Let me introduce you to the Daddy of all survival horror games. Capcom have truly surpassed themselves and mutated the Resident Evil series into one hell of an experience. This game has far superior graphics and sound than it's Playstation predecessors, it's also several times bigger than the previous games and it is positively dripping with class.

Our story begins with our tough heroine, Claire Redfield, who has infiltrated a branch of the mysterious Umbrella corporation, the creators of the zombie-making T-virus. After a daring attempt to escape she is apprehended and awakes in a prison. A guard sets her free, telling her that the T-virus is loose and the island they are on is now infested with zombies. Equipped with only a knife and a first aid spray, Claire sets out to make her way to freedom. She soon meets up with a mysterious young man called Steve Burnside, who pops up throughout the game and you are forced to work together in your attempt to escape from the island.

The graphics are stunning and strike you immediately; they are so much more detailed, smooth and realistic than before. The visual style has been enhanced as well. The landscape is three dimensional, but instead of following the player from behind the whole time, every location is viewed from various camera angles. But this time, the cameras move with the action. So as you run down a corridor, the camera scrolls with you, taking the film-like quality to a new level. The music is better than ever too, very eerie most of the time and dramatic during the action scenes and time-limited parts of the game. And the sound of the zombies lumbering around, the weapons fire, the crunch of zombies munching your flesh and the thud as their headless corpses drop to the floor has never been so vivid.

As before, you find ammo as you explore each area, but rarely do you have any to spare and it is important to run away and conserve ammo where possible in the beginning. A bit of forward thinking is definitely in order, but later when you have acquired the shotgun, magnum, grenade launcher, bow gun and machine guns, you get to have a lot more fun blowing away all the undead monstrosities. And monstrous they are; the zombies and zombie dogs are unpleasant, but there are far more grotesque mutations in store later in the game. The first time you see one of the "Bandersnatchers" burst into the room and whip its grotesquely long arm towards you, with its pulsating, distorted body and twisted face, you are truly repelled at the sight. The further along you get, the bigger and nastier the creatures become. There are also more boss creatures this time, which are a lot tougher to beat than in previous games. Inevitably you will be bitten, slashed and maimed by these vicious abominations, but you can heal yourself with the first aid sprays and herbs that are scattered around the place.

As with all survival movies, such as Alien and Jurassic Park, the main objective is simple - to escape with your head still attached to your body. However, escape proves not to be straightforward (is it ever?) You find that most of the prison compound is locked or sealed and the clever level design steers you around. Searching rooms reveals objects and keys that can be used to unlock secrets and solve puzzles, to give access to new areas. The puzzles are perfectly balanced so that they are clever enough to give you satisfaction in solving them, but not too obscure that you become completely stuck. The frustrating backtracking of the previous games is still here, but it is more exciting than before because most times you are rewarded with something new and unexpected. The map in your inventory is very useful in showing the areas you are yet to explore and is very much needed.

The story is truly captivating and more like an interactive movie than ever before, with plenty of larger than life characters and a number of very unexpected and dramatic twists and turns. The characters are well-developed and the voice acting and script are superb. As you explore each area you find notes, files and journals and through reading these, the story unfolds. As clues are gathered as to the purpose of the island and the history of the Umbrella corporation, you quickly become determined to find out the truth. The movie scenes that occur at key moments of the game are seamless and each time you think that you've reached the end, a whole new area is discovered. Make no mistake, this game is huge - far bigger than the previous games and will take a long time to play through. You begin play as Claire, but there is another big surprise in store to do with the gameplay that I don't want to spoil. All I can say is that you will be amazed at the ingenuity of the level design and the way everything so neatly fits together.

This game is truly groundbreaking, although the formula itself is well-used, this latest installment breathes new life into the genre with unsurpassed graphics, sound, music, gameplay, story and style. They've created a monster of a game - get it now, before it gets you!

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).