It’s often difficult to review a game without giving away too many surprises. It’s even more difficult when reviewing a game where most of it’s brilliance comes from it’s surprises.

This masterpiece from Capcom’s studio headed by Shinji Mikami is only the second in the “Survival Horror” genre on the Saturn following the original, yet poorly received, Alone in the Dark, not bad for a man who’s only past gaming achievements were based on Disney franchises.

Resident Evil follows the story of four members of S.T.A.R.S, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, the two available characters in the game, Barry Burton and Albert Wesker, the latter of whom disappears at the start of the game resulting in the player finding themselves alone in a mysterious Mansion on the outskirts of the fictional Raccoon Forest, where the game is set.

For a game where memorable moments come from Horror, the majority of the game comes from the Survival aspect. Barricaded in the mansion by genetically diseased dogs, responsible for the deaths of several of your team members, the game revolves around finding another way to escape.

As your communication from your team members is cut off, you’re left alone to try and find a way out yourself, thankfully the rich detail of this game and it’s linear nature makes for a game requiring thought, if not also a little more patience than you might have.

Searches for keys to allow you access to more rooms becomes a long drawn out affair thanks to the frustrating limitation to the amount of items you can carry, you’ll need a good memory to keep track of the many store boxes and save points in the game, ammo limitations often hinder your progress throughout the game, managing this is a game in itself.

With the “Survival” out of the way, it’s time to talk about what separates this game from anything that’s gone before, the “Horror”.

Seeing members of your team disemboweled in the opening scenes of the game sets your heart pumping from the very start, the first sighting of a zombie is one of the most memorable moments in gaming history, the way the zombie looks at you with his hungry eyes as he munches on one of your team mates is something that sticks in your mind throughout the game.

Zombies themselves aren’t too much of a problem, dogs on the other hand are, shotgun blasts will merely buy you time to flee the area.

Another memorable horror moment from the game comes from a giant tarantula lumbering over a pool table, the attention to detail and especially the animation is chilling.

So there you have it, a small pinch of what one of the richest in depth games ever released has to offer.

Some people may complain about camera angles, whilst often making the control less than perfect they add to the sense of horror in what is a broken classic.