Posts Tagged ‘shinji mikami’
Resident Evil 2: Original vs Remake
Fred and Jam are reunited and ready to kick off more consistent retro content, albeit this one is only half retro. In this spoileriffic comparison podcast, the two delve into the development and content of the scrapped version of Resident Evil 2, dubbed Resident Evil 1.5 by the Internet, as well as the original full blown release. Then they move over to comparing the quality and content in this new remake. It’s a long ride and it’s highly recommended that you play the games first, but sit back and enjoy a horrifying trip through the Raccoon City police department and beyond.
Podcast: Psycho Break
This week Fred and Jam finally reunite to get back to what they do best: talk old games. There’s a brief intro, a new schedule for podcasts, and a slightly new format (don’t worry, topics are still the first section), but otherwise it’s back to basics. In preparation for this week’s sequel, they are discussing The Evil Within, or Psycho Break as it’s known in Japan. The incredible art design, sordid plot, and hodgepodge gameplay are all put under a microscope, as is the game’s origins. After that it’s some discussions on community feedback and what the boys have been up to over the last month.
Podcast: P.N.03 Game Club
It’s finally time to discuss the Gamecube title Fred didn’t even know existed. The first of the “Capcom Five” titles, what starts off looking like a traditional third-person action shooter ends up being a bit lighter on content and much heavier on replayability. With Jam on haitus, Fred is joined by special guest Strip Mahjong and they delve deep into the development, gameplay, and campaign.
Unreleased: Resident Evil 1.5 Video Walkthrough
The Resident Evil 2 (or Biohazard 2 in Japan) that was released was not the original version. Series creator Shinji Mikami took on a producing role that it appears was heavily micro-managed and director Hideki Kamiya disagreed with a lot of his decisions. Eventually Mikami dubbed the game boring and without the strength of the original and it was scrapped completely, resulting in the delay of the game another year and a complete reworking. This is an exploration of the leaked 40 percent complete version of that original game, often dubbed Biohazard 1.5 in Capcom and also Resident Evil 1.5 online.
Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster Review
You know, I was actually really looking forward to playing through Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster. I thought to myself, “sure I’ll be part of the problem and buy this game I already own,” and the fact that the physical copy also came with Resident Evil Remake (in glorious HD) only sweetened the deal. I am a Resident Evil fan and I am not ashamed to a admit it. Has time been good to Resident Evil 0? This review will explore how the game stacks up on today’s consoles.
The background of this game is something that has always fascinated me mostly surrounding its release and how things in gaming were back then. Originally pitched for the N64 and getting as far as a prototype being made for the train segment of the game, this was Nintendo inviting Capcom to team up for the first time since those cool Mega Man games and Disney titles on the NES/SNES. In an offered deal, the two companies had planned for a Resident Evil game that will come out nowhere else. Well this invitation did intrigue Capcom and especially sat well with Shinji Mikami (the creator of the series). Capcom would go on to develop three exclusive Resident Evil games for the Gamecube as well as release three other cannon titles on the platform as well. The exclusives were Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 4, arguably two titles that became incredibly memorable, and inbetween this we saw the release of Resident Evil 0 (Zero). This game really was Capcom’s last hurrah of the pre-rendered background style game with a fixed camera and those tank controls which we all just love to joke about today. It was also the last game in the series where you could get mad about a key taking up an entire slot in our inventory. After this game things changed dramatically with Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil 0 was released at a time were people were a little burned out on the traditional style of the series (and it had been in development almost 5 years when it came out) so although it received decent reviews, it is often considered a low point.
The Evil Within Review
The Evil Within is the stuff nightmares are made of. I’m not being dramatic, almost everything in this game will cater to the popular nightmares that plague humanity – in my case that happens to be clowns – and throws them right in your face. That’s not to say it is a scary game, because unlike other contemporaries the goal of The Evil Within is to disturb you and create tension rather than grab you with a quick jump scare (although it can’t resist the urge to do that as well at times). Bundled altogether it creates the closest representation of a haunted house without forgetting that it’s also a video game and therefore can make death a reality for all parties involved. This would be a fantastic reality for the definitive horror experience if it weren’t for the abundance of setbacks that range from visuals, to AI, and even creep into gameplay that no matter how big a fan you are just cannot be ignored.
Retrospective: Resident Evil 4
Now & Then is different from both a retrospective and a review. It tackles games you probably already know and is a place for gamers to discuss these games. Below is an overview of a game’s presence in the market then and now. Authors of these articles share their personal experience, so we encourage all of you to do the same in the comments.
