Retrospective: Resident Evil

Capcom's next major title in the series, Resident Evil Code: Veronica, came out in 2000, and uses the power of the Dreamcast to create the first full 3D Resident Evil. Claire Redfield, still searching for her brother, gets captured by Umbrella during a daring raid on one of their facilities. After being deported to Umbrella's Rockfort Island facility, which conveniently gets bombed, spewing A, B, X, Y and Z viruses out everywhere, she meets up with fellow inmate Steve Burnside and puts her Racoon City survival skills to good use. Meeting the sadistic Ashford family along the way, she finally catches up with Chris Redfield at the Antarctic Research Facility.

Code Veronica doesn't detract much from the classic Resident Evil formula, but shifts the focus onto a new virus. By infusing a queen ant viral strain with the Progenitor virus, from which the T-virus was also derived, Alexia Ashford creates the T-Veronica virus. With the help of her cross-dressing brother Alfred, Alexia tests the T-Veronica virus on her father Alexander, which turns him into a mindless Nosferatu abomination that Claire later kills with a sniper shot to the heart. Undergoing cryo-preservation to retain her intelligence whilst the adapted T-Veronica virus develops inside her, Alexia awakens to the death of her brother and seeks revenge upon Claire and Chris. She also slaps Wesker in the face.

However, out of all the new monstrosities in Code Veronica, the Bandersnatch is by far the most loathsome. After the success of the Hunter and Licker on the bio-weapons market, Umbrella felt its portfolio was lacking something yellow and rubbery, with R&D apparently turning to Lewis Carroll for inspiration. It doesn't help matters that Claire's Bow Gun seems a poor imitation of the one she looted from Robert Kendo's corpse in Resi 2, although tipping the bolts with explosive gunpowder is a bonus.

At the end of Code Veronica X, which contains additional cut-scenes, Chris has a showdown with Wesker before their fight is interrupted by an explosion - with Wesker escaping with the T-Alexia strain in Steve's body. We already know that Wesker and Chris will face off once again in Resident Evil 5, but are guns really going to be enough for Chris to make a stand against the now superhuman Wesker? As good as playing Resident Evil 5 will undoubtedly be for fans, a major part of the attraction is discovering what happens next in the Resident Evil universe. I'm holding out for a Las Plagas and T-virus hybrid.

Not long after mature GameCube owners were rewarded for their patience with an outstandingly beautiful remake of the original Resident Evil in 2002, complete with Crimson Head zombies and the new subplot of Lisa Trevor (daughter of mansion-builder George Trevor, and tragic source of the G-virus after being subjected to viral testing at the hands of Umbrella), Capcom went back to the origins of the T-virus with Resident Evil Zero in 2003. With the Resi games having always concentrated on dual relationships - Jill and Chris, Leon and Claire, etc. - Capcom gives players simultaneous control over leads Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen throughout much of Zero.

Zero's story takes place a day before the events of the first Resident Evil, and focuses on James Marcus. Having created the T-virus by combining the Progenitor virus with Leech DNA, Marcus is killed by his former protégés Birkin and Wesker at the command of the Umbrella Corporation president Ozwell Spencer. Marcus miraculously survives the ordeal when one of his experimental leeches merges with his body, linking them to him and restoring him to a much younger age. Out for revenge, he instigates the T-virus outbreak at the Spencer Mansion. Rebecca and Coen get caught up in the ensuing carnage on the Ecliptic Express, before the end boss fight with Marcus' mutated Queen Leech form at the Arklay Treatment Planet.

Although still jam-packed with zombies, including the freaky new Leech Zombies, Zero's mutagenic output boats a strong insect theme including the Stinger and Centurion bosses (read: giant scorpion and centipede). However, Capcom still manages to smuggle in a Tyrant with the twitching prototype T-001, which Rebecca initially faces solo, before a final confrontation with both Billy and Rebecca later. Fielding two shotguns rather than one really comes into its own.

Which brings us conveniently to 2005's seminal Resident Evil 4. Still fresh in many people's minds, Resi 4 modernises the series in so many ways it seems pointless to list them all. It is simply a complete re-envisioning of survival horror. Out go the tank controls and in comes a more action-based system with an over-the-shoulder camera and full laser-sight assisted aiming. Gone are the days of waiting patiently for a zombie to shuffle inches from your face for a shotgun headshot - hallelujah!

Resident Evil 4's brand of horror, although different from the previous games, loses none of its inherent dread. With the Las Plagas replacing the traditional T-virus, Leon's quest to save the president's daughter, Ashley Graham, is more Invasion of the Body Snatchers than Dawn of the Dead. Saddler's minions, from the organised Los Ganados to perhaps the freakiest Resi monster ever, the Regenerator/Iron Maiden, are no less threatening than any radioactive monstrosities still lurking in Racoon City's crater.

It seems Resident Evil 4 could have been quite different, with at least three different versions having allegedly been in development - including what became Devil May Cry and two early paranormal-themed trailers, dubbed the Fog version and Hook version. Not that we're complaining about the one we got; Resi 4 is one of the most enjoyable videogaming experiences this side of the millennium.