Viral Outbreak Alert

It’s been the subject of rumours for a while but Capcom has finally announced it is working on Resident Evil for the DS. Following what’s become the standard naming convention for DS games, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (you get what they’ve done there?) is a remake of the original Resident Evil PlayStation game for DS. This follows the progress of the STARS police team, lead by two playable characters - Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine - as they investigate the strange goings on a spooky mansion owned by the Umbrella Corporation and uncover a world of undead zombies, undead killer dogs, undead mutant snakes, and various other undead things that want to make you just like them.

Touchscreen elements will feature heavily - certainly in terms of inventory and puzzle solving but also in terms of close combat with a change in the gameplay in which you’ll be able to wield a knife to cut the heads off zombies using your stylus. Previously in Resident Evil games you’ve been blasting zombies with the biggest guns you can find, not getting within hugging distance.

Other interesting rumours include the ability to use the DS microphone (for screaming?) as well as using your stylus to wipe splats of bloods off the screen - presumably to clean up after you’ve been munched by something nasty. And with the game’s release not due until 2006, there’ll be plenty of time for more details, as well as other bodily fluids, to leak out.