Hey all, so I've just finished FF7 Remake and... I had A LOT to say! There are spoilers throughout the video of both the original and the Remake so watch out!
Rating: ****1/4 stars
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Warning - this post contains lots of spoilers from both the original Resident Evil 2 and the Remake. You have been warned! Hey everyone, I thought I'd do something slightly different today. I, like many people have recently been playing Resident Evil 2 Remake and it's absolutely brilliant. I may well review it for the website, but at the moment I thought I'd just do this post and see what happens in the future. Resident Evil 2 (2019) is a full remake of the original Resident Evil 2 from 1998. That being said, like the original Resident Evil remake from 2002, which was a full remake of the original from 1996, they have made some changes and added some things, so it's not a 100% copy and paste interpretation. Is this it as good as the original? My answer is no - but that's okay. The standards set back then were incredibly high, so I wasn't expecting it to be "as good", but I wanted it to be as close to the original in terms of offering the same feeling and giving a similar experience for modern or younger gamers who may have missed if they didn't play the original. And that's exactly what this Remake does on most fronts. They've added some stuff, they've taken away from stuff, and they've kept probably 85% of the original content, and the experience does feel incredibly fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Here are five changes that I like, don't like and would have changed from Resident Evil 2 Remake. I'd again, like to emphasise, that this game is tremendous, and it's constructive criticism that I'm offering. Overall Capcom have made an excellent game and Remake, so keep that in mind if I may come across negative at times when explaining - I'm purely a hardcore fan and nothing more! 5 Changes I Like About Resident Evil 2 Remake 1. Sherry's Story In the original game Sherry was a pain in the ass. There's no other way to put it. She slowed you down, she got herself into all sorts of trouble and, despite being a timid little girl with terrible parents you didn't feel sorry for her really. But in the Remake they corrected pretty much EVERYTHING to do with Sherry. You do genuinely feel sorry for her in this version of the game. She doesn't slow you down at all, and because you can't control her in the game they took the frustrating elements out. More than that though they added some pretty good stuff. The relationship between Chief Irons and Sherry wasn't something I expected to see but Capcom added a very interesting story there. Chief Irons was a creepy bastard in the Remake, more so than in the original, and by adding a story of him kidnapping Sherry and taking her to an abandoned orphanage was a stroke of genius. By having Sherry stand up to Chief Irons and throw acid in his face when he's trying to attack her really made you root for her. The game of hide and seek was quite tense in parts. Another fantastic thing they added into the Remake was how Sherry's appearance changed after William Birkin implanted an embryo into her. Her eye looked messed up and it was pretty damn disgusting I must say. Great work Capcom with working a previously really frustrating character in Sherry and making her actually more than tolerable, but genuinely a character I sympathised with.
2. Tyrant vs William Birkin It was the fight we never asked for, but again, massive credit where it's due, because seeing Tyrant and William Birkin together was a huge treat I never saw coming in the Remake. And seeing William Birkin come on top of the fight and absolutely destroying the Tyrant, ripping three quarters of his abdomen out was a great moment. I loved every second of that scene - Sherry calling out for her father, Claire realising that the monster that's hellbent on attacking them both is actually her Dad and seeing all the gore was just... wow. Great work Capcom. 3. The Subweapons and Gunpowder I'm not the biggest fan of subweapons to be honest but they can be lifesavers at times. With Resident Evil 2 Remake being a far more dynamic game than the original, they needed to do something to breakdown the divide between the main character and the enemies they'll be facing. So by adding defensive knives and grenades to aid the player when in trouble, they managed to break down any potential issues that could develop. But better than the subweapons for me was the gunpowder addition to the game. The subweapons were a feature from Resident Evil 1 Remake, so it's a bit of a homage to that entry in the series, but the gunpowder was a feature that was used in the original Resident Evil 3 game. It's likely, based on the rumours, that gunpowder will be used in the Resident Evil 3 remake apparently in development, so perhaps that decision impacted the idea of using it in its predecessor. I'm just speculating at this point, but either way it was a great feature and it gets a thumbs up from me. 4. Ben Bertolucci's Death Well what can I say? Just look at the picture below! Holy crap this moment was amazing. We all knew that Ben was going to die, but I don't think anyone thought it'd be as quick as it was, and certainly not in the hands of Tyrant. The way Tyrant "broke" Ben's face with his bare hand was just brutal, and the eye pop was just the gory cherry on top of the horror cake. It was simply one of the best deaths in Resident Evil history.
