Amazon.com: Resident Evil: Director's Cut: Playstation: Video Games

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars - This is where it all began, July 20, 2004

By	M. B. Link "tkdmateo" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars

Resident Evil: Director's Cut (1997). The PSX re-release of the 1996 survival horror game.

Back when the PSX was first released, the system didn't have much in the way of standout games. Of course, there were a few noteworthy PSX launch games like Twisted Metal, Doom, and Tekken, but for the most part, the PSX didn't have anything outstanding yet. Thus, Resident Evil was made. Taking influences from the earlier survival horror series Alone In The Dark, Resident evil took all of its aspects to the next level and eventually became one of Capcom's most successful franchises to date, ranking just behind the Mega Man and Street Fighter games. In fact, the original RE game was probably the first PSX game to make the system worthwhile before other important games were released in the following years.

Most everyone who's played the games already knows the story, but for those who haven't, here's a brief synopsis: A strange murder occurrence just outside of Raccoon City has caused Police officials to be suspicious, so they sent two Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (STARS) teams to go investigate. You play as either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, both of them surviving STARS members. The teams end up getting stuck in the mountains, so they eventually find themselves inside a huge mansion, where the STARS members discover numerous creatures such as zombies, mutilated dogs, giant spiders, and other monsters. These were all created due to Umbrella Corporation's disastrous T-Virus. As the game goes along, more important discoveries are made.

Now let's talk about the game itself.

Of the three PSX RE games, this one easily has the worst graphics. We're talking first-generation PSX graphics here, if that's any indication. The character models are all blocky and easily stick out from the otherwise highly detailed still-screen environments. These environments are navigatably 3D, but the camera angles sit at fixed 2D points, which can be both good and bad, depending on the situation. By bad, I mean that some angles hinder the view of the action. The monsters (especially the zombies) have very limited animation and models compared to the later games, and its limited engine prevents the game from having more than 3 monsters on the screen at one time (not including the crows). So the only real decent graphical aspects are the rendered environments. But even they don't quite compare to the detail in the following games.

The sound effects are good for the most part. However, the zombies come off sounding more like moaning old men than actual monsters, and the voice acting... dear god? don't get me started. It's so hilariously bad that it's just fun to listen to. The dialogue doesn't help things at all along with the horrible acting which is bad even by B-movie standards. One of my friends almost died of laughter the last time I went through the game. The music on the other hand, is decent and suits the mood of each area appropriately. It's nothing special, but it does add to the overall suspense.

The controls are something that most people either love or hate. It took me some time to get used to them, but now I have no troubles whatsoever. Most people that hate them don't seem to realize that RE isn't just an all-out action game, but rather an exploration puzzle type game with action segments. The controls were a bit rough here, though they have been more refined in later releases. I do admit though, that it does get very tedious backtracking to the item box again and again because you can't hold all the items you want to. Between the two playable characters Jill and Chris, I personally found Jill to be the better one to control because she has more inventory slots and weapons than Chris, although Chris's voice acting isn't quite as nerve-grating as hers is. Both characters each have their own sub-character that helps them along game, such as Barry who helps Jill, and Rebecca who aids Chris.

Most people have said that this game was the scariest of all the RE games. I'm not sure I agree with that, but the atmosphere can be quite chilling at certain points. I suppose that the dogs breaking through the glass windows could've scared newbees to the series, but since I was introduced through RE2 and the fact that I've already played the MUCH freakier Silent Hill games, the original didn't scare me nearly as much as it should have. To the game's credit though, it does present the most puzzles, and a majority of them are real brain-benders. It's something that the series started to get away from as time went on. Plus, I thought that the game itself felt larger than all the others in the series, so it will take a while for new players to beat it. The challenge is also very high since there is very limited ammo to take out the creatures with. Even veteran RE fanatics still find the first game to be thoroughly challenging enough to come back for more.

This version of the game is a director?s cut edition, but it?s really nothing special. All we get is an extra mode that is more challenging and features different outfits for the main characters, but if you already own the original, there?s no need to get this version. Apparently the Japanese version also had extra cut-scenes, so we were cheated! So much for it being a ?director?s cut?, huh?

Although this game is extremely dated by today's standards, it's still worth checking out if you're a big fan of the series and want to see how the series got started in the first place. However, it's not really necessary now that a MUCH better remake is available on the Gamecube, so I suggest looking into that game instead. RECOMMENDED SPECIFICALLY TO FANS OF THE SERIES. NEW FANS SHOULD START WITH RE 2 OR THE GAMECUBE REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL FIRST.

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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better to play RE1 before RE2, November 21, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars

I bought RE2 before RE1DC, and not suprisingly, RE1 was a bit disappointing. It is a great game and I enjoy playing it, but once one is accustomed to playing RE2, RE1 seems a little "lame". Kind of like driving a Lexus around for a while, then changing to a Corrolla. Still a nice car, but not quite the same.

Don't get me wrong, I HIGHLY recommend the game, but if you're just getting into the RE series, buy and play them in order.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, December 28, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars

This game is only for mature players,yet...I can't get enough of it.It combines a horror flick with cheez-E dye-o-log wit a action packed 3D game with great graphics and puzzels almost impossible to solve without a guide (or plenty of ammo)! I've played RE2 and RE nemesis,But this game still remains the beast in my heart.