Ah Resident Evil. You did so much right. The original game created such a flawlessly terrifying atmosphere, and the music was a big part of that.
So considering that the original Resident Evil had such an awesome soundtrack, you might be surprised to learn of the existence of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut DualShock ver, which – among other things – boasted a fucking awful re-done score.
The stand out gem has to be the music that plays when you’re in the basement of Spencer Mansion. For comparison, I’m leaving the original composition below first. Have a listen.
Okay, so it might not have aged perfectly… but it still evokes a sense of dread, right?
Now, have a listen to the DualShock version, because I’m struggling to understand how anyone could have listened to the above and come up with what’s below.
Wow. Just… wow. But maybe we need to back up a little bit. For starters, what the hell is Resident Evil: Director’s Cut DualShock ver?
Resident Evil Director’s Cut was released in 1997 as compensation to gamers for the delayed release of Resident Evil 2. It included remixed challenges, a demo of Resi 2 and a few other things. All very cool.
Resident Evil: Director’s Cut DualShock ver was then released in Japan and the US for the PlayStation in 1998 to install the vibration function that was developed for Sony’s DualShock controllers.
Unfortunately, it was this version of the game that included the piss poor re-done score. The soundtrack is credited as having been composed by Mamoru Samuragouchi, though it was later revealed to have been ghostwritten by a colleague named Takashi Niigaki.
At any rate, the intention of the remixed soundtrack was apparently to evoke a more traditional horror vibe. I think we can all agree that whoever wrote it, they failed it spectacularly.
Here are just a few of the best reactions in the YouTube comment section for the piece:
And my own personal favourite, by a wide margin:
Now, I’ll leave you with a fun way to spend your evening. Download the Resident Evil 7 demo, or simply watch some footage if you can’t download it from the PSN.
Then, stick it on mute, put the DualShock score on a loop, and enjoy. Doot doot, old friends. Doot doot.
Resident Evil 7 will launch for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 24, 2017 – hopefully with a better soundtrack.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.