5. G-Adult and The Sewers In the original game the sewers were an okay and very brief part of the game that is largely forgettable. But in the Remake they really expanded on the network of tunnels and how utterly disgusting the whole section is. Another great thing about the sewers was the use of the G-Adult. Rather than making G-Adult into the first boss of the game like in the original, Capcom decided to make G-Adult into a regular enemy in the sewers. It makes more sense this way story-line wise, because of the fact that William Birkin's G-virus is trying to find the perfect partner to "breed" his mutation into to prolong his legacy. All of the G-Adults in the sewers are "failures" of the embryo breeding process, so it makes so much more sense that there's more of them. And they're absolutely revolting, more so in this version of the game than in the remake. 5 Changes I Don't Like About Resident Evil 2 Remake
1. The Lab
What was so good about seeing the previews of Resi 2 Remake, and then playing the Demo, was seeing how much of the police station looked identical to how it looked in the original game. Sure they did change and add more parts, but overall the presentation of the police station was very similar. It was so nostalgic running down the corridors of the station because it looked so similar.
But then when you get to the lab, which is now called The NEST, they changed almost everything. It's unrecognisable. Now if you're thinking I'm being a hypocrite because I'm complimenting Capcom for changing the Sewers but criticising them for changing the lab then I understand. But the difference here for me is that they expanded on the Sewers a lot, and the Sewers were quite a small section of the game. But I did like the lab and how it looked in the original game, so to not only change it but to change it as dramatically as they did, just disappointed me somewhat. Don't get me wrong, The NEST is a decent part of the game, but I feel they missed a trick here.
2. Super Tyrant Don't get me wrong, Tyrant (or Mr X, but I've never really liked that name) is excellent. He's just as intimidating on this game, in fact he's probably more intimidating because he can't killed and follows you EVERYWHERE. But that fedora is just awful. Why give him a fedora?? To be fair, it looked worse in the trailers than it does in the actual game. But more than the fedora, what disappointed me the most about Tyrant was the final boss fight. He just didn't look that good. The pictures below don't really do much justice to my point but bare with me. In the original he was completely naked, had two massive claws, and his pumping heart was really prominent. In the Remake they decided to keep his pants on - perhaps this is a weird thing to be critical about but I just think it looked odd. Also, because he's such a big guy, he had the worlds biggest abs it seemed. Where as in the original game, his body is highly mutilated by this point. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I truly believe that the original final Tyrant was better. Also the fight was a lot more intimidating in the original game - the way he'd zoom up to you and claw you was just brutal. In the Remake he's a lot less dangerous, again in my opinion.
3. Leon and Claire's Odd Flirting
Why? Just why? I really enjoyed the fact that Leon and Claire's relationship in the original game is genuinely platonic, there's no feelings there whatsoever for either of them for the other and anyone interpreting the situation as something different is seeing something that purely isn't there. Ada and Leon of course have feelings for eachother, and the story really is whether or not Ada was using Leon or did have feelings for him, and this plays further along in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 6. Claire of course falls for Steve in Resident Evil Code Veronica.
But Claire and Leon in Resident Evil 2, or other games or films that they appear in don't have any romance and nor should they. So it was a strange decision from Capcom to start the two flirting in this Remake. I mean, it's not heavy flirting, but even any hint of it felt strange and out of place, and simply becomes questionable.
4. Chief Iron's Death
Perhaps it's only a minor thing to most people but I was a little disappointed in how Chief Irons dies in this game. In the original game on the "A" scenario, both Chief Irons and Ben Bertolucci die by William Birkin planting an embryo into their bodies and then the G-Young creature pops out of them. They made Ben die in a different way in this game as stated above, and that's fine. But they saved the original death in the original game to Chief Irons.
What's different about the way he dies in this game than in the original? Sure, the G-Young creature pops out of him, just like in the original. But in the Remake, he pops out of his stomach. It's a great visual and I did enjoy it, but the way the G-Young bursts out in the original could have been even more amazing if he did it the same way in the Remake. As you can kind of see below, he bursts from the shoulder and chest area, ripping Chief Irons in half. It looked brutal back in 1998 and I really hoped they'd make it just as bad in the Remake. Whilst it was still good, it did disappoint me a little.
5. Leon/Claire A&B Scenarios
If I could only mention one thing that frustrated me about the Resident Evil 2 Remake it was this. I wasn't sure if Capcom were going to do Leon A/Claire B and Claire B/Leon A because of time constraints, budgets and if they could justify it. But when I found out they put a mode called "2nd Run", I was excited because it meant that Capcom were going to give hardcore fans what they wanted.
But "2nd Run" is just a mess. I hate to be negative and blunt but it is. The "1st Run" was great, and overall Resi 2 Remake is brilliant, but for me if they were going to do a "2nd Run" or a "B" Scenario campaign they really should have done it properly.
What's wrong with it, you may ask? Well, the "2nd Run", tries to do what the "B" Scenarios did on the original, which is basically that if you were playing as Leon, you'd then play as Claire to find out what she was up to "behind the scenes" so to speak. And vice versa if you played as Claire then you'd find out what Leon was up to. What the original from back in 1998 did by splitting these campaigns was in effect give you 4 different stories, because the game is split, literally, depending on what side of the fire Leon and Claire jump out of the car in.
