Anniversary Reflections

Capcom has been guilty of their fair share of cheap port and quick remakes but Deadly Silence should not be counted as one of them. Released to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Resident Evil, Deadly Silence looks and plays like the original except now you are playing the whole thing in the palm of your hands.

The pre-rendered background could be copied over directly from the original but the 3D character and object polygons could not so Capcom had to re-draw everything from scratch. A rebirth mode was added where many of the newer RE moves were implement to the original included the all-important quick turn, knife attack and quick reload. All of these moves could now be performed without going to the item menu just like in Resident Evil 4 and 5. Some of the pre-rendered background were redrawn to accommodate the new costume and puzzles in addition to a handful of new camera views of "background" for the knifing mode.

I wasn't impressed with Deadly Silence back during the tenth anniversary but now I'm beginning to see the effort the team put into the port. It made have been all fans got ob the tenth anniversary but right now it seems a lot better than what we are getting for the 15th anniversary this year.

Laws of Nature

I went back to playing HUNK on the 4th survivor mini-game recently after having played the HUNK side mission on Umbrella Chronicles, which of course is based on the 4th survivor scenario. I must say that the HUNK side mission was pretty enjoyable and faithful to the original inspiration, especially when compared to the Resident Evil 3 missions.

The 4th survivor is one of my favourite Resident Evil mini-game and i was pretty chuffed when i first managed to make it to the end, having memorized most of the enemy placement and routes. It's actually not as hard as one might think but of course, having a good grips of the tank-like controls and knowing which enemies to fight and which to run from helps a great deal.

4th survivor will also one of those Resident Evil mini-games that enforces the laws of nature within the Resident Evil universe so strongly that you can't help but to learn and abide by it as well.

What is this laws of nature within Resident Evil universe you say?

Simple, no two different type of monsters should ever co-exist in the one same room or area. It's a simple rule that was probably born out of the complications of programming but one that makes absolute sense when you sit down and think about it.

If say, the crows were in the same hallway as a zombie, wouldn't they be tempted to pick the flesh off their bodies since zombies do possess a body of decaying flesh? It makes complete sense to me so when the development team behind the Deadly Silence port decided to tweak with the formula and create a more challenging Rebirth mode, i was absolutely dismayed. While i adored the original Resident Evil and kinda liked the Deadly Silence port, i absolutely loathe the Rebirth mode included.

There, all my worst nightmares came to life, as Hunters, zombies and crows were all running rampant in the mansion, most of the time in the same area. You could say that this was due to the limitations of the hardware during that time so that's why you never get two different type of monsters attacking you in the one same area but think back to when you last played Resident Evil 4.

Did that game have two different monsters in the one same area?

Killer Instinct

A lot of people have been buying new consoles and handhelds lately and it's not due to any price drop either but rather the appearance of several killer app titles. You see, a killer app title is one that is usually so anticipated and hyped that it helps generate hardware sales as well ie. people who don't own console are willing to buy the system just to play that one game. A friend of mine recently got a Sony PSP to play Final Fantasy's Crisis Core, sure he has been contemplating about getting one for some time now, surveying the market and reading up on custom firmware but it took the release of Crisis Core to push him over the edge. More recently I got friends eager to take the PS3 plunge to play the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, so i guess killer apps are not restricted to console exclusive titles only seeing that GTAIV is multi-platform.

So what are the games that would convince you to part with your hard-earned money to pick up the console to play it? For me, these games are sure to raise a couple of eyebrows but it's not like i'm saying so in order to be different. The game that led me to get a Nintendo DS? Resident Evil Deadly Silence. Sure, it's a port of a ten year-old game which i played to death but the thought of playing such a cherished game in the palm of my hands was so unimaginable for me then that i had to get one just to experience it. Sure enough, i wasn't disappointed as the DS would go on to be the hottest selling handheld of recent years thereby ensuring a healthy supply of quality games. My most recent console is of course, the Nintendo Wii and a large part of it has to do with the phenomenon success of the Nintendo DS as with most Wii users i'm sure. But it was Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles that finally convinced me to get the Wii after watching Nintendo gamers with envy playing exclusive Resident Evil and Metal Gear games over the years. So far, the Wii has not showed it's full potential like the DS but it has sold so many units now it's hard to imagine it being any less of a success than the DS.