The Resident Evil Podcast

Episode 7: Resident Evil 6 Preview

With Resident Evil 7 almost upon us, it's time for another episode from the archives now as we travel back all the way back to summer 2012 when Capcom released the first playable demo of Resident Evil 6 to users who purchased Dragon's Dogma. This demo featured short segments from each campaign along with some horrendous screen-tearing. It's interesting now after all this time to look back on our hopes and impressions several months before the final polarising product was unleashed upon the world. Also released during this time was the reveal trailer for Resident Evil: Damnation featuring Ada Wong and a man everyone believed at the time was Derek Simmons conrolling the Lickers. Good times.

Episode 6 - Resident Evil 2

Slowly but surely we're working our way back to the very beginning and now comes another episode that's almost 5 years old can you believe... This time we look at the absolute masterpiece that is Resident Evil 2, almost a perfect sequel in many ways and one of the biggest games of 1998. In the news discussion we are still getting bogged down in the aftermath of Operation Raccoon City and there is a brief chat on Resident Evil 1.5 before moving onto the main event. Each of us has fond memories of Resident Evil 2 and we talk about the storyline, the atmosphere, the scenario zapping system and the characters. So enjoy this retrospective look back on an old classic before Capcom unleashes Remake 2 and ruins everything. Our guests this week are The Selfish Gene from The Horror is Alive and Welsh. 

Episode 5 - Resident Evil 4

Delving back into the archives once again we have for your listening pleasure our review of the very diversive Resident Evil 4; the game some say saved the franchise and others believe destroyed it. Originally recorded in April 2012 the news is dominated by more post-release reaction to Operation Raccoon City with the introduction of the timed exclusive Nemesis mode DLC for the XBox, prompting Neptune to enquire if we can get his tentacle out... Fittingly our community guest is Smiley; a man who very wisely invested his entire inheritance in bulk buying Operation Raccoon City in the hopes it would be a massive success. Needless to say he is still not a millionaire.

We have a sub-discussion on the many beta builds of Resident Evil 4, discussing black fog, hookmen, Devil May Cry 4 and the influences of games such as Haunting Ground and Clock Tower. Early story builds included Spencer's sons and the origins of the Progenitor Virus which would have been much more agreeable to what we eventually got. 

For the main discussion, we go through the game from top to bottom, talking about the new gameplay style and controls, as well as the obvious switch to action from horror. We go through the characters and enemies, lamenting Umbrella's pre-credits demise and of course explain how the infamous boulder has eclipsed Albert Wesker as the series best recurring villain. Spoiler alert: Mr Spencer's favourite part of Resident Evil 4 is the fact that Jill is not in it.

Episode 4 - Resident Evil: Dead Aim

Time to go back to the archives again as we revisit a criminally overlooked classic with Resident Evil: Dead Aim/Gun Survivor 4: Heroes Never Die. This particular title is a favourite amongst the REP team and we break the game down and see how it has stood up to the test of time. Originally recorded in April 2012 this episode also features a comprehensive breakdown of the Resident Evil 6 Captivate trailer and several Alex Wesker theories years before Revelations 2 was born. We also discuss how Japanese translations have revealed a completely different outlook on the history of the t-Virus, providing yet another example of how much Western audiences are missing out on important plot details. Finally, making his debut as a guest is none other than Sean 'S.T.A.R.S_TyranT' Hall who would later join our team on a permanent basis. Please enjoy.

Episode 3 - Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

Time for another early episode plucked from the dusty shelves of the archives cupboard. This time we go back to 2012, shortly after the release of the highly controversial Operation Raccoon City. Following hot on the heels of Resident Evil Revelations on the 3DS, this initial review was done before the release of the arguably much better Spec Ops DLC campaign and in the midst of what was a troubling time for the series. This game saw release around the time veteran series producer Masachika Kawata stated Resident Evil was too big for the survival horror market and that the series should increase the action focus of RE4 and 5, something that didn't go down well with fans at that time. Join Neptune, Batman, George Trevor, Mr Spencer and special guest Zombie Fred as they break down this non-canonical entry into the series, trying to be find a few positives amidst a sea of negatives in what is a a valiant but ultimately rushed and buggy product.

