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Dean (6921 KP) rated Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) in Movies

Dec 9, 2021 (Updated May 1, 2022)  
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
2021 | Horror
Finally a film based on the actual game story (1 more)
Plenty of details from the games
A little slow at the start (1 more)
Some scenes felt rushed
Welcome to Raccoon City
At long last fans of the games have a film that actually feels like it's based on the first 2 Resident Evil games. Set in '98 and showing scenes leading up to where the first game starts and some of events of the second game.
It's good to see it pay homage to the games and feature the key characters. It's a bit slow at the start but you then get some of key scenes from the mansion and set at the Police station. They still could have done a bit more at these locations, some action shots did whizz by. Maybe feature more of the creatures from the games.
So far from great but definitely one fans will enjoy. Will you take the shotgun? Oh yes!
  
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Jamie Towell Cook (13 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Resident Evil 2 (Remake) in Video Games

Apr 6, 2020  
Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
Resident Evil 2 (Remake)
2019 | Horror
September 29th 1998
Raccoon City, home to the worlds leading pharmaceutical company, the Umbrella Corporation. This is the day that the city and its inhabitants would never forget.

It's been 21 years since the original release of the second installment of the Resident Evil franchise and I can honestly say time (and Capcom) have been incredibly kind to this game. Using the new RE engine that we saw in Resident Evil 7, this remake of what was already a legend of a game, gets a complete modern makeover. Now it's not just the graphics that have been pushed into the modern era: Capcom are a company who grows and learns and they have obviously listened to a lot of fan feedback. The controls are very similar to early installments of the game such as RE4, RE5 and RE6, giving you the over the shoulder perspective and the ability to aim freely, unlike RE5 and 6 though they have managed to amp up the scare tactics, taking Resident evil all they way back to its roots of being a survival horror game and not an action game (*cough, cough* RE4, 5 & 6).

The game story, if you don't already know, or are just too young to have been around for its original release, centres on two characters who by chance both meet at a gas station on that fateful night just outside the city limits. There is the rookie cop, Leon S. Kennedy, who, unluckily for him has decided to enroll into the RPD (Raccoon Police Department) or you can choose College student, motorcyclist and all round badass Claire Redfield, who has gone to Raccon City to find her brother, Chris. Who fans are bound to know if they have played basically any of the other titles out there.
  Soon after Leon and Claire arrive this gas station (separately), both soon realize that there is something very strange happening. Upon investigating, they soon find out what that is.
  Yep, zombies!
  Now any normal people out there at this point would be running as far away as possible leaving a trail of wee behind them as they did so, that is if you aren't eaten first. However Leon and Claire hop in a car a decide heading into the city is the best course of action (SERIOUSLY??) Anyways, that's how the story sets its pace and trust me when I say, wear clean underwear when you start this game and maybe change them a few times because Capcom have learnt how to use those scare tactics quite effectively now. So fasten your seat belts, kids, it's going to be a bumpy night!

The story remains essentially the same as the original from 1998: things have been moved around slightly and some cut scenes extended but it does stay true to the masterpiece that it was for its day and age. Obviously now though, the graphics are just a beauty to behold; both Claire and Leon look amazing in their HD splendour, and the police station entrance, which has got to be the most iconic moment of the game, will take your breath away.
  Although why Raccoon City has the world's most fancy police station is beyond me...
  Not only have our protagonists and surroundings had the HD makeover but so have all the enemies too. Zombies, zombie dogs (Why just dogs though) and other abominable creatures that are lurking in the shadows also look truly amazing as well.

Now back in the day when Resident Evil 2 first came out it was spread out over two discs. One disc solely focused on Leon's series of events and the other on Claire's. The game's story was split into two different versions: you had Scenario A and Scenario B. Basically if you played A as either character then B would be what the other character was doing at that same time. The remake follows the same principle, allowing you to play through two different sequences of events. Completing all scenarios will give you access to the true ending and the fourth survivor mini story. The fourth survivor follows the story of an Umbrella secret service agent known as HUNK. The fourth survivors tale begins in the sewers of the forsaken city and is essentially a mini mission to escape to an extraction point and flee the city.

In addition to the main game and fourth survivor mode, there is also another mode called Ghost Survivors. Ghost survivors tells the story of different characters that are encountered in one way or another throughout the main games story and is a `what if` telling of events from their perspectives. The game play itself follows the same principles as fourth survivor mode in that timed, get from point A to point B kind of style. By playing through these modes you can unlock some extremely random accessories to make the modes more interesting.

For me, Resident Evil 2 was one of the first survival horror games i had ever played back on the PS1. I have some very fond memories of playing this game and of teaching my little brother how to play this game as well. I had my doubts when a remake was announced but i can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that this remake is a work of art. Doing more than justice to its original and even surpassing it.

This is a title that should most definatley be in any gamers arsenal.
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Maid of Sker in Video Games

Nov 7, 2020  
Maid of  Sker
Maid of Sker
2019 | Horror
Hold Your Breath
Maid of Sker- is a excellent first person horror game.

