Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (NDS) > Reviews > A stab at the dark? Nope the same as ever

Author's product rating:   

Playability & Enjoyment	Excellent - very playable game
Addictiveness	Compulsive
Graphics	Very poor - a rush job / no graphics at all
Difficulty & Complexity	A difficult game - needs a lot of patience
Value for money	Satisfactory - it’s a reasonable game

Advantages:	Handheld horror !  highly addictive
Disadvantages:	Dubious Graphics, Gimmicky add ons, Not very scary

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Resident evil is a long running franchise based around survival horror and first found its footing on the PS1 over 10 years ago where it astounded audiences with its fantastic graphics, gripping game play and action packed terror. Never before had grown men been so scared of playing a game alone in a dark room as they had with the game. Many more games were introduced through the years and Resident Evil 1 was remade on the Game cube in wonderful high res glory, allbiet exactly the same game...

So Resident Evil Deadly Silence comes along and I was expecting another stunning performance akin to Resident Evil 4, but to my dismay i see back from he dead comes a third remake of Resident Evil 1, exactly the same story, exactly the same character and exactly the same gameplay. I couldnt believe the nerve of Capcom for releasing this game AGAIN! Any who i decided to give it a trundle through as i was hopelessly addicted to the original, and yes damit i played through the whole game and completed it in one sitting with admiration of what is still a genuinely fine game.

You play as Chris or Jill (two mebers of STARS - an elite fighting team of police officers) who have the unfortunate job of going in to an abandoned mansion to try and find their missing team mates who mysteriously went missing in the woods. The story line is completely gripping (if you havent seen it that is) and the whole game feels believable.

Even though this game is so old and basically the same as ever there is nothing quite like meeting your first zombie as you frantically offload round after round in to the cadavours head, and see him slump to the floor; only to find him lurching back up at you to knaw on your knee caps! These kind of monents in Resi are constantly adrenaline packed and really are unique to the series. Rival series like Silent Hill have never quite been able to achieve the same thrill factor.

The developers have made a few new features like the ability to get up close and personal with Zombies and use the D.S' stylus to slash at the enemies faces which is fun the first time but sadly you can only use it at predfeined times, and if you dont want to use the tiny little blade against that massive old Mutant Lizzard then TOUGH!

They have also added some new puzzles to help fill the game out but an experienced gamer could could complete in under 4 hours quite easilly. The Gore level has also been upped (which is an achievement considering how bloody these games are any way) and there is way too much satisfaction from blowing away the top half of an enemies skull whill leaviong the brains on display. Nasty!

However the D.S doesnt really seem suited to this game. The tiny screen drains out alot of the fear because you simply cant see what is going on, especially as the main colour pallet of the game is grey brown and black. Likewise playing on the move is pointless becasue this game requires you to get totally involved. Another dissapointment is the sound which is grainy at best and certainly not as good as surround sound was in the past...

Which leads me to the graphics, which are ugly, ugly as sin sometimes. Horribly red squares of blood and blocky characters combined with a choppy frame rate make this more of a Pollock rather than Picasso. The controls are also fiddly requiring you to move turn anb angle and then move again meaning you will frequently find yourself stuck behing a chair or the like.

The cut scenes are cheesy with terrible voice acting and when you change rooms you get a door opening animation which you cant skip ARG!

I found my self dissapointed by the lack of difference to the past versions and the gimmicky knife scenes are only for shopw rather than a usefull set piece. Veterans of Resi probably wont find much to enjoy about this but if you have not played Resi1 before then i suggest you get this copy imediately and I am sure you will find many happy hours ahead of you - just remember to bring a fresh set of underwear!

Overall Id give this game 70% because it doesnt seem fully inspired and theres nothing really new here but what the heck it is still resident evil and that should surely be enough!