Resident Evil Survivor is a PlayStation light gun shooter developed by Tose and published by Capcom in 2000. A
Microsoft Windows version was released in China and Taiwan in 2002. The Japanese and European versions of this game were compatible with Namco's GunCon/G-Con 45 light gun. However, GunCon compatibility was removed from the North American release, due to first person shooting games being partially blamed as motivation, for the then-recent Columbine High School massacre. Thus the North American release uses gamepad controls directly, with special button functionality added to compensate for lack of light gun aiming.
The plot is a gaiden story that exists parallel to the mainline RE continuity. The game takes place after the missile explosion that wiped out Raccoon City. Not long after this incident, a helicopter crashes on the outskirts of Umbrella Corporation's private Sheena Island. The pilot escapes the burning wreckage, only to find himself fighting biohazards, with no memory of his identity or his reasons for being there. The player controls this amnesiac. As the player plays through the game, the protagonist's memory returns, and the entirety of the plot is revealed.
Gameplay is similar to a rail shooter, except the player has free movement. This movement scheme made sense with a GunCon controller, due to its
hardware design. However, when controlled via a gamepad, this scheme instead comes across as a limited view FPS. That said, traditional RE elements are still available. The player does collect items like ammo, red herbs, and keys, for example. But also inventory items that are used to solve very simple puzzles. Players can use the inventory screen to combine items and reload weapons, read found documents, view a local map, and other common elements of traditional RE games. There are NPCs to talk with, cutscenes that expound the plot, even diaries to read. The overall effect does capture a sense of a light gun rail shooter, hybridized with the usual RE gameplay. The overall difficulty is fairly low, I only died once on my first playthrough. Continues make dying less of a problem.
+Decent attempt at a more complex "rail shooter", for its time.
+Removing Guncon compatibility from the USA version was dumb.
+The plot is surprisingly half decent (twist ending).
+Voice acting isn't entirely terrible.
+Environment design is pretty good.
-You can't save your progress, you have to beat the entire game in one go!
-So. Many. Door. Loading. Screens.
-Enemy variety is low, and there's really only one actual boss.
-Damn those annoying zombie dogs.
-Zero replay value.
When it was released in 2000,
Resident Evil Survivor was widely panned by critics. I think this was a bit unfair, because it seemed many critics were expecting a full blown RE experience, except in first person.
Survivor was clearly not meant to be that. This is more of an arcade experience at heart. I think
Survivor would have made for a fine Friday night rental for a RE fan back in 2000. I said "rental", because there's no replayability to speak of, outside banal statistics. If you're a fan of zombie shooters in general (like
House of the Dead),
Survivor is perhaps worth playing today. But if you're a
true Resident Evil fan, then beating
Survivor (and perhaps the
series it spawned) should be a priority for completionist's sake. For everybody else though,
Resident Evil Survivor is a pass. An offshoot half-baked curiosity from a venerable series. So if you're looking for really good rail shooter RE games, you're much better off with
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on Wii.
Ex's time to beat: 2 hours 3 minutes
Ex's rating: 6/10
Here's a track from the OST that I liked a lot:
Sounds like a lost Parasite Eve tune to me. Very late '90s Japanese urban vibe.