But the "2nd Run" isn't the same as the "B" Scenarios. Why? Because after you arrive at the police station and take the "back entrance" to the building, you pretty much play the game in exactly the same way as the "A" Scenario, or the "1st Run" in this case. Sure, the puzzles are slightly different and some of the items are in slightly different places, but the game plays out almost exactly as the "1st Run", especially after you leave the police station.
Also, because Leon and Claire only meet up or communicate two or three times in the Remake, it becomes less of a question of "oh, so that's what they were up to behind the scenes", where as in the original it felt their paths crossed more often than that, perhaps four or five times. And even on their first encounter - the time lapse was a frustration. On the "1st Run", it takes you a good 30-45 minutes before you see the other character. But on the "2nd Run", it's literally within the first 5 minutes of playing the game. These little things don't add up, it's as simple as that.
5 Changes I Would Have Made to Resident Evil 2 Remake 1. 2nd Run/B Campaign as Free DLC Following on from Point 5 of things I "don't like", I truly feel that Capcom made the decision to have the "2nd Run" because of hardcore fans demanding it. And if that's the case, then, as stated above, credit where it's due, Capcom were listening to fans and put it in. But because it was so rushed and didn't add up correctly, it would have been a better decision for Capcom to not release the "2nd Run" on release date, and then to add it as free DLC in the future. I mean, they added Ghost Survivors as free DLC already and the game only came out a few weeks ago. So it's not like would have had to wait long to get it "right" before releasing it. Perhaps Capcom thought fans would have been disappointed that the "2nd Run" was not released on release day, so instead of putting up with that criticism, they decided to release it anyway, despite it being "undercooked", so to speak. But if that's the case, I do feel they made the wrong decision. Those fans would have soon become happy knowing it would have been free DLC and done properly, certainly happier than they are now, that's for sure. 2. Assignment Ada I've seen quite a few fans mention this on social media already, so it's not my idea. But listen to the fans Capcom! The wonderful thing about hindsight is that we could know what's going to happen before it actually happens. Back in 1998 we didn't know that Ada was going to be this badass spy that backstabs anyone and everyone to achieve her goal. She is wonderful in Resident Evil 4 and despite Resident Evil 6 being disappointing overall, Ada's role in the game was one of the better parts. In Resident Evil 4 there was a mode called "Assignment Ada", which in itself was homage to the original Resident Evil 2. Remember we talk about the "B" Scenario? Well this was the Resi 4 equivalent of it. "Assignment Ada" shows you what Ada did "behind the scenes" whilst Leon was playing through the events of the game. You play as Ada in "Assignment Ada" and find out what she was up to, helping you out behind your back, getting herself into trouble before, of course, backstabbing Leon all over again at the end. It was a really cool part of Resi 4. So why don't we have an "Assignment Ada" campaign in Resident Evil 2 Remake? I'm sure fans wouldn't mind even if it was paid DLC to be honest. What fans would love to know is what Ada got up to in the events of Resident Evil 2 - whether that's the original game or the Remake, regardless, fans want to see it. Capcom can put some story together and let her take on Birkin or Tyrant or perhaps another boss, perhaps the Moth boss or a Giant Spider, both of what was not put in the Remake for reasons unknown? This is something fans want and I'd love it for Capcom to already be working on this without us even knowing!
3. More Streets One disappointment from fans and myself when it comes to Resi 2 Remake was simply that we weren't on the streets for very long. The Raccoon City streets are iconic, and we only spend probably 10 minutes maximum on them, and for the most part they don't even resemble how they did in the original game. I was happy when playing Claire's campaign that they did put in the basketball court and the bus, but overall I think fans wanted the same streets of 1998 done in 2019, and even more streets to explore before arriving at the police station, but in the end it felt we got less. It's what I would have done if I had any power at Capcom at all, it was a bit disappointing but it's done now. 4. Brad Vickers Where was Brad? Again it's not a big part of the original game but it's something people question when it comes to what was missing. It was great having what was basically an Easter Egg in the original game, and it did have a purpose because you had to take care of Brad to get access to alternative costumes in the game. So to take him out of the game was just disappointing. In fact they could have made a similar scenario with Brad where we find out what happened to him, either during the events of Resi 2 or Resi 3, or both. It was, after all, a matter of days between the events of the games so they could have easily had a situation happen either where Nemesis didn't actually fully kill Brad, or have him added to the Ghost Survivors campaign that's already been done as DLC. Either way, just removing him completely wasn't the best move in my opinion. 5. Tyrant Mode
Again, not my idea but it's certainly something that would be awesome! Why not have a mode in the game where we control Tyrant? We could either make it so we actually have to go through a gauntlet of enemies, like 4th Survivor, before either taking on William Birkin (revenge!) or taking on Leon or Claire as a final boss.
Another way of doing Tyrant Mode is simply have the campaign of Claire and/or Leon but we swap them for Tyrant instead, and we just play the game as normal. It'd have to be a midget Tyrant though or one that can bend through small rooms because he is massive! Either way, I'd love a DLC where we can play as one of the most iconic bad guys of Resident Evil, and I know I'm not alone in wanting that.