Episode 2 - Resident Evil Revelations 3DS

And so we creep ever closer back to the very beginning of this journey as we now revisit early 2012 when Resident Evil Revelations had just debuted on the Nintendo 3DS. This represented the first major title since Darkside Chronicles and was the second successive storyline prequel since the release of Resident Evil 5. Reception to Revelations was quite positive at the time, although fans were taken aback by its overly complicated storyline, something that was not helped by some of the worst file mistranslations in the series history. Here we break down the characters, the enemies and the environments as we attempt to piece together just exactly what is going on. It's easy to forget the unique features the 3DS version had, such as first person view and of course the 3D aspect itself. Also featured on this episode is a preview of Operation Raccoon City, which at the time of recording was just a few weeks away from a highly controversial release. Joining us as special guest for this one was Project Umbrella staff member Ridley.

Episode 1 - Resident Evil 1996

And so we near journey's end through the archives as we head back all the way to February 2012 when we recorded the first episode proper of the then Project Umbrella Podcast. After a successful pilot episode we felt it fitting at the time to dedicate episode one to the original game that started it all; the original Resident Evil on the PlayStation. Join the panel for a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we recount our personal experiences with the game. In the news we briefly discuss release reaction to Revelations on the 3DS and the build up to the imminent release of Operation Raccoon City. But the biggest news of the time was the official announcement of Resident Evil 6, with a first trailer that promised a continuation of the action of Resident Evil 5 and then some... As you can imagine George Trevor was pleased with this! Neptune's biohazard quiz launched with calamity and has maintained that steady standard ever since. Apologies for the erratic audio quality throughout as back then we were still learning our way around this whole podcasting lark. It's certainly interesting to listen back to our thoughts and experiences from nearly a decade ago when things like Umbrella Corps, Revelations 2, Vendetta and even Remake 2 were never in our thoughts. It is thanks to the continued support of the Resident Evil fan community that we are still going strong today and are about to begin an exciting new chapter. Please enjoy.

Episode Zero - The Pilot Episode

 Well then folks here it be; the original test episode for the podcast to see if it would work as a valid idea. Originally recorded 8 years ago by members of Project Umbrella, we set out to carry the torch from where the RPD Dispatch left off. At the time we'd had the idea of a podcast for several months and had been planning it behind the scenes, however we never envisaged just how difficult it would be to pull off. We knew 2012 was going to be a pivotal year for the franchise in terms of media and so we scrambled a panel together to record our thoughts. Here we speak briefly about the translation issues that plague the series and focus on upcoming titles Resident Evil Revelations and Operation Raccoon City, both of which were due out in the coming months. Although we knew it was coming we actually recorded this show 24 hours before Capcom publically announced Resident Evil 6 to the world. Just to put into context where the series was way back then, the last canonical material we'd had at the time of release was actually the story DLC packs for Resident Evil 5! And now here we are all these years later and the series has more than doubled in content and is still going strong. The Project Umbrella Podcast is now dead, long live the Resident Evil Podcast!

REP Presents: Resident Evil Degeneration Audio Commentary

Welcome back to our series of live audio commentaries for the feature length Resident Evil adaptations. Thankfully we take a break from Paul W.S. Anderson's live action 'take' on the series and instead switch our attention to Resident Evil Degeneration; the first full-length motion capture CG animation feature developed and produced by Capcom themselves. Join Neptune, Rombie, STARS_TyranT and a returning Mr. Spencer as they sit back and analyse the film from start to finish. Please enjoy and continue to stay safe everyone.

REP Presents: Resident Evil Audio Commentary

It may have taken six years but we have finally sunk to a new low and reached topics we promised we would never touch when we first launched this podcast venture. The first live-action Resident Evil feature film written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson is a highly devisive and controversial entry resulting in many colourful and divided opinions across the fanbase. Those who listen to our podcast regularly will be well aware that aside from perhaps our astute and well spoken host, the film doesn't rate very highly on our spectrum. But we invite you now to join us in a viewing of the film with our commentary and opinions for your enjoyment. A tremendously excited Neptune is joined by Rombie, Batman and STARS Tyrant as we sit down and 'enjoy' this 'thrilling entry in the Resident Evil franchise'. For some of our panel it was the first time viewing the film for well over ten years and the result was interesting to say the least. Rombie at least provides many interesting annecdotes having closely followed the development of the film back in the day and Nick tells a tale about how he almost acquired a Cerberus prop from the film. We apologise in advance for some audio syncing issues with this one. Beacuse of our exemplary professionalism and enthusiasm about this particular venture, some of us had to quickly source last minute copies of the film in order to do this and therefore the speed issues between PAL and NTSC were an unavoidable factor. Be prepared to fast forward and rewind several times! This was an experimental and completely unedited spin off of the regular podcast so if you would like to see more of these commentaries, be it these films, the CGI movies or even playthroughs of the games themselves, then let us know. Please enjoy.