Resident Evil HD Remaster (PC) Review

The daddy of survival horror returns (again) with a bang.

Resident Evil HD Remaster is a survival horror game that was originally released for the Playstation as Resident Evil (or Biohazard in Japan) and was then remade for the GameCube as Resident Evil, but stylized as REmake. The original game soon became legendary after release because it defined the survival horror genre at the time, as well as for being controversial and edgy.

It was also one of the first games to utilize pre-rendered backgrounds while characters and the objects they can interact with were real-time polygonal models. It made the experience feel more real and, at the time, these changes were almost revolutionary for the gaming industry. Of course, when talking about the original Resident Evil, one can never forget to talk about the cheesiest dialogue in-game ever.

It was so bad that it was considered good! Coming from Barry though, lines all felt like Dad jokes, you know, the kind of jokes we can only awkwardly chuckle to.  Anyway the Remake changes all of that, though it still manages to give credit where credit is due here and there. From Barry referencing his quip about Jill becoming a sandwich, to him retaining his love for his custom Samurai Edge. Now that I think about it, most of the cheesy dialogue came from Barry in the first place…

Seriously speaking though, excepting the more obvious visual update, the original REmake brings back the discarded changes that the original game was supposed to have, such as the Real Survival mode and Invisible Enemy, while the HD Remaster (the game we’re talking about here) finally brings in the much needed online leaderboard that tracks player progress and updates them via residentevil.net, Capcom’s dedicated site for everything competitive Resident Evil.

Graphically speaking, the game looks amazing running at 60 fps and the already impressive graphics having been updated to suit the standardsof the current-gen, made the experience more enjoyable. And what an update it is, as the mansion has been given a much needed touch-up and the characters themselves have been improved. One of two playable characters (the other being Chris), Jill fell victim to this slew of updates as she was given an unnecessary… err… upgrade in the form of her brand new boob jiggle. I don’t know what Capcom was trying to achieve with this but whatever.

Anyway, seeing the touched-up pre-rendered cutscenes also felt amazing! I remember watching them during the original REmake’s release for the GameCube, and Man I never expected to see them in wide-screen format like this. Also, the items all became more detailed and were given a much-needed polish. Other than that, there are no more graphical changes from the remake worth noting but man does the game look pretty.

The music feels and sound okay too but ‘sounds’ in this game that made the experience much more enjoyable came from the moans and creaks of the house itself. Nothing feels scarier than breaking the silence by not doing anything at all. It makes playing the game feel like you’re running through a haunted house instead of one infested with bio-organic weapons. It’s the psychological attacks that you should fear in Resident Evil, ones that your mind makes for you as you go along in the game, and the music and various sounds make anything seem possible. A definite plus for me.

Aside from the additional changes from the original remake, the HD Remaster adds in a new control-scheme that essentially gets rid of the tank controls from the original game, while retaining the option to revert back to those older controls if you wish. This makes jumping in on Resident Evil as an entry point more accessible for newer and younger players easier, or at least makes the transition from newer Resident Evil titles more comfortable.

Additional changes include achievements and a global leaderboard which tracks player progress and syncs in real time via residentevil.net. Returning to the HD Remaster are the originally scrapped game modes Real Survival and Invisible Enemy. Real Survival is essentially hard mode beefed up with a more normal item box system in that none of them are connected to one another, as well as getting rid of the auto-aim function of the game. Though none of that sounds too horrible, guess again. These small changes make the already hard Resident Evil experience more unforgiving, but more satisfying to finish.

The Invisible Enemy mode is basically the normal game, though it features, you guessed it, invisible enemies. The trick to finishing this game mode lies in memorizing creature placement within and without the mansion and memorizing their attack patterns, and players will have to rely on their hearing to survive. It’s a fun way to re-play the game, that’s for sure.

One Dangerous Zombie mode returns too wherein a zombified Forest (a team member who dies at the opening of the campaign) chases you around the mansion. Though that sounds unimpressive, he does prove to be a pain since he pops out of the most unexpected places and of course, our first reaction would be to shoot when we shouldn’t since he’s wearing a ton of grenades which explode upon taking gunfire killing the player character with him. Defensive items such as the daggers and Jill’s stungun don’t work with him either so the only discourse left is running. Forest makes traversing the mansion in this mode more terrifying especially since I encountered and accidentally fired at him well into my “No Save” run and I had to redo everything from scratch.

With all of these additions plus the achievements, replayability is no longer a question for Resident Evil HD Remaster with the only factor being: Can you survive the horror? (I’ve always wanted to say that.)

Final Thoughts

Resident Evil HD Remaster is the quintessential Resident Evil experience and it provides the perfect entry point to the series. While I loved the game and I loved replaying it, how about an HD remake for Resident Evil 2 next time around?

Anyway, I highly recommend this game as it’s perfect for the gang’s game night! Everyone needs a cheering squad, yes? Yes.