Like all good things, it has to start somewhere and with the Resident Evil series for me - it was Resident Evil 2. After falling in love with the Romero-esque world that Capcom created, I decided a trip to the Spencer mansion was in order and bought myself a copy of Resident Evil: Director's Cut for the PS1.
To be honest, if I had originally played this one first as the series intends, I might not have gotten so into the genre at all. RE2 had great action pacing, elements of horror, a complex storyline full of betrayal and friendship and a wonderful soundtrack. In comparison RE: Director's Cut was slow with few enemies and the story and music was equally minimalist by comparison.
It was a sure fire case of my expectations leading the way and even once I reached the end I thought "That's it?"
It was only on replaying it that I realized the game's true charms.
Horrible voice acting aside - something fans will all likely love or hate - the game emphasized tension in every room or corridor, trying to build up a sense of fear of the unknown. Even though the enemies were few and far between, the player was left wondering if another would pop up around the next bend and this increasing paranoia pushed on until the very end. In movie terms, this was Ridley Scott's Alien versus the James Cameron sequel.
The story itself is pretty bland in this instalment and it was clear that it wasn't the real focus. The game's intent wasn't as much to tell the story, but to make you feel afraid and to that end, it worked. It accomplished this through atmosphere alone with a few jump scares thrown in for good measure to remind you that areas that are quiet and still are the worst of all.
I couldn't help but in the end feel underwhelmed by the lab though - but again this was caused by my first experience of the series having been with the better envisioned sequel. making it there and fighting the Tyrant seemed somehow less than it should have been. When I put that thought aside I enjoyed it and RE became my most beloved game series to date and still remains so.
For newcomers of the series though, I urge you to give it a shot. The graphics might put you off since they are quite outdated, but for a good perspective on where the story all began, the first entry in the series is where you should start. The REmake on Gamecube is a reasonable alternative (which deserves it's own review at a later date).