more arcade feel. The American version did not allow the use of the GunCon, instead giving players a slower, more lackluster game play experience. This is the biggest fault for the US release and hinders it from being as entertaining as Gun Crisis or House of the Dead; Another arcade shooter similar in the vain of Survivor.
Even if it had more of an arcade feeling, it still lacks the ability of having freedom of movement of that of a rail shooter, which results on you having to slowly move your character through out the environment; Making the pacing very uneventful and horrendously tedious. The game could of been intended to be just a FPS and not of a arcade shooter, but even so, it lacks the ability of striving or looking in complete directions; Such as up or down, it is only set to only level of view of perspective.
Story wise, it consists of another rehash of the same concept, with no variation that previous installments have improved upon. After the incident in Resident Evil 2, a helicopter crashes on the outskirts of the Umbrella Corporation's private township, located on Sheena Island. The pilot, Ark Thompson, escapes the burning wreckage only to find himself fighting a battle against the living dead, with no memory of his identity or his reasons for being there. Of course it is revealed throughout the game events by scenarios, but they lack the creativity to be truly surprising.
The only and sadly highlight of the game are the enemies, which consist of those found in Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2; Including hunters, lickers, tyrants, cerberus dogs, mutant spiders, and the standard variety of zombies. Even with the main staple of the game series, due to mundane game play, killing these assortment of the undead becomes a chore rather then entertainment.