'Raccoon City: a remote mountain community suddenly besieged by a rash of grisly murders encroaching upon it from the surrounding forest. Bizarre reports start to spread, describing attacks from vicious creatures, some human...some not. Victims are apparently eaten. At the epicenter of these deaths is a dark, secluded mansion belonging to the mysterious Umbrella Corporation. For years umbrella has labored within the mansion, unwatched, ostensibly conducting benign genetic research.
'Deployed to investigate the strange goings-on is the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad (S.T.A.R.S.), an unusual paramilitary response unit boasting an eclectic assortment of mission specialists: roguish Chris Redfield, former cat burglar Jill Valentine, dead-eye Barry Burton, and the enigmatic team leader, Albert Wesker. Together with the other S.T.A.R.S. operatives, they have a good reason to believe they're ready for anything. But what unfolds as the S.T.A.R.S. penetrate the mansion's long-locked doors is terror beyond their worst nightmares: creatures that defy the laws of life and death-the result of forbidden experiments gone disastrously wrong. Behind it all is a conspiracy so vast in its scope and so insidious in its agenda that the S.T.A.R.S. will be betrayed from within to ensure that the world never learns Umbrella's secret. And if any survive...they may well come to envy those who did not.'
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy is the retelling of the story of the very first Resident Evil game, with veteran 'geek' writer Stephani Perry stepping in to try and make the game work as a novel.
The book was originally published in 1998, the same year as the second game in the series. It's quite clear early on in the book that despite being written as official novelisations of the games, the books that Perry would write can no longer be seen as accurate parts of the Resident Evil lore, as new elements introduced to the narrative, and decisions made regarding what characters do around the events of the game contradict things that would eventually happen in the rest of the Resident Evil franchise. Despite this, if taken as a separate entity, ones that create a new branch of the franchise universe the series of novels are incredibly entertaining and enjoyable.
This first book begins before the events of the game, giving readers a small insight into STARS member Jill Valentine, as she tries to rush from her home in the sleepy suburbs to the police station in the centre of the city to attend the latest briefing about the 'cannibal killers' that are causing woe for the people of Raccoon. We get to learn a little about her past, that she was trained as a cat burglar by her father, but chose to switch from a life of crime to law enforcement following her fathers arrest and him being sent to prison. This insight is something of a surprise as there's no indication in the games that Jill has a criminal past, but I guess it's how Perry chose to expand upon the 'master of unlocking' line in the original game.
We also learn that Jill has something of a personal connection to the case, as two of the missing children, Priscilla and Becky McGee, lived close to her, and that the two girls had befriended her in that way that children do when they discover a cool adult. Having known the girls, having let them play in her front yard more than once, we see that Jill has a determination and drive to find them and bring those responsible for the deaths to justice.
Despite the main narrative being split between Jill and Chris, the other playable character from the game, we don't really get to know Chris in the way that we do with Jill here. There's not a huge amount of background information given about him, and I can't help but wonder if their might have been more in the book that was cut at a late stage due to his sister being featured in the second game released the same year.
Once the STARS arrive at the mansion setting of the game things become much more interesting, and we begin to see how difficult a translation the story must have been for Perry. Unlike Resident Evil 2, which does offer players a narrative where both playable scenarios work together, the first game did not. It was either Jill's story or Chris' story. This just wouldn't work for the novelisation, however, and Perry has the difficult job of not only translating repetitive hallway walking into an engaging narrative, but also has to figure out how to two leads stories can play out without the two characters meeting, and with them both getting to be heroes.
For the most part, this actually works very well. Both characters get the chance to shine, and iconic moments from each of their scenarios play out on the page as they did in the game. The age of the books does show here a few times, as like in the original game there's no mention or hint that Rebecca went through her own separate adventure before those of this book. The end of the book also seemingly kills off Albert Wesker for good, although this also happened in the games and was later retconned away, but these are small quibbles that only the most die hard fan will care about, and even then most will just let it go and enjoy the story.
The biggest chance in the narrative is the introduction of the mysterious Trent, a man that appears before the team leaves for the Raccoon forest to give Jill information on the mansion. There's not much explanation given here as to who Trent is, or why he's helping Jill, but this is the beginning of a new plot element that Perry would work into the rest of the series as her story progressed, especially in those entries that don't rely on existing source material to tell their story.
There are times that Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy feels a little shaky, when it seems schlocky and a bit stupid, but it's a twenty year old adaptation of a cheesy horror game that wasn't made with the level of love and affection that the series has now. It's good for what it is, though, and if you want a fun little book to fill some time with and you're a fan of the franchise you're sure to get some enjoyment out of it, even if its just chuckling as you remember of cheesy and bad that first game actually was. Plus the series was reprinted with some gorgeous new covers by Titan Books, so the collection looks absolutely gorgeous on a shelf together.
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