Deadly Silence is almost everything you could have wanted in a Resident Evil game on the Nintendo DS.
Survival horror captured in handheld form
Classic and Rebirth Mode
Cons:
Don't expect updated graphics
Off center aiming at times
"Resident Evil: Deadly Silence" (Resident Evil: DS, clever) for the Nintendo DS is a port of the original "Resident Evil" game for the Playstation One. Deadly Silence follows the S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as they investigate mysterious happenings around the Spencer Mansion located on the outskirts of Raccoon City. What Chris and Jill discover would be a far more sinister plot than they could have ever imagined; these events are the foundation of the Resident Evil series.
Deadly Silence boasts two gameplay modes: Classic and Rebirth mode. The classic gameplay stays true to the original with little or no change to the gameplay. Rebirth mode not only ups the difficulty of play (more zombies), but also takes full advantage of the DS features, such as the touch screen and even the microphone by adding new gameplay elements.
As with nearly all Resident Evil games, there are puzzles to solve as the player dodges and weaves between zombies, trying to conserve precious ammo. The puzzles can be solved on the spot, force the player to do some backtracking or even look through the various notes the player will stumble upon for a vital clue. If playing in Rebirth mode, there will be extra puzzles that require the use of the touch screen.
For the actual gameplay, Deadly Silence stays true to form for the most part; the camera stays at a fix angle depending on the character's location, the player still has to aim (the R shoulder button) and fire with the action button (A or B). But there are some additions from the past Resident Evil games in Deadly Silence. For starters, the characters can make a 180 degree turn, making it easier to attack zombies from behind or for a quick escape.
The combat knife makes a return to Deadly Silence through the use of the L shoulder button. This time around it's no longer an inventory item (one more must needed free space) because it's permanently mapped to the L shoulder button. Sadly, the knife isn't as useful as it was in Code Veronica, so it will have to be used it at the player's own risk. The player will probably be better off dodging and weaving when appropriate. (If you know of an effective method to using the knife, I'd love to hear about it).
Deadly Silence carries over from Code Veronica the ability to "CHECK" items in 3D, this allows the player to view and rotate objects in 360 degrees. This is advantageous when it comes to finding clues to items or puzzles that would have otherwise not have been noticed.
Something new to Deadly Silence is the ability to skip the door and steps cutscenes; those who have played other Resident Evil games know that going through doors or walking up and down stairs have their own cutscenes, this can become really tiring when the player is constantly backtracking. Deadly Silence heard those pleas and now the player has the ability to skip through the cutscenes.
An interesting note about Deadly Silence is that the actual game is played on the bottom screen as opposed to the top screen like most games. On the top screen is the map of the current floor of the building the player is in. The map even makes note of the rooms already visited and the rooms that have yet to be entered. For those who have played their fair share of Resident Evil games, they know how valuable a map is because of all the back tracking that will occur.
The aiming of Deadly Silence seems be off at times; it's best to wait until the zombie or other B.O.W.s (Bio Organic Weapons) is completely lined up with the character before aiming the weapon. This can get tricky when dealing with the faster zombies or zombies with a longer reach.
Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure of playing the original Resident Evil on the Playstation One, so I can't speak too in-depth about the similarities or differences that Deadly Silence shares to the original game. Some might find the live action cutscenes campy or cheesy, but personally I like them a lot; it gives the overall atmosphere of the game that of an '80s zombie movie. Comparing screenshots, Deadly Silences looks nearly identical to the original, so don't expect Deadly Silence to push the limits of the hardware when it comes to updated graphics.
If you're looking to squeeze a little more life out of your DS or if you want some old school Resident Evil to go hand and hand with the new school Resident Evil: Revelations on the 3DS, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is the game of choice.