Resident Evil Survivor was released in late 2000 on the Playstation, and it immediately showed it age with languid graphics, extremely pixelated sprites, and more. I try to do my best to showcase the positives of most games, but this game stinks, so it will be hard. Let's see if I can do it. Before I start, it must be mentioned how Survivor could have been a decent enough game. Light gun support was planned for this game, and is actually available in the Japanese version. Most think it was disabled in the US version due to the Columbine shooting. That tragedy occurred in April 1999, this game was released in August 2000. That makes so little sense.
Resident Evil Survivor takes place on Sheena Island, which is naturally home to an Umbrella facility specifically researching the development of Tyrants for use as Umbrella bio-weapons. The game's backstory is intriguing; especially how one Vincent Goldman has found a method to increase the rate at which T-Virus infection in humans will produce a viable Tyrant, rather than the standard zombie. His methods are definitely unethical and brutal, nice to know the kinds of people who get ahead at Umbrella. Lucky they aren't quite Captain Planet villains yet...
Anyway, the game opens with a helicopter crash and a main character now suffering from amnesia. This is the game's faulty way of trying to interest the player. As you learn about this character (who is told he is Vincent by many people) the developers hope you will be invested in his struggle to escape the island and solve his mental problems. Too bad it doesn't quite pan out...
Survivor's graphics are about Resident Evil 2's quality. The problem with this though: The sprites often look like they were taken right from that game, with little or no attention paid to altering them for Survivor. And because of the first person perspective, enemies can get quite close to the screen, enabling the player to see how poorly rendered and shoddy their animations are. In RE2, enemies were at a distance, so it was not noticeable. Here, it very much is. All this makes Survivor feel like a rush job to be sure, and it doesn't bode well for the other areas of this review.
The music is also problematic, with a lot more ambient noise than was present in Resident Evil 2. This is not a good thing, Survivor could have pulled a 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand by just copying things from more successful RE games, but in an attempt to have original music, it is just bleh. Perhaps RE Rebirth was not the beginning of bland music in Resident Evil?
Gameplay is done in the typical first person shooter style, but without the ability to dodge or strafe, combat consists of little more than shooting enemies a few times then retreating to several steps away, and repeating. This not only makes the game incredibly easy, it is almost downright unfair for these game's recycled enemies. Mr. X, Lickers, Plants used to be a threat in previous Resident Evil games. Here they can be taken down with a simple handgun, which is especially overpowered due to its infinite ammo.
The game tries it best to make things needlessly difficult though; your character moves rather slowly, even his running speed is ill suited for first person combat. Combined with the lack of evasion skills, the game can really test your patience.
Survivor was also the beginning of the dumbed down Resident Evil puzzle, which I'll definitely have more to say about in my forthcoming RE4 review. Most keys you pick up are used right down the same hallway in which you find them. Puzzles are stupidly simple, even maps aren't necessary anymore because the game is so linear. A total disappointment.
Survivor's challenge has been touched upon, but here is a bit more. This game is EASY, even lickers can be shot right out of the air for easy stuns and subsequent kills. Dogs seem to be slower to compensate for the poor controls. Even the final boss is simply a matter of running away and just unloading all your most powerful ammo.
Survivor's replay value is limited, even if you love the game. There is a ranking system and some suitable rewards, but I never bothered with unlocking them, a rare thing for me.
Overall, Resident Evil Survivor's few interesting bits (mostly its insight into important Resident Evil story elements) can easily be discovered from reading an FAQ or watching a speed run. Watch out for the voice acting though! I've played this game twice, one when it was released and once again for this review. I'll think I might sell it now, as I've been told it is rare...
5.5/10.0
-Ugly Bob
article id: 353 | poster: uglybob
