Hello dear readers, welcome once again to game room. Today I'll finally be concluding something I started months ago and have been desperately meaning to finish- my wonderful retrospective of the Resident Evil franchise.
These will probably contain spoilers, so if you’ve never played any of the Resident Evil games, go play them right now. And then come back.
Part 4
Next up was the legendary Resident Evil 4, which turned the
entire series on its head and altered the core concept of what a Resident Evil game
could be. It proceeded to throw out the window many elements of the
survival horror genre in favor of more action-oriented sequences and flashy
gameplay; gone was the subtle, creeping and atmospheric experience of its
predecessors and in its place was something that felt a little more like Rambo
mixed with Dawn of the Dead. There are certainly some horror elements sprinkled
in which I’ll discuss shortly, but for the most part it is a flat out action
game.
The story follows fan-favorite Leon Kennedy in his first
starring role since the second game (if you don’t count Gaiden, at least). Now
working for the U.S. government, he is dispatched on a top secret mission to
locate and rescue the president’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by a
mysterious group somewhere in Europe. However, it turns out this group is
actually a highly dangerous cult bent on releasing an ancient parasite called
“Las Plagas” that turns people into mindless slaves and also happens to create
horrific monsters as well. Also thrown into the mix are some old and not quite
dead friends named Albert Wesker and Ada Wong, who are after a sample of the
Plagas in order to revive the now-defunct Umbrella Corporation.
RE4 definitely did something right in bringing back Leon, one of the most popular characters of the entire series.
The graphics are well enough, though not quite as on point
as those for the remake or 0, which were on the same console. The biggest
changes RE4 brought to the table however were not so much in the stylistic
changes, but in the alterations made to the gameplay. The fixed-camera,
tank-control schema of the all the previous games (save Survivor, Dead Aim and
Gaiden) was abandoned entirely and in its place was a new over-the-shoulder 3rd
person POV. There’s also a good deal of diversity in the gameplay, from the
various boss battles to certain action sequences in which you’ll have to input
the correct button combination that flashes quickly on the screen before you
die in some horrible way. It does quite well for the game, but it was most
definitely a departure from what we expected out of a game with the title
“Resident Evil”. And I think that sums up my general feelings toward RE4- don’t
get me wrong, it’s still a great, fun game that I’d play over many, many other
games any day, but it just represents
the point (in my mind, anyway) where Resident Evil slowly started sliding away
from its survival horror roots and changing into something different.
Again, none of this is to say that I don’t get any enjoyment
out of playing it, or that it even doesn’t have some pretty tense moments
reminiscent of the good old survival horror days. For example, one part that
sticks out in my mind the most is the part where you find yourself in the bottom
of a dungeon area, playing as the defenseless Ashley in order to solve a
puzzle. Upon doing so, you’ll be immediately ambushed by giant, axe-wielding
suits of armor that had previously been standing still as you fiddled with the
puzzle- a pretty scary moment. Another moment is when you must go up against
the regenerators, which are big, gangly B.O.W.s that can actually stretch their
arms out to grab you from far away…AND can regenerate their limbs unless you
destroy specific parasites embedded in their bodies by using an infrared scope
on the sniper rifle. The buildup to the first encounter with one of these nasty
guys is done very well, once again evoking the survival horror spirit of the
original games.
The regenerator encounters definitely injected some much needed horror into the game, which was much appreciated by me.
In sum, I do really enjoy RE4 for what it is, though I have
to raise an eyebrow when people claim that it’s the best of the entire
franchise. To each their own I suppose, but in my humble opinion, it doesn’t
even come close to original classics.
As I mentioned previously, RE4 represents the point at which
the series started really changing into something different. And if RE4 were
the link somewhere between with elements of both survival horror and straight
up action, then Resident Evil 5 didn’t even really try to be anything more than
a purely action-driven shooter.
The first Resident Evil game on the next-gen Xbox
360/Playstation 3 consoles, RE5 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor not
only in being largely driven by action, but in bringing back fan-favorite
characters for a 3rd-person POV adventure. The story follows Chris
Redfield, now working for an anti-bioterrorism group called the BSAA (hell if I
know what it stands for and I’m too lazy to look it up). He’s received intel on
a possible bio-terrorist organization in Africa, and travels there to meet
another agent named Sheva Alomar in investigating. And here is where RE5 once
again changed things up, and to my knowledge, all games in the series have
followed suit since then: there’s a huge emphasis placed on co-op play in this
game. There’s literally no option for single player- you’ll either be playing
with someone else or an AI partner. And that’s fine, I understand that this is
the direction all games are pretty much heading in, but it still didn’t really
sit well with a Luddite like me.
