The impact of Resident Evil 4 on the Survival Horror Genre (Video)

[Heretic]

I think the key phrase is survival horror. When playing re5 or 6 in no way was it remotely scary nor did I have any doubt i would beat it easily. The whole premise behind the early resident games, even early silent hill games and a couple of others was the tension the game had with the atmosphere and limited ammo and not feeling like some overpowered superman. I think resident evil 6 dropped the ball totally, and had it not been titled resident evil then that would have served it better. Now, resident evil is more sci-fi action than than survival horror at this point. Hopefully they will go back to its survival horror roots and keep the gameplay mechanics the series currently has.

 

[Liquid]

I feel like blaming "RE4" is a cop out.

Let's be real here, the OG "Resident Evil" games controlled like a drunk person driving a tank. And the shooting wasn't much better. The focus was on being scary, and everything else was secondary.

Well, as time went on, technology got better. So did game play. So "RE4" was just the same exact games, but with better control/shooting. We had the same argument with "Mass Effect" 1 and 2. People complained Bioware turned the 2nd game into a shooter. No, the first game was supposed to be a shooter and Bioware didn't know what the fukk they were doing.

Anyway, "RE4" is so great because it struck the perfect balance between the horror of the old games and the more precise controls of the new gen. Since then Capcom has moved farther and farther into the "new gen" with more action, more elaborate controls, action set pieces, an AI partner....basically the technology and gameplay kept advancing, but they left the horror behind. Yeah the first step was "RE4" but people can't blame it, as if they're too stupid to come up with new ways to scare people. You don't see them doing it in any other genre of gaming...."well, that's about as good as it can possibly get, it's all down hill from here".

Fred.

The controls were definitely tough to get used to, but its the way the games are structured that is the real problem here. The controls and tech were inevitably going to get better. RE4 put you in complete control, but not to a point in where you are running around with a partner sharing inventory...I think it was the perfect balance. The people who complained about ME2 were ridiculous as the shooting in ME1 was ass. ME2 is a continuation of the franchise and got better as a result of BioWare refining what they were doing.

The action in the Resident Evil games is definitely better along with the controls, but RE4 and the success it had made many publishers trying to copy its formula and in turned ruined a great genre with a loyal following. I wouldn't call RE4 a refinement of the series like ME2 was when compared to part 1, more of a bold new direction they took...was successful and have completely abandoned what made the original series great. That is the disappointing part of it.

Anyone remember "Fatal Frame" can tell you that we will probably never see another HUGE budget title focused on something like that to scare people. It's hard to blame them with these budgets increasing every gen, but its sad that we are not getting them anymore. Silent Hill has turned to absolute shyt and its a damn shame because they hit their stride with Part 2 and 3. They started focusing on action with "Silent Hill 4: The Room" and went even further downhill from there. Hell the Silent Hill game on the vita should not even be called Silent Hill as far as I'm concerned.

Back on impact - I am disappointed because I thought this would have been a clearly positive trend going forward when RE4 was released on the gamecube, but nobody can really say it has been. Dead Space is the exception....It would be nice to get new games that scare us more often.

 

[NZA]

Hmm I never thought about "The Last Of Us" being the RE4 of this generation, but you might have a point if that AI is as good as it appears to be. Did you ever play Dead Space? I think you would like that game.

I will take for example RE and RE2 as Chewy mentioned. You were searching all over the mansion for ink ribbons, ammo, chests to store things in, searching for a radio signal to contact other team members, looking for keys and forced to make decisions on who and when to dodge enemies because you never had all the resources at your disposal.

Remember Chris? Dude had 6 pockets in RE and you had to use that for...Herbs, Weapons, Ammo, First Aid Spray, Ink Ribbons, etc. shyt got real when you were low on Ammo and were in a spot that had hunters around.

as far as last of us, i chose that as the last chance for a game that makes a noticable leap, but i could say that watchdogs literally looked next gen, but i dont believe it can run on existing consoles, even if they claim it could. i bet they move that to ps4/720.

i only have minimal experience with deadspace. scary, but in a world that i would prefer for another genre.

RE2 would have been my favorite of all survival horrors if the controls were smoother.

 

[Kodie]

share your thoughts on this as a new gen is about to hit.

RE4 didn't kill traditional, big budget, survivor horrors. Everybody and their mom trying to recapture the magic of RE, RE2 and Silent Hill did. By the time Code Veronica came out, everyone was tired of it. Nobody seems to remember this. And CV was good!

The other thing to note is that survival horrors aren't the only thing that have gotten more actiony. Big budget games these days are all becoming more homogenous. This thread is proof as to why that's a good strategy. Most of the posters are in here saying how much better it is now and that's the majority of people buying games. But that's why I've bought fewer games like RE6 and more games like Amnesia (which I'm really glad they mentioned btw). Indie and low budget games are far more experimental and I spend a lot more of my time on them now and less time on big budget games.

Thankfully, so many avenues for games has made this the best time to be a gamer. There's something out there for everyone.

 

[Dwolf]

Did you even watch the video?

It was mostly because the player was weaker with fewer weapon options AND nobody else to watch your back like you can now. I do agree that gaming overall is better these days, but the survival horror genre? Hell nah

That wasn't really a comment on the video. Just sharing my opinion.

 

[Dwolf]

as far as last of us, i chose that as the last chance for a game that makes a noticable leap, but i could say that watchdogs literally looked next gen, but i dont believe it can run on existing consoles, even if they claim it could. i bet they move that to ps4/720.

i only have minimal experience with deadspace. scary, but in a world that i would prefer for another genre.

RE2 would have been my favorite of all survival horrors if the controls were smoother.

i remeber seeing that and being really impressed. Then the main character just starting having a shootout in the middle of the street, left me with the face.

 

[Vilified not verified]

fukk a survival horror RE4 shytted on all previous Resident Evils something fierce and birthed the greatness that is Gears Of War

 

[Dr.HannibalLecter]

Don't know if it ruined the genre, but there was only one great survival horror game after RE4 (the first Dead Space).

 

[spliz]

So basically, "back in my day games were better"?

Yup and its the truth...

 

[Tetris v2.0]

A lot of great points here and I dont have much to add but to say that Resident Evil Revelations for 3DS was great and captured the "survival" aspects quite well. Big budget titles and franchises are becoming more and more "epic" but also simplified and linear. Maybe its because attention spans are shorter, maybe its because its easier to program, maybe because "grandiose" seems to equate to higher sales? I really dont know, but I miss games with depth

 

[Kartel13]

Glad I'm not a gamer. I was able to enjoy re5 and re6 for what they were worth. And I love re4.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

RE4 changed ALL 3rd person games....period. The tension, the atmosphere, enemies, all of the above.

Lots of action with still that feeling of classic RE helplessness.

 

[Why-Fi]

Don't know if it ruined the genre, but there was only one great survival horror game after RE4 (the first Dead Space).

i think a case can be made for alan wake...

 

[Dr.HannibalLecter]

i think a case can be made for alan wake...

Alan Wake was far from great. I was disappointed.

 

[MouseTeeth]

I like Resident Evil 2/Code Veronica the best I loved RE4 but I was way more a fan of the isolation, puzzle solving, backtracking,ammo conservation, and overall creepy factor present in the earlier RE's. I love how RE4 fixed the shytty controls/camera angles but I think the originals were better survival horror games.