The Resident Evil Podcast

Episode 17 - Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

This week the team look back fondly on the title that brought the curtain down on Raccoon City; Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. This one remains a firm favourite with most of our team and our retrospective rekindles many fond memories of dashing round uptown and downtown Raccoon, trying to avoid the infamous Nemesis T-Type. It is a bit slow on the news front but we briefly discuss the Left 4 Dead 2 crossover with Resident Evil 6 and Rachel Foley's inclusion for Raid Mode in Revelations HD. Then in the main chat the titular game is dissected from top to bottom as we cover characters, setting, enemies, game play and weaponry as well as the music, the criticisms the game received upon release and its lasting legacy across the series. So sit back, relax, turn off the lights and remember Nemesis when he was downright terrifying as opposed to the kitten he later became in Umbrella Chronicles. 

Episode 16 - Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

A lot to cover in this episode as we briefly discuss the big community news of Resident Evil 1.5 being finally released to the public at large and what the implications of this may be for the fanbase and future of the series. We also speculate on interesting comments made by series producer Masachika Kawata's about Resident Evil/Biohazard potentially requiring a reboot in the near future. Following that, this week's sub-discussion is on the Japanese exclusive 'Prelude to the Fall' manga comic before the panel move on to focus on Umbrella Chronicles itself; first released for the Nintendo Wii all the way back in 2007 before being touched up and re-released on Playstation 3 in 2012. Here we discuss the game mechanics and the overall storyline, going through each main campaign and bonus scenario in turn. We also look at the quite spectacular voice acting (cue lots of 'interesting' impersonations), and the legacy of the game.

Episode 15 - Resident Evil: Survivor

Rombie of Residentevilfan.com returns for a second stint in the guest’s chair for this retrospective look-back on one of the more forgotten and often mocked entries in the series; Resident Evil: Survivor. Apologies in advance for some rather eccentric Ark Thompson and Vincent’s mother impressions! But despite Survivor being an easy target with its cheap production values and cringe-worthy voice acting, our team peels back the surface and puts forward a compelling argument in support of this title. Rombie provides some fascinating insight into its development history and the gun support, Neptune and S.T.A.R.S_Tyrant talk up the music and the foreboding atmosphere the game is able to generate despite its cheap look, and News Bot and TheBatman discuss and explain some of the more ambiguous story aspects about the Hypnos Tyrant and the T-103 production process. Overall this is a frank and fair discussion that hopefully will encourage fans to give this game another go and hopefully re-evaluate their opinions. But perhaps the most interesting lesson you'll take from this is listening to George Trevor's rationale for why Bruce Forsythe may have looked younger in the 1970's than he does now...

Episode 14: Resident Evil 2012 Retrospective

After being MIA since Episode 8, the manhunt for Mr. Spencer finally ends as Neptune locates him in a rundown bar in Southampton with a hole in his memory and overwhelming feelings of guilt. After insulting the barmaid and almost starting a bar fight, Neptune persuades Mr Spencer to return to the Resident Evil Podcast fold. It’s where he belongs…

The main focus of this episode is a retrospective review of 2012 due to the unprecedented amount of media that was released for the series.Despite being of varying quality, we look back at Resident Evil: Revelations,Operation Raccoon City, Resident Evil: Damnation and of course Resident Evil 6, offering thoughts and opinion with reflective eyes. Neptune was also planning an extensive review of Resident Evil: Retribution but thankfully the threat of death from the rest of the panel vetoed such a feature. We finish with a small segment on our hopes for the series moving forward and finally the quiz.

 

 

Episode 13: Resident Evil 6

Originally recorded just weeks after the game's initial release in October 2012, this episode features a fully comprehensive breakdown of the entire game from story, to characters, to game play and those god-awful vehicle sections. No stone is left unturned as Resident Evil 6, the good and the bad, is taken to task by the REP team. Neptune cannot work out how we've evolved from searching for gold crests round a spooky old mansion to chasing evil clones round China in a Mazda MX5, whilst S.T.A.R.S_Tyrant builds up Derek Simmons as a potential Albert Wesker successor only to be dismayed by Capcom's ultimate resolution for him. Meanwhile, George Trevor searches hard for any positives about the game and TheBatman breaks down the overall plot and talks a bit about some of the new organisations and world-building aspects that add to the overall universe. But perhaps the biggest question remaining is where exactly can the series can go from here? 

