ZOMBIES ON THE BOUNTY
I used to be a big fan of Capcom's survival horror series,
but now I have been pretty turned off to the games. They basically are
the same exact thing over and over, and I'm not just talking gameplay.
Let's see, shall we?
RE 1: An accident at the Arkley Laboratory turns everyone into zombies.
RE 2: Umbrella assault team tries to grab G-Virus, gets killed, spills virus turning everyone in Raccoon City into zombies.
RE 3: RE 2 from Jill's view, so that one gets off easy.
RECV: Umbrella lab gets attacked, releasing the virus and turning everyone into zombies. But it goes one step further and has the survivors escape to another lab where they bring in the virus with them and turn everyone into zombies.
RE Survivor: Madman releases virus onto city, turning everyone into zombies.
RE Gaiden: BOW escapes on cruise ship, bringing the virus with it, which turns everyone into zombies.
RE 0: Haven't played it, but it takes place right before the first one.
RE Outbreak: Raccoon City AGAIN, from yet more people's views.
All the Resident Evil games that tried something different ended up in disaster. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the flop that was Resident Evil Survivor, the predecessor of this game. Resident Evil Gaiden was an attempt to create something of an experience on Game Boy Color. Aside from not being in the least bit scary, it also suffered from some idiotic dialog.
(RE Gaiden Spoilers)
Leon sees Barry talking to someone on the radio about turning over Lucia, some girl who they meet during the game. Naturally, this seems suspicious...
RE 1: An accident at the Arkley Laboratory turns everyone into zombies.
RE 2: Umbrella assault team tries to grab G-Virus, gets killed, spills virus turning everyone in Raccoon City into zombies.
RE 3: RE 2 from Jill's view, so that one gets off easy.
RECV: Umbrella lab gets attacked, releasing the virus and turning everyone into zombies. But it goes one step further and has the survivors escape to another lab where they bring in the virus with them and turn everyone into zombies.
RE Survivor: Madman releases virus onto city, turning everyone into zombies.
RE Gaiden: BOW escapes on cruise ship, bringing the virus with it, which turns everyone into zombies.
RE 0: Haven't played it, but it takes place right before the first one.
RE Outbreak: Raccoon City AGAIN, from yet more people's views.
All the Resident Evil games that tried something different ended up in disaster. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the flop that was Resident Evil Survivor, the predecessor of this game. Resident Evil Gaiden was an attempt to create something of an experience on Game Boy Color. Aside from not being in the least bit scary, it also suffered from some idiotic dialog.
(RE Gaiden Spoilers)
Leon sees Barry talking to someone on the radio about turning over Lucia, some girl who they meet during the game. Naturally, this seems suspicious...
"It sounds like he's trying to sell us out to Umbrella."
"But he's your partner..."
"I guess I owe him the benefit of the doubt. I'll
have to ask him about it later."
Oh, that's a fucking brilliant idea! What does he expect?
"Barry, are you planning on betraying us?"
(sigh) "Yes I am; you got me there."
Later, you encounter several Umbrella troops armed with
rifles when you approach their sub. They tell you to "Stay back!"
"Are you going to shoot me?"
No Leon, they're not going to shoot you. They're going
to do a twenty gun salute and take you to Disneyland in their yellow submarine.
There, you will meet Daryl F. Gates, who will award you with the Medal
Of Valor.
Resident Evil 4 is looking mighty stupid as well. No zombies!?! Well, actually, we now have townsfolk who shamble about drunkenly and try to kill you. Basically the same thing. Apparently, the story follows Leon again. He's been assigned to protect the president's daughter, and has to go to South America to save her. Now when did Leon suddenly become her bodyguard?
Resident Evil 4 is looking mighty stupid as well. No zombies!?! Well, actually, we now have townsfolk who shamble about drunkenly and try to kill you. Basically the same thing. Apparently, the story follows Leon again. He's been assigned to protect the president's daughter, and has to go to South America to save her. Now when did Leon suddenly become her bodyguard?
