Resurrection

Flipping death the finger with PlayStation’s comeback kings

RESIDENT EVIL

Albert Wesker doesn’t really ‘do’ death… at least not until Resi 5. The extra-evil face of Umbrella appears to bite the big one in the original Resident Evil, when the Tyrant skewers the STARS agent like a shades-sporting trout. In reality, Al had injected a special virus into his veins to resuscitate himself. The big faker.

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS

Wander is a selfish berk. Rather than mourn his dead love Mono like a normal person, the taciturn warrior takes her corpse to a forbidden land, makes a pact with a demon, then murders the hell out of 16 innocent giants to resurrect his girlfriend. Pity the resulting act transforms him into a horned baby. Don’t ask.

OKAMI

When it comes to deity-like lupines, death just won’t stick. Amaterasu certainly isn’t your average wolf. Instead, she’s both a sun goddess and the reincarnation of Shiranui: a fellow white wolf who battled the demon Orochi 100 years prior. If all wolves go to heaven, they certainly don’t stay there for long.

MASS EFFECT 2

If you’re Commander Shepard, death is but a temporary inconvenience. In the opening act of BioWare’s sci-fi sequel, Shep chokes to death in the cold blackness of space after The Normandy is attacked. Thankfully, Cerberus recovers the body two years later, and swiftly brings the hero back to Collector-kicking life.

MEDIEVIL

Sir Daniel Fortesque has a hell of a lot more success as a skeleton than he enjoyed when he was a squishy, blood-and-guts coward. Felled by the first arrow fired in a battle, PlayStation’s iconic undead knight is accidentally resurrected a century after his death when his arch-nemesis casts a spell that goes awry.

TEKKEN 5: DARK RESURRECTION

What are those wacky Mishimas like, eh? Jinpachi meets his maker after his son Heihachi steals control of his company, leaving the big man to starve in a prison beneath a Mishima compound. He’s then resurrected by a strange force, and gains incredible powers, before bankrolling the fifth King Of Iron Fist tournament.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION: UNDEAD NIGHTMARE

It may not be canon, but John Marston returns as an undead outlaw once you finish this excellent expansion. (Lord, do we ever wish this was canon.) He may have been riddled with lead by government agents, yet this spin-off gives the cowboy one more chance to saddle up… albeit in zombie form.

HITMAN: BLOOD MONEY

You could never accuse 47 of being late to his own funeral… because he’s not dead when the service begins. After seemingly being double-crossed and injected with poison by his handler, we find out it was actually a sedative. Cue the assassin reviving at his wake and killing all the mourners.

METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY

Existing as the sentient bicep of your former subordinate totally counts as ‘resurrection’, right? After biting it courtesy of the FoxDie virus in MGS1, Liquid Snake resurfaces in the form of Ocelot’s possessed arm. Said haunted appendage even sinks MGS2’s legendary tanker.