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*Note: The Resident Evil Outbreak games did feature Co-op play, but this focuses on the MAIN and REAL Resident Evil games, OK?

Capcom, you remember that old mansion you indulged gamers into back in 1996? Sure, your actors sucked, but  you revamped that problem in the Resident Evil remake for the GameCube. You defined the genre (what we know now as) survival-horror.

Then, in 2005, you gave this overwhelming series a serious face-lift with the birth of Resident Evil 4. "Zombies are too slow" is the way you put it (in a EGM interview). It was fine with me.

Then came along Resident Evil 5. Yeah, it was fun a game; it was the first RE to let you play Co-op with two players (besides the Outbreak games).

But what gives? It just didn't feel like Resident Evil, you know?

Enemies with rocket launchers and guns — did you really believe you were playing the fifth installment of the horror saga, or a rip-off of Gears of War? Everyone wanted to finally dethrone Wesker in the final battle (that worked). Where, however, were the memorable bosses that made Resident Evil 2 an instant classic? Tedious enemies (who apparently were rejected-failed experiments) and a giant bat was simply ludicrous; it lacked the monsters that we miss, like the hunters and the vent-crawling chimeras.

Action. That is all you cared about.

Some people loved it, but being a fan since the original (that came out on the PS1), it felt like you spat in my face. Forget horror or scary, lets go guns-blazing in daylight. Though Resident Evil 4 focused more on action as well, it still shared its variety of puzzles and freakish creatures. And the battles made it a joy ride.


Now Capcom is on the urge to start from scratch with its next installment: Resident Evil: Revelations for the Nintendo 3DS.

With a brief trailer and details — although narrow — are rumored to bring back elements from the early games of the franchise. It supposedly takes place between Resident Evil 4 (and 5), so calling it Resident Evil 4.5, although inappropriate, seems fitting.

It is too early to judge, but the game seems to appear in a much darker tone — something that the fifth game was absurdly missing.

If Capcom wants to bring back that old-school  "tone" with the new 3DS title, I can think of some aspects that can resurrect the horror-sensation that the fifth annal didn't deliver.

Setting

Dark. Eerie. It adds suspense. With the exception of the boat and later chapters of RE5, daylight was the game's worst presentation. It looked like Just Cause 2, but in Africa. Night time not only tensions-up the horror, it also makes it more difficult. That, my friend, is a good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creatures

You see, I scared the living s@#! out of you. It was nice to see the return of the lickers in RE5, but they seemed much less intimidating compared to their debut in RE2 (you remember the licker scene? Epic).

Take a look at RE4 — regenerators scared the living hell out of everyone. And even better, new creatures in the Resident Evil remake were introduced; such as the Crimson Heads and Lisa Trevor. This added much more thrill to the adventure and made you change your strategy when killing zombies.

 

Bosses

Many forms. More battles. Not blobs. More blobs. And then Wesker.The Tyrant, Birkin, Neptune — you meet all of these big boys under the most unexpected circumstances. Some may have kept reoccurring in the happening; but many evolved, became tougher, and whupped candy-ass.

The train, the lab, the water tank; all were unforgettable. I can't help but mention the Nemesis as well. It was a nice original idea that a mutated Tyrant chased you through the entire game in RE3. Cool beans!

 

 

 

 

Scenarios

Sherry. You sucked. Leon, instead, met Ada Wong.Whether playing as Jill or Chris (or Leon and Claire), each play-through offered a distinct yet similar experience. You encountered different characters and different sides of the main plot. Co-op was certainly a fun new factor in RE5, yet you were forced to play in the same predicament every time.

Instead of having the two main protagonists available, they could add more characters in the story mode. Plots and twists were unfolded alternatively, and items and weapons were accessed disