Resident Evil

About Resident Evil

Capcom released this 2014 HD remake of the original survival horror classic across PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch platforms. The story drops players into 1998 Raccoon City where STARS Alpha Team investigates a missing Bravo Squad. After surviving a dog attack in the woods, Chris or Jill takes shelter in a creepy mansion full of undead horrors. You explore dark corridors, solve environmental puzzles, and fight off zombies created by Umbrella's T-virus experiments. This version brings the 1996 original to modern hardware with updated visuals while keeping the tense atmosphere intact. It stands as a genre-defining title that introduced many to survival horror mechanics through its resource management and fixed camera angles.

Gameplay

Sessions involve navigating linear sections of the mansion and surrounding forest while managing limited inventory space. You toggle between Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, each with slightly different starting stats but identical core abilities. Combat relies on strategic shooting rather than run-and-gun action since ammo is scarce. You must solve puzzles to unlock new areas or find key items hidden in desks and drawers. The camera angles are fixed per room, creating tension as you cannot see what lurks behind corners until you turn the corner. Quick time events trigger during boss fights against massive creatures like the Tyrant. Splitting up with AI teammates adds a layer of coordination since you must protect them while they provide fire support or retrieve items.

What Players Think

Metacritic gave this title a 91 out of 100 while OpenCritic scored it 62 with only 21 percent of critics recommending it. IGDB ratings sit at 83.8 from over 460 users who describe the game as story-driven and atmospheric. Community members often label the vibe as creepy or emotional, though some find the pacing chaotic. Average playtime suggests a full campaign takes around 15 hours for most players completing all objectives. Review snippets note that while the script lacks novelty, the sheer volume of content makes up for linear sections. Some users point out that certain campaigns feel significantly better than others during their marathon sessions.

PlayPile's Take

This game costs $14.99 on Green Man Gaming and offers 30 achievements to chase. It suits players who enjoy methodical exploration and high-stakes combat over fast-paced action. The low price point makes it an easy buy for newcomers wanting to see why the original defined a genre. You will spend time managing inventory and solving puzzles rather than just shooting enemies. The story ends differently based on your choices at specific moments, encouraging multiple playthroughs. If you want a classic horror experience with solid mechanics and a memorable setting, this version holds up well against modern titles despite its older roots.

Storyline

On July 24, 1998, a series of bizarre murders occur on the outskirts of the Midwestern town of Raccoon City. The Raccoon City Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS) are assigned to investigate. After contact with Bravo Team is lost, Alpha Team is sent to investigate their disappearance. Alpha Team locates Bravo Team's crashed helicopter and land at the site, where they are attacked by a pack of monstrous dogs, killing one of the team. After Alpha Team's helicopter pilot, Brad Vickers, panics and takes off alone, the remaining members (Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker and Barry Burton) seek refuge in an abandoned mansion, where they split up. The player character (Chris or Jill) finds several members of Bravo Team, including Kenneth J. Sullivan being eaten by a zombie; Richard Aiken, who is either killed by a giant venomous snake or eaten by a shark; Forest Speyer, who is found dead and revived as a zombie; and Bravo Team leader Enrico Marini, who reveals that one of Alpha Team's members is a traitor before being killed by an unseen shooter. Bravo Team survivor Rebecca Chambers joins Chris. The player character learns that a series of illegal experiments were undertaken by a clandestine research team under the authority of a biomedical company Umbrella Corporation. The creatures roaming the mansion and its surrounding areas are the results of these experiments, which have exposed the mansion's personnel and animals to a highly contagious and mutagenic biological agent known as the T-virus. The player character discovers a secret underground laboratory containing Umbrella's experiments. There, they find Jill or Chris in a cell and encounter Wesker programming a Tyrant, a humanoid bioweapon. Wesker reveals that he is a double agent working for Umbrella, and plans to use the Tyrant to kill the STARS members. In the ensuing confrontation, Wesker is apparently killed and the player character defeats the Tyrant. After activating the lab's self-destruct system, the player character reaches the heliport and contacts Brad for extraction. The ending changes depending on the player's actions at key points: in the best ending, the surviving team members escape by helicopter after defeating the Tyrant again; in the worst ending, the mansion remains intact and the player character is the sole survivor.