Parasite Eve (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.2 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Greg Kasavin
• Reviewed on: 04/28/1998
• Updated on: 05/05/2000
• Released on: 09/09/1998
• Originally published on GameSpot: Parasite Eve (PlayStation) Review

Parasite Eve spans six days, over the course of which the human race's continued existence shall be called into question. A fateful night at the opera house triggers in one woman the power to cause all those around her to incinerate as the mitochondria in their bloodstream generate staggering quantities of energy, and in another woman an innate resistance to the deadly effects. You assume the role of that woman, the young New York cop Aya Brea, as she comes to realize that the fate of humanity will depend upon her actions. As Square Soft's biggest release since Final Fantasy VII, Parasite Eve offers high production values and an intriguing storyline in what Square Soft has dubbed "the cinematic RPG." Its gameplay blends action and horror with traditional RPG elements to create a game that is all too easily described as the marriage of Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil. But even as Parasite Eve takes up many of the best aspects of both these games, so does it bring along many of their shortcomings.

True to its claims, Parasite Eve often looks sleek, inspired, and beautiful - like a good film. The scenery throughout the game is composed of still 3D-rendered images of mostly authentic New York locales, and the quality and detail of these various settings is astounding. Whether you're searching through Central Park in the middle of the night or rummaging through the slums early in the morning, Parasite Eve looks consistently real. The background art looks so good that you will often find yourself admiring your surroundings instead of forging onward in your quest. The various polygonal characters aren't quite as sharp as the backdrops, but their motions and actions during plot sequences are expressive and believable. As Aya, you will have to shoot your way past scores of monsters, all of which are your typical mutated urban animal variety and thence not particularly imposing. And though some of the boss monsters are both creepy and fearsome, like a particularly large and ill-tempered three-headed hound, for the most part your opposition will fail to impress. Even a discriminating connoisseur of computer-generated cinematics would be awestruck at several animated cutscenes over the course of Parasite Eve. While the cinematic sequences are never particularly long, they are frequent and almost always amazing - all the more so toward the end of the game. Among other things, you'll witness breathtaking panoramic shots of New York City, grisly deaths or even grislier metamorphoses, and even some good old-fashioned military intervention. Though there's hardly enough CG here to make up a feature-length film, there's plenty of the stuff to keep you going all the way through. It's integrated seamlessly into the game and makes key plot sequences much more dramatic and the entire game more memorable overall.

Meanwhile, Parasite Eve isn't much to speak highly of where sound is concerned. Much like Final Fantasy VII before it, there is no speech to be heard anywhere in the game. Unfortunately, while the text-driven plot felt appropriate in Final Fantasy VII, the brevity of the story, scarcity of characters, and the real-world setting all dictate that Parasite Eve would have seriously benefited from full speech. It took Parasite Eve half a year to reach the audience of the country where the game takes place, but that time was spent merely translating the short script rather than adding speech, let alone Dual Shock force-feedback support or anything else. At least the English script reads well enough.

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