Silent Hill 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)The Silent Hill series of video games is one of the best of its genre. With the exception of SH 3, which has more of a blockbustery feel to it, the original game and its sequel, Silent Hill 2, have done more to further the genre of Survival Horror than any other series of games, making Capcom's Resident Evil/Biohazard series look slow and tired.
We start off with James Sunderland, a shell of a man since his wife Mary's death, three years before, lost in thought in a bathroom on the outskirts of town. He's come back to SIlent Hill, a resort town full of happy memories for himself and his wife, because he has received a letter from her, saying she will meet him in their 'special place'. And from there, you're pretty much left to piece the story together yourself, thanks to ingenious plot twists and the best characterisation since Final Fantasy 7.
The graphics are wonderful. Fuzzy, murky streets and rooms harbour beautifully-rendered, totally ambiguous creatures that scare us becuase of what we cannot see. The superhuman, exaggerated animation of the mannequins and nurses add to the unnatural atmosphere pervading the game. The cut-scene renders are actually beautiful, with Maria and James' exchange in the underground Toluca Prison levels being one of the most riveting pieces of FMV ever. The sound, too, adds greatly to the experience, with grunts, bangs and screams punctuating the sometimes-deafening silence. Because of the game mechanics, what you hear is oftentimes more important than what you see (or believe you see) and it's this, coupled with the storyline and characters, that characterises the unique psychological tension found in this game.
The game mechanics are simple to come to terms with and prove themselves after fifteen minutes or so of play time: you don't notice them anymore.
A word on what makes SH 2 such a wonderful experience - Characters like Laura, an enigmatic child who claims to know Mary, Eddie Dombrowski, an unhinged giant of a man whose attitude towards cold-blooded murder gives a realistic slant to the psychological horror, and Maria, the sensual and schizophrenic doppelganger of James' dead wife, are so well-realised that we see new characteristics in them each time the game is played. The character of Angela is a particular mystery, and a testament to the strength of emotion that a videogame can create. On paper, the main villian, Pyramid Head, is nothing special (a giant man with a steel pyramid for a head... literally!) but it's the way he moves and the noises he makes that propel him into the history books as one of the scariest villians anywhere, alongside Biohazard's Hunters and The Exorcist's Pazuzu, in terms of the amount of fear he generates. This is the genius of the game, Konami's developers taking painstaking time and effort with the people that populate the terrifying world of Silent Hill, thereby giving us an unforgettable and compelling cast of characters.
The replay value is very high, with five different endings to discover, and new things to see and hear each time, every trip you make to Silent Hill 2 leaves you with something new from this bizarre and macabre universe.
A word for fans of action-based violence: you'll be disappointed. SH 2 is a story-based, character-driven game, and if it's violence and gore you need, then this won't do. It's a different kind of scary than Resident Evil, Clock Tower etc. For anyone interested in seeing just how far a game can push the concept of psychological horror, or for anyone who loves to get lost in a storyline, this is one of the best examples you can own.
Put simply, Silent Hill 2 is an Opus, a magnificent monster of a game that should held up as a standard-bearer by more than just the videogames industry. It's deep, it's complex, it's engaging, and above all, it's excellent. Thoroughly and unequivocally recommended.

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Resident Evil 3 Nemesis Review

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(More customer reviews)We've all seen them before, "survival horror" games.The idea behind them being simple.Somewhat ordinary person thrown into a ... situation that they have to survive.Allies are scarce, the enemies are plentiful, and the ammo is practically non-existent.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis brings something a little unique to the otherwise repetitive formula for Resident Evil games.Borrowing from something that was used in Resident Evil 2, the game adds "Nemesis".Basically a walking, organic, tank of a freak who's hunting you throughout the entire game.The only warning you get before he shows up to cave your head in is ominous music and his catch phrase "S-T-A-R-S!"If you haven't found the Resident Evil games scary to date, this little twist adds a whole new level of fear that keeps you on your toes throughout the entire game.
The plot is a little simplistic.It covers the day before Resident Evil 2 begins, to the day after Resident Evil 2 ends.And because the two take place in relatively the same area, there are instances where you'll explore areas seen in RE2.It's interesting to note that the creators of the game don't pay much attention to continuity.One of the most obvious examples being a window that's broken in one game, then mysteriously fixed in another.Worth pointing out, but not really integral to the plot of the game, or its worth.
The downsides of the game are little things.Voice acting is a little bad (a staple for the series), the controls are awkward, and the game is too short.
Graphics are good.Probably the best you would have seen on the Playstation One.On Game Cube they're a little below the mark, especially when compared to Game Cube's earlier Resident Evil releases like Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero.There's not a lot of improvement in the graphics on the Game Cube, or at least no imporvements that my eyes can see.The game may move a little faster but that's about it.
All in all, it's a good game for a port.And a welcomed port since Nintendo now has the Resident Evil games exclusively on Game Cube.Adding in the Resident Evil 2&3 ports, along with the upcoming Code Veronica port will put most of the games on one system, so fans wanting to play through the entire series will be able to without buying two or three systems.Based on its original merits as a PSOne game, and the seamless transition to the Game Cube, this game deserves five stars.

