With more than 10 million copies sold world wide since the it was first released on the PlayStation more than 12 years ago, the Resident Evil series redefined third person shooters/action/puzzle/horror games and virtually created a new genre in the form of what is now called “horror-survival ” games.

Although the game play has evolved along with the graphics as the years drifted by, the core of the game remains the same; stay alive while being confronted with hordes of “zombies” and use as little ammunition as possible and lay great waste and ruin later on as you unlock or level up all the good weapons .

This landmark game franchise has graced all next gen platforms and has provided gamers with an intense gut-wrenching game play involving guns with limited ammunition, wall-hugging moves, zombie dogs, mixing green and red herbs, rocket launchers, and the some most memorable campy dialogues ever to assault your gaming ears. Master lock pickers everywhere, rejoice.

Now comes Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition for the PlayStation 3. Yes, down loadable content ( DLC ) is available online for those who already have a copy of Resident Evil 5. But for rabid fans of the series who number in the millions , nothing less than a brand new copy of the game with everything new in it will do.

Included in the package are some added bonuses not included in the “original” RE5. Some memorable characters in the Resident Evil pantheon such as Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton can be played in the Mercenaries Reunion Mode. Also included are a host of expected items such as new outfits and new playable scenes or more aptly, Resident Evil 5 expansion episodes.

Desperate Escape is one of the expansion episodes and ( drum roll, please ) the Mansion ( yes, RE fans THE MANSION! ) or what looks exactly like it is one of those added bonuses included in the Gold Edition. How can you say no to that?

Elvis and Graceland, Resident Evil and The Mansion. Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield back to back like it was in the beginning in the place where it all began, and this time they don’t look like blocky-pixelated Lego men with very bad texture mapping and polygon tearing. Resident Evil fans everywhere, rejoice.

You may download bits and pieces of the upgrades or buy the whole package. Will it be worth buying another copy of the game? For Resident Evil aficionados, the answer to that is beyond the obvious.

If you are new to the series because you have been hiding under a rock for last 10 years or you were too young to play or even remember the first time this game came out , then you MUST buy this game. There are a billion and one shooters out there, but there is only one Resident Evil and Resident Evil 5 is by far the best the series has to offer.