" It says here that you escaped from a city full
of zombies and other monsters?"
"Yes, I did."
"You don't say..."
"Well, the city was eradicated, so I don't have
any proof."
"Perfect! Forget the Secret Service, I'm assigning
YOU to protect my daughter!"
But that's all for another day. I wasn't too excited
about getting this game. However, my brother bought me this game as a
birthday or Christmas present, though I can't be certain which since he
didn't send me either until fucking February. Lazy ass.
Anyhow, the first thing I noticed was the cover art.
Anyhow, the first thing I noticed was the cover art.
Come on, just look at the guy. I'm at a loss for words,
but my brother said something about him "kinda looking like a major
tool." So I read the back of the box. The plot had something to do
with the T or G Virus on board some luxury cruiser. Basically, like RE
Gaiden. So much for first impressions.
Then I start the game, and some quote appears by some dude named Morpheus who "must create a kingdom where beauty rules" or some stupid shit like that. Okay, typical qoute-on-the-front-of-a-novel type thing, but this Morpheus guy is in fact one of the characters in this game. Using a quote from your own game? You're just getting lazy.
About the next thing you notice is that the subtitles NEVER match up with the spoken dialog. Specifically, at one point the main character comments "Feisty", while the subtitles say "Ouch." Another time the bad dude says "You're not getting away", and the subtitles read simply, "Bastard!"
Then the game begins and you encounter... the controls! Some may remember that the previous Survivor was supposed to have Guncon support, but that was dropped for the American Release. Here, the Guncon2 is compatible. What could possibly be better? Well, maybe some method of control that doesn't suck. Using the controller is a cinch, but not using the gun is lame. On the other hand, using the gun's controller is a horrible experience. After an hour, I still couldn't make my guy walk in a straight line. Fortunately, you can use both, and I recommend this: Use the controller for the most part, with the gun placed in your lap or nearby so that when enemies appear, you whip it out. By the end of the game, I could use the controller with my left hand for movement and the gun with my right for blasting simultaneously (well, not quite since you can't shoot and move at the same time.) So actually, the control ain't bad.One little quibble I have is that the pull-out-your-gun-in-a-ready-stance is the same button as the search button. So just about every time I search something, Bruce has to 'get ready', which can get pretty annoying.
But then you get into the gunfights, which prove to be pretty fun for the most part. Actually being able to shoot zombies in the head (why couldn't the other characters grasp this important concept?) is pretty nice. When you shoot zombies in the head just right, they go flying across the room in an unrealistic but hilarious fashion. However, combat with some other bad guys (like those damn green jumping things; no, NOT the Hunters) can be downright annoying.
Outside of the gunfights, you will find files with often superficial (even for the later RE game, but then again, do I really give a shit about the receptionist who gets yelled at for touching a painting?) messages laying around, various items, and some puzzles which involve collecting an item to use at some specific place. In other words, the puzzles are nonexistent. As for item management, you have unlimited space to carry anything you may find, except for ammo. You may only carry 6 different ammo items, and you can't combine them to take up less space like previous titles. For example, you can only carry 3 units of 'Shotgun Bullets' (note to Capcom: Actually, they're called shells, not bullets, damn it!) 2 units of Magnum bullets, and 1 unit of grenades. At the end of the game, the handgun will be completely useless as you probably won't make room for its ammo over magnum ammo.
The game was pretty average on the overall quality section. Graphics are sufficient, although the FMVs are a bit blurry. Sound was also pretty average. WAY better voice acting than the first Survivor (Vincent, this is your MOTHER!) Those voiceovers were as painful as a rusty nail in the eye (although I don't think that actually hurts; just use your freaking imagination.)
