Resident Evil: Deadly Silence Review

We all have moments in everyday life where we do something out of
our normal routine where you say to yourself “wait a minute, I’ve done
this or been here before.” In video game terms, there’s probably no
better example (outside of simple games like Tetris or Pac-Man) for
deja vu than Resident Evil. For some reason I feel like I’ve been to
this mansion before. Oh yeah, besides being on the Nintendo DS now,
this original Resident Evil was also on the original PlayStation and a
remake on the Nintendo GameCube.

As most of you remember, Resident Evil on PlayStation wasn’t very
groundbreaking. It barely caused a ripple when it launched. It wasn’t
until Resident Evil 2, with its far superior graphics and catchy
cut-scenes that the series became prominent. Resident Evil may very
well be remembered best for its amateur video opening scene. It
screamed low-budget 1980’s horror flick That’s about the budget Capcom
put into Resident Evil DS.

No matter how we may feel about our first encounter with the
mansion, Capcom took a keen interest in it, apparently. Launching on
the GameCube in May 2002 (just a month before Nintendo’s prolific
earth-shattering Eternal Darkness), Resident Evil would be the first
of six GCN Resident Evils; 2 original, 3 ports and one REmake. The
REmake got instant acclaim, including from this site, for its visceral
gameplay, heart-stopping spookiness, splendid graphics and
sophisticated zombies called “Crimson Heads” that would chase you
down.

With that sort of pretext to a game, you would likely think that
another REmake would be foolishly unnecessary (you’d be right),
and that if they absolutely had to, they’d at least base it off of the
GameCube version. Unfortunately for us, they didn’t take our advice on
either, option to not just remake Resident Evil again, but also to
base it off of the PlayStation version. You can see where all of this
is leading…

One thing that the GameCube version didn’t fix (but did improve)
was the controls. Guess what? You’re using a d-pad now, so I hope you
like robotic movement of the mid-90’s kind. Really, I thought we were
passed this crap, with Resident Evil 4 setting a precedent for future
Resident Evil releases, but Capcom is regressing back to the system
that we love to loathe, not to mention the return of an inventory
system (remember the magical inventory boxes?) and yes, ink ribbons.

What does the DS version have going for it? Well, not much, but it
does use both screens, plus the touch-screen, though it doesn’t use
either of them particularly well. The map is present on one screen,
while gameplay on another. You’ve got some touch-screen functionality,
including slicing zombies, but this acts as a gimmick that reviewers
railed the DS for in its infancy. With genuinely useful touch-screen
mechanics being displayed in Kirby Canvas Curse and Metroid Prime:
Hunters, Resident Evil DS could have made the touch-screen its major
distinction, but it’s more disappointing than distinguishable.

If you’ve not yet visited the mansion and do not own a Nintendo
GameCube, this portable offering on the Nintendo DS may be worth your
time. There’s such little value here for diehards that this game is
almost an insult, especially in the wake of Resident Evil 4’s
greatness. Coming from the Resident Evil fan that I am though, I
wanted out of this mansion faster than Chris and Jill.