So sit back, turn off the lights and relax. This is the big one...

Episode 12 - Resident Evil: Damnation

Released just prior to Resident Evil 6 back in September 2012, this CG canon sequel to 2008's Degeneration sees the return of Leon S. Kennedy; this time dispatched to a small country known as the Eastern Slav Republic to combat the latest bioterrorism threat. We join him on that journey and discuss what the film adds to the overall mythology. There are many interesting things to debate such as the inclusion of Las Plagas and the welcome return of both the Licker and the Tyrant. We also get the first chronological appearance of Ada Wong since the events of Resident Evil 4. Also included in this season 1 finale of our pokey little podcast is the climactic ending to Neptune's biohazard quiz.

Episode 11 - Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 came with huge expectations but was seen as a great disappointment by many, but here STARS_Tyrant and TheBatman lead the RE5 defence force, praising the gameplay and the story. George Trevor talks up Lost in Nightmares but finds little else to enjoy and Neptune has never been happy about the linear aspects of the game and how Chris and Sheva quickly move through each area with no opportunities to backtrack and explore.  Every aspect of the game is covered as well as a small section covering the unused beta concepts of the game. In the news we also review the second public demo of Resident Evil 6 before the game's final release. 

Episode 10 - Resident Evil: Code Veronica X

Originally recorded just prior to the release of Resident Evil 6, our panel sits down to discuss Resident Evil Code: Veronica - perhaps one side of the same coin alongside Resident Evil Zero in terms of love and hate. Neptune and George Trevor are big fans of the game but TheBatman not so much. We discuss the switch to full 3D as well as the plot, characters, setting, enemies and all other elements making up the game. Was bringing back Wesker the right move? Were the Ashford's any good, and was D.I.J a top-secret experiment in league with Derek Simmons? All this and more is discussed within.

Joining us for this episode is special guest Thomas Wilde; author of the legendary Resident Evil Plot Analysis from gamefaqs and a document every Resident Evil fan worth their salt should be fully aware of. As well as joining us for the Code: Veronica chat, Thomas gives a lengthy interview explaining the origins of the plot analysis, his motivations for writing it and his progress with updates whilst working professionally on other projects. Finally the episode concludes with another well-researched quiz as always!

Episode 9 - Resident Evil Remake

Another classic episode from the archives as we take a look at the critically acclaimed Resident Evil Remake on the Nintendo Game Cube. Each panel member recalls their origins with the game and the impact it had on them personally. We also discuss the improvements such as the photo-realistic graphics, the added story sections and of course the Crimson Heads. Stepping into the guest's chair this week is Rombie from residentevilfan - A New Blood. Rob goes into his own history with the franchise and reminds us all of how he was one of the original and most successful fansite webmasters. News discussion includes more build up towards the release of Resident Evil 6 and George Trevor tries and largely fails to explain the progress of the Marhawa Desire manga now that the first volume is complete. 

Episode 8 - Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

In this episode we look back at this direct sequel to Umbrella Chronicles which released back in November 2009. Joining us for this one is one of our very own staff members in Sindra who has much to say about Claire Redfield and the impact of strong, independent female characters in modern gaming. Unfortunately it just had to be this episode with our first female guest that Mr. Spencer had one too many glasses of wine... But amidst the awkward flirting we have an in-depth discussion on Darkside Chronicles with a particular focus on Operation: Javier. We assess Javier Hidalgo, his daughter Manuela and the return of the t-Veronica virus and Jack Krauser. We also touch upon the retellings of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica with Memories of a Lost City and Game of Oblivion respectively. There is also a debate on the new camera, the new mechanics and the bonus content before deciding whether it is an improvement over Umbrella Chronicles or not. Originally recorded in August 2012.