Aside from that, I enjoyed the game while it lasted, which granted wasn't that long. However, there was one utterly stupid part which pissed me off. After making first contact with the tyrant, your weapons are useless and you must run. OK, fine. But to escape, you need to use a crowbar to open several crates to find a keycard while the monster is attacking you. So you are running around this room, prying open crates until you find the keycard, all while a tryant is intent on punching a hole in your stomach. As if!
Although this game is Guncon2 compatible, I'm not planning on giving it a section here since it is a hybrid of 2 different genres. Then again, this just might be the evolution of the genre. If this is the future of shoot em' ups, then I'll cover it. Until then, this is all you get.
Then I start the game, and some quote appears by some dude named Morpheus who "must create a kingdom where beauty rules" or some stupid shit like that. Okay, typical qoute-on-the-front-of-a-novel type thing, but this Morpheus guy is in fact one of the characters in this game. Using a quote from your own game? You're just getting lazy.
About the next thing you notice is that the subtitles NEVER match up with the spoken dialog. Specifically, at one point the main character comments "Feisty", while the subtitles say "Ouch." Another time the bad dude says "You're not getting away", and the subtitles read simply, "Bastard!"
Then the game begins and you encounter... the controls! Some may remember that the previous Survivor was supposed to have Guncon support, but that was dropped for the American Release. Here, the Guncon2 is compatible. What could possibly be better? Well, maybe some method of control that doesn't suck. Using the controller is a cinch, but not using the gun is lame. On the other hand, using the gun's controller is a horrible experience. After an hour, I still couldn't make my guy walk in a straight line. Fortunately, you can use both, and I recommend this: Use the controller for the most part, with the gun placed in your lap or nearby so that when enemies appear, you whip it out. By the end of the game, I could use the controller with my left hand for movement and the gun with my right for blasting simultaneously (well, not quite since you can't shoot and move at the same time.) So actually, the control ain't bad.One little quibble I have is that the pull-out-your-gun-in-a-ready-stance is the same button as the search button. So just about every time I search something, Bruce has to 'get ready', which can get pretty annoying.
But then you get into the gunfights, which prove to be pretty fun for the most part. Actually being able to shoot zombies in the head (why couldn't the other characters grasp this important concept?) is pretty nice. When you shoot zombies in the head just right, they go flying across the room in an unrealistic but hilarious fashion. However, combat with some other bad guys (like those damn green jumping things; no, NOT the Hunters) can be downright annoying.
Outside of the gunfights, you will find files with often superficial (even for the later RE game, but then again, do I really give a shit about the receptionist who gets yelled at for touching a painting?) messages laying around, various items, and some puzzles which involve collecting an item to use at some specific place. In other words, the puzzles are nonexistent. As for item management, you have unlimited space to carry anything you may find, except for ammo. You may only carry 6 different ammo items, and you can't combine them to take up less space like previous titles. For example, you can only carry 3 units of 'Shotgun Bullets' (note to Capcom: Actually, they're called shells, not bullets, damn it!) 2 units of Magnum bullets, and 1 unit of grenades. At the end of the game, the handgun will be completely useless as you probably won't make room for its ammo over magnum ammo.
The game was pretty average on the overall quality section. Graphics are sufficient, although the FMVs are a bit blurry. Sound was also pretty average. WAY better voice acting than the first Survivor (Vincent, this is your MOTHER!) Those voiceovers were as painful as a rusty nail in the eye (although I don't think that actually hurts; just use your freaking imagination.)
Aside from that, I enjoyed the game while it lasted, which granted wasn't that long. However, there was one utterly stupid part which pissed me off. After making first contact with the tyrant, your weapons are useless and you must run. OK, fine. But to escape, you need to use a crowbar to open several crates to find a keycard while the monster is attacking you. So you are running around this room, prying open crates until you find the keycard, all while a tryant is intent on punching a hole in your stomach. As if!
Although this game is Guncon2 compatible, I'm not planning on giving it a section here since it is a hybrid of 2 different genres. Then again, this just might be the evolution of the genre. If this is the future of shoot em' ups, then I'll cover it. Until then, this is all you get.