Looking back at.....Resident Evil!

Resident Evil is one of those games I would´ve never played if I didn´t have a friend who was a fan of survival horror games. I had never heard of Resident Evil and I probably wouldn´t have played it if that friend of mine didn´t shoved that game in my hands and convinced me to play it. I was never much of a zombie person and I can´t say I´m a zombie person now, I like the Walking Dead and I´ve played several zombie games but I wouldn´t call myself a fan of that. So what makes Resident Evil so special? I think the story in the first game is just a creepy and interesting way to introduce new players to an awesome game, because you slowly discover what went wrong in the mansion and by solving the puzzles you make your way deeper and deeper into that creepy mansion. It´s the way the Resident Evil movie should´ve been, in that mansion or at least something similar. Resident Evil is a mixture of action and scare tactics, making you feel uncomfortable and yet pushing you to go further into the creepy environment. This is something that seems to be lacking in some of the other Resident Evil games but I wouldn´t call them bad. Games change sometimes and that´s not always a bad thing, but I do miss those mansion days when things didn´t have to be fancy just creepy.


Resident Evil is about a group of people (S.T.A.R.S.) that were looking for their colleagues that went missing around there when they were looking for people that went missing in that area. Ambushed by strange dogs they seek refuge in a mansion and then discover that things were probably better outside, they split up (rookie mistake in a horror game or movie) and then have to find their own way through the mansion. You can play as Chris, the strong guy that can take more damage, or Jill, the smart girl that can carry more items and unlock certain locked doors, and try to survive the horrors of the mansion. What made Resident Evil unforgettable for me are characters like Wesker (probably one of my favourite characters in a game) and also the creepy surroundings in the mansion with all the traps. The remake (on the Gamecube) made Resident Evil even more fun with very nice graphics and extra content in the game. Strange zombies that came back to life (or however you´d call that in a zombie situation) when you killed them, unless you shot them in the head or burned them. Of course that makes sense but in the old Resident Evil you just had to shoot them several times, I guess it become a bit more creepy when a dead enemy suddenly isn´t that dead anymore when you walk passed it.


The sequels are amazing, some are better than others and I guess we all have our favourites. Some love the second game, with Leon and Claire, which makes sense in a way. Still I can´t help but see the first game as my favourite, the characters and the environment are great, it´s just the way I´d like to see a game and I hope they could make something similar because as much fun as it can be to run around in a city I think it´s more creepy to be in an old mansion full of monsters and traps. In Resident Evil 4 they brought the creepy factor back in that village with those strange people, ok not really zombies but to be honest I´m ok with that. Resident Evil Revelations brings some more creepy moments, trapped on a ship with monsters is a lot closer to being creepy than Resident Evil 5 or 6. Still those are also good games, they´re just a bit too much focused on action instead of making you scared. I´ve heard stories of rebooting the Resident Evil games, I can´t say that I´d hate that idea but I´d like to move on with the characters we have. I don´t mind action in a survival horror game, hopefully the developers will focus a bit more on making the game a bit more scary. The way Silent Hill did that in the first couple of games, now that´s what makes a good game great!