The game takes place in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, located on an imaginary island called Sker Island, where the protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns the place is controlled by cult followers called "The Quiet Ones". The history of Elisabeth's family is revealed when Thomas finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel.

The story is inspired by multiple Welsh and British folklore tales, specifically the idea of the hotel is influenced by the Sker House, a real life historic place situated just outside the town of Porthcawl, near Bridgend, Wales, which is made famous by the three-volume novel written by R. D. Blackmore, The Maid of Sker. The game has drawn influences from this novel as well as the folklore story under the same name (called Y Ferch o’r Sger in Welsh). The game has been compared to Outlast, The Evil Within 2, Silent Hill, and its saving system was also compared to those of Resident Evil, with the typewriter switched to a gramophone in the saving rooms.

In the original folk story, Elisabeth Willaims, a woman of the higher class, falls in love with Thomas Evans, a poor harpist. Elisabeth's father, Isaac, disapproves of the relationship, and, in one of the variations of the tale, her father locks her in a room to prevent her from running away until she starves; other variations include Elisabeth dying from a broken heart or being forced to marry a richer man who she does not love until she passes away from illness. According to the tale, her ghost, alongside the ghost of a sailor, haunt the Sker House.

The game is using the first-person perspective and features blind enemies that can find the player by noise, they are introduced as "The Quiet Ones." As Thomas cannot fight back (except for when a temporary weapon is introduced mid-game), the player is forced to be stealthy when exploring the hotel grounds, or making sounds to distract The Quiet Ones so Thomas passes them safely. The only way to search through the hotel grounds successfully is by avoiding The Quiet Ones by not making noise and holding your breath when a Quiet One is close or not bumping into objects. If the player holds their breath for too long, Thomas gasps for air which alerts the enemies. In certain environments, such as when the protagonist is in a dusty location or close to a fireplace, he coughs, and the player has to stop him by holding his breath as this alerts The Quiet Ones.

It consists of a device which sends shock waves and temporarily damages the hearing of The Silent Ones, stunning them for a short duration; this allows the player to run away from the location. While the player gets this weapon, ammunition is scarce and the player has to use it carefully.

The game features a manual save style and there is no autosave. To save the game, the player has to find "safe rooms", the rooms have green-tainted patterned doors, and inside the rooms are gramophones which the player has to play to save the game. Before the game saves, the gramophones play records of Elisabeth and her experiences with her family which adds to the background of the story. After the records end or when the player stops them manually, the game starts saving. If the player dies or restores a save, they lose all the progress made after the last save, additionally, enemies always change routes and cannot always be found lurking in the same places. This saving system is compared to the one which appeared in the Resident Evil games.

While the game is praised for its great sound design, Thomas never speaks in the game. Aside from grunting noises, he is completely mute throughout the game and his lines are displayed as text instead; however, this is not the case for Elisabeth and she has her voice actor. This has received some negative feedback alongside the sensitivity of the movement on consoles. The game has been compared to Outlast when it comes to the gameplay style, and The Evil Within 2 and Silent Hill when it comes to the game's atmosphere.

I love the concept, the atomsphere, the horror, the strategy, it does remind of "The Evil Within", "Resident Evil", "Silent Hill" and "Outlast". All excellent horror games and same with this one.
  
Monster Hunter (2020)
Monster Hunter (2020)
2020 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Everything (0 more)
Absolutely Disastrous
Monster Hunter is the 15th feature film directed by Paul WS Anderson and is based on a popular gaming franchise of the same name. This is not Anderson’s first attempt at a video game movie, as he is arguably best known for giving us the Resident Evil movie series and the 1995 version of Mortal Kombat.

As is the case with the examples above, this film is in no way faithful to the source material. I am not a huge fan of the Monster Hunter games but I have played enough of them to know that they are nothing like what we get in this generic action movie filled to the brim with clichés. Frankly, this movie runs the gamut of mid 2000’s mediocre action film clichés like it is following a formula from a textbook.

When reviewing any movie, – even one as trashy as this, – I always try to find some positives before tearing through the poor elements, but I am genuinely struggling to find anything here that didn’t annoy me or make me cringe. Even the one thing that you would think would be a positive, – the fact that the movie’s runtime is only 103 minutes long, – still isn’t a positive because the film still manages to feel so long and dragged out.

Anderson is a decent director, I know this from Event Horizon and the first Resident Evil film, but at this point in his career it genuinely seems like he isn’t even trying anymore. I’m honestly convinced at this point that the guy just looks at the box art for whatever video game series he is adapting and decides that is all of the research that he has to do.

The technical aspects of this movie are garbage. The editing is abrupt and extremely cheesy with no flow or cohesion, just a ton of hard crash zooms and awkward transitions. The score sounds like royalty free suspense stock music that a freelancer might download for background music for a low budget Youtube video.

