Gaming Editor Fergal Carroll tells us why he won’t be purchasing the latest Resi installment.
Resident Evil is one of the most recognisable video game franchises still around today. With nine main entries and ten spin offs, it has sold over fifty million units since its inception. It has had five live action movies with a sixth on the way (all of a very questionable repute) that have earned just over $875m at the box office. As well as countless novels, two CGI movies, comics and merchandise all dedicated to expanding the universe and giving fans that bit more. Needless to say, you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t at least heard the name Resident Evil. The release of Resident Evil 6, the latest game in the series has been very divisive in the gaming community and after playing the demo through a handful of times I know which side I fall on. To say I don’t like it is too petty, let me explain why.
The series has come a long way since it first appeared on the PSOne in 1996. The Resident Evil of the 90s is almost unrecognisable from what Capcom released earlier this month. The first time that I played Resident Evil (or ‘President Evil’ as I thought it was called) I was almost paralysed with fear, granted I was about six years old and there is no way in hell that I should have ever been playing it (but hey, what are friends for?). Capcom created a unique experience with the original Resi. They did a wonderful job of creating a sense of tension and fear as you wandered, practically defenceless (as that knife was bloody useless), from room to room in that creepy old mansion. From the foreboding creek of the door as you opened it, to that feeling that there was always something terrible just around the corner, Capcom did fantastic job. Sure, it might have had a few faults (especially those tank like controls which persisted through the series) but all this combined to make one of the best survival horror games ever. Period. I have gone back numerous times since I first played it and still haven’t mustered up the courage to finish it.
Resi 2, the only game of the original three that I ever finished (and don’t give me that look, I am - I mean was - a big scaredy cat!), and 3 both came and went. Capcom toying with the formula along the way. But as the series progressed, it slowly edged away from what it was and into what it is today. Capcom added more action and diluted the scares with each new game. I will freely admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world of the first three games but I respected them for what they were. True survival horror games.
In 2005, Capcom created what was then and still is in my mind the perfect Resi experience. Resident Evil 4 was the game I had been waiting years for. Capcom did an excellent job of balancing the ‘gun toting badass’ feeling with the panic, scares and distress of the previous games. Resident Evil had evolved but kept the essence of the series close at heart. It was no longer survival horror, it was now action horror. I remember giving a randomer all my pennies and €5 to buy me a copy when I was on a school tour (as I was still under 18 at the time of its release) - it was the best five bucks I ever spent. A breathtaking campaign combined with the exceptional ‘Mercenaries’ mode saw Resi 4 gain critical acclaim from... well...from everywhere!
This, my friends, was a mistake. While Resident Evil 4 will always top lists (until the day I die anyway), it took the franchise in a whole new direction. The problem with this is that Capcom managed to perfect it on their first go. Sadly, there was nowhere to go but down. Resident Evil 5 was a completely competent third person shooter, it added in the only thing that could have possibly made 4 better; co-op, but along the way someone decided to drop the scares and ramp up the action. The Resi name has certain connotations and 5 didn’t live up to them. To be honest I don’t think I got scared once playing it.
Which brings me to the latest incarnation of Resident Evil. Released at the start of October, Resident Evil 6 has garnered widespread criticism for being a broken mess. There really is no excuse considering its budget but aside from technical problems, it isn’t Resident Evil and that is why I won’t be buying it. They have turned it into a fully-fledged action bonanza; Chris’ campaign is less Resident Evil, more Gears of War. I have seen people online try to justify this, saying something along the lines of “Chris and the gang know what the threat is and are taking action against it” or “they aren’t scared any more, they are confronting it”. More like blah blah blah. This is Resident Evil goddammit, if I wanted big set pieces and even bigger explosions I would just watch a Michael Bay movie not the schlockfest that Resi 6 is. Maybe if it was called something else I would give it a more of a chance but if it’s called Resident Evil, I expect Resident Evil. But what do I know? Despite all the criticism that the game has received, it has still sold more than 4.5m copies. I guess I’ll just sit in my room playing Resi 4 until I finally gain the mental strength required to the finish the original.
Images From: Capcom
