After checking out the Resident Evil movie over the weekend, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the remake of the first game for GameCube. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. I just got Biohazard in the mail yesterday and I’ve been playing it off and on ever since.

I say off and on for a variety of reasons. One reason is that the game is very hard and I’ve been slaughtered a handful of times. Another is that the first Resident Evil gave me an almost ridiculous case of the heebie-jeebies and experiencing it all over again in graphic splendor is a little too familiar. Finally, I’ve been playing sporadically since I felt compelled to share the game with people I saw the flick with (and not because I didn’t want to play the game alone).

Seriously, this game is amazing. I’ve seen the screenshots and a couple movies of it in action, but until you are playing it it’s hard to take in how amazing it looks. The lighting, the textures, details of the mansion and the zombies in motion… It’s incredible. Some of the animation is a bit jerky in cinema scenes and this can be distracting, but this is the only real drawback of the graphics I’ve noticed thus far. Otherwise I’ve been floored at what I’ve seen; so THIS is what the GameCube can do.

One of my favorite graphical touches is that the zombies all look different. Some are more decayed than others; some are fat, some thin; some don’t have many clothes on while others are well dressed—a few of them even walk and move differently. You can see their mouths and teeth move when they bite into your character and chew. There are gruesome sights such as eyeballs rolling back into their head sometimes and twitching! It’s excellent to see this level of detail and makes each encounter all the more frightening.

It really feels like being in a horror movie. The rooms are all now creepier than ever. Lighting, scenery and camera angles all contribute to a very creepy atmosphere. The entire time I’ve been playing, there’s been a storm outside and the raging thunder and flashes of lightning helps heighten the mood. The lighting and shadow effects are phenomenal; it’s realistic and makes every room look to be as disturbing as possible.

It’s much, much harder than the original. The zombies are stronger, the healing items are rare and so is ammunition. More often than before, running from zombies seems to be the way to go. These are all things that add to the survival dimension of the game. Those who don’t enjoy the Resident Evil series won’t find much changed in the essential gameplay mechanics; there’s still a need to conserve, run from enemies, manage your inventory and backtrack to pick up essential items. It’s still very much Resident Evil but now it’s tougher.

Luckily, there are new features to help make your way through. Foremost among these (and coolest) is the use of defense items. Now Chris & Jill have a last-ditch attack at their disposal for when zombies close in for a bite. Both characters can use knives, Chris can use grenades and Jill can use a stun gun (which requires batteries). The knives are the only defense items I’ve used so far, which are used to stab zombies right in the head. It’s very cool.

The control is generally good, though is not quite as precise as I would like. You can use the analog control stick or the d-pad to move and sometimes a combination of both is best. The game also includes the “instant-turnaround” feature utilized in Capcom survival horror since RE3, which allows for a quick getaway. This 180 turn is executed by hitting Down and B or tapping on the control stick (regardless of direction you tap).

The music fades in and out and often does so to match the situation. Sometimes there is no music at all, just the thunder and your footsteps. This has proved incredibly effective, as sometimes just ordinary sounds have made me jump, only to realize the sound I heard was the door closing. The voices are also much improved from other Resident Evils, with less choppiness and campiness. No, Barry does not call Jill “the master of unlocking” this time. The voices do sound very similar to the ones used for the first game and could very well be the same voice actors.

Even Resident Evil junkies who have played the first game to death will find new stuff. The territory is familiar but almost everything is completely different. There are new cinema scenes, new puzzles, new areas, new traps and new surprises. Looking for ammo and items in the same place as the old game is worthless, though a couple of the same puzzles are still in the mansion.

Importers will find much of this game playable, as the controls are simple and all spoken dialogue is in English. Almost all of the text is in Japanese though and there’s quite a lot of it, especially with text for clues and descriptions like what type of key each locked door might require. With only a little over a month to wait for the North American release, most people would be advised just to wait it out so they can fully understand the experience. Still, it’s quite amazing and playable even if you don’t know a lick of Japanese. Once you get a grip on controls, you’ll be shooting zombies head’s off or dodging ‘em with the greatest of ease.

I haven’t progressed too far yet but I love what I’ve played. Even if this game was just a straight remake, it would bear attention due to the vast improvements of graphics, dialogue and presentation. The new defense items and a virtually whole new mansion to explore make Biohazard the most extraordinary GameCube release for some time.

UPDATE: After some reflection, there’s a couple things I want to add. First off (though this should go without saying), Biohazard is bloody and rather violent. It’s definitely not for younger gamers to play, or even watch. It’s the most mature game we’ve seen on GameCube yet.

Another thing is an important discovery I found with my memory cards. I previously knew that one memory card could only save data from one region. Because Biohazard comes with a memory card (with cool Biohazard stickers), I now have four memory cards, 2 for U.S. games and 2 for Japanese. If you use the manage memory card screen on the GameCube menu and have memory cards from a different region you’re trying to play, it will try to format and erase your data. This much I knew. However, while playing Biohazard last night, I had the Biohazard card in slot 1 and one of my U.S. data cards in slot 2 and for some reason it looks like the U.S. data was wiped. Now I have to unlock everything in SSBM all over again (not that I’m complaining). This hasn’t happened before when I’ve had cards in slot 2 while playing Animal Leader. Just be careful so it doesn’t happen to you.