Resident Evil is arguably the king of survival horror. Capcom has seen to it that it stands out as one of their flagship titles and has earned a legendary status. But as the series has progressed fans are starting to have concerns that the series has lost its way. Here are some of the ways that Resident Evil seems to have lost its roots and how it can get them back.
Where Are the Scares?
Resident Evil was famous for its loading screen which featured a door opening. Every now and then something would pop out from the door and scare the crap out of you. That bit of tension was enough to keep gamers on edge throughout the whole ordeal. The element of surprise that the monsters and zombies had over you made the tension so thick you could cut it with the handle end of a butter knife. But as of late the scares haven’t been as frequent. We’ve instead been left with a series that expects outnumbering the player and body horror to be enough. It just doesn’t scare like it used to.
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Upping the Action
Resident Evil 4 was the absolute peak for Resident Evil in terms of being scary. You felt constantly outgunned and out-manned and that’s how gamers liked it. Ammo and health were scarce so you had to conserve your resources as much as possible. But something else happened with Resident Evil 4. The game became much more action oriented. This worked in that particular installment’s favor, but when Resident Evil 5 hit fans started to get nervous. The game no longer seemed like a horror game but rather an action game with a bit of blood on it. In other words, it was starting to resemble the Resident Evil movies. The action focus is something that is extremely prevalent in the Resident Evil 6 trailers. Sure it looks like Capcom is trying to put some scares back in it, but for the most part this looks like a regular shooter with some Resident Evil style zombies thrown in.
Not All is Lost
The fact is that video game franchises grow and change. Sometimes for the best (like Fallout 3) and sometimes for the worst (every Final Fantasy since FFX). Resident Evil still remains a horror game, but fans are gong to have to accept that it’s become an action-horror title as opposed to survival horror. Think of it in the same vein as the Evil Dead trilogy. It starts out as total horror, and eventually the player becomes empowered. Do not mourn for Resident Evil, it’s simply evolving much like the T-Virus.
