When I first bought this game, I didn't really look up much about it and expected it to be some kind of spin-off side story that would probably not be great, but I'd just gotten a DS and figured I'd give it a try. I was weirdly pleasantly surprised to find that instead of a mediocre side story game, Deadly Silence takes after the original release of Resident Evil 1 (as in, not REmake) and adds mechanics to changes things to suit the DS format. On the one hand, it was my first time revisiting something like the original game in a about two decades, something that—despite my love for REmake—I was subconsciously yearning for. But for another, it's a surprisingly good way to play the game and while some of the new mechanics are not that great, they still bring something fresh to the experience. When I finally started it up late one night, planning to just try out the beginning, I ended up blowing through over half the game until like 2am without a second thought.

Though Deadly Silence does it in different ways, it gets right some of the core things REmake did: don't fix what isn't broken and add rather than modify. The vast majority of the game remains almost exactly the same. There are some items moved around a bit, though with one exception, these aren't major changes. Most of the differences are found in new mechanics. Some of the environment interactions now involve touchscreen-based minigames. Most of these don't really add much and feel more like a tech demo than anything else, though a couple require blowing into the mic which was a little annoying. The other main addition is a first person knife-based mini-game which randomly occurs sometimes when you enter certain rooms. Enemies will come at the screen and you have to slash with the knife using the touchscreen. This mini-game is admittedly a little silly and makes the world of the mansion feel far more overrun with monsters in a way that I feel paradoxically takes away from the more subtle dread of the classic mansion. While I do still find it kind of stupidly fun, I think for the tonal reasons, it on balance takes away bit more than it adds. I thus think this is a great way to replay the original, but wouldn't recommend it for a first-time play unless the original is unavailable.

All that aside, one of the main things I like about the game is that for whatever reason, I just find the handheld format works well for playing this game. I don't really have any problem playing older games, especially ones that I played when they initially came out, but it is always a little weird playing old games with such low resolution on a modern HD big-screen TV. Don't get me wrong, on balance the PSN version still looks and sounds much better, but the handhold format feels weirdly appropriate to the look of the game and there's just something so cozy about it that made it easy for me to get hooked all over again. I also can't overstate how nice it is to have your map, equipped weapon, ammo, and health displayed on the upper screen rather than having to pause the game to check them periodically. While the new mechanics are a little hit-or-miss, I appreciated them as a change of pace that never got in the way. Plus, if you just hate them, the game features a "classic" mode that removes them so you can just play the original game. While in truth, much of my praise stems primarily from how much I enjoy the underlying game, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this version and highly recommend trying it if you're a fan of the original looking for a fresh way to revisit the series origin.

My other Resident Evil reviews:

• Resident Evil (1996) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 2 (1998) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 (1999) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil: Survivor - ★★★
• Resident Evil: Survivor 2 – Code Veronica - ★★
• Resident Evil Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil Gaiden - ★★
• Resident Evil 0 - ★★★
• Resident Evil: Outbreak - ★★★
• Resident Evil Dead Aim - ★★★
• Resident Evil 2 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 VR - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 Remake - ★★★★★

I thought that a DS port of the original Resident Evil seemed like a strange and unappealing way to play a game that was already clunky and difficult to engage with, but this port turned out to be the best way to play the old PS1 classic. Having loved RE1 on the Playstation, and considering the REmake of that game diversifies itself enough to not invalidate the original, this DS re-do is similarly diverse enough to offer a unique experience. The addition of some quality of life changes including 180-turn and quick-reload , as well as the ability to skip cutscenes and door animations, make this the best playing version of RE1 in my opinion.

There are some big changes in this version included in the 'Rebirth' mode. This mode includes more enemies (ammo and health galore), rearranged items, new puzzles that use the DSs various features (blow out the candles, five-finger fillet), a new boss encounter and new first-person knife fights that randomly occur when you enter rooms. These changes make for an exciting new experience for those familiar with the original game and make this a RE game you should not miss out on if you are a fan of the PS1 era RE games. If you're not interested in the new gameplay features, you can play a classic mode that is just the original game and you'll get the fastest version of RE Director's Cut out there.

This game is fun as heck!