Resident Evil: Director's Cut

The survival horror genre has a clear starting point, and it bears the name Resident Evil. The 1997 Director's Cut is an expanded version of the original with which Capcom, in 1996, defined the rules that still hold today: an abandoned mansion full of zombies, a claustrophobic atmosphere, ingenious puzzles and a constant shortage of both ammunition and healing. Every bullet is precious, every opening of a door tense.

The player takes on one of the members of the S.T.A.R.S. team — Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine — trapped in a monstrous manor house near Raccoon City. Static cameras in the style of film direction, pre-rendered backgrounds and an unforgettable sense of helplessness create tension that mere action cannot replace. The Director's Cut added a reworked layout of enemies and items along with a new difficulty mode, so even veterans got a reason to return.

For collectors of retro games this is a foundation stone — the roots of the whole vast series, from which the beloved installments RE2 and RE3 also spring. Anyone who wants to understand where modern horror in games came from has to start right here, in the corridors where a zombie turns toward the sound of your footsteps.