Not to mention, there just wasn’t that much of a reason to
make it an essential feature of the gameplay. Nonetheless, the game is very
similar to RE4 gameplay-wise, as well as with the various action sequences and
weapon upgrade system and whatnot. In that sense, it is a fun game. But then
you have the more ridiculous moments like Jill, who has suddenly (and
obviously, I might add) been shoe-horned into the plot, being mind-controlled
by some kind of gizmo attached to her chest. Oh, and she also has super powers
too for no reason. Also, the new virus (now called Ouroboros or something) can
turn anything into a gigantic, pulsating mound of flesh with spikes and tentacles.
And Chris punches a boulder into lava.
Yup, this is part where RE5 jumped the shark.
Look, I know the series has never really been grounded in
realism since the start, and even the concept of Mr. X in 2 was kind of pushing
the limits to what I might feasibly accept, but RE5 just took it to a
completely different level. I liken it the recent string of Fast & Furious
sequels- it’s basically like a big, flashy cartoon and you just have to take it
for what it is. And for the record, that doesn’t really make either of them any
more artistically credible.
Anyway, I do enjoy RE5, much the same way that I enjoy RE4.
However, I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if it was called
something else other than Resident Evil. When I think “Resident Evil,” I think
of the classics. I think of zombies, T-Virus mutant monsters, and most of all,
horror. It’s like comparing the original Night of the Living Dead to a movie
like World War Z.
RE6, however, I think can wholeheartedly say that I just did
not enjoy whatsoever. 6 arrived far past the point of me having hope that the
series would go back to what made it so great in the good old days, but despite
that I still decided to pick it up out of sheer curiosity, and also because I
had just bought a PS3 and the only game I had for it was Metal Gear Solid 4 and
I wanted to feel more like I was justified in buying it.
Anyway, this will honestly be a bit of a half-assed review
because I don't really remember much of it, but that's just it- I really didn't
think any of it was all that memorable whatsoever. So the story is split into
three different acts, each of which following a different set of protagonists:
Leon and uh…a girl I don’t remember and once again am too lazy to look up,
Chris and his military partner Piers, and, get ready for this one, Wesker’s son
Jake and Sherry Birkin. Yes, that annoying little girl from the second game that we all forgot about now
all grown up . Now, it may just be me, but I really felt like they were scraping the
bottom of the barrel when they started rolling out long forgotten characters
and long lost son clichés like that. I mean, hell, why don’t we bring back Ark
Thompson from Survivor while we’re at it?
The plot for all of the characters converges around Ada
Wong, the mysterious spy woman who should’ve just stayed dead in 2 but keeps
getting caught up in the plot of every game, and a new virus that has been
developed called the…C-Virus. Yep, just oozes creativity. The previous two
games at least got a little original with it, what with the introduction of Las
Plagas and Ouroboros, but again, I felt like they were getting pretty desperate
at this point.
The primary thing that made me hate this game much more than
5 was not the action-driven gameplay, not the absurd plot, but the controls-
unlike the previous games to this point, I thought the controls were dreadfully
bad. It’s one thing to have a mediocre game, but when the basic
playability of it is compromised by poor controls, that really leaves a bad
taste in your mouth from the get-go.
Another thing I remember hating was the fact that every boss
is basically Godzilla now. Leon’s act concludes with him and Helena (is that
her name? I think so…) fighting what basically amounts to a virus-infected
tyrannosaurus. And during the entire fight, all I could think about was how
intimidating the tyrant seemed in the very first game and how much I felt like
this really cheapened everything about the earlier games in the series.
Where's the goat? Wait..I'm thinking of something else...
Remember facing off against the tyrant for the first time?
Or Mr. X, or Nemesis, or any of the big bad intimidating monsters from the
first few games? Those were truly tense and terrifying moments, but when you
are going up against something that’s the size of the entire building while it
throws jeeps at you…ugh. It all just seemed so uninspired. The same goes for
much of the other scenarios, where you’ll also have to do battle with other
huge, ridiculous monsters.
If the remake represented the top of the mountain when the
series reached its pinnacle, then RE6 would be the dirt at the bottom, as far
as I’m concerned. Up until this point, I still actually enjoyed the games I was
playing- I can’t say the same for this one, though. Anyway, so that about
leaves me where I am now as far as Resident Evil is concerned. I haven’t played
the newest ones in the series, namely Operation: Raccoon City and Revelations 1
and 2, and I don’t have a whole lot of interest in them.
As I’ve mentioned previously, a remake of 2 is apparently in
the works right now, but I think it’s one of those things where I will believe
it when I see it. However, with the recent release of the remake in HD for the
newest generation of consoles, I’m remaining hopeful for it and I would most
definitely be one of the first people standing in line to pick it up. And if
they start bringing the series back to its humble roots, maybe then my interest
will be rekindled a bit too.
Until then, I know I’ll continue to enjoy the original games
for many years to come. Resident Evil will always be one of my favorite video
game franchises of all time and one that I will have fond memories of forever,
if this four-part retrospective didn’t attest to that fact enough already.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and long live Resident Evil!
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