Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Encyclopedia
Resident Evil: Dead Aim, known as in Japan, is the fourth release in a series of light gun shooter
video games by Capcom
. It is also the first in the franchise to feature first-person shooting
alongside the third-person
movement seen in its predecessors in the Resident Evil series. It was developed by Capcom's Production Studio 3 and could be released for the PlayStation 2
as the company's then-effective exclusivity contract with Nintendo
pertained only to numbered entries in the series.
when aiming and firing a weapon, with a dot in the center of the screen to help the player aim. It is one of the few Resident Evil games that allows the player to move while aiming, and the game also supports the PS2 light gun
.
called Raccoon City was destroyed when a mutagenic viral weapon known as the "t-virus" was leaked into the nearby Arklay Mountains in July 1998, followed by the release of the t-virus into the sewers of Raccoon City itself in September of the same year. The resulting incident forced the United States government to destroy Raccoon City via surgical missile strike after most of the population was infected with the leaked viral strains, becoming zombies. Although the Umbrella Corporation was implicated in the incident and severely pressured by outside influences to confess their crimes and abort their research, they refused to do so, conducting further research into the strains in clandestine, secluded laboratories. When a large amount of a recently developed hybrid viral agent known as the "G virus" is stolen from the Umbrella Pharmaceuticals Development Center in Paris by a former Umbrella researcher, Bruce McGivern is sent in by the U.S. government to retrieve the virus and neutralize the threat.
This game begins somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
on board an Umbrella-owned luxury ocean liner, the "Spencer Rain" in September 2002. All personnel on board have been infected with the t-virus stolen by former researcher Morpheus Duvall. The player assumes control of Bruce McGivern, a member of the Anti-Umbrella Pursuit Investigation Team, a US government task force devoted to investigating and preventing the illegal activities of the Umbrella Corporation. Unlike the previous two Gun Survivor titles in the Resident Evil universe, this game features navigation from a third-person perspective as the player moves the character around to explore the environment and avoid encroaching threats. Combat is still undertaken in first-person view.
The story also features Fong Ling, a Chinese agent for the Ministry of State Security. Ling is ordered to infiltrate the hijacked vessel in the Atlantic Ocean
in order to eliminate Morpheus and obtain the G virus. Initially apathetic towards the presence of a rival operative, Ling must ultimately utilize Bruce's combat prowess in order to survive their precarious situation.
The 2005 crossover game Namco x Capcom
featured Bruce and Ling as playable characters.
Light gun shooter
Light gun shooter, also called light gun game or simply gun game, is a shooter video game genre in which the primary design element is aiming and shooting with a gun-shaped controller. Light gun shooters revolve around the protagonist shooting targets, either antagonists or inanimate objects...
video games by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
. It is also the first in the franchise to feature first-person shooting
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
alongside the third-person
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
movement seen in its predecessors in the Resident Evil series. It was developed by Capcom's Production Studio 3 and could be released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
as the company's then-effective exclusivity contract with Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
pertained only to numbered entries in the series.
Gameplay
Dead Aim uses a third-person view when moving, but switches to a first-person viewFirst person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
when aiming and firing a weapon, with a dot in the center of the screen to help the player aim. It is one of the few Resident Evil games that allows the player to move while aiming, and the game also supports the PS2 light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
.
Story
A mid-western town in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
called Raccoon City was destroyed when a mutagenic viral weapon known as the "t-virus" was leaked into the nearby Arklay Mountains in July 1998, followed by the release of the t-virus into the sewers of Raccoon City itself in September of the same year. The resulting incident forced the United States government to destroy Raccoon City via surgical missile strike after most of the population was infected with the leaked viral strains, becoming zombies. Although the Umbrella Corporation was implicated in the incident and severely pressured by outside influences to confess their crimes and abort their research, they refused to do so, conducting further research into the strains in clandestine, secluded laboratories. When a large amount of a recently developed hybrid viral agent known as the "G virus" is stolen from the Umbrella Pharmaceuticals Development Center in Paris by a former Umbrella researcher, Bruce McGivern is sent in by the U.S. government to retrieve the virus and neutralize the threat.
