Progress Report provides ongoing impressions of games as I play them.
So, I've had this game for a little while now and I've tried to play through it a couple times before, but I got distracted by something or another and would forget about it. I have played the old Playstation version and am now trying to work my way through the Gamecube remake.
Immediately, the game has a great way of instilling dread, even though I hadn't even seen a single zombie as the music just keeps the tension up. Graphically, the game is leaps and bounds beyond the Playstation original and also seems to clean up the dialog and replace the campy opening movie with a more serious CG opening movie. There seem to be some additional features added, such as an instant 180 turnaround (great for running away from the many zombies that want to nosh on your face). The game still controls like the original, which means it's that still tank-like control from before. Fortunately the zombies aren't super mobile either, so it's not a terrible handicap.
Having played the original before, this run-through the game is a little easier as I kind of have an idea of what I have to do, at least through getting the three keys. And I know not to waste ammo killing zombies I can simply avoid. That still doesn't make my nerves any less tense while playing. The game has excellent atmosphere and does a great job of creating suspense. I have to admit that the pre-rendered backgrounds and, therefore, pre-selected camera angles, while they are quite compelling to look at and do a great job of creating atmosphere, they sort of make the gameplay more awkward and difficult.
So far, I've only killed a few zombies and made sure to scorch them because I found out that if you don't blow up their heads or scorch them, they come back as fast moving super strong zombies. I've gotten myself one of the keys and the shotgun and will soon be shooting up some zombie-dogs in order to get the next key. I hate those dogs. I've only died three times so far, on easy mode, so that means... well, I have to work on improving my gaming chops. There's nothing sexy about watching a zombie nosh on Jill Valentine's neck. I hope by next update I'll have all the keys and have beat the big snake again. I hate that snake.