Resident Evil

Resident Evil is a 2002 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. In 2015, a high-definition remaster was released to critical and commercial success for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, then later for Nintendo Switch in 2019. It is a remake of the 1996 PlayStation game Resident Evil, the first installment in the Resident Evil video game series. The story takes place in 1998 near the fictional Midwestern town of Raccoon City where a series of bizarre murders have taken place. The player takes on the role of either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, S.T.A.R.S. officers sent in by the city and the R.P.D. to investigate the murders.

On July 24, 1998, a series of bizarre murders occur on the outskirts of the Midwestern town of Raccoon City. The Raccoon City Police Department’s Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) are assigned to investigate. After contact with Bravo Team is lost, Alpha Team is sent to locate their whereabouts. Finding Bravo Team’s crashed helicopter in a forest, they descend to investigate, but are attacked by a pack of monstrous dogs, killing one of them. After Alpha Team’s helicopter pilot, Brad Vickers, panics and flies off alone, remaining members Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker, and Barry Burton retreat inside a nearby abandoned mansion, where they decide to split up.

While exploring the mansion, the player-controlled character (either Chris or Jill) finds several members of Bravo Team, including Kenneth J. Sullivan, who is devoured alive by a zombie; Richard Aiken, who is either killed by a giant snake or eaten by a large shark; Forest Speyer, who is found dead and reanimates as a zombie; and Bravo Team leader Enrico Marini, who reveals there is a traitor among Alpha Team before being killed by an unseen shooter. Rebecca Chambers, a survivor from Bravo Team, joins Chris. The player character then learns about a series of illegal experiments conducted by a clandestine research team under the authority of biomedical company Umbrella Corporation.

The mansion teems with monstrous creatures resulting from these experiments, which have exposed both personnel and wildlife to a highly infectious and mutagenic biological agent known as the T-virus. Resident Evil is a survival horror game where the player controls the on-screen character from a third-person perspective to interact with the environment. To advance, the player must explore a mansion and its surrounding areas while avoiding, outsmarting and defeating monsters including zombies and giant spiders. The player can open doors, push certain objects, climb obstacles, and pick up items. When an item is collected, it is stored in an inventory that the player can access at any time. Items in the inventory can be used, examined, and combined to solve puzzles and gain access to areas that were previously inaccessible. 

The inventory is limited to a certain number of slots, and the player must often move items from the inventory to storage boxes located in certain areas to manage space. Although the player can use firearms to kill monsters, Resident Evil emphasizes evasion over fast-paced combat by providing the player with limited ammunition. The player has a limited amount of health, which decreases when attacked by monsters. Players can regain health by collecting and using herbs, which can be mixed with other herbs to increase their healing effect. Some monsters can also infect the player with a poisoning effect, which gradually depletes the player’s health over time until the poison is cured with serum or special herbs. Zombies that are defeated but not beheaded or burned eventually revive and mutate into faster and deadlier forms.

The player can control either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, each with advantages and disadvantages. For example, Chris can take and deal more damage than Jill, but Jill can carry more items and unlock certain doors with a lock pick. Both characters can equip defensive weapons that can save them from taking damage when seized by an enemy. These defensive weapons include a dagger and a unique special weapon: Jill can use a taser, while Chris can shove stun grenades into zombies’ mouths and detonate them with a pistol shot. Defensive weapons are limited and can only be used when the player is grabbed by a monster.