Read the rest of my review at: https://www.bigglasgowcomicpage.com/2021/02/18/review-monster-hunter-movie/
  
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
2021 | Horror
Well then, colour me surprised because I didn't absolutely hate this.
I'm a big fan of the Resident Evil games. So much so that the entirety of the original movie franchise actively annoyed me with every passing entry. This reboot makes a decent effort to stay faithful to the source material, and that alone commands some semblance of respect. The general atmosphere is very Resident Evil, many of the set pieces seem familiar, but there's just something missing. The cast boasts some great talent - Donal Logue, Hannah John-Kamen, and Neal McDonough are amongst the ranks - but all of them seem to be doing the best they can with a poor script, a script which is pretty much all the characters saying their names to eachother, and spouting exposition like there's no tomorrow. There's also the issue of the narrative content. Honestly, I'm just longing for a straight up adaption of the first game, a minimilast tense-as-hell thriller set in the original mansion. Welcome to Raccoon City sort of delivers in that respect, but also opts to cram in the plot of the second game, and even smatterings of the third. For a film that seems to be setting up a new series, that's a whole lot of content to burn through in one film. It results in a narrative that comes across as choppy. There's a little too much going on for it to flow properly. I also hated how Leon Kennedy was portrayed as a big dumb fuck. Show the man some respect! On top of this, the CGI is pretty damn atrocious throughout. The practical effects here and there look genuinely great, but there's a lot of undercooked effects work that managed to pull me out proceedings, especially in the final set piece.

Despite its shortcomings however, WTRC is a pretty entertaining video game adaption. It can be underwhelming at times, but it's aesthetic is pretty spot on, and it's so far removed from the initial film series that I can't help but kind of dig it, and I'll happily take it over any of those movies. Genuinely hoping a sequel happens.
  
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Otway93 (567 KP) rated the PlayStation 3 version of Resident Evil 5 in Video Games

Oct 21, 2019  
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5
Action/Adventure
Couch Co-op (3 more)
Graphics
Choice of Weaponry
DLC
Story (2 more)
Fewer Puzzles
Less Scary
Outrageously fun, but not without flaws.
Contains spoilers, click to show
This game is one of my favourite games of all time, though after a recent replay, it still is!

This game does not add a wealth of background to the Resident Evil lore, but it is fun.

Being the first game in the Resident Evil's 13 years to allow multiplayer was an excellent choice, and is thoroughly enjoyable, and occasionally hilarious, even for beginner gamers I have discovered!

As some may know, you can purchase unlimited ammo for it's vast array of weapons, which makes a second, third or even fourth playthrough absolutely hilarious, especially with unlimited RPGs to take out single zombies.

DLC is also a huge plus on this game, so I thoroughly recommend paying that small amount extra, as it provides an introduction to the game, and an explanation to one key part of the game.

But now the bad. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The game itself is the least scary of all the games apart from maybe the Wii Umbrella and Darkside Chronicles, taking away most of the tension, and getting rid of the puzzles that caused such stress anxiety in the 90s and early 2000s.

But the story is the most disappointing thing, mainly the ending, or to put it simply, killing off Albert Wesker, one of the games main antagonists since day one, turning him into a superpowered killing machine? Go for it, turning him into another random blob of gunk? Not so inspired, and a poor end for such a key character.
  
Resident Evil 2: The Board Game
Resident Evil 2: The Board Game
2019 | Dice Game, Fighting, Horror
Game (4 more)
Pieces
Expansions Available
1-4 Players
Tension
Cost (1 more)
Packaging
Excellent game, though far too expensive!
A truly superb game that thoroughly surprised me!

At first I was a little sceptical about how Resident Evil 2 would translate to a board game, but the creators managed to capture the story and the horror perfectly, somehow making everybody involved absolutely terrified, just like the game!

The game is slightly complicated for those new to dice based games (me included), but I believe it to be an excellent starter for beginners.

The game is also unusually for 1-4 players, though I can't imagine it being much fun solo.

Another plus is the number of expansions, all enjoyable, but just like the core game, they are all considerably expensive for what's involved.

The cost is the main issue with this game, the core game costing between £60-80, and expansions anywhere between £15-30 each.

The expansions, with the exception of the rather good B-Files Expansion, contain very little, and add very little. They contain very little and still use the same amount of packaging, using a lot of plastic and wasting paper and cardboard.
  
Death Race (2008)
Death Race (2008)
2008 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
6
7.1 (12 Ratings)
Movie Rating
In Death Race, a loose remake (sort of prequel?) to 1975's Death Race 2000, our lord and saviour Paul W.S. Anderson takes all of the things that made his Resident Evil films so mind numbingly shit, and applies them to a car racing movie. You know the drill - seizure inducing quick edits, with a liberal smattering of slow-mo for good measure, plenty of quippy douchebags, and the odd explosion of invasive "cool" guitar riffs.
However - it actually kind of works with the plot template and Death Race is easily one of Anderson's better films.
Jason Statham being in the driver's seat is always going to be a plus. He's being so very Statham as per, but if it ain't broke and all that. I can always appreciate the likes of Joan Allen and Ian McShane, and the action and story is well paced to ensure that it's entertaining as hell from start to finish.

Death Race is the epitome of fast food cinema. It's hot trash, but it's a pretty good time all things considered. A solid 6 angry Stathams out of 10.
  
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