Gun Survivor: Biohazard (2000) (VG)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Hiroyuki Kai

Writers:

Naoyuki Sakai (scenario: planning)
Noboru Sugimura (scenario: planning)

Release Date:

31 March 2000 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

In 1998 a disaster struck the quiet midwestern residence of Raccoon City. An uncontrollable outbreak...

Plot Keywords:

Church | Resident Evil | Sequel | Amnesia | Bio Organic Weapon

Cast

Patrick Harlan	...	Ark Thompson (voice)
Colleen Lanki	...	Lott Klein (voice)
Ruth Hollyman	...	Lily Klein (voice)
Michael Naishtut	...	Vincent Goldman (voice)
Walter Roberts	...	Andy Holland (voice)
Brian Matt-Uhl	...	UT Commander (voice) (as Brian-Matt Uhl)

Also Known As:

Resident Evil: Survivor (USA)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:M

Company:

Capcom Company

Trivia:

This is the first Resident Evil to feature first person viewing.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the beginning of the game, the main character finds himself in a completely closed-off and isolated area that no one could enter or leave without going through a single door. The player then goes from that area (through said door) to another isolated area containing one body. However, as he is investigating the body, the main character is attacked from behind by a zombie. There's no way the zombie could have shown up behind him as both areas were tightly closed off and isolated.

Quotes:

Lott Klein: What are we going to do now, Mister?
Lily Klein: Yeah. What are we going to do?
Ark Thompson: I don't know. But don't worry. We can fly as long as we have fuel.
[Ark drives the helicopter away from the scene as he and the Klein siblings survived and escaped from the island that self-destructed]

Movie Connections:

Spin off from Biohazard (1996) (VG)

Not as bad as it's made out to be.

First, I'll get the cons over with:

Yes, this game likely could have benefited from either an in-game save feature, light gun support, or CG FMVs, but that's about it.

The creators did go out on a limb with this project, and the end result is actually quite unique. The idea that the main character was stricken with amnesia and unsure as to who he is or why he was there ( Later stolen by Paul Anderson for the RE movie ) wasn't a bad idea, although it didn't really take a rocket scientist to figure out that he wasn't really 'Vincent'.

Another switch from the usual characteristics of the RE series is the weapons. In most Resident Evil games, your weaponry is limited to a Beretta, a Remington shotgun, and some random .357 pistol. Now they offer you three different sidearms ( I don't really consider the Japanese weapon worth using, but oh well. ), one having average rounds per minute and reloading time ( Glock 17 ), slow RPM and fast reloading ( Beretta Cougar ), and lighting-quick RPM and slow reloading time ( Czech-75 ). Gun nuts like myself will love this game.

One of the things with the normal Resident Evil games is that you always encounter it from a third-person perspective. Therefore, you know for sure if there's some evil low-budget zombie coming up from behind you. In this game, you won't know they're behind you until they take a big chunk out of your neck ( The sudden act of it all is more surprising/frightening than it sounds ).

Likely the reason that you cannot sidestep, or run and fire at the same time, is due to the fact that you can't do either of those in other Resident Evil games either. You always had to stop where you were, aim with R1, and then give whoever stands in the way, Holy hell. Plus it reminds me of the old nostalgia games where you had to beat the game all at once, like so many memorable NES games.

All in all, Resident Evil: Survivor is definitely worthy of belonging in a Resident Evil Junkie's collection, and even worthy of the casual player. Like all firsts of a genre, it has its lacking spots, but it's great to see how it's performed. I'd say four stars out of five.