Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy



Resident Evil:The Umbrella Conspiracy is a novelization of the first Resident Evil game, and was written by author S.D. Perry as the first book in her series of Resident Evil novels. The novel combines Jill's and Chris scenarios into one narrative and features all five of the main characters (including Barry, Rebecca, Joseph and Brad).

The book also takes liberty with the original source materials; the most notable difference being the inclusion of an original character named Trent, an insider from Umbrella who provides Jill with information about the mansion prior to the events of the mansion incident. Since the book was written a few years before the GameCube remake, the novelization lacks several plot changes and added details, including the presence of Lisa Trevor in the mansion. Interestingly enough, however, it adds George Trevor's diary to the story, which was later officially added in the remake.

Another notable difference in the novels is moving the location of Raccoon City from the Midwest to Pennsylvania, said to be apparently about an hour's drive from New York City.

Differences between game and book
Though the book stays true to the game through the majority of the book, there are a few instances where the book goes a little different than expected. For instance, in the game, Chris doesn't have his gun when arriving in the mansion, but he doesn't lose his gun in the book. Additionally, Jill, Barry, Chris, and Wesker make it to the mansion together, rather than Chris or Barry disappearing depending on the character the player chooses. Another is that Chris finds Forest's remains, and gives Forests' handgun to Rebecca (there is no mention of the grenade launcher), as opposed to Jill. The main characters also tend to stick together more often than in the game, such as Chris and Rebecca. Jill tends to be alone more often than the others, but with her interactions with Barry, she begins to suspect things are wrong. Wesker's reasons for disappearing, as well as his conversations with Barry to coerce him to help are further explained.

More differences readers may note is between the traps and puzzles in the Spencer Estate being worked around or ignored completely than the games allowed for progression. The only weapons that are found by the characters and used, is the shotgun by Jill, where she is saved by Barry after triggering a trap. Weapons such as the Grenade Launcher, and Flamethrower are never found by the characters, nor mentioned. The Rocket Launcher however is used during the final battle by Chris. Additionally, Jill and Barry do not fight the T-002 in the lab, Wesker is knocked unconscious by Barry after his traitorous plans are revealed, and is only encountered by the four remaining survivors (Chris, Jill, Barry, and Rebecca) while awaiting Brad's arrival. Wesker's "death" is also revealed to have been by the hands of the Chimeras while activating the self-destruct sequence, rather than the T-002. Also, he is not seen in the rest of the series, which shows(or at least heavily implies) that he actually died permanently. This was what happened in Jill's best ending in the original game.