Need we really divulge in the story? Well, for all three of you who don’t know, this game is pretty much a port of the original Resident Evil title from the PS1. The story is about the Alpha team of the S.T.A.R.S elite police squad of Raccoon City, a group that's been sent to recover the missing Bravo team, after their helicopter crashed in the nearby forest. Upon arrival, they’re chased by a group of “wild” dogs and are forced to seek refuge in a seemingly abandoned mansion. Typically, the mansion seems to be the root of the problem, as the Alpha team is split up and they’re forced to survive against a band of nefarious creatures that have inhabited the mansion. The plot is a good one as it periodically unravels through hidden notes, messages and shocking actions and surprises. But you all knew this by now, didn’t you?
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence has three components to it: Classic mode, Rebirth mode and a new multiplayer mode. The Classic mode is pretty much identical to the game that was played ten years ago. You get to choose from two characters, Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, each a member of S.T.A.R.S and representing the Medium and Hard modes respectively. Essentially, the game is laid out in the exact same way that it was ten years ago, down to every room, item and zombie. In short, pretty much anyone who has taken the trip through the game multiple times on the PS1 version will know pretty much what to expect from the Classic mode.
Back to the beginning.
Rebirth mode is where it starts to mix things up and show what’s been done to get this game on the DS. You’ll still play through the same mansion but there have been numerous items added in, as well as a remix of the puzzles and a few of the situations. For example, in each of the save rooms, there has been a chest added, and if you can solve the puzzle on the chest, you’ll be treated to an extra item, such as a first aid spray or shotgun shells. It seems that the mode is encouraging a more “gung-ho” style of gameplay, as you’re provided with more ammo that normal, though not enough to go completely crazy over it. Other than this, essentially the game is the same.
Part of what made the Resident Evil series famous was the “tank” controls. Here, they’re back in their full glory, along with the obscure fixed angles. However, the DS seems well suited for the game, as the controls have translated pretty well – they almost feel comfortable. However, over the years, the controls have had additions to them that helped make the game much less cumbersome than what it was originally. To go with the long overdue 180-degree turn, you’ve also got the few additions from the (to date) pinnacle of the series, Resident Evil 4. Your knife can now be accessed by pressing the L button and an inventory slot is opened up. You can also reload at any time. However, the rest of the layout remains the same, meaning we still have to put up with wide turns and three 'zones' of shooting, as well as the overall sense of control being slow and somewhat clunky.
Up until Resident Evil 4, the traditional Resi games lacked a HUD. Resident Evil DS compensates for this by placing a map on the upper screen, along with an icon depicting your equipped weapon and flashing colours that depict your current health status. Despite being what may consider a tacked-on feature, the map is extremely useful in helping to navigate the house, while the other features are handy as well. This leaves the touch-screen free for Rebirth mode to play around with it.
There are two major ways that the touch screen is used. At random intervals, you’ll enter a room to find yourself at a first person perspective and your knife equipped. Zombies, dogs and crows will come out and line up to get you. Using either your finger or the stylus to make swipes and pokes of the knife, you can slash and stab the enemies on screen. These sequences take a little to get used to, but once you’ve got it under wraps, can be quite intense and enjoyable. But their rather random placement doesn’t really serve the game well, nor does the fact that you can’t move while swiping like a madman. It would’ve been nice if this was taken further, such as if it was triggered when you’re out of ammo or actually playing more from that perspective. A lot of the puzzles in the game are obviously reworked for touch-screen functionality and as typical and sometimes redundant as they may seem, they do fit in comfortably.
Slice, Dice and Switch.
One thing that people will be glad to know is that the atmosphere has made it over to the handheld stage virtually unscathed. While it probably won’t be as scary as it was ten years ago, it still manages to contain a creepy and disconcerting atmosphere. The only problem is that most of the genuine scares probably won’t have as much effect this time around – especially at the beginning where the dogs come crashing through the window. This is especially likely for people who can consider themselves veterans of the RE games. Still, there are jumps and jolts as something lurks around the corner, as well as the ominous feeling that something is there, waiting to get you. Even the knifing mini-game has a desperate feeling of trying to survive.
Multiplayer isn’t exactly new to the series but it’s never really been done well. Resident Evil: Deadly Silence offers up competitive and co-op modes, where you can either race through a few different scenarios to see who gets to the finish first, or see if you can get through together. Up to four players can participate. Apart from the fact that your buddy/opponent is represented on screen as a large 2-D start, the modes play well. You can unlock a rather large cast, consisting of a lot of the characters of the game, some of whom have not been playable in the past. However, it's a shame that the mode is not WFC compatible and each player needs a cart to play.
With all the additions, it’s a surprise to see that one of the crucial additions in Resident Evil hasn’t made it in. The fact that the game still requires you to partake in the arduous task of collecting and conserving ink ribbons pretty much kills any portability that this title may have had. It is simply impractical to play this game in short intervals, unless you just want to have a quick sticky beak in the next few rooms. Not only this, but the game is hampered by the fact that it pretty much demands you play through with long sittings, lest you waste all the ribbons at the start and are in deep trouble further into the game.
This issue, coupled with the game’s inherent difficulty level and sluggish mechanics hamper the experience. For example, a hunter can (and will) belt you three times before you can even blast him with the shotgun. The main result is that you’ll play for half an hour without saving, die and be forced to restart. While it is fathomable and somewhat reasonable to play such a game in your living room, this package is just not meant for portability. What’s worst is that they are issues that could’ve been easily improved, through toning down the difficulty, removing the ink ribbons or by putting in some effort to refine the mechanics.
Obscurity is an issue, especially when the screen is smaller.
Graphically, the game is quite impressive in that a game that was once on a CD, now has even more visual punch on a tiny DS cart. While pre-rendered backgrounds aren’t as resource-hungry as 3D graphics, it’s still amazing to think that a game of Resident Evil's scale can now be carried around in your pocket. In terms of the actual game, everything is intact, and with interest. The additions, such as the first-person perspective, are quite impressive as well. However, the one concession that has been made is that the FMVs have been severely compressed, in effect making them really, really tiny. As good as it looks, an inherent aesthetic issue is that the screen size will make things difficult when your character is out of view, especially in terms of enemies and item finding. It’s more of a hardware issue than anything - the DS screen isn’t always big enough to accommodate what the game wants to show.
Sound-wise, it’s even more impressive to find that the entire soundtrack from the PS1 game has made it over. However, this means that the voice-acting has made it over as well. Now, anyone who has played before will know that the voicing in the original Resident Evil was some of the worst of all time. Yet here it is again, so bad that you listen to it now and can’t help but burst out laughing. Unfortunately, the terrible dialogue doesn’t help, especially when this is some serious material and it really doesn't fit the mood. Thankfully, voice-acting aside, the quality of the audio has translated cleanly and the desired atmosphere is still achieved. The music is still creepy where it needs to be and lax in other needed places, while the sound effects get the job done well.
All the additions to the existing material in Resident Evil: Deadly Silence are good, but that’s where they remain - ultimately, they're not substantial enough to lift the game from 'good' to 'great' status. As with most of these ventures, for all their additions, they fail to fix some of the underlying problems that hampered the game in the first place. On top of this, the fact that the game is so similar to the one played ten years ago is disappointing, and consequently is unlikely to appeal to seasoned RE veterans, nor anyone who didn’t like the game in the first place. However, as good as the game is and as impressive as the technology behind it may be, the major issue is that it doesn’t serve its purpose as a portable title.
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