So there we go! I hope you've enjoyed reading this article. I'm sure some people won't agree with everything I've said, and perhaps may think I'm being too critical. I promise you I have nothing but love for the Remake Capcom have given us. These are just small criticisms or tweaks I'd have suggested if I, in some fantasy world, got a chance to work with Capcom in hindsight. Overall this is a brilliant Remake.
By the way - I'd like to also mention that as a huge fan of William Birkin - Capcom, thank you. Thank you so much for doing him complete justice. I wrote an article on this website back in 2011 about how great The Transformations of William Birkin were, and how much I loved them. Birkin is a brilliant monster and he looks just as good in 2019 as he did in 1998. They really did make him just as ugly and monstrous and as brutal as he was all of those years ago. Thank you Capcom.
What changes would have you made? What do you agree or disagree with me on? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, take care!
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"Considering the circumstances Activision truly have
put Wumpa fruit, sweat and tears into giving us a brilliant remaster of the
games we all remember."
Crash Bandicoot first came out in 1996 and was developed by
Naughty Dog. They went on to make two sequels, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex
Strikes Back in 1997 and Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped in 1998. After that Naughty
Dog released a spin-off kart racing game called Crash Team Racing before
leaving the Crash Bandicoot series to make other incredibly successful video
game series in Jak and Dexter, Uncharted and The Last of Us.
No matter where your feelings lay with the other Crash
Bandicoot games released between 2000 and 2010 it’s safe to say the series went
downhill from then. From mixed reviews to negative reviews to different
developers and different publishers, to an unsuccessful reboot in 2007, things
have been frustrating for both Crash Bandicoot fans and anyone who has helped
create any of the games at any point in its history. Activision, who have been
the publisher since 2008, had a video game series that from 2010 to around 2015
or so, they didn’t know what to do with. It was like Activision were standing
right next to a Nitro box in a Crash game, anxious to move around it just in
case it explodes in their face but also they wanted to move forward. There was
potential in the Crash Bandicoot series, but they didn’t know how to make it a
success.
In around 2014 or 2015, rumours went around that Crash
Bandicoot was going to have a reboot. Activision had to many times play down
the rumours, mainly because they were just that, rumours. Even Naughty Dog had
to emphasise that they don’t have the rights to the video game series anymore,
and, even if they did, they don’t know if they would have made another Crash
game. But the rumours turned into hype – fans wanted Crash to return. A beloved
franchise and once mascot of the Sony Playstation, fans reminisced over how good
the original Crash trilogy was. They wanted a new Crash game, or a remake.
Crash Bandicoot, like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario before it, had become
a classic platformer that fans would talk about as being some of their
favourite childhood memories. Surely the Crash Bandicoot series couldn’t stay
in limbo?
Crabs always go sideways. It's just a fact.
And then in 2016, Activision announced they would fully
remaster all three original Crash Bandicoot games. It wasn’t Naughty Dog, but
Activision, partnered with Vicarious Visions (who worked on the series from
2002 to 2004), would redo the three games in full HD and with some new features
too.
I would like to say, the circumstances that were handed to
Activision were difficult. Firstly, the original trilogy is very well loved by
a large selection of fans. They needed to redo the games to please them, but
also keep the games open to newer fans who haven’t played the games before.
They were taking on the three games originally done by Naughty Dog, a
completely different developer, using very outdated coding, lots of which they
were unable to reuse. Most importantly (in my opinion) they also needed to get
the “feel” of the original trilogy correct, something intangible that made
those games so great in the first place. Let’s get on with the review.
If you’ve not played Crash Bandicoot before, it’s a 3D
platformer where you control Crash (or in some levels Coco, his sister) where
you have to go from the start of the level to the end. In Crash 2 and 3 you’re
also expected to collect a crystal placed somewhere in the middle of the level.
You can jump and spin enemies and crates, the latter which gives you extra
lives and “Wumpa Fruit”, which you get an extra life when you collect 100 of
them. Other crates exist in the game like arrow crates which you can use to
jump extra high on, TNT boxes which countfrom 3 to 1 before exploding and exclamation crates which unlock a crate
somewhere else in the level. In Crash 2 and 3 you can also do a slide attack
and crawl, as well as do a belly flop and a high jump by doing the slide attack
quickly followed by jumping. In Crash 3 you also can unlock other special
abilities every time you defeat a boss. In Crash Bandicoot 1 you get a gem for
collecting every single crate in a level and completing the level without
losing a life. In Crash 2 and 3, they made this easier by only the need to
collect all the crates. One thing that was added in Crash 3 was Time Trial
mode, where you had to repeat levels as quickly as possible, getting time bonus
crates along the way. Earning fast times gets you Sapphire, Gold and Platinum
relics respectively. In the Crash Bandicoot remaster, they’ve added this
feature into Crash 1 and 2 as well.
Nothing like a bit of breakdancin' before beating up a massive robot with torpedoes!