Editor’s Note: Although I love classic games as much as the next guy, few games get to be restored as often as Resident Evil 4. Therefore, the recently released Ultimate HD Edition has the most cleaned up, 1080p native graphics to date and thanks to screenshot technology being what it is we were able to grab those assets directly from the game without any quality loss. We at GH101 have decided to feature screens from this version in the interest of clarity, despite the fact that they do not faithfully represent the graphical fidelity of the many previous versions. Hopefully purists will forgive us.
The Story of the Scrapped Versions
Whenever a game sits in development hell for too long, it has an adverse affect on everyone’s feelings for the game. The examples are too many to count but a couple quick mentions are the likes of Diakatana, Too Human, and of course Duke Nukem Forever. With a few exceptions, games that take too long to make can’t help but not live up to the hype and therefore disappoint an all-too-eager audience. One of these exceptions is Resident Evil 4. Originally announced in 1999, the concept was a Playstation 2 game with a brutally strong protagonist that was more action focused per the ongoing desires of Shinji Mikami (series creator that has been trying to go more action oriented since Resident Evil 2). This new iteration was appropriately tasked to Hideki Kamiya, notable for his director work on Resident Evil 2, and in connection with Noboru Sugimura, writer of Resident Evil 2. After a European trip that netted a Gothic art style and given the goals of the game it was decided that the camera would have to be dynamic and movable (much like Capcom had started in Dino Crisis) and thus ditch the traditional pre-rendered background in exchange for a fully rendered world. Much of the development style, tone, and even Kamiya’s direction involved a what was described as a “cool” world and eventually it got so far removed from the roots of both the survival horror genre and Resident Evil series and instead integrated demons and a new protagonist, Dante. A small fraction of the Capcom Production Studio 4, named Little Devils, converted this new concept with the juggling bug this team had seen in Onimusha: Warlords and eventually renamed the project to Devil May Cry in November 2000. While it spun off to a good game and an ongoing franchise that still lives today, Devil May Cry left Resident Evil 4 in a rut without a dev team (and some hardcore RE fans still refer to the game as Resident Evil 3.5 since the core concepts remained intact).
Review: Dino Crisis 2
Console: Playstation, Windows
Released: 2000
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Digital Release? Yes, PSN version compatible with PS3, PSP, and Vita for $5.99
Price: $14.00 (disc only), $25.00 (complete), $50.00 (sealed) per Price Charting
Dino Crisis 2: The Lost World. Okay, it’s just Dino Crisis 2. Just a year after the first game, we get the second game from Capcom, and this time the developers decided to stray away from the survival horror gameplay and try take the series into a unique direction. This is where the series started to experiment and take a new direction in terms of gameplay and mechanics. So was the game a development success or should it be a forgotten fossil?
Dino Crisis 2 has a rather complex plot from its predecessor. A city has vanished in time which was working with “third energy” and the survivors are now having to put up with some rather hungry Dinosaur residents. Regina from the first game and a team called TRAT (another great Capcom name) are sent through a time portal to rescue survivors. Surprisingly you begin the game as Dylan a generic looking army guy from TRAT. Throughout the game you will swap between Dylan and Regina who both use their own unique weapons. The plot is explained at the end of the game in a very long cutscene but it’s unlikely you will particularly care, the story really comes across as an after thought in this game.
Review: Dino Crisis
Console: Playstation, Dreamcast, PC
Released: 1999
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Digital Release? Yes, PSN version compatible with PS3, PSP, and Vita for $5.99
Price: $7.50 (disc only), $10.00 (complete), $35.00 (sealed) per Price Charting
Dino Crisis really sounds like a winning formula if, like me, you are are fan of survival horror and dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong? Well its time to revisit this Sony Playstation 1999 release and see if it stood the test of time or should have remained extinct.
Dino Crisis released when survival horror was hitting a peak in the industry, at least in terms of the “tank-like” control system. The Sony Playstation had plenty of games like it to offer. In the same year Dino Crisis released we also saw Silent Hill from Konami and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis also from Capcom. Interesting to note: Shinji Mikami – creator of the original Resident Evil – was heavily involved in the production of this game so much so his name was put on the front of the box in hopes it would sell the game. Clearly something worked as Dino Crisis managed to sell over one million copies.
Podcast: Dino Crisis 1 & 2 Game Club
This week we are talking about Capcom’s survival horror titles in a dinosaur-infested facility, Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2. A testing ground for new survival horror mechanics, it’s interesting to see the decisions made in what is one of the more interesting two titles of the original Playstation’s late titles.
Gaming History 101 