My favorite Games of All-Time #12: Resident Evil - Originally published on 1UP - June 2, 2006

When I think of a game that moves and feels like a horror movie come-to-life I think of one title and one title alone. Resident Evil (RE) began a genre revolution and coined the term "survival horror." By appealing to fans of horror and mystery movies the game was far unlike others at the time. The pairing of puzzle and action elements was superbly crafted. Even the popular PC title Alone in the Dark didn't approach its subjects in the same way, with the same intensity as RE.

The game did not have much of a prelude. You were a member of an elite police force known as S.T.A.R.S. You were sent to a secluded mansion in the mountains of Raccoon City to find your missing comrades. After running from a pack of vicious dobermans you are left with a small group. The mission was clear. Find a way out of the mansion and try not to die in the process.

Right from the get-go the theme was set. Using one of two main characters it was up to you not only to survive but also figure out the mystery behind the mansion. The graphics pushed what was possible on consoles at the time. With a creative use of camera angles highly detailed rooms could be rendered with only the actual characters being animated. These dramatic camera angles, and the accompanying score, helped keep the mood of a horror movie.

It really doesn't take very long to get into the hook of the game. Turn a few corners and a cinematic would play, introducing gamers to the zombies. ZOMBIES! The animated dead are presented right for the first time in a long time. Not since George A. Romero introduced the masses to the zombie in the classic Night of the Living Dead have they ever been presented "right."

Capcom has backpedaled and now claims that RE doesn't really have zombies. Yeah just creatures that I like to call zombies-that-really-aren't-zombies-just-very-zombie-like. BAH! Whatever to Capcom. I call a rose a rose and I call the zombies in RE exactly what they are... zombies! Anyhow, the "rules" of the classic zombie monster all apply here. You can down a zombie with many, many shots from a gun. Or it will take far less bullets if you aim for the head. Zombies shot in the legs can still crawl and reach our heroes.

The game has multiple cinemas, and changing outcomes that help explain the story and even allow for different endings. This was one of the first action/puzzle games to feature that type of gameplay. One of the best dynamics that changed the game was the limited ammo supply. Players learned quickly that they had to conserve their firepower and look for ways around the zombies. Players also learned to conserve medical packs. By searching for certain colored plants they could make a homebrew medicine to treat their injuries.

By exploring the many rooms in the mansion not only did you find more ammunition but you also discovered that the dobermans and zombies that have been attacking were part of a scientific experiment gone wrong. A corporation by the name of UMBRELLA was developing a virus that caused the zombie state in humans and animals. The secrets of the "T-Virus" experiment weren't just lying around in locked cabinets either! Players had to search high and low, discover secret passages and find keys in order to turn the next chapter in the game.

This puzzle element was heightened by the knowledge that in the very next room, at the very next turn of the corner there could be another zombie. RE is filled with many jump-out-of-your-seat moments. The best of which was the dobermans crashing through the windows. These same dogs that attacked your friends at the start of the game were discovered to be genetic monsters code-named the MA-39 Cerberus. You either run or fight in many instances. My gut told me to run or stop playing the game. But of course the desire to rescue these virtual friends and get to the bottom of the T-Virus conspiracy kept me pushing forward.

No videogame would get the best of me!

The further you progressed in the game the more unique the environments became. The game is not only set on and around the grounds of a mansion. It also stretched into the nearby mountain. The longer you play, the more absorbed in this virtual world you become. No detail is spared either. The floors and wallpaper change from room to room, there are paintings on the walls, regal furniture, elaborate tile work in other rooms. Kitchens, generator rooms, bathrooms, private studies, labs... this truly was a fleshed out world.

At no point in time do the people behind RE ever let up on the suspense either!

The world is set in perpetual midnight. There is no sunrise to change the mood. No change in the foreboding music. The atmosphere surrounding the game stays heavy from beginning to end. RE would not have worked any other way. It is a game that becomes something more than the sum of its parts. To me if is the very definition of a cinematic experience. NO! Strike that!

Resident Evil transcends the cinematic experience. It captures the pace of an action movie, of a horror movie and a Hitchock-esque suspense thriller and then takes it a step further. This is what Roger Ebert will never understand about the medium. A great game is not passive entertainment. It requires the player to use both sides of their brain. To be creative and figure out a puzzle, or series of steps in the puzzle before advancing, before simply pulling the trigger.

Participation is what makes an good game experience into a great one. It is that participation that has been lacking in many Final Fantasy titles as of late. Too much watching and not enough do-ing. All of the important elements in Resident Evil require participation. All of the cinemas in the game only last a few seconds, the rest of the game actually puts you in the scene.

There is much more I want to expand upon, not the least of which would be the "Hollywood" battle at the end of the game. But some things I cannot say because certain friends still have not beaten it. So I will leave it as this. The original Resident Evil is the best in the survival horror lot and worthy of this spot. If you have not played this game then you have not played anything great! Buy it, borrow it or steal it. Nobody should miss the experience. Just make sure you aren't of the faint of heart!

NOTE: Today is the second anniversary of my father's death. Time may heal all wounds but some wounds still sting. I will always hate June 2nd. Take care and have a great weekend.

I’d like to hear your personal top-10, top-20, top fighting games, top sports games, or top games in any genre. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!