EDIT: With Capcom's move to add DRM to their old games, they have proven a will to ruin their old stuff, which I can not support. When the DRM (Enigma Protector) is triggering antiviruss all over the place because of it's relation to straight up MALWARE, I am calling it. Consider this game and any other Capcom game broken (0/10) until further notice.
Sadly it has happened again. During one of my stints with the 100 Days of Gaming for Extra Life, I found a demo for this game on my WiiU. Curious how a modern Resident Evil game plays, I gave it a go... and found myself really enjoying the small taste. But since I had to play with a controller and the game used the camera controls to aim, I knew I would want to play this on PC where that camera would be mouse-controlled. Today, we finished with this game... and I find myself sorely disappointed. Once again we have a game where the demo seemed interesting and even a bit fun, but when it came time to play the full game, something somehow went really wrong.
Jill Valentine and Parker Luciani touch down on the Queen Zenobia, a luxury cruise ship now abandoned and adrift. According to the information from HQ, Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat had gone missing with this ship being their last known location. But the ship is not quite as abandoned as they think as many monsters that were once human still lurk aboard. Nor will this remain a simple rescue mission, as the ship holds many secrets, including a bio-terrorist organization thought dead a year ago setting up shop within!
And that story is going to try to be the connecting force of the entire game. You see, unlike most games, this one does not just flow along, but was written in 12 episodes to behave like a season of your favorite TV show, complete with "Previously, on" recaps at the beginning of each one. In this way, you will be pulled deeper and deeper into a few conspiracies revolving around a mutagenic virus that, if released into the ocean, would ruin the world and leave mankind in dire straights. But this format allows the game to jump around between ultimately four teams of two characters, weaving together to form a complete picture that will turn a lot of assumptions on their head. It's just a shame that total picture seems rather weak despite this. To give you an example, I have to give you a spoiler warning, however, so here it is. Skip to the following normal format text to avoid it.
In essence, dodging is done hitting either "W" or "Space" with the right timing. The problem is there is a good chance you will be hitting W already because the game uses WASD movement control (of which W is "go forward") so you will likely have to resort to trying with the "Space" button. And since "Space" is that "180 degree turn" button I mentioned before, the price of failure is to turn around and "walk fast" away from said monster. (And yes, that needs to be noted as most characters you play saunter rather then run... a few casually jog.) At this point you've given the beast a free shot at your back and there is nothing you can do about it. You literally have to know the timing for each monster which can only be learned by trial and error, so you can expect this to happen a lot, rendering the move effectively useless. And while that is obnoxious, Episode 2 introduces it by requiring you not only to do it, but to do so in a specific direction and location to proceed. Once again, spoilers below:
Nor are bad control choices the end of this game's issues. In the early game, there are some animations that just seem wrong, making for a rather awkward first impression. Specifically, before you see any creatures you will see "something" knocking around the ventilation system as it flies through it and giant rats that chewed up a circuit board (never to show up again). However, the sections of the ventilation all move independently letting you see directly through the next section of empty space, ruining the effect. And the rats barely move as they run, just looking kinda hysterical, actually. I could give it the benefit of the doubt considering this game was made for a tiny 3DS screen before all else, but this release of the game is touted as being an HD version making such lack of care point out even more to how lazily slapped together this port is.
But even a lazy port can still hide a good game underneath, so is there a chance this is the case for this game? No, not at all. This game will offer you a handful of locations that cover almost all of the events in the 12 episodes that make up the adventure. And with the exception of that boat where most of Jill's campaign occurs, the others are all small, linear, and used repeatedly. It just feels incredibly uninspired, but don't worry, the game will drop you in rooms with multiple copies of the exact same monster you have to kill to proceed for variety. But are they at least unique to those locations? Nope, outside the boat, there are literally four monster types they will throw at you... for the entire game. And even those are not so unique as two of them are just variant forms of other monsters in the same damn maps!
Nor are boss encounters going to save this game. There are too few (five in total) and the outside of being bullet sponges, the first three are fairly bland... enough so that you will see the first two show up repeatedly as normal monsters after you defeat them. But bad design follows this too and taints the end of the game with the final boss fight. Once again, spoilers to follow:
Bugs: There was one lighting bug in the last episode of the game, where for some reason all lighting effects disappeared when returning down a swimming a rusted tunnel turning it a ghastly bloody red for a moment. But other then that, this game ran perfect.
Overall: A bad port does not always mean a bad game. You can ask PC fans of Dark Souls to confirm this. But in this case, the game behind the bad choices is still only "ok" at best with several really bad moments sprinkled in. You are probably better served to skip this one for something better.
Score:
5/10
System Requirements:
Jill Valentine and Parker Luciani touch down on the Queen Zenobia, a luxury cruise ship now abandoned and adrift. According to the information from HQ, Chris Redfield and Jessica Sherawat had gone missing with this ship being their last known location. But the ship is not quite as abandoned as they think as many monsters that were once human still lurk aboard. Nor will this remain a simple rescue mission, as the ship holds many secrets, including a bio-terrorist organization thought dead a year ago setting up shop within!
And that story is going to try to be the connecting force of the entire game. You see, unlike most games, this one does not just flow along, but was written in 12 episodes to behave like a season of your favorite TV show, complete with "Previously, on" recaps at the beginning of each one. In this way, you will be pulled deeper and deeper into a few conspiracies revolving around a mutagenic virus that, if released into the ocean, would ruin the world and leave mankind in dire straights. But this format allows the game to jump around between ultimately four teams of two characters, weaving together to form a complete picture that will turn a lot of assumptions on their head. It's just a shame that total picture seems rather weak despite this. To give you an example, I have to give you a spoiler warning, however, so here it is. Skip to the following normal format text to avoid it.
