Resident Evil Directors Cut Review

The version played for review: PS1, PS3 & PS Vita

Available on: PS1, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, 

The price I paid: ??

Other Notes: N/A

During Resident Evil 2's development, the project was scrapped and the game was restarted from scratch. This left a year delay. Capcom decided to tide hungry fans over with a remaster of the original game. For the most part, Directors Cut is just the classic first entry in the series but with minor improvements and new item layouts. If you were expecting new gameplay, items, graphics or enemies then you'll be disappointed.

The gameplay involves you exploring the iconic Spencer mansion and its grounds looking for keys and any clues to the recent attacks around Raccoon City. Little by little you will unlock more of the mansion and learn more about the mysterious Umbrella Corporation behind everything. The game relies on a fixed camera and prerendered backgrounds to create beautiful environments. Due to the fixed perspective control is managed via tank controls. Meaning pressing up will always move your character forward from their point-of-view. This and the addition of a lock-on feature makes controlling Chris and Jill feels like a dream. It sounds like a small feature but this lock-on really improves the feel of the entire experience.

While the original release only had 1 default difficulty the Directors Cut comes with 3. The names of these change between region but as I live in the UK I played the Pal version. You have Training which is the easiest mode. Your health is increased and ammo, ink ribbons, and healing items are made more plentiful. Along with the new lock-on, this makes you feel like an unstoppable killing machine. While a lot of the horror is lost here it's still fun every so often to just massacre the once deadly monsters. Then you have Standard which is just the default difficulty and layout from the original release. Lastly, you have Arrange, this moves items, enemies and even camera angles. This is for anyone who spent hours playing the original, unlocking all the secrets and learning the mansion like their own home. I've been playing this game since I was a kid and this mode still gives me a challenge. If you enjoy difficult games then this will be perfect for you.

The only major issue with this beautiful classic is the updated soundtrack when playing the Arrange mode. Some of this new music is awful. Not even awful in the same “so-bad-it's-good” way that the voice acting is. The new music is just horrible to hear.

Despite the terrible soundtrack on the Arrange mode, this is still the best way to play the original game on a PlayStation console. Both Training and Standard modes avoid the only real problem I have with the game. Lacking a quick turn takes some getting used to but it's not much of an issue seeing as the game is balanced for this. The voice acting and writing is terrible but I'd not change a thing about it. Hearing these cheesy lines delivered with a performance fit for a porno always makes me smile. Besides that this Directors Cut just offers a more polished and complete version of one of my all-time favorite games. Playing this on my Vita feels amazing even if I normally just go with the Standard layout.

Recommendation Rating: 8 out of 10