Game Review: Resident Evil: Survivor (PS1)

Marking a major departure from the Resident Evil style of gameplay, Survivor plays out in the first-person perspective & was compatible with Namco’s light gun. It was one of the first light gun games to be off the rails, an impressive feat.

There was very little impressive about the rest of the game…

Taking place after the events of Resident Evil 2 & 3 on a small island controlled completely by Umbrella, Sheena Island. A helicopter crashes on the outskirts of the island with the pilot surviving. Crawling from the wreckage he is attacked by zombies & once fighting them realises he has no memory of who he is or the events that took place leading up to the crash.

Playing as the amnesia victim you have to fight your way through another outbreak to try & regain your memory. Along the way you will meet a few characters that claim to know who you are & even accuse you of being involved in the outbreak somehow.

Sheena Island is filled to the brim with all manner of Resident Evil monsters also using the character models from RE2 so they are instantly recognisable. The Hunters from the first game also make a return as do a few new baddies…we have the Umbrella Trash Sweeper Unit who are soldiers & a new version of a Tyrant that can transform into different forms.

The enemy types really standout in comparison to the dull & ugly backgrounds. Grey is the common colour scheme throughout & everything looks horribly blocky & jagged (a PS staple admittedly).

Movement without a light gun is done like all standard FPS games & is the far simpler way to play. Naturally moving with the light gun is a far more frustrating experience & involves shooting off screen to move, side buttons to turn & shooting away at screen. I’m a firm believer that light gun games should always be on the rail shooters.

In possibly the worst move of any first-person shooter Resident Evil: Survivor gives you infinite ammo in your handguns of which there are a few variations. Other weapons do exist but are worth saving for tougher enemies & bosses. You can easily make your way through most of the game just using pistols safe in the knowledge that you’ll never run out of ammo.

Survivor is just far too easy & far too short to be anything more than an average game. Even branching paths don’t offer much in the way of replay-ability.

An incredibly disappointing attempt at a first-person shooter set within the Resident Evil universe. Bleak & bland backgrounds with an ok story won’t do much to excite & the ease of gameplay & length will do even less.