I’ve considered myself a fan of the Resident Evil franchise for a few years now and to say that I was ecstatic to have finally played the seminal classic that started it all would be a seismic understatement. Put bluntly? This remake fucking rules. It completely executes everything that it sets out to accomplish and it does so with aplomb, creating an incredibly immersive, deep, atmospheric survival horror experience that had me thoroughly enthralled from beginning to end. Couple that with a solid story that presents you with just enough intrigue to keep you engaged and gameplay that honestly hasn’t aged all that much. If anything i’d argue that the tank controls and the fixed camera system are only a boon to the tone that this game is going for rather than detrimental flaws that detract from it. From the expertly crafted and intrinsically connected level design, the deeply rewarding exploration loop, the puzzles that are simple, well designed, and immensely satisfying to solve, to the beautifully haunting soundtrack from the musical genius Masami Ueda which adds a ton of emotional resonance to the game. It’s all so deftly handled. Add to that the tight inventory mechanics, the resource and item management, coupled with the punishingly limited checkpoints, the frequent sprinkling of frantic combat encounters and set pieces, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a scorching powder keg, making for moment to moment gameplay scenarios that are both palpably intense and positively thrilling. The only aspect of this game that I’m not totally crazy about are the frequent door loading screens. They are incredibly archaic and they have a tendency to bring down the game’s otherwise flawless pacing to a languid halt at points. I also found the boss fights to be somewhat lacking (the final one is especially disappointing when you consider the build up prior to it) despite them being consistently enjoyable to play through. Otherwise though? Resident Evil is pretty much pitch perfect and it’s every bit the unassailable masterpiece that it has been hyped up to be.