Resident Evil: Deadly Silence - M
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is a remake of a survival horror classic game, and that it ports all the gore of the original to the DS. Players shoot, stab, incinerate, decapitate, and otherwise destroy scores of monsters. The monsters slash, vomit on, and devour humans. Players will see some graphic gore, including partially eaten bodies and wounds that ooze blood. Some knifing action takes place from a first-person perspective.
Families who buy this game might want to discuss the role of gore in horror games. Do games need to be gory to be scary? Families may also want to discuss violence against monsters and violence against humans. Is violence more acceptable when it's directed at fantastic creatures than at people?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chris Jozefowicz
RESIDENT EVIL: DEADLY SILENCE, a remake of a PlayStation title, is the first Mature-rated game for Nintendo's DS system. The zombie killing action does get intense and exciting at times, but this version only half-heartedly updates the 10-year-old gameplay, and lacks the truly creepy atmosphere of newer installments.
Here's the story: An elite police squad is sent to a seemingly abandoned mansion to investigate the disappearance of other members of the team. Before long, the team is blasting zombies, demon dogs, spiders, crows, giant snakes, and a variety of other mutant monsters as they piece together a story of secret experiments gone horribly wrong.
On DS, the action plays out on the touch screen and the upper screen displays a map. A new "Rebirth" mode puts the features of the DS to use: Players solve puzzles using the system's touch screen and microphone. They also engage in some fun first-person battles in which they must knife monsters to death with swipes of the stylus. (Players can also play a "Classic" mode, which is very close to the PlayStation original, without touch-screen interaction.)
The DS version includes unlockable gameplay modes, characters, and supplies. There is also a multiplayer mode, but it only works if players have friends with the Deadly Silence game card, and it's not online.
At its heart though, this version is like the original. It's still one lightly-armed cop against an army of mutants -- and beasts could be lurking around any corner. And the violence is still intense: Players blow off zombie heads with guns, incinerate mutants with flame grenades, knife sharks to death, etc.
Players also run into familiar frustrations, such as clunky controlsand odd camera angles. Nevertheless, there is a reason the Resident Evil series is legendary, and mature fans of the original will probably enjoy the remake.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentPlayers can get a reaction from the characters by rubbing them suggestively on the touch screen. |
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ViolenceLots of shooting, stabbing, burning, and exploding monsters. The gore is intense, and realistic, although with some graphical limitations. Monsters kill humans, often gruesomely. |
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Social BehaviorSome good guys turn bad as the story progresses. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoA couple of scenes take place in bars. |
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