Again if you’re not familiar with the story of Crash
Bandicoot, it’s not the most important part of the game but a brief outline is
that Dr Neo Cortex create a machine called the Evolvo Ray which is used to
mutate animals into super beasts. They experiment on Crash who Cortex was
intending on being the leader of an army of animal soldiers. They try to put Crash
into a machine called the Cortex Vortex which rejects Crash and allows him to
escape his lab. Instead, Cortex kidnaps Tawna, Crash's girlfriend to experiment
on instead. Crash decides he needs to rescue Tawna and defeat Cortex. In Crash
2 and 3, the story continues at the defeat of Cortex at the hands of Crash,
where Cortex is hell bent on getting revenge on Crash by using crystals to
power up the Cortex Vortex, to try and destroy the earth.
Comparing this to the original trilogy released between 1996
and 1998, naturally the graphics have had a complete overhaul. To be fair,
these aren’t the best graphics on the Playstation 4 but they were never meant
to be. They were meant to be crisp, polished and easy on the eyes. Activision
have done a splendid job of making Crash look brilliant. Being a big fan of the
original games, there are a couple of things I would have changed (like make
Crash look a bit goofier than he does comparatively to the original) but I
honestly can grasp at straws in terms of thinking of anything negative to say
about the redesigning of the games. The redesigns of all the boss enemies look
spot on too.
Being a massive fan of the original games, I was a little
concerned when I heard they were remastering the soundtracks of the original games.
The music in the original games has a big place in my heart and the job Naughty
Dog did in the original would be hard to beat. But, pleasantly, I barely notice
any difference when actually playing the game when hearing the music. It does
sound almost identical most of the time and the few changes are welcome because
they often substance rather than subtract, such as add native jungle sounds to
emphasise the area of the world the games are set in.
It's not realistic enough. Surely Crash would be sweating buckets, being next to all those grills??
When it comes to the sound of the game, overall it does
sound very crisp and each individual sound correlates well to what’s happening
on screen. But – and a big but – perhaps its nostalgia, but for me, Activision
have replaced many of the key sounds from the original games that didn’t need
replacing. Think of Sonic as an example – can you imagine if they changed the
sound of collecting rings? Or Mario, when he jumps into one of the tubes? These
sounds are over 20 years old and are iconic parts of the respective games. When
it comes to Crash Bandicoot, there are also classic sounds, completely omitted
from the remaster which disappoints me as a guy growing up with the games as a
kid. For instance, getting an extra life has a very mild “kerching” sound
compared to the brilliant one from the original games. The “whoa” sound that
Crash makes is completely changed too. The glorious “aaaaah” noise when
collecting a crystal is replaced. Just these little things, these iconic
sounds, should have remained in the game in my opinion to remind people that
these are the foundations of a 20 year old classic platformer that should be in
place in every Crash Bandicoot game ever released in the future. But never
mind!
Speaking of sound, the voice actors have done a good job in
the remaster overall, and most of the dialogue remains untouched too, with some
subtle changers here and there mainly for clarity. My only bug bear with this
remaster however is Cortex. That’s not to say that Lex Lang has done a bad job
as Cortex, but when Clancy Brown offers his services to completely redo his
work from Crash 2 and 3 and they don’t even consider him, it stings a little.
Cortex from the trilogy is one of my all time favourite villains and Clancy
Brown brought that life to life in a massive way during this period.
One thing that was a criticism of the Crash Bandicoot, but
was improved on slightly in Crash 2 and 3 was the controls and mechanics. In
what was a stumbling block in the original trilogy, the game play mechanics,
combined with the controls, are “almost” identical, for good or for bad. As
stated earlier in this review, for me an imperative factor in this transition
was to make the games “feel” the same, the intangible quality that was so
specific and evident in the original games but lacked in other titles, the
feeling so hard to define, HAD to be present in this remaster. And the result?
It’s 99% there. And I emphasise 99%. Sometimes the game play mechanics feel a
little “off”, sometimes the controls are a little stiff, but overall they do
feel the same, very much so. There’s one or two things that are different in
the mechanics, again, something hard to give examples of, but one thing is the
ice levels in Crash 2 – gliding across the ice doesn’t “feel” the same as the
original games, they definitely got that wrong and you have to mentally adjust
to that if you’re playing comparatively from the original from 1997.
However, I emphasise the mechanics and controls are almost
identical, “for good or for bad”. Why? Crash Bandicoot is HARD. Especially the
first game. The second and third games are a lot easier than the first, but
that doesn’t take away from the fact that overall as a package, this game, even
though it’s aimed at a younger audience, is a tough nut to crack. And while the
controls and mechanics are almost identical to the original games, this could
throw some people off. Aiming for that ambitious jump? Good luck. You’ll go,
“how did I not make that jump! This is ridiculous!”. You’ll swear there was
enough space between you and Nitro boxes. If you do Time Trials, be prepared
for trial and error, getting far into a level before falling down a pit at the
end. This game requires a lot of patience and it’s something a lot of modern
day gamers may struggle to adapt to, when, generally speaking, games are easier
than they were in the nineties.
