Resident Evil has always been one of my favourite games franchises. It did survival horror exactly how it was meant to be done, and one of my fondest Video Game memories is being scared to death as a young'un playing Resident Evil 2 far before I was legally supposed to. Every game in the series has been a great example of how to pull off a genuinely terrifying feeling of isolation and despair, coupled with moments of tension and action.
The fourth game in the series saw a move to a more 'action' orientated approach, doing away with Zombies in favour of a parasite-infected cult, but it still kept the Resident Evil values of true survival horror. When Resident Evil 5 was released in 2009, it split fans directly down the middle as it seemed to fuse the previous gameplay with more of a gears of war style third person shooter. The result was a game void of any real atmosphere, and the bizzare decision to partner you up with an AI companion completely destroyed the feeling of isolation that made the previous entries in the series so effective. One could only hope that the game publishers would learn from this mistake, and when number 6 was released, it would be a real return to what made this the most successful horror gaming franchise alongside Silent Hill.
Unfortunately, all the reviews to date suggest the game has moved even further in the opposte direction, and as a result has just released the first game in the main 'canon' series with genuinely poor reviews:
http://uk.gamespot.com/resident-evil-6/videos/video-review-resident-evil-6-6397436/?tag=Topslot;ResidentEvil6Review;ResidentEvil6Review
The problem of course is, that by moving to this more 'action' orientated approach, Capcom subsequently made the games more accessible, whilst making them more generic. The majority of gamers in their early teens don't want to deal with running around a deserted landascape, conserving ammunition and barely avoiding the grasp of slow moving zombies. No, if the success of games such as 'call of duty' have proven anything its that gamers these days are impatient and unwilling to accept games being truly difficult.
The majority of single player campaigns in any game these days overpower the player in almost every way by equiping you with the most poweful guns known to man, coupled with a ridiculously forgiving, automatically regenerating, health bar and autosaving your progress every twenty seconds effectively removing death as an obstacle. Sure, It removes frustrations that were born from having to backtrack to route out a health pack, or having to re-do a long sequence because the save points were too far apart but at the same time, the fear of failure that existed in games gone by that made finishing a level rewarding, has also disappeared.
Damn you 'Call of Duty generation' for ruining my favourite franchise. Resident Evil was not the first, and it won't be the last.
Damn you 'Call of Duty generation'
posted on 2/10/12
Great article mr OP, couldnt agree more.
Go buy Demon Souls if you havent already - should restore a little faith in the industry.
Ezio Tyke you are also very correct sir, but give it another few years and bedroom programming will be back with a bang, we are on the verge of AAA class games being produced by small companies/individuals with fantastic new tools coming out removing a lot of the expensive time consuming thing that made games all about the money
posted on 2/10/12
Have to say I agree. Lots of little things make huge differences. I.E ammo- its everywhere in the new games, before you'd be happy with a few bullets every once in a while.
The new demo was awful. I did enjoy 5 a bit though as my girlfriend loved to play with me. I remember how terrified she was when the dude with the chainsaw turned up
The series isn't what it was and never will be again. If its a survival horror you want- I suggest 'the last of us' once its out. Looks solid, and made by naughty dog too- can't lose
posted on 3/10/12
If its a survival horror you want- I suggest 'the last of us' once its out. Looks solid, and made by naughty dog too- can't lose
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Had to laugh at that as you have reccomended a game to Xbox users thats going to be a PS3 exclusive
posted on 3/10/12
Facked it up
The 4th game gave me the willies
posted on 3/10/12
Dead Space are awesome games, capture that Res evil vibe/isolation
posted on 3/10/12
Alan wake wasn't too bad, got a little repetitive half way through though, on nightmare mode you didn't get checkpoints or hardly had any ammo.
posted on 3/10/12
For survival horror, Alan wake was superb.I actually thought the opposite of you though greg,, that the opening half was repetetive, and then it turned brilliant in the second half with ridiculous set peices and a fantastic pacing to the story.
posted on 3/10/12
I dislike set pieces with a passion in gaming. The end.
posted on 4/10/12
I don't really understand how you can 'hate' set pieces in games?
A set peice refers to anything that happens outside of the normal rules of a game, as a one time event, i.e they add variety and they allow something unexpected to happen.
An effective survival horror game couldn't exist without set pieces, as these add unexpected moments. What made Resident Evil 3 so tense, for example, was the knowledge that the Nemesis could appear at any moment as his entrances were all set peices, and didn't apply to the normal rules of the game, for example he could break down doors or smash through windows.
posted on 4/10/12
It's very simple really. While adding "variety" as you put it they are basically putting the gamer on a rail and saying "sure we gave you the freedom to do what you like up to now but you have to do this now. Oh and by the way we're completely limiting your controls and movement/vision."
The Nemesis entrance is not a set piece IMO. It's a cut scene. A set piece is something akin to the latest Ghost Recon when you, at one point, rescue a hostage from a bin and have to guide him to safety while taking down an army basically. The set piece repeats exactly the same way as it is impossible to complete the first few times yet you are powerless to help or see what your teammates are struggling with as you are given 20% of a field of vision. Which also means your teammates are struggling with the same thing.
That's why I dislike them with a passion.