With Resident Evil 6 being released last year to somewhat bad reviews, it left me thinking- how has this once great, genre defining game fallen so far from grace? The latest offerings have left many fans feeling frustrated at the drastic direction the game has went in recent years. Resident Evil 6 had some great ideas though some were poorly executed. They had shoe horned too many past faces into this game and trying to tie the series together and although it was nice to see, it became kind of messy.
To really give the series a boot up the proverbial, Capcom would need to make some changes to their next installment to make Resident Evil 7 a truly memorable experience.
5. Zombies… Just Zombies
Resident Evil 4 first introduced us to Las Plagas- thus not pitting you against actual, shambling walkers. These “infected” were considerably more intelligent, being able to go about their daily lives and attacking with some degree of teamwork and cooperation. This worked, however, it just didn’t feel the same as previous entries.
Granted that Resident Evil 6 reintroduced the zombie- albeit only in Leon’s campaign, it still wasn’t enough to save us from the annoying J’avo, enemies who could attack with machetes and machine guns. Capcom need to go back to basics and bring the bog standard zombie back.
4. Solo Campaigns
The majority of Resident Evil 4 was a solo fare, right up until you had to escort Ashley for a section or two- but it was Resident Evil 5 that had the player lumbered with a God awful AI partner, thus kick starting the trend of making Resident Evil a nightmare- for all the wrong reasons.
Part of the fear of the original was going at it alone with no backup, giving a sense of hopelessness and isolation. All too often in Resident Evil 6 you ended up struggling against a horde of enemies- only for you to be bailed out by your partner. Very anti-climatic to say the least.
3. Scary Settings
When you think of the original games, the vision of the Spencer Mansion, deserted streets of Raccoon City and the abandoned RPD Station all spring to mind. These areas that were once full of life- only to become truly terrifying, late at night and filled with the undead.
Having Africa as a setting in Resident Evil 5 was just too daft. How are you supposed to get scared while running around in broad daylight? Granted, Capcom were to introduce a feature were you suffered disorientation when entering a dimly lit room- but since this didn’t appear in the final game made the bright lights seem inappropriate. The same goes for Resident Evil 6- the hustle and bustle of a busy Tokyo in the middle of an outbreak really didn’t do it for me.
2. Less Action, More Horror
Remember in the originals when you had to make every shot count? Hoarding all the magnum ammo you could find? Where you had about twenty shells for the shotgun to last the whole course of the game? This may just seem like a distant memory to the majority of Resident Evil veterans- who will remember the times of running out and resorting to your knife.
The series seems to have forgotten its roots by having ammo lying around every corner and dropping from every bad guy. It really takes away from the atmosphere. The same goes for allowing every playable character to be a master in martial arts. Seeing Leon or Chris going all Jackie Chan on the bad guys just feels so wrong, and not one of them good wrongs where it almost feels right.
1. Bring Back Barry Burton
That’s right, good old Barry- remembered by many for delivering the infamous “Jill sandwich” line. He had a great story and motivation for doing what he done, pretty deep for being a supporting character. Oh and he was totally bad ass with his huge .45 strapped to his chest.
His last “official” involvement with the series was at the end of Resident Evil 3 when he appeared in a chopper to help Jill and Carlos escape Raccoon City. Don’t lie- if you are a fan of the series you probably screamed as loud as I did. He was a playable character in the non-canon Resident Evil: Gaiden for the Gameboy and as a DLC character in Resident Evil 5′s Mercenaries mode. Come on Capcom, listen to us- bring back Barry!
~danielmcmurtry/whatculture.com
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