Previews

Capcom's classic pant-wetter, now in pint-size form.

To be honest, it's getting a little silly now. Admittedly, when we first stumbled into the Spencer Mansion ten years ago we were wowed. Sony's boxy little PlayStation was giving us an entirely 3D world the likes of which we'd never seen: pushing polygons around with reckless abandon, showing scares that, up to that point, we'd only dreamed of experiencing in a game, and capturing characters that emoted with everything they had at their disposal - which at the time basically meant the cheesiest dialogue known to man, and in hindsight, some pretty robotic animation.

Bend arm, talk, straighten, talk, bend…

Done to death?

Seriously though, Resident Evil was a gruesomely groundbreaking experience - a decade ago. Since then, it could easily be argued that the formula has been done… well, to death. Following the PSone Directors Cut release, the original Resi was ported to Sega's Saturn, planned and canned for GameBoy Color and even remade on GameCube.

If the first game wasn't familiar enough, its basic puzzle-driven template stayed largely unchanged through further sequels in the series. Resi 2 was an undoubted improvement, and Code: Veronica was great, but Nemesis lacked inspiration, and by Zero things were feeling pretty formulaic. Simply put, constantly recycling the same old gameplay left the daddy of Survival Horror little room to improve.

Thankfully, Resi 4 gave proceedings a much-needed change in direction, though that's been a double-edged sword for the series. Visceral, unrelenting and outright brutal, Leon Kennedy's superb action-packed second adventure has forever altered expectations of the biohazard-based pantheon - which only makes Capcom's decisions with Deadly Silence even harder to fathom.

On the face of things, this DS outing of Resident Evil is a purely shrunken-down port of the PSone original. And, in a large way, that's exactly what it is. Classic mode is essentially the veteran Resident Evil on handheld, with all the genre-defining conventions translated in their entirety - story, visuals, FMV: all present and correct, ready to play in the palm of your hand.

RE:birth

Of course, with the PSP throwing around 3D visuals like a Chelsea chairman does money, playing a modern adventure title on-the-go is not exactly a new experience. Indeed, compared to more recent efforts on Sony's handheld, Deadly Silence looks a little aged and plays in a decidedly old fashioned way. Camera angles are set firmly in place for cinematic effect; the old door opening and stair climbing animations are still in there; characters turn on the spot using left and right on the D-pad, and walk forward by holding up; colours look comparatively washed out; textures are grainy… this isn't the cutting edge of gaming technology.

So Deadly Silence may not be especially pretty - but like so many DS titles, it is innovative. With Rebirth mode the game has been reworked to take advantage of the hardware's unique features and offer a fresh spin on things. For one puzzle, you'll have to use the stylus to enact a scene that reminds us heavily of Aliens - where Bishop spreads a hand on a table and rapidly thrusts a knife in the gaps between his fingers. In another scene with a new spin, you'll be required to use the microphone to revive a team-mate by blowing into it.

The most appealing aspect, though, is in the new action slant. Taking its cue from Resi 4, Deadly Silence's Rebirth mode ramps up the Zombie count, throws more ammo your way, lifts the restrictions on Zombies not being able to follow you between rooms, and even throws in surprise first person knife slashing segments; where entering a room that would be deserted in Classic mode suddenly sees a horde of corpses lurching your way, with you frozen to the spot, using the stylus to slash knife strokes at your undead assailants.

Along with the redesigned puzzles, DS exclusive features and increase in heart-stopping set pieces, Deadly Silence also features one further incentive for its retro-styled fun: a Wi Fi multiplayer mode. Designed for two to four players, this requires a console and copy of the game for each participant, so it's not a Mario Kart beater, but should prove a fun diversion from the main oneplayer game.

Deadly noise

Offering co-op and versus modes, the various levels are based on the main game's ominous setting, and involve you trying to reach a goal within a time limit. Other players aren't actually visible on your screen, however; represented instead by a brightly coloured star, but despite the obvious technical limitations of Resident Evil running on DS, it's a mode we've dreamt about incorporating into an old fashioned Survival Horror title and should round off the package nicely.

It may be old at heart, but Resident Evil is looking another solid and at-times innovative edition to the DS canon. With Two characters, two singleplayer modes and a much-wanted multiplayer angle, Deadly Silence could make a big noise when it releases later this quarter.

Review by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 09.02.06