Resident Evil (series)

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Resident Evil
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Release date(s)	(Resident Evil) 1996, (Resident Evil 2) 1998, (Resident Evil 3) 1999, (Resident Evil Code: Veronica) 2000, (Resident Evil 0) 2002, (Resident Evil 4) 2005, (Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles) 2007, (Resident Evil 5) 2007
Genre(s)	Survival Horror
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC, GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii.

Resident Evil, known in Japan as Biohazard, is a survival-horror franchise that started life as a video game series developed by Capcom and created by Shinji Mikami. The series is credited with popularizing the survival horror game genre. This franchise has been heavily influenced by George A. Romero's Dead movies, as well as the Alone in the Dark series of PC horror games, early seminal examples of the genre.

The games have sold over 30 million copies as of February 2006.^[1] The success of this franchise has spawned several video games, a comic book series, novelizations, two Hollywood action films (two more have been announced), guides, collectibles, publications, and a variety of action figures. While the games mostly adhere to a consistent storyline, there are enough deviations from the plot within the films and novels to be considered alternate story lines, non-canonical.

Contents 1 Story 2 Games 2.1 Main series 2.2 Gun Survivor series 2.3 Outbreak series 2.4 Other titles 2.5 Abandoned titles 3 Films 4 Books 4.1 Game novelizations 4.2 Movie novelizations 4.3 Japanese novelizations 4.4 Graphic novels 4.5 Resident Evil Archives 5 Critical response 6 In other games 7 Parodies 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Story

The original Resident Evil revolves around a series of cannibalistic homicides that occur in the Arklay Mountains region, situated north of the fictional Raccoon City in 1998. The local police's Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (S.T.A.R.S.) are commissioned to investigate the sources of these murders. When Bravo Team, the initial team deployed to the area, fails to report back, Alpha Team goes on a rescue mission to find them; what they find are the mutilated bodies of some of the Bravo team, and a horde of freakish creatures. They are led to a seemingly abandoned mansion, where the team encounters zombies and other creatures, where they discover the rest of their comrades in the house. In the end, it is revealed that the house is actually a front for a top-secret laboratory owned by the international Umbrella Corporation, and that the creatures are the result of experiments with a genetically modified virus called the T-Virus. The mother virus from which the T-Virus was developed, was discovered by three men; Edward Ashford, James Marcus and Ozwell E. Spencer. Resident Evil 0 explores the cause of the viral outbreak and Bravo Team's ordeal prior to the events of the Mansion incident.

The following game, Resident Evil 2, takes place two months after the events of the original game in Raccoon City itself. With S.T.A.R.S. unable to convict Umbrella for their wrongdoings, the company continues their experiments within an underground facility. However, a botched attempt to steal a former scientist's (William Birkin) work results in the T-Virus being leaked into the city's sewers and Birkin being infected by the new G-Virus. The T-Virus is spread by rats and most of the city's population become zombies, leaving only a few survivors trying to find a way to escape the city alive. The third game, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, is set during the same time period as Resident Evil 2, and features a similar premise. Nemesis, a creature created by Umbrella, is sent into the remains of Racoon city to eliminate the remaining members of the S.T.A.R.S. unit. The game concludes its story by depicting the city's ultimate destruction by a nuclear warhead. The Resident Evil: Outbreak series depicts the attempts of normal civilians trying to escape the city.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica depicts the previous games' survivors attempt to expose the Umbrella corporation and sabotage their operations. Code: Veronica reveals the existence of a rival corporation, who employs Albert Wesker, the crooked leader of the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.S. team, also developing their own bio-weapons.

Set six years after the events of the previous games, Resident Evil 4 begins with the dissolution of Umbrella Corporation. The focus is on a religious cult known as Los Iluminados that uses a breed of ancient parasites known as Las Plagas (The Plagues) to turn victims into mind-controlled psychopaths known as "Ganados". The same Organization seen in Code: Veronica also plays a role in Resident Evil 4, by having two of their agents attempt to steal a master sample of the parasite for their disposal. The ending of the game can be taken in two ways, but the more believed ending is the ending for the Separate Ways side-story, when Ada sends Wesker a false sample of Las Plagas, although the Assignment Ada game mode shows otherwise.

[edit] Games

Resident Evil takes inspiration from the game Sweet Home,^[2] which was based on a Japanese horror movie, スイートホーム (Suiito houmu). Sweet Home was released only in Japan in 1989 for the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System). Resident Evil borrowed many elements from Sweet Home including the mansion setting, the puzzles, and even the "door" loading screen. While the initial game in the series was announced in both Asian and Western markets under the title Biohazard, Capcom's U.S. branch changed the title to Resident Evil a few months prior to release. While no official reason for the change has ever been divulged, it is said the reason for the change was due to trademark infringement (probably due to the name Biohazard being registered in the U.S. to the band Biohazard).

Some fans believe that the Western name also came from Sweet Home, as at one point in that game a character refers to the location as "This house of residing evil."

Most of the games in the series are played from a third-person perspective, viewing the characters from a generally overhead camera angle as they move through pre-rendered environments. Although Resident Evil was one of the first games to use this gameplay style on console systems, the technique was first pioneered on the PC by the Alone in the Dark series which is often cited as the first game in the survival horror genre. These static backgrounds have been a bone of contention for many players, although Code: Veronica, and more recently Resident Evil 4, have featured environments rendered in realtime.

Some of the games allow the player to choose from one of two main characters which will affect which parts of the story are revealed with additional secrets, mini-missions, weapons and endings unlocked after completing the game by both characters.

The Resident Evil series is controversial for the use of its graphic violence, gore and bloodshed which is seen throughout the entire game from start to finish. Each game is prefaced by a disclaimer warning that "This game contains scenes of explicit violence and gore". It should be noted that the game's violence, unlike other series, is almost exclusively against zombies and non-human mutants, and only twice has the player character fought and killed another human being (who, in general, are villains anyway). However, the player-controlled characters are human and their deaths are often graphic - especially in Resident Evil 4, where the main character can be decapitated, ripped in half, etc. The Game Over screens also add to this, with the words You Died or You Are Dead in a blood-splattered font. Resident Evil 2 adds screaming as well and in its deathscenes you can still see the monster that killed you.

Further controversy arose from Capcom's dealings with Nintendo to make the Resident Evil series exclusive for the GameCube,^[3] at least for the core story based titles, after many years of releasing the games for the PlayStation and porting them to other systems (more below).

[edit] Main series

As of 2006, there have been six games in the core series, with a seventh installment currently under development. This number excludes the numerous updated editions, ports and remakes of each title.

The first three games: (Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis) all debuted on the PlayStation. The original was ported to the Sega Saturn and more recently the Nintendo DS (Under the title "Resident Evil: Deadly Silence"), while both Resident Evil 2 (the only Nintendo 64 RE game) and Resident Evil 3 were released for the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube. All three games were ported to the PC. Some of these ports added exclusive content and features not found in the original releases. The series made its sixth generation debut with Resident Evil Code: Veronica for the Sega Dreamcast. Code: Veronica was later ported to the PlayStation 2 (and later GameCube) in the form of an updated version titled Resident Evil Code: Veronica X. The Dreamcast did also recieve this update, but the game (titled Biohazard: Code Veronica Complete) was only made available in Japan.

Afterwards, Resident Evil series' creator Shinji Mikami made the decision to target the Nintendo GameCube exclusively. This meant that Resident Evil 0 (a prequel to the original Resident Evil) and Resident Evil 4 were all GameCube exclusives although Capcom later ported Resident Evil 4 to the PlayStation 2 and a PC port is nearing completion.^[4]

The series is set to make its next-generation debut with Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. In contrast to the previous exclusivity agreement between Capcom and Nintendo, executive producer Keiji Inafune commented that Capcom wants the series to grow into a multi-platform franchise, and expects the two versions of the game to be released simultaneously.^[5] A new game tentatively titled "Biohazard Umbrella Chronicles" is also being planned exclusively for Nintendo's Wii, but little more is known about the title.^[6]

An enhanced portable port of the original Resident Evil (subtitled Deadly Silence) was released on the Nintendo DS to commemorate the series' tenth anniversary. It takes advantage of the Nintendo DS' unique touch-screen capabilities (and at one point makes use of the built-in microphone). Uses for the touch-screen include knife battle sequences, in which the player uses the touch screen to slice incoming enemies, and new or modified puzzles which make use of it. The microphone is used to help revive fallen friends by giving "mouth-to-mouth" by blowing into the microphone. Other features include a persistent map, with the player able to view their map, ammo and health status (based on the color of the background) at all times, and the knife is always equipped, a feature inspired by Resident Evil 4.

[edit] Gun Survivor series

The following are Resident Evil-related titles that were released as part of Capcom's Gun Survivor series in Japan. The gameplay in the Gun Survivor series is different from the main games in which the action takes place from a first-person perspective and player can use a light gun (Namco's GunCon) in addition to the controller (although, light gun support was removed from the North American release of Survivor). Note that the third Gun Survivor title (Dino Stalker) is not related to the Resident Evil series at all, being based on the Dino Crisis series instead.

While the Gun Survivor games are not part of the main series, the first game is considered canon to due to references to other games in the Resident Evil series. In the prologue to Resident Evil 0, the location of the first Gun Survivor, Sheena Island, is listed as the source of a T-Virus outbreak. Also, the first Gun Survivor contains a file in the movie theatre level written by Nicholai Ginovaef from Resident Evil 3.

Gun Survivor 2 is technically canon since it is only a dream sequence, but since its release was limited to Europe and Japan, and it makes no advances in the series' story, most people consider it non-canon.

One game in the Gun Survivor series that some fans consider not canon is Gun Survivor 4. Some fans argue that it contradicts Resident Evil 0 by saying that Morpheus Duvall (the villain of the game) released the T-Virus in Raccoon City rather than Dr. James Marcus (as stated in RE0). However files in the game make it clear that Morpheus was used as a scapegoat for the incident, so that his promising research could be taken over by more prominent members of Umbrella, such as William Birkin. Another, less explicable contradiction is that the game takes place 4 years after the Raccoon City incident, and Umbrella is still around. However, Resident Evil 4 makes it clear that Umbrella was shut down "shortly after" (Leon S. Kennedy's words in the RE4 prologue) Raccoon City was destroyed.

Flagship writer Noboru Sugimura (who wrote the scenarios for Resident Evil 2, Code: Veronica and 0), also wrote the Gun Survivor games. The titles are:

• Biohazard: Gun Survivor (Resident Evil: Survivor) (2000) — PlayStation, PC (Asia and the U.S.)
• Gun Survivor 2: Biohazard Code: Veronica (Resident Evil Survivor 2 - Code: Veronica) (2001) — Arcade, PlayStation 2 (Japan and PAL territories only)
• Gun Survivor 3: Dino Crisis (Dino Stalker) (2002) — PlayStation 2
• Gun Survivor 4: Biohazard — Heroes Never Die (Resident Evil: Dead Aim) (2003) — PlayStation 2

To date, all of the Gun Survivor games have launched with poor to mediocre reviews^[7] that became increasingly better with each installment. The series has achieved something of a cult status - somewhat respected for Capcom's attempt to do something new with both the series and light-gun games in general, but declared to have problematic, clumsy controls and typically inferior graphics.

[edit] Outbreak series

Despite their exclusivity agreement with Nintendo at the time, Capcom managed to release an online spinoff of the Resident Evil series titled Resident Evil Outbreak for the Sony PlayStation 2. Set during the Resident Evil 2 and 3 timeline, Outbreak allows players to experience the events of the T-Virus Outbreak in Raccoon City from the perspective of other characters. It was followed by a single sequel titled Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2.

Due to the interchangeable nature of the first two games, it is rumored that a third Outbreak might be in the works, as unused character models and data have been uncovered in the previous games through the use of character modifying cheat codes. However, no plans to continue the Outbreak series have been officially announced.

• Resident Evil Outbreak (2003)
• Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 (2004)

[edit] Other titles

In 2001, Capcom released a Game Boy Color game titled Resident Evil Gaiden. The game was not developed internally by any of Capcom's studios, but by British-based developer M4 Limited, although creator Shinji Mikami supervised the development of the game and Code: Veronica director Hiroki Kato wrote the story. The game featured an overhead view for exploration and a first-person view for battles. Set after the events of Code: Veronica, Gaiden featured Barry Burton and Leon S. Kennedy investigating a cruise ship (Starlight) infested with bio-organic weapons while working for an Anti-Umbrella organization. The game is generally considered non-canonical due to a cliffhanger ending, in which Leon becomes infected with an unknown disease. Though this disease was never explored in subsequent games, when Resident Evil 4 was initially in development, Gaiden provided an explanation as to why Leon, a protagonist in both games, would have been sick with an unknown disease in RE4 -- infection from a monster attack in Gaiden. When RE4 was released, however, the game concept had changed and Leon's illness was due to events within RE4, not Gaiden.

Capcom also released several mobile phone games in Japan based on the Biohazard series.

• Biohazard i Survivor (i-mode, 2001)
• Biohazard: Zombie Buster (i-mode/Vodafone/au-phone 2001)
• Biohazard: Zombie Shooter (i-mode/au-phone, 2001)
• Biohazard Assault: Nightmare (i-mode/Vodafone, 2002)
• Biohazard: The Missions (Vodafone, 2003)
• Biohazard: Confidential Report (Vodafone/au-phone, 2004)
• Biohazard: The Stories (i-mode, 2005)

[edit] Abandoned titles

Resident Evil 1.5 (Resident Evil 2 Prototype), PlayStation

Often referred to as Resident Evil 1.5, the first attempt at a sequel to the original Resident Evil, saw a PlayStation version apparently over 80% complete and just one month from launch date when Capcom abandoned the title.

The development team regrouped, starting development from scratch. The team borrowed characters from the first attempt, namely Leon S. Kennedy and Marvin Branagh (the dying police officer in the beginning of the game. Branagh was originally scripted to survive and aid Leon's escape along with Ada, but would die in the new version). Noticeably absent was Elza Walker who was featured in the prototype's heroine. She was replaced by the very similar Claire Redfield in the final version.

Supporting characters in the story included the Birkins (William, Annette and Sherry), Ada Wong (who was originally an official researcher), and Robert Kendo (the gun store owner, who played a major supporting role in Elza's scenario). Brian Irons, the police chief, also appeared in the prototype, but did not play the villainous role he did in the released version. The main setting was in a decidedly more modern police station instead of the more gothic precinct in the finished version. The prototype also featured sewers, prison and lab areas, with the latter being reused for the finished version. Creatures featured in the prototype included man-spiders, zombie apes, different zombie cops and a different version of the G-Virus creature.

The game was rumored to possess such features as grenades that can be thrown and equipable armor. There were also rumors of a graphical feature; blood splashes onto and stains the player-character's clothing when firing upon an enemy within a close range.

The game, however, lacked the zapping system where one character's scenario would overlap with the other. Instead, Leon's and Elza's scenarios were independent of each other (much like Chris' and Jill's in the original), with multiple endings depending on the survival of the partner characters.

Concept art for the game has since been released through various Biohazard-related sourcebooks and materials. In addition, gameplay footage of the game was featured in the Biohazard: Complete Disc bonus disc included with the Dual Shock version of Biohazard: Director's Cut in Japan. Petitions to have a playable version of the game released in some form or another have been unsuccessful so far.^[8]

Some artworks and media from the unreleased version were left in the Resident Evil 2 final release in the form of unused files.

Resident Evil 2, Sega Saturn
A Saturn version of Resident Evil 2 was announced while the first PlayStation attempt was in development. When the PlayStation version was abandoned, the Saturn version was also dropped, though it is unclear if development had even started.

Late in the Saturn's lifespan, Capcom re-announced Resident Evil 2 for the Saturn based on the new Resident Evil 2 that utilised their new 4MB cartridge. This too was cancelled, with the developers claiming they were unable to capture the quality of the PlayStation version.

Resident Evil 0, Nintendo 64

Resident Evil 0 started production on the Nintendo 64, and featured graphics close to Resident Evil 2 and 3 in appearance. The developers believed that the system's cartridge media would give the quick load times required for the game's character switching system.

Production shifted to the GameCube halfway during development, in order to compete with (or perhaps to supplement) the Shinji Mikami-directed remake of the original.^[9] The scenario and storyline in the released GameCube version remained largely unchanged, though Rebecca received a new outfit (she originally wore a white beret and shoulder pads, similar to Jill Valentine's original costume) and the graphics were significantly enhanced to take advantage of the GameCube's hardware. Several of the EX Files featured in the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2, namely Rebecca's Report and Mother Virus Report, alluded to the events of Resident Evil 0. Several of the later variations of the Nintendo 64 hardware's packaging featured screenshots of this version of Resident Evil 0 with a "Coming Soon" notation.

Resident Evil 4, GameCube & PlayStation 2
The game Devil May Cry was originally intended to be a Resident Evil sequel, but the game underwent several radical changes and was considered too much of a departure from the series. The original concept for the game starred a European police officer named Dante (whose name was given to the main character from the finished game) who teams up with a girl name Trish who sent a investigate a castle that has been infested with B.O.W.s. Many of the creatures in the finished Devil May Cry were originally planned to be monsters created by a new kind of virus.

Afterwards, Resident Evil 4 got its official start as a GameCube game. The GameCube version of Resident Evil 4 went through three different incarnations during development, each with a different premise, before Mikami decided to take directorial charge of the project and go on to deliver the released Resident Evil 4.

The first prototype of the game, known to the developers as the "Fog Version", featured Leon fighting what appeared to be a fog-like entity. This was to be the result of his infection with the Progenitor virus covered in the Resident Evil remake and in Resident Evil 0.

The second prototype, the "Hook Man version", featured Leon's fighting paranormal enemies, including dolls that had come to life, suits of armor (which appear in the final version), and the aforementioned "hook man" (a dark, blood-covered/severely wounded silhouette/humanoid that drags a chain and hook with him) [1]. Gameplay footage of this prototype was featured in the Biohazard 4 Secret DVD.

The third version (and final proposal before the released version) reportedly featured zombies as enemies again and would have depicted the events leading to Umbrella's shutdown, something only alluded to in the released version. This version was short-lived, rejected by the developers as too formulaic.^[10]

Resident Evil, Game Boy Color

A Game Boy Color port of the original PlayStation Resident Evil was announced around the same time as the Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 0, with new enemies and save features to be included.^[11] Though HotGen Studios, the developer of the port, was able to capture the original game's three-dimensional gameplay on the Game Boy Color's hardware through the use of picture compression routines, the project was cancelled.^[12] As both HotGen and Capcom felt that the game was of too poor quality to produce, a replacement title, Resident Evil Gaiden, was developed with the Game Boy Color's limits in mind.^[13]

[edit] Films

There are currently two Resident Evil films, with the third (shot in Mexico, is currently known as Resident Evil: Extinction) now in post production in Los Angeles. Like the first two installments, part three will be written by Paul W. S. Anderson. Though acclaimed horror film director George A. Romero was hired to write and direct the films, he was removed from the project in favor of Anderson.^[14] As Romero's script was a close, but not full, adaptation of the game, Capcom believed fans would feel that the movie had been altered too much from the game, and that newcomers would dislike the premise.^[15] However, the second movie was loosely based on Resident Evil 3 and still received somewhat better reviews.

The movies were mostly panned by critics^[16] and reaction from fans was mixed. Some praised the movie for bringing the series to a mainstream audience,^[17] while others criticized the fact that it was not a basic adaptation of the Resident Evil games. Many fans also noticed that the movies contain many plot elements that directly contradict those from the games, though the general consensus is that the games and the films take place in separate "universes." The fact is that the movie (like most game/film renditions) did not stay true to the game, the element they have in common is the name and zombies; some argue that there was too much action and not enough chills.

Before the release of the movies in America, a Japanese-made 3D movie was released in Japan called Biohazard 4D Executer. It is apparently based on the Resident Evil 3 storyline.

Despite the criticism, the films have been financially successful enough to encourage the approval of a tetralogy. Released films and films to be released are as follows:

• Resident Evil (2002)
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
• Untitled fourth film (TBA)

[edit] Books

The Resident Evil video game series has been adapted into a series of novels by writer S.D. Perry. Although the novels mostly follow the game's storyline faithfully, certain details and plot directions from the games are contradicted due to the fact that some of the novels were written before the release of sequels that expanded upon the previous games' storylines. In addition, S.D. Perry has also written two original Resident Evil novels set between the events of certain games.

[edit] Game novelizations

• Zero Hour - Novelization of Resident Evil 0. Written by S.D. Perry, 2004, ISBN 0-671-78511-7.
• The Umbrella Conspiracy - Novelization of the original Resident Evil. Written by S.D. Perry, 1998, ISBN 0-671-02439-6.
• Caliban Cove - An original novel, telling a story set on the fictional island of Caliban Cove. The novel follows Rebecca, in an attempt to stop a rogue scientist from spreading a modified version of the T-Virus, with a Maine branch of S.T.A.R.S. to help. Written by S.D. Perry, 1998, ISBN 0-671-02440-X.
• City Of The Dead - Novelization of Resident Evil 2. Written by S.D. Perry, 1999, ISBN 0-671-02441-8.
• Underworld - An original novel that sees Claire, Rebecca and Leon Kennedy attempt to take down Umbrella Corporation before their biological weapons are released. Surviving Maine S.T.A.R.S members return from Caliban Cove. 1999, ISBN 0-671-02442-6.
• Nemesis - Novelization of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Written by S.D. Perry, 2000, ISBN 0-671-178496-X.
• Code Veronica - Novelization of the original Resident Evil Code: Veronica. Written by S.D. Perry, 2001, ISBN 0-671-78498-6.

[edit] Movie novelizations

A second series of Resident Evil novels, based on the films, was written by writer Keith R.A. DeCandido.

• Resident Evil: Genesis - Novelization of the first Resident Evil movie. Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-9291-9.
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse - Novelization of the second movie, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the events of which are an alternate storyline in the Resident Evil 3: Nemesis timeframe borrowing some plot concepts. Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-9349-4.

In an interesting piece of contradiction, DeCandido's novelizations appear to imply that the events of Resident Evil: Genesis takes place between the Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 games, despite Paul W. S. Anderson's insistence that the events of the first movie precede the events of the first game. However, this is a moot point since the release of Resident Evil: Apocalypse proved that the movies are in an alternate timeline. Apocalypse is loaded with contradictions to the game Resident Evil 3 which has a very different story for what Jill, Carlos, Nicholai, and Nemesis were doing.

DeCandido has also been contracted to novelize Resident Evil: Extinction, which will come out alongside the movie, currently scheduled for fall 2007.

[edit] Japanese novelizations

In addition to the above novels, various Biohazard novels have been published in Japan, including translated versions of Perry's and DeCandido's novelizations. The following a list of original novels that has been released in Japan.

• Biohazard: The Beginning - An original novel, released as a portion of the book The True Story behind Biohazard, published by Capcom. The story serves as a prequel to the original game, in which Chris Redfield investigates the disappearance of his childhood friend, Billy Rabittson, an Umbrella employee. Written by Hiroyuki Aniga, 1997.
• Biohazard: The Beast of the North Sea (バイオハザード―北海の妖獣; Biohazard Hokkai no Yôjû) - Written by Kyu Asakura, 1998, ISBN 4-08-703067-9
• Biohazard: to the Liberty - Written by Suiren Kimura, 2002, ISBN 4-8402-2093-X
• Biohazard: Rose Blank - Written by Tadashi Aizawa, 2002, ISBN 4-8402-2080-8
• Biohazard - Japanese novelization of the first film unrelated to DeCandido's version. Written by Osamu Makino, 2002, ISBN 4-04-352204-5

[edit] Graphic novels

A series of Resident Evil: Code Veronica graphic novels was written by Lee Chung Hing, and was published by DC Comics.

• Book One, 2002, ISBN 1-56389-899-3
• Book Two, 2003, ISBN 1-56389-919-1
• Book Three, 2003, ISBN 1-56389-920-5
• Book Four, 2003, ISBN 1-56389-921-3

[edit] Resident Evil Archives

Resident Evil Archives is a large softcover book published by BradyGames. Inside, it describes and summarizes all of the key events that occur in Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and Resident Evil CODE: Veronica. Along with the main plot analysis, it also contains character relationship charts, artwork, item descriptions and file descriptions for all four games, and sketches.

[edit] Critical response

Despite heavy horror elements and a "mature" rating that limits a wide appeal, all the games in the main Resident Evil series have been released to positive reviews. Many of the games, notably Resident Evil 4, have been bestowed with multiple Game of the Year honors^[18] and frequently place on lists of the best games ever made.^[19]

A common criticism of the series is its odd, often random, placement of puzzles. When speaking of Code: Veronica, one critic wrote that the game is "is still largely a puzzle-driven (as opposed to plot driven) experience."^[20] Capcom has been commended, however, for making an attempt to phase out and better integrate the puzzles into the game, with IGN writing that the puzzles of Resident Evil 4 are "not so obscure that they can't be figured out, and indeed many of them are downright clever."^[21]

[edit] In other games

Due to Resident Evil's popularity, Capcom has incorporated references to the series and even actual crossovers with the characters in some of their other titles. Other companies, such as SNK Playmore and Namco, have also incorporated references to the series.

• Pocket Fighter (1997) - A super deformed fighting game starring Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters. In one of her combos, Chun Li is dressed as Jill Valentine in her S.T.A.R.S. outfit. Akuma's ending in the game also featured a scene in which he fights zombies dressed like those from the original Resident Evil.
• Trick'N Snowboarder (Tricky Sliders) (1999) - A snowboarding sports game for the Sony PlayStation, featuring Leon, Claire, and a zombie cop from Resident Evil 2 as unlockable characters.
• Dino Crisis (1999) - A survival horror (or "survival panic") game directed by Shinji Mikami, often considered to be a cousin to the Resident Evil series. Umbrella logos are visible on certain crates.
• SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (1999) - A card game-based video game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Card Fighters Clash featured various trading cards based on Capcom and SNK games, including characters cards of Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, a zombified police officer (simply called "Zombie") and an Action Card called "Escape", which pictured Sherry Birkin fleeing from her transformed father, William. Also, there is a place called RE Mansion in the SC Park, clearly themed after the mansion in which the first game happened, with a room packed with zombies, one living person (called Chris, but not related to the RE character himself) firing at them relentlessly, and a chest with a rare card inside (only accessible after you beat the game once - the credits will show that Chris managed to kill the zombie that blocked the way). After you defeat Mikami and Yuri there, a zombie will appear upstairs and you can play against him. The sequel (Card Fighters 2: Expand Edition) added Chris Redfield and the Nemesis to the roster, replacing the zombie cop with a more normal-looking zombie (like the one seen in the cover to the original Resident Evil game).
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (2000) - A popular fighting game that has been ported to several home consoles, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 featured an extensive roster of characters from both Marvel Comics and Capcom. Resident Evil's Jill Valentine was one such character, with special moves including the ability to summon zombies, swooping crows and rushing Cerberuses to cause damage. Of her three Super Combos, two of them were firing a series of rockets from the RE1 rocket launcher, and calling on a Tyrant to slash at the opponent.
• Under the Skin (2004) - One level in this sci-fi comedy PlayStation 2 game takes place in a comical parody of Raccoon City, and features several characters from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, including Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira, as well as the Nemesis itself.
• Namco x Capcom (2005) - A strategy RPG for the Sony PlayStation 2. Bruce McGivern and Fong Ling from Resident Evil: Dead Aim are featured, among other Capcom and Namco characters.
• Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble (2005)- A continuation of the Viewtiful Joe series of games on the Nintendo DS contains a level based on the Resident Evil series, featuring background music from the games, inspired enemies (a miniature Cerberus for example) and pictures of the series' characters in the background.
• Dead Rising (2006)- Another Capcom game involving zombies for the Xbox 360, though it is unrelated to the Resident Evil universe. This game contains several Resident Evil references. The most obvious of these is a sandwhich restaurant named Jill's Sandwhiches in reference to Barry's infamous words to Jill in the original version of Resident Evil.

[edit] Parodies

• In the Brown Evil episode of Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy, one of the characters can be seeing a game entitled, "President Evil". The concept of the game revolved around attacking undead versions of presidents.
• In the episode Art in the first series of Spaced, the character Tim spends most of the episode playing Resident Evil 2, describing it as "a subtle blend of lateral thinking and extreme violence." Later on in the episode, Tim begins hallucinating that events from the game are actually happening, directly quoting characters as he tries to escape zombies.
• In the game "GTA San Andreas" there is a building called "Zombotech- sinister zombie virus research labs" which is a parody of the Umbrella Corporation.
• A sketch on the show Robot Chicken depicts Mario and Luigi in a scenario similar to the Grand Theft Auto games, followed by a short skit where Yoshi visits Raccoon City and is quickly eaten by zombies.

[edit] See also

• Sweet Home - a game that Resident Evil borrowed many elements from. It was released only in Japan in 1989 for the Famicom (NES)
• Devil May Cry - a game that was originally planned to be Resident Evil 4
• Dead Rising - another Capcom game about zombies, though unrelated to Resident Evil.
• Genetic engineering in fiction
• House of the Dead

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Resident Evil Website
• Official Biohazard Website
• Wikia has a wiki about: Resident Evil

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