No joke here. I love this picture, it's totally badass.
A final thing about the mechanics - if you’re someone that
completely mastered the original Crash Bandicoot series (something that I
actually did only 2-3 months ago), I would like to stress that this game isn’t
identical. I said earlier that it’s 99% the same, but those 1% moments make a
big difference. I got Game Over on Crash 2 a good few times in my run through
that game, despite the fact that in my run through the original game only 2-3
months ago I finished the game with 82 lives and didn’t get Game Over once.
There’s just certain parts of the remaster that are just harder than the
original. I can’t put my finger on what makes those moments harder, they just
are. You point and go – “I didn’t lose so many lives on this part of the game
on the original!” – and you just can’t put into words what it is. Trust me on
this, it’s not me being bad at the game, it’s just legitimately harder! That
being said, if you’re not someone that played the games over and over again,
and you only played Crash on occasion, you probably won’t notice. But it is
super hard regardless!
This next paragraph is for those who have played the
original trilogy and want to know what’s added into the game, or what remains
on a subtle level. I mentioned it earlier briefly but you can now play as Coco
in Crash 1 and 2, something you weren’t able to do before. Coco in these games
plays almost identical as Crash does and is purely there as for novelty
purposes, in the end her presence completely goes against the story of the game
but they did justify that by saying that she “uses the time machine from Crash
3 to relive Crash’s old adventures”. Coco can’t play every level however, but
she can play most of them. Also, she can’t be used to go against the bosses
either. As stated earlier too, you can now do Time Trials in Crash 1 and 2.
There’s also a leaderboard, so you can compare your times to how people are
doing around the world, which is nice. Also, if you beat Crash 2, you can
unlock the Spint Shoes (also named Crash Dash) ability from Crash 3, which is
definitely required because some of the Platinum times that you need to beat
are just crazy. The password saving system from Crash 1 has been removed and
replaced with a simple system similar to Crash 2 and 3, and the bonus levels
from Crash 1 allow you to try as many times as you wish, which too is similar
to Crash 2 and 3. When you get Game Over, Uka Uka from Crash 3 is the one to
give you the bad news, regardless of what game you’re playing. This, in my
opinion is a bit odd, mainly due to the fact that he was imprisoned up until
the story of Crash 3 so there’s an error of continuation. The jet pack levels
of Crash 2 gives you an option of inverting the up and down buttons to down and
up, if that makes sense, so those who found the controls confusing in the
original game can change them in the Options menu.
Overall, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a brilliant
remaster of the original games which came out, 21, 20 and 19 years ago
respectively. Activision considering the circumstances, truly have put Wumpa
fruit, sweat and tears into giving us the games we all remember playing two
decades ago but with very polished look, remastered audio, some subtle but very
justified changes to the games and have truly given it a whole new lease of
life. Everything from the original Crash trilogy is there, all the good and the
bad and you can’t fault Activision in many ways for the job they have done. And
this game is great value, available in the UK for £25-£30 at base value, a
bargain compared to most new games that have come out. The question really now
is, what happens from here? Do Activision bring out a Crash Bandicoot 4, in a
similar style to these three? Or do they bring out a version of Crash Team
Racing? Early reports are saying this game has sold tremendously well, so this
certainly won’t be the last time we see Crash Bandicoot on our consoles!
Rating: ****1/4 stars
As an aside, this is what rating I would give the original
Crash Bandicoot games released in the late nineties in comparison:
Crash Bandicoot - ***3/4 stars
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - ****1/2 stars
Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped! - ****3/4 stars
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Resident Evil 7 is the ultimate love letter to horror fans; whether you love horror movies or horror games, it's simply an experience you can't miss.
Resident Evil 7 (going forward I'll refer to it as Resi 7) was released only a couple of weeks ago but it's already made a huge stamp on the video gaming world. It's arguably the first major video game release to include virtual reality, and sold 2.5 million units and 7.15 million downloads in the first three days alone. The first game in the series was released 21 years ago and is often cited as the pioneer video game series for survival horror. The release of Resident Evil 4 in 2005 dramatically changed the series into a more action based shooter with horror elements rather than being an all-round game with horror at the core. Resident Evil 5 and 6 further continued this direction with mixed critical response but strong commercial success.
Capcom knew that the change in direction with the gameplay started to alienate their original fanbase. But with the gameplay changing to a first person shooter with horror being back in the centre of the fresh direction, are they now alienating their newer fanbase? Time will tell.
Regardless of if you're a newer Resident Evil fan or an old school Resident Evil fan this game will be a completely fresh experience for you, at least in the world of Resident Evil. As stated earlier, this is the first game in the Resident Evil series (apart from any spinoffs) to be a first person shooter. You play as Ethan, who comes across as a relatively normal man, who is married to a woman named Mia. Ethan's wife went missing three years prior to the beginning of the game. However he receives an email from her out of the blue, asking for him to find her in a house in Louisiana . That's the basic story of the game without explaining too much more.
