Resident Evil Rant Part One: The Fall of the Resident Evil Games

Still the greatest Resident Evil monster ever!

This post will be something entirely different, it won't be a review like they usually are. Instead I will be talking about a game series that was one of my most favourite, emphasis on was: Resident Evil.

Back when I was younger Resident Evil was by far the greatest survival horror games ever, even better than the Silent Hill series and that is only because Silent Hill can be a bit slow sometimes. There was other elements in the games to be sure like action but those were mostly saved for the bosses or more powerful enemies. I can remember long hours I would spend playing Resident Evil 2 and 3, the setting of Raccoon City was far the perfect setting and full of enemies, human and inhuman alike.
The tone and atmosphere for both was great as well; for Resident Evil 2 there was something quite creepy about the RPD station and the laboratory beyond and in 3 constant moaning of the zombies while your out in the street filled you with a scene of unease. Also every monster in it really gave you a sense of dread whenever you fought one, whether they were the normal zombies and zombie animals to the more sinister Tyrants such as the unstoppable Nemesis!

However there were other games besides these two; two others that surpassed them and were the perfect survival horror games ever - Resident Evil Remake and 0. As much fun as the original Resident Evil was, Remake improved absolutely everything about it and even added a lot more to them and 0 used Remake as an example and became a great prequel to the series. I am confident in saying that there have been no other survival horror games that have beaten these two.

Of course there are some other Resident Evil games worth mentioning; Code Veronica X was a great addition on the PS2, with its main setting on a prison island being just as great as Raccoon City. I admit whenever I played CVX in the dark when I was younger it did make me jump in some places. Also I know they had some mixed reviews but I also think the two Outbreak games deserve a spot in the great Resident Evil titles. They could have improved on a lot of things e.g. made them one big long game instead of splitting it in to episodes, but at least it still had a feeling of classic Resident Evil.

Now to refer back to the title of this rant; The Fall of Resident Evil, I will of course have to mention when it started to fall from grace. I know this next game was well received and has it share of fans but there is no deny that Resident Evil began to lose it with the release of Resident Evil 4.

Don't get me wrong Resident Evil 4 was a great game however I have always considered it more of an action game more than anything rather than a proper Resident Evil. Sure the Ganados and the bosses were interesting and difficult enough with their high intelligence but they just did not have the same impact as zombies. Also when the Ganados started to use guns near the end of the game I just really hated them then because the game just turned in to shooter, they might as well have been human enemies. However one thing that really annoyed me was the introduction of a shop were you can buy weapons and that enemies drop lots of ammunition. The biggest thrill of the classic Resident Evils was never knowing when or were you get your next gun and conserving ammo because it was scarce. With the shop and money that you can collect I never felt worried at all about my inventory like the last game.

Next entry of the Resident Evil was number 5 and this was an even bigger disappointment than 4 which I will talk about now. Frist though I just want to say that the racism surrounding this game was just so stupid, its a GAME that was set in Africa that was taken over by parasites, it had nothing to do with real life! The reasons I dislike this game was first to do with the fact that everything was a redo of 4, from the enemies to the chainsaw wielding guy to the shop at the end of the chapters it was just all the same, it even went to enemies using guns near the end as well. Next was the crappy A.I. that they gave Sheva and the fact that you can't play the game alone. I know in 4 you have to protect Ashley but she mostly stays out of the way and leaves at certain points but Sheva was always there and just so damn annoying that I just couldn't play it anymore. Also I just could not stand the story or the characters, Sheva being the main reason I hate them. She was only there in a hope to ease the racism and I just did not get why she stayed with Chris, her backstory was generic and weak and she had no impact on the story at all. Instead of her it should have been Rebecca, Barry or Carlos, at least they fit in to the overal story already and with Wesker in general, she just did not deserve to be there especially since this game was also the end of the iconic Wesker.

Lastly we have Resident Evil 6 and if I am honest I did like this game a hell of a lot more than 4 and 6. It still had a lot of problems like chapters, the enemies in Chris and Jakes and quick time events but it did try to return to some of its roots. Weapons can now only be found not bought, Leon's campaign actually had zombies in it and it worked really well with the over the shoulder mode (which you can now move in) and you have multiple campaigns like the previous games. However the best campaign in this was Leon's (even though chapter three is a complete waste of time) because of the zombies because I just did not like the J'avo in Chris and Jakes, even though some of their mutations were interesting. It should have been zombies for all campaigns and I know it could have worked, for example I know Chris has better weapons than the others but maybe he could have had massive crowds of zombies to deal with and he still could have had lots of B.O.W as well, like some of the J'avo mutations but as separate enemies. Also I did not like that Leon and Chris was in this because  again they have completely ignored the other characters.

There you have it, I believe 4, 5 and 6 were the reasons Resident Evil has fallen from grace however I do know from looking on the internet that I am not the only one who feels this way. I have heard that there is a seventh Resident Evil in development but it is a little too late, the damage is done from 4, 5 and 6 and there is no forgetting it. There is only one thing the series can do now; reboot.

That is it for now but I will be back for a part two were I go over the points of why a reboot is the best option and how to make it a great Resident Evil game again. Also I know I did not go in to so much detail on the classic Resident Evils like 2 and 3 and why I think they are the best but I might save that for a review on them.