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Resident Evil an all new zombie-hunting adventure that returns the player to the world of the Umbrella Corporation. As an elite S.T.A.R.S. officer, you have one goal... survive the terror!


In Resident Evil: Genesis, players take up the role of Jill Valentine, as she investigates the disturbances in the forest surrounding Racoon City and disappearance of the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team. Though Chris Redfield is noticeably absent, RE: G manages to get the basics of the RE lore down as well as allowing players to constantly deal with your S.T.A.R.S Alpha team mates Albert Wesker and Barry Burton. As you search for safe passage back to the city, you'll also come across plenty of details, filling you in on the events that transpired during the creation of Umbrella's T-Virus while fighting off the monstrosities that are a result of these experiments.

As RE: Genesis is a new title that has been developed from the ground up specifically for the cell phone, the gameplay has seen a significant overhaul, and though it's far from a bad thing, it certainly has some room for improvement. The game is presented with an isometric viewpoint with simple character sprites that use very basic design and animations. Though the visuals in the game are rather simple, they still manage to distinguish every character and monster, keeping things from becoming confusing.


The core style is more of a puzzle/adventure game rather than an action title that we've found in RE 4. This is actually quite an enjoyable change as it really conveys a sense of adventure in the vein of last year's Hotel Dusk for the DS or the PC classic, Déjà vu. With RE: Genesis, we're provided with quite a bit of exploration, gathering items and finding clues in order to progress. The negative aspect of this approach is that with the limitations of the platform comes a huge difficulty in finding all of the items necessary to move onto the next objective. In the console RE games, items were either obviously placed or there were hints found in the game as to where the hidden items were. In Genesis, these vital items aren't obviously placed, so you're forced to search literally everything. Couches, counters and even plants hold important items that are key to your progression, and the time consumption involved with this constant search can become rather tedious.

The controls themselves are rather sluggish, but manage to meet the pace of the game rather well. The d-pad is used for basic movement in the style of older RE games, where the left and right keys pivot Jill clockwise or counterclockwise, with moving forward designated to the up key and the down key allowing for a 180 degree turn. In that regard, Genesis does a fine job emulating the original controls, but in this day and age, we were hoping something a bit more responsive to help keep the tedium at a minimum.


Perhaps the biggest source of frustration comes from the new aiming system that has been implemented. When a zombie or another baddie of some sort is in a given area, a targeting reticle will appear, allowing you to move it across the ground and aim at a given target. The problem here is that the controls to aim the reticle are so confusing, and inconsistent, you're relying more on luck than anything else. Try to move the reticle left and it'll go behind you. Try to move it forward and it'll move to the right. This sort of thing makes the default controls fairly tedious, creating a situation whee you're just waiting for a target to come close and hope for the best. When a target strays into your range of fire, you'll need to press the attack button which will bring up a scale that has users determine the power of the shot. If you manage to time your shots correctly, you'll be able to gun down your foe with a single shot. Naturally some baddies will be more powerful than others, but you'll be able to arm weapons suited to their strengths, so you'll rarely be at a disadvantage.


Closing Comments
Resident Evil: Genesis is a solid step in the right direction for Capcom’s mobile efforts. It certainly has its fair share of flaws, but it manages to provide a capable adventure, capturing the basic elements of Resident Evil while giving a decent, if simplified retelling of the first title in the venerable series. If you’re just looking for a chance to massacre some zombies or simply looking for a respectable exploration-based adventure, a visit to this creepy mansion may be in order