The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
For today’s entry, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of Resident Evil by stepping back into that iconic mansion in the PSOne classic, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut.
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Developer: Capcom
Region(s) available: North America, Europe (as of March 23, 2011), Japan
Players: 1
Having been responsible for baking trouser brownies across the globe since its inception in 1996, Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise is a game that needs little introduction. Catapulting survival horror into mainstream success, Resident Evil combined then-unprecedented visual quality with sofa-soiling scares, perfecting a paradigm that would subsequently be copied by numerous developers including Konami with Silent Hill. And then there’s that B-grade dialogue, the stuff of proper legend.
Opening up in July 1998, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut follows S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team as they scout the Raccoon Forest zone in search of their Bravo Team compatriots, who disappeared during an investigation into a string of grisly homicides. Landing in the forest and being chased into a spooky mansion by undead hounds, the Alpha’s split up and soon discovers the crumbling estate infested with all sorts of monstrosities, from flesh-hungry zombies to hulking, mutated snakes. Players take control of either chisel-jawed hunk Chris Redfield or Jill ‘Master of Unlocking’ Valentine as they try and figure out what’s gone down in the sprawling holiday home from hell.
Resident Evil offers up a heap of locations to explore beyond the dust-coated, claustrophobic mansion halls. Players will be able to snoop around outside in the surrounding gardens, creep about in a Guard House, investigate creepy underground tunnels and more. All along the way you’ll be capping off hordes of shuffling corpses out to suck your blood out like a carton of Ribena, and battle bosses and other mutated monstrosities. Weapons include a wimpy combat knife and bread and butter handgun to meatier armaments, such as a Shotgun, Magnum and Bazooka. Make no mistake though, this ain’t no blastathon ala RE4; ammo conservation is paramount to your survival, and if you aim to fill every rotting resident with lead you’ll quickly find yourself worm food.
> In addition to combat, Resident Evil also gives you a chance to put your thinking cap on with ample puzzles on offer. Some of these are fairly rudimentary such as simply hunting down a key or object to unlock a dusty old door, though there are a few more cerebrally stimulating distractions on offer that require a bit more exploration and thought. One of the more pleasing aspects of Resident Evil comes in the form of manipulating the story based on certain choices you make, elongating the replay value immensely. As such, with two characters at your disposal and plenty of paths to go down, you’ll have plenty of reason to come back for more. There’s also some unlockable goodies thrown in for good measure if you manage to plough through the game quick enough, such as that finger-licking infinite Rocket Launcher.
Of course, Director’s Cut offers a slightly new twist on the inaugural game in the form of the Arrange Mode. While Standard and Training are self-explanatory (with the latter being slightly more lenient in terms of difficulty), Arrange throws up a heap of fresh goodies such as new costumes, alternate camera angles and a custom-made S.T.A.R.S Beretta. Furthermore, all items and enemy placements have been completely reshuffled, plus you’ll even encounter a ‘new’ enemy in the form of an undead versions of Bravo Team mechanic and sniper, Forest Speyer. Oh, and you’re also kitten-weak too, with the already fragile Miss Valentine kicking the bucket after only a couple of zombie bites. With the series now 15-years old, there’s never been a better time to revisit this survival horror classic.
Join us again tomorrow for another butcher’s Inside PlayStation Network.