Unlike most of the other Resident Evil games before, weapons play a far less important role in Resi 7, or at least for the majority of the game. Instead you can dodge enemies a lot easier, or block them with your arms to absorb blows to the head. For a lot of the start of the game you can utilise a knife which can attack enemies or break down boxes (a nod to Resident Evil 4 and beyond). But as the game progresses you do get other weapons such as a handgun and a shotgun, and even the grenade launcher and machine gun. Despite this, for the majority of the game ammo is in extremely short supply, to further emphasise that this is about survival and not about taking the battle to the enemy.
...nope. Just nope.
Another aspect of Resi 7 that separates it from most of the other games in the series is how you can use chemical fluid to enhance herbs and gunpowder into more powerful first aid items and ammo. This for me is a nod (and enhancement) to Resident Evil 3 when you can start to create stronger ammo if you use certain gunpowder in that game often enough. For a good portion of Resi 7 you depend on chemical fluids a lot, because it's very hard to find general ammo lying around.
Similarly to Resident Evil 5 (and 6 somewhat) you can use the d-pad to quickly change any weapons you hold in the top four spaces of your inventory. Speaking of your inventory, that also is a throwback to Resident Evil 1 where you only have limited space and you have to choose carefully whether or not you want more spaces for other items you may find in newer areas you're about to explore or to use your spaces for ammo and herbs that will be paramount for survival going forward.
Like the older Resident Evil games, the use of safe rooms and item chests have returned. There's also "safe room music" when you enter a safe room which, like in the older games, gives a lovely feeling of safety and to give you a breather for the horrors that are to come. In the safe rooms are cassette players in which you can save your progress, another throwback to the old typewriters that you used to find in these games. Thankfully you don't need to find cassettes scattered throughout the game, like you used to find ink ribbons though! Also as stated briefly earlier, herbs have returned to the Resident Evil series, which is great, however only green ones, so no red or blue herbs are in this game. Not that you can get poisoned anyway!
The house in Resi 7 is thoroughly explorable and, without spoiling too much, is just as good as the Spencer mansion in Resi 1. It feels great (and horrifying) to explore a house in a Resident Evil game again to great detail. There's something about the closed spaces, long corridors and going back and forth from different parts of the house only to find new locations later on to go to. Speaking of, keys have also returned. In the old games you used to have many locked doors that were only accessible with certain keys that were difficult to find and when found, lead to new areas. It was a great feature that got dropped in the later entries into the Resident Evil series and it's returned to form big time in Resi 7. Puzzles also return in Resi 7 although they're no where near as "riddly" or difficult as their predecessors.
Again, without spoiling too much, certain antagonists in the game are relentless in their pursuit of you. If you've played Resident Evil 3 you'll know how harrowing it can be having Nemesis stalk you throughout the game, and before it, in Resident Evil 2 having a certain Tyrant breaking through walls just to get his hands on you. Trust me, the antagonists in this game have a good time trying to kill you and they're just as tenacious in their different approaches.
You just wouldn't would you?!
The graphics in this game are great. Bullets hit and blood pours out as expected. Black goo, puss, saliva, vomiting, body mutation and many other lovely horror elements are all enhanced to great detail throughout this game. Rooms are generally dark and full of terrors (Game of Thrones reference yo!) and, when too dark, your character generally uses a torch to help see at least a small amount further on. Steam is used to great effect in certain areas, dust, and light can enhance the experience. Throughout the house is lots of family photos and artwork to help you feel that you're truly in someone's house. You can pick up a lot of different items and open a lot of cupboards and drawers, some of them for no reason at all, and all are in good graphical detail to really add to the experience.
Where Resi 7 excels, undisputedly, is for the sheer tensity and drama. Unlike a lot of other Resident Evil games (past or present) there is very little music in the game. Silence is a killer in itself, adding pure terror in every footstep you take, unintentionally or not. Hearing enemies from somewhere you can't see is more scary than hearing any tense classical music that other games in the series have usually chosen to put in front of you instead. The characters and monsters, and their respective voices all add up for a better experience than any music too. Trust me, even though there's little music, you'll never feel alone because chances are someone or something isn't too far away! You dread going into rooms and locations you've never explored before and when you have to return to an area you've been before but has changed somewhat, it resets the sheer fear of entering those areas once again, not knowing what may come your way.
Resident Evil has always been well known for its epic boss battles. For me, this is an area that lacked greatly in more recent games (5 and 6 specifically). Resi 7 brings the fun, the gore and the body mutation of the classic games back to the forefront in these boss battles. And when I say fun I mean FUN. The boss battles in this game for the most part are a lot of fun and remind me a lot of the battles I had in Resi 4, in a good way. Every boss battle is different and concentrate on different things for instance, one battle is done over two floors and you have to target certain parts of the monster's body. In another boss battle, a battle of the chainsaws ensues. They're fun and highly unpredictable, at least in comparison to the main game.