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Product Description:
This is the next terrifying chapter in the Resident Evil series. You will join Jill Valentine in her attempt to escape a nightmarish city in ruins. You must help her flee from hordes of flesh-eating zombies, hideous mutants, and a relentless new nemesis. You'll soon discover you must rely on cunning and brute force to stay alive. The game features challenging enemies that come back to life at any time, and a plot that reveals more details of Umbrella Corporation's devious activities.

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Resident Evil Zero Review

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(More customer reviews)The first GameCube All Original Resident Evil. The game picks up the backstory, before the mansion, the Island, Raccoon City...before it all. Now we know why Rebecca Chambers was in the mansion in the first place. We know her story.
Controls:
Typical Resident Evil. For new RE players, a learning curve is involved, but fans will be well used to the layout.
Visuals:
Breathtaking cut-scenes and character movements. It stays in league with the RE remake and also expands in certain ways. Japanese model & singer Ayumi Hamasaki modeled for the character of Rebecca, so anyone familiar with her will know the charater is gorgeous.
Gameplay:
Typical RE gameplay, search, explore, unlock puzzles. I'm not going to go into great length on this review simply because most of us know what to expect by now.
Gameplay II:
The buddy system is like a double-edged sword. It's clever to add the new aspect to the game which helps in tough spots. You can have a character explore one part of the passenger train and the Umbrella Research & Training facility while the other explores another area. Team the two up (Rebecca Chambers and escaped convict Billy Coen) and you've got double firepower to take down the various creatures (both new ones & old ones, some of the newer are very interesting.) Certain situations will leave one character needing the help of the other, i.e. trapped in a room and the only way to get out is to have the other character solve the problem.
Sound:
One of the creepiest sound settings in RE history. Turn out the lights, put the headphones on, and play away. Every movement, natural sound, and haunting music was placed into the game.
Overall:
A great new prequel to the Resident Evil series. With RE 2, Nemesis, and Code: Veronica due out in 2003 for GameCube, the series will live on. Don't forget, the all new continuation Resident Evil 4 is due in 2003 as well.
Robert Eldridge (...)

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Before the mansion... before the disaster... evil is born.
Something terrible is seeping into the once pristine mountain air. The residents of Raccoon City go about their lives unaware of the dark fate that surrounds them. Sent in to investigate a series of grisly murders in the area, S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team scrambles into action. On the way to the scene, Bravo's helicopter crashes. Although everyone survives, what they discover next is a gruesome site. An overturned military transport truck, riddled with corpses. Rookie member Rebecca Chambers is beginning to wonder what she got herself into. Bravo Team is about to discover the evil nightmare that is growing all around them.

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Resident Evil Review

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(More customer reviews)RE, how do I rate thee?
CONTROLS, EASE OF USE:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a controlling a helicopter in a gale-force sleet storm with no prior flight experience and 10 being controlling a food-pellet dispenser, I rate the controls ease of use a 7; I don't like steering Redfield around like a tank any better than you do, but with a little effort it can be mastered.
GRAPHICS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Pong and 10 being Resident Evil for the Gamecube, I rate the graphics an enthusiastic 10; maybe the backgrounds are prerendered, but the art in this game must have been a labor of love.It's drop dead gorgeous at every turn, and Redfield, Valentine, Zombies et all look fantastic and are well animated.
DIFFICULTY:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a walk in the park and 10 being calculating the square root of pi with a slide rule, I rate the difficulty a 6; the puzzles in RE are pretty simple and don't provide a huge challenge, but staying alive in the mansion while maintaining your inventory and ammunition can be difficult at times.
GAMEPLAY HOURS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the amount time it takes for a healthy adult male to empty his bladder and 10 being the amount of time it takes an elderly tortoise with gout to complete the Tour de France on foot, I rate the gameplay hours an 8; the game doesn't take forever to complete, but there's two characters, providing a small amount of replayability.You may take into account the fact that I have a full time job and so I can't burn too many hours playing video games.RE provided a nice amount of gameplay for me.
CREEPINESS:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being your average carnival spook house and 10 being a walk through a haunted graveyard alone at midnight naked, I rate the creepiness a 10; keep an extra pair of shorts handy when playing this one, or fit yourself with a diaper.You've been warned.
OVERALL ENJOYMENT:
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hit in the crotch with a falling icicle and 10 being a nice frosty bowl of Quisp, I rate the overall enjoyment a 10 - heck, RE is BETTER than a nice frosty bowl of Quisp.
I wholeheartedly recommend you run right out (or, I guess you're here, so why bother running right out, just click it) and buy RE immediately.

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Product Description:
Resident Evil, the game that is often credited with starting the survival-horror genre, is being reinvented for the GameCube. For those unfamiliar with the series, a mysterious corporation has secretly been performing ungodly biotech experiments in the sleepy little town of Raccoon City. When reports of gory attacks come in from nearby areas, two crack military squads are sent to investigate. Players take the role of either sharpshooter Chris Redfield or demolitions expert Jill Valentine to track down the source of the town's problems--specifically, something in a decaying mansion that's mutating animals into grotesque killers and turning humans into bloodthirsty zombies. Supplies and ammunition are scarce, so players have to know when to fight, when to run, and how to keep their wits about them. Players can't afford to waste their shots and expect their characters to survive.
The story is being retrofitted with motion-captured animation, next-generation graphics, real-time lighting and shadow effects, new areas, and newly rendered in-game video segments to create an even more cinematic experience. Also, a redesigned combat system lets players attack and defend themselves with a variety of items found in the environment.

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