Resident Evil

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Lore & Background

The story begins on July 24, 1998, when the Bravo Team of the Raccoon City Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) is sent into the Arklay forest to investigate cannibalistic murders. When contact is lost, Alpha Team—Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, Joseph Frost, Brad Vickers, and captain Albert Wesker—is dispatched. They find Bravo Team's crashed helicopter and pilot Edward Dewey dead. Alpha Team is attacked by ravenous Dobermanns; Joseph is mauled to death, Brad flees in the helicopter, and the survivors take shelter in a mysterious mansion. Inside, the player discovers the mansion was a research facility for Umbrella, a pharmaceutical corporation secretly producing Bio Organic Weapons (B.O.W.s). The cannibalistic murders were caused by an outbreak of the "Tyrant Virus" (t-Virus), which turns infected species into flesh-eating zombies. Wesker is revealed as the mole, an Umbrella employee placed in S.T.A.R.S. to monitor operations. He releases the prototype Tyrant, a B.O.W. super soldier, but is impaled by it and presumed dead; however, he survives and escapes. The survivors escape to a helipad, signal Brad, and destroy the Tyrant with a rocket launcher he drops. Canonically, all four protagonists—Chris, Jill, Barry, and Rebecca—survive, and the mansion is destroyed.

In Their Own Story

The air inside the Spencer Mansion was thick with the smell of decay and old wood. Chris Redfield pressed his back against the cold wall, his breath hitching as the sound of shuffling feet echoed down the corridor. The zombie's guttural moan was a sterile reminder that containment protocols had failed. He tightened his grip on the Beretta M92FS, knowing that behind every door lay something that used to be human but was now driven only by hunger. In this nightmare, survival wasn't about strength; it was about managing limited ammunition and finding ink ribbons to save progress. The electrocardiogram in the inventory screen showed his health depleting, and he knew that combining two herbs could restore it. He had to find the MO disks to save Jill from the holding cell, or she would be presumed dead.

Reader's Guide

In Resident Evil, the player chooses to play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine as they explore the Spencer Mansion. The environment is presented from a third-person perspective using fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, with tank controls for movement. Chris has more health and handles heavy weapons more effectively, while Jill has an increased inventory capacity of 8 slots (compared to Chris's 6) and starts with a lockpick that opens several locked doors. Both characters begin with only a survival knife and a Beretta M92FS. Limited ammunition is scattered throughout the mansion, preventing the player from killing everything. Health is shown on an electrocardiogram and can be restored using herbs and first aid sprays. Items can be deposited in item boxes found in safe rooms, and typewriters let the player use ink ribbons to save progress. Certain items are needed to solve puzzles and open new areas. Each character has a supporting partner—Rebecca Chambers for Chris, Barry Burton for Jill—whose survival depends on the player's actions, leading to different endings. The game was ported to Sega Saturn, Windows, and Nintendo DS. Its sequel, Resident Evil 2, was released in 1998. Both the game's remake and prequel were released on GameCube in 2002.

Did You Know?

• Resident Evil was conceived by producer Tokuro Fujiwara, inspired by the limitations on his 1989 horror game Sweet Home.
• The game went through several redesigns: first as a Super NES game in 1993, then a fully 3D first-person PlayStation game in 1994, and finally a third-person game.
• By December 1997, Resident Evil had sold approximately 2.75 million copies worldwide.
• The idea of limited ammunition was inspired by the MSX port of the game Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress, according to scenario writer Kenichi Iwao.
• The game is credited with returning zombies to popular culture, leading to a renewed interest in zombie films by the 2000s.