Biohazard (Resident Evil) for the GameCube is everything I’d hoped it would be and more.

How’s that for an impression? Seriously, Max has already said a mouthful, but several things bear frequent repetition. The original Resident Evil for the PSX was my first grand introduction into the world of gaming beyond the 16-bit era, and I had some pretty high expectations for Capcom’s GC update. I can’t call it a remake, because it’s so much more than that. A remake may include improved graphics and some FMV glitz or whatnot, but with the latest incarnation of Biohazard, Capcom has delivered a whole new game in many ways, although remaining very faithful and familiar to its predecessor.

First, the graphics are unbelievable. Literally. You’ve seen the screens, you’ve seen the movies, but you sure as hell haven’t seen the game yet. Even without progressive scan support (boo, Capcom!), I often retraced my steps or simply stopped dead in my tracks to gawk at the visuals. Max laid it out its finer points very clearly; Biohazard must be seen to be believed. I also agree that one of the coolest things is the individuality of the zombies. Each is unique in its own way, and all are brilliantly detailed.

The sound (while only presented in stereo) is very, very good. The effects are clear, moody, and very ambient. The music is subtle, except during attacks and events when it becomes very frantic. The sound effects though are where the audio presentation shines. The footsteps, the moaning, the flesh-chewing, and the blood splattering effects are all crisp, well spaced within the sound field, and gruesome. You’ve heard this isn’t a game for the kids to watch? Well, they’re best off not listening to it either, which is a damn shame, because the only way to play Biohazard is to play it LOUD. Even staunch audiophiles will be highly impressed by the audio quality, and in my mind that’s saying something.

Two options of difficultly are available from the onset, along with your choice of (initially) two characters, Chris or Jill. You are prompted, in Japanese, to chose whether you prefer games that are like rough mountain trekking but offer a great feeling of accomplishment or games that are more like mountain hiking and aren’t so near impossible. Those last few words give it away. The first option is, as has been previously stated, very, very difficult. The zombies are more than doubled, take much more damage, and reincarnate (more on that later) faster than the second choice, which in my opinion should qualify as ‘Normal’ mode (as it most resembles the PSX version in difficulty). I fully believe in playing through every game in default mode, and almost NEVER advocate ‘easy’ modes. But after an hour and a half in the bulletless hellhole of the ‘trekking’ version, I gave up. Maybe next time.

The new features Capcom has added this time around are great! So far, I haven’t played as Jill much, so I can’t speak for the additional storyline. However, the two most striking additions (beyond the graphical improvements, new mansion layout and new puzzles) are the defense items and zombie ‘reincarnation’. The defense items must be collected individually, and are rather scarce in both difficulty modes. But they are just that useful. Chris uses daggers, Jill uses a stun gun and both can use hand grenades. If a baddy gets close enough to you to grab hold, you can use a defense item to keep them from inflicting damage, knock them away and get a good solid hit in. Use of defense items is by default automatic; if you have one equipped in your inventory, you will bust it out as soon as is necessary. However, can chose to make use of defense items manually by pressing the L Trigger when attacked. This allows you to save them for when you really need them, rather than waste them on a weak enemy. Jabbing a dagger into the ribcage of a zombie dog as it mauls you from above is a nice touch, and saved my ass more than once. The grenades, though, are the coolest. Kind of a cliché gag, but cool. You most often cram it into their mouth, and then back away and count to ten. Heh, heh, heh. Amusing, and also very useful…

Blowing the heads off zombies may look cool, but it is also very important. This time around, the zombies don’t disappear when you drop them. Granted, the signature oozing bloodstain still signifies the end of their immediate threat, but that’s not all. The second really fantastic addition to the GameCube version of Biohazard is zombie reincarnation. At first I thought the various bodies remaining scattered around the mansion were purely a slick presentation element, until I discovered a memo informing me otherwise. Zombies can only truly be vanquished by torching them or removing their heads. If you don’t fully dispose of them in due time, you will suddenly find them missing, until…

Every once in a while you can manage a head-pop with a clever pistol blast (or liberal use of the shotgun). Otherwise, you have to torch them by hand by using a small hip flash filled with a couple doses of flammable oil, which can be refilled from scattered jerry cans. However, there are more than a few corpses around that you can be sure you didn’t off yourself…

Finally, the language issue. While the speech and most of the menus are in English, the supporting text is Japanese. For example, the Item Screen labels are in English (Map, File, etc) but the items names and descriptions are in Japanese. When you try to open a locked door, the resulting message about it being locked is in Japanese. However, Biohazard is not unplayable, especially to those familiar to the series. An excellent case, again involving doors, is the three different types of locks. One door gives a simple message, which you will soon figure out means that it’s just locked from the other side. A much longer message states that a simple locking mechanism is used, and a simple single-use key is required. A third message says that you need the Knife Key, with ‘knife key’ highlighted in green. Now, experience will clue you in on the first situation, and when you find a key with description text matching the green text on that door you’ve been agonizing over, you’ll put two and two together. But if you can’t read the bit about needing a simple key, it might take dumb luck to get it right. Furthermore, how will you know where to use the dog whistle unless you can read the memo?

Advise: with the U.S. release coming soon, wait. This is not one you need to import, unless you can’t stand to be without the brilliantly updated game design and jaw-dropping graphics for one more minute.