Resident Evil Twentieth Anniversary Series Review - Resident Evil 1 Remake

-Aaron "Aeecee" Clark
Reviews Editor

I have never really liked remakes that much they just seem to be for the most part to me somewhat unnecessary. And when I personally say remake we are not talking about some sort of franchise reboot or high defiantly rereleases those are fine. No what I am mentioning here is when an original game is rebuilt from stretch to retell the same events with some new material. My peculiar reasoning for this is that if the game was already really good to begin with why remake it just play the original. But on the other hand if the original game was not all that good not to say bad of course then it could stand to reason why remaking it could be pretty desirable. The remake of the first Resident Evil is the kind of remake that falls into the rare circumstance of being remake from an original game that was not all that great overall. This remake is not only one of the few that was needed but is also one of the best remakes of any original game period.

Story:

Being an accurate remake and not just simply another reboot the opening story is exactly the same as the original. There are some events that happen later in the game that were changed to help explain certain elements in the squeals. And also plot material that came up in the squeals was also mixed in the narrative to help keep the overall story fresh. So besides that there are no changes to the main story from it was if you played through the original game. So because of that there is no need for me to go into lengthy detail about the plot especially since I already told it all again recently in my review of the prequel.

Gameplay:

Although the core game mechanics are the exact same there have been several improvements made over the original with many of them being concepts that were later introduced in many of the squeals. Some of the new gameplay quirks that came from later games include being able to perform 180 turns in an instant and being able to auto combine weapons ammo and ink ribbon in and out of the storage bins. Of course one new addition to the gameplay that was brand new is the use of single use defense items such as daggers and grenades that allow you break free when certain monsters have ahold of you. Another great enhancement is in the area of controls where overall character movement is not only much greater than before but it is also some of the best in the entire series.

Design:

The general map is pretty much the same as before so for those of you who are very familiar with the original will have no trouble knowing the layout. Although there have been some new additions to the remake such as an abandoned shack east of the mansion and the new aqua ring in the basement of the residence. Other minor changes that help keep the remake fresh include an addition set of tunnels added to the underground caverns and slight changes and new rooms on the second floor of the mansion.

Of course just because the map has not changed much does not mean you will be able to explore everything in the exact same way as you did the in the original. Most of the keys are now in different places than before and will require different strategies to get to them. Some of the key items have different uses from what they were before and there are also new key items to find.

​The key items are not the only thing that is different many of the puzzles have had slight altercations to them or have completely changed as well. And there are new puzzles in areas where there were none before such as the clock puzzle in the dining room. All the puzzles are nicely done and some of them will take some brain power in order to figure them out properly.

All the monsters you love from the original are here with two new additions the first is Lisa Trevor an immortal mutated girl who shows up here and there and can only be avoided as weapons are unless against her. Then there are the Crimson Heads who rise up from zombies you have already killed and are much faster and deal more damage and they can be prevented from coming to life if you burn the body of the zombies you have killed with some kerosene. Overall the remake has lots of stuff that has remained both changed and unchanged and also has some new stuff added in for good measure that make this remake feel like an entirely new game.

Presentation:

The graphical leap of the remake over the original is amazing as the amount of detail with the characters and environments were some of the best for its time. The soundtrack is still really good with most of it being updates of tracks from the original including the save room theme. And of course the voice acting and writing are much better as well although some of us long for the days of the Jill Sandwich and Master Of Unlocking. Not to mention there are quite an amount of unlockable extras to keep you coming back for more including the new real survival mode.

Final:

Overall the remake of the first Resident Evil as mention earlier is not only one of the few remakes that was needed but is also one of the best ever made. In many ways it is better off for some to skip over original and just play the remake instead it is that good. And like the second Resident Evil is not only one of the best in the series it is also one of the best in its genre period!

Rating: 5/5