This game begins somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
on board an Umbrella-owned luxury ocean liner, the "Spencer Rain" in September 2002. All personnel on board have been infected with the t-virus stolen by former researcher Morpheus Duvall. The player assumes control of Bruce McGivern, a member of the Anti-Umbrella Pursuit Investigation Team, a US government task force devoted to investigating and preventing the illegal activities of the Umbrella Corporation. Unlike the previous two Gun Survivor titles in the Resident Evil universe, this game features navigation from a third-person perspective as the player moves the character around to explore the environment and avoid encroaching threats. Combat is still undertaken in first-person view.
The story also features Fong Ling, a Chinese agent for the Ministry of State Security. Ling is ordered to infiltrate the hijacked vessel in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
in order to eliminate Morpheus and obtain the G virus. Initially apathetic towards the presence of a rival operative, Ling must ultimately utilize Bruce's combat prowess in order to survive their precarious situation.
Characters
- Bruce McGivern (voiced by Raj RamayyaRaj RamayyaRaj Ramayya is a Session Singer/Composer and part of the duo Beautiful Losers with guitarist Brett Boyd. Ramayya was born in Saskatchewan, and is of Indian heritage...
) - A member of the U.S. StratcomUnited States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense . The Command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors, who oversee the command's operationally...
, McGivern is cocky and brash, and has a tendency to adopt a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy, with little regard for the consequences following his actions. This has often left him in many hostile situations, although in the end, he always somehow comes out on top. McGivern's mission is to destroy the plans of Morpheus Duvall and retrieve a t-virus sample.
- Fong Ling - (voiced by Claire O'Connor) - A Chinese intelligence agent employed by the Ministry of State Security, Fong is infamous for her cold and stoic demeanor. Upon learning of her brother's involvement in anti-government activism, Fong arrested him. Following his arrest, Fong's brother was swiftly executed, although she has never questioned the actions of her boss and remains absolutely loyal, stopping at nothing to accomplish her objectives.
- Morpheus D. Duvall (voiced by Angus Waycott) - A former member of the Umbrella Corporation's Arklay Research Team, Morpheus was made the company's scapegoatScapegoatScapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
following the initial catastrophic incident which occurred at the Arklay Research Facility in 1998, resulting in the deaths of numerous Umbrella employees and the demise of Raccoon City's elite law enforcement unit, the STARS. Morpheus, bitter and vengeful, distanced himself from the company, becoming mentally unstable in the process. He and an unspecified team of colleagues then stole samples of the "t" and "tG" viruses and hijacked the "Spencer Rain." Insane and ruthless, Morpheus infected everybody aboard the cruiser, including his entire team. He is utterly obsessed with beauty and grace, his ultimate ambition being to create a beautiful and elegant world by destroying the cold and ugly world which exists today. Being megalomaniaMegalomaniaMegalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
cal and highly narcissisticNarcissismNarcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
, Morpheus believes himself to be a portrait of perfect beauty and has undergone plastic surgery to maintain his youthful appearance. After being seriously wounded by Ling, Duvall injects himself with the tG virus.
Reception
Dead Aim had a mixed reception. GameSpot gave it a 6.4 saying "It's not the best Resident Evil game, and it isn't a stellar light-gun game, but Dead Aim creates an interesting, unique hybrid of the two, and that is a commendable feat". IGN gave it a 6.9 praising it as the best in the Gun Survivor series, having stellar graphics, but criticized it for its cheesy dialogue and unoriginal premise. X-Play gave the game a 4/5.The 2005 crossover game Namco x Capcom
Namco x Capcom
is an action RPG/tactical RPG hybrid game for the PlayStation 2 console, developed by Monolith Soft and featuring characters from games produced by companies Namco and Capcom.- Storyline :...
featured Bruce and Ling as playable characters.