While they have a base on land and facilities and even a member remaining on the Queen Zenobia, there is no actual return of the terrorists. Literally the entire game is a staged trap to prove someone who ended the major bio-terrorism attack a year ago also staged the attack to prove people need to be protected from such things and rise through the ranks accordingly. That's right, this entire game is basically a giant trap none of the team-members were told about by their own organization to capture someone else in the upper ranks of a rival one. Lame right? Yeah, I thought so, too.But the story is hardly the only weak link in this game, and it hints at the biggest problem with the low-resolution company credit screens before you even get to the title. This is a game that just screams "lazy port." From loading screens before and after literally every pre-rendered cut-scene to starting with the infamously terrible "mouse acceleration" functions on to even buttons that have no business existing in a mouse-controlled game like "180 degree turning" being mapped to your keyboard, this game just screams "we made it for consoles, might as well do the minimal job to make it run in PC as well." This is the kind of hatchet job that turned the PC gaming masses against games being made for console in the first place, and it will never let you forget it. But the absolute worst control issue in this game is how it handles "dodging." Yes, it is so bad, it has to be put into quotes.
In essence, dodging is done hitting either "W" or "Space" with the right timing. The problem is there is a good chance you will be hitting W already because the game uses WASD movement control (of which W is "go forward") so you will likely have to resort to trying with the "Space" button. And since "Space" is that "180 degree turn" button I mentioned before, the price of failure is to turn around and "walk fast" away from said monster. (And yes, that needs to be noted as most characters you play saunter rather then run... a few casually jog.) At this point you've given the beast a free shot at your back and there is nothing you can do about it. You literally have to know the timing for each monster which can only be learned by trial and error, so you can expect this to happen a lot, rendering the move effectively useless. And while that is obnoxious, Episode 2 introduces it by requiring you not only to do it, but to do so in a specific direction and location to proceed. Once again, spoilers below:
In the second half of Episode 2, Jill finds herself captured and locked into one of the rooms aboard the Queen Zenobia. She has been stripped of all her weapons and the only door out is controlled with a security panel that needs to be rewired. You will find a screwdriver somewhere in the room, but that's when the shit hits the fan as one of the monsters stumbles out of the wardrobe in the room (an almost literal monster closet). At this time, the game tells you how dodges work, which you will now be required to do on this monster to proceed, but that is simply not enough. You need to dodge the monster nearby the TV in a direction that will shove it's head through it so Jill will have time to unscrew the panel and rewire it to escape.This section of the game just exacerbates the control issue by introducing something you need to learn by not only making it required, but making it required with precision to aim the results. It is a hellish choice in design and is likely where a number of players just stopped playing.
Nor are bad control choices the end of this game's issues. In the early game, there are some animations that just seem wrong, making for a rather awkward first impression. Specifically, before you see any creatures you will see "something" knocking around the ventilation system as it flies through it and giant rats that chewed up a circuit board (never to show up again). However, the sections of the ventilation all move independently letting you see directly through the next section of empty space, ruining the effect. And the rats barely move as they run, just looking kinda hysterical, actually. I could give it the benefit of the doubt considering this game was made for a tiny 3DS screen before all else, but this release of the game is touted as being an HD version making such lack of care point out even more to how lazily slapped together this port is.
But even a lazy port can still hide a good game underneath, so is there a chance this is the case for this game? No, not at all. This game will offer you a handful of locations that cover almost all of the events in the 12 episodes that make up the adventure. And with the exception of that boat where most of Jill's campaign occurs, the others are all small, linear, and used repeatedly. It just feels incredibly uninspired, but don't worry, the game will drop you in rooms with multiple copies of the exact same monster you have to kill to proceed for variety. But are they at least unique to those locations? Nope, outside the boat, there are literally four monster types they will throw at you... for the entire game. And even those are not so unique as two of them are just variant forms of other monsters in the same damn maps!
Nor are boss encounters going to save this game. There are too few (five in total) and the outside of being bullet sponges, the first three are fairly bland... enough so that you will see the first two show up repeatedly as normal monsters after you defeat them. But bad design follows this too and taints the end of the game with the final boss fight. Once again, spoilers to follow:
When the fight starts, the monster will walk slowly towards you, until his face flashes and he disappears. When he appears again, he will wind up and take a swing at you, but his chest has opened up, exposing his heart. At this point, you need to shoot the heart till he staggers and backs off. The technique will vary, but this will be the base to anything the boss does. The problem is that he's designed to appear facing you, but sometimes he isnt. He still turns fast enough to hit you, but if his chest is not in view to shoot, he just got a free shot on you.Suffice it the say, this game just fails on so many levels.
Bugs: There was one lighting bug in the last episode of the game, where for some reason all lighting effects disappeared when returning down a swimming a rusted tunnel turning it a ghastly bloody red for a moment. But other then that, this game ran perfect.
Overall: A bad port does not always mean a bad game. You can ask PC fans of Dark Souls to confirm this. But in this case, the game behind the bad choices is still only "ok" at best with several really bad moments sprinkled in. You are probably better served to skip this one for something better.
Score:
5/10
System Requirements:
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz/AMD Athalon 2X 2.8 Ghz
- 2 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS/ATi Radeon HD3850
- Windows XP
- 8GB hard drive space
- Broadband Internet connection
- Ryzen 7 (2700) 3.2 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 1660 (6GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64 Bit)
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