Before I did this review I looked at what other reviewers were saying, and also what gamers were saying on Facebook and Twitter and other social media. There are pockets of fans that didn't like this game and I want to take this moment to respond to the different criticisms aimed at the game. Some fans criticise Capcom's decision to go to first person perspective and cite that the game series isn't first person. While for the most part that's true, fans are forgetting that Resident Evil Survivor exists, a 17 year old game. And secondly, why shouldn't the game be first person? These fans weren't complaining when Resident Evil 4 was an "over-the-shoulder" action game. At this rate every 3 or 4 games in the main series could be a new reinvention of the horror franchise. I've also heard people say "I don't like first person shooters so I won't play it". I feel that choosing to see this game as an FPS rather than a horror game is disappointing. This isn't Call of Duty. The horror story that Capcom want to give you is best displayed in first person. It's not an FPS game, and as stated before, guns are not the most important part of the game, horror is.
You've seen the horror movies. You know this doesn't end well when they're not facing you!
Another criticism I've seen a lot is that we don't know much about Ethan. There was no way that Capcom were going to give us this horror experience with Chris Redfield or Leon Kennedy in front of us. What Ethan experiences, as someone who has never been in that situation in his entire life before, is what makes the game so scary. Having Chris Redfield punch his hand through a monster's stomach or see Leon give monsters scissor kicks wouldn't give the same experience. I've also seen people describe Ethan as some what of a "chicken" which is really untrue, when you see what he's gone through in the first 30 minutes of the game never mind the whole experience. Like Chris in Resi 1 and Leon in Resi 2, the heroes of the Resident Evil franchise all have balls and deal with their respective horror stories with steel.
As a fan of Resident Evil for nearly two decades and a fan of horror in general, I welcomed a lot of the changes brought into Resi 7. For me, the decision for Capcom to look at the mixed critical reviews and look at the high video game sales and despite the latter, realise that they were not necessarily going in the right direction is a very bold move. It feels a lot of video game companies look at sales and think, if it's selling well then don't change anything. Resi 7 is expected not to sell as well as Resi 5 and 6 despite the high praise the game is getting on most fronts. But it shows that Capcom care more about their fans and their reaction to the gameplay rather than seeing how well games are selling. A massive thumbs up from me there, kudos.
It's funny that fans critical of Resi 7 have been split, pretty much, into three categories. There's the purists saying "we like the old school games", the modern Resi fans who loved the "action over horror" direction, and there's the "I can't play it because it's an FPS game". I've talked about the FPS fans before. But as for the two other categories of critics, I must say, I swear I've mentioned pretty much every single Resi game in this review at some point or another. There are elements of Resi 1 in here, the limited spaces of inventory, the return to atmospheric horror and the setting of a house, or a mansion if you will. Resident Evil 2? I mentioned Tyrant stalking you in the 1998 classic, and similar things happen in Resi 7. Resident Evil 3's gunpowder returns and is also enhanced. Resi 4 and 7 have similar boss battles stylistically and you can break down those boxes all over again. Resident Evil 5's quick gun change system is in use here. I suppose the only two games I've not mentioned are Code Veronica and 6, but my point still stands. The game uses a lot of the elements from previous games in the series to good effect in Resi 7 so while it's a refreshed, reinvigorated first person horror experience, it does it with nods to its past.
I've given examples of Capcom going back to their previous games above. But what games have inspired Resident Evil 7? A lot of people point to Outlast, and despite Capcom denying that Outlast inspired them, you can't talk about first person horror games and not talk about Outlast. That being said though, those fans that say this is an Outlast ripoff really need to play it. It doesn't feel anything like Outlast, for me, it's a closer feeling to Resident Evil 1, all over again, two decades later. Other games that I've noticed inspiration from? Silent Hill 2, especially certain parts of the end of the game. There's an enemy you go against also towards the end of the game that very much resembles one of the major infected monsters in Left 4 Dead. Forget games, what about horror films? Certain films have definitely inspired Resi 7; the likes of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Saw series are very reminiscent here, and there's a quote from The Evil Dead in the game - there's even a quote from Planet of the Apes in here!
For me ultimately, what Capcom did after the mixed success of Resi 6 is take a massive step back and went, "What is Resident Evil? What is horror? What is scary?", and looked back at their entire 20 year history of video game making, looked at other horror games and looked at horror movies and took the best of everything to make the best horror experience they could possibly give us. And they damn well exceeded. Resident Evil 7 is the ultimate love letter to horror fans of all kinds; whether you love horror movies or horror games or both. Forget "oh I wish it was more like the newer games", or even, "I wish it was more like the old games". Forget that it's first person, just think of it as a horror game. If you like horror movies and aren't really sure about gaming, give this game a go, or at least watch video game footage on Youtube or something. It's simply an experience you can't miss.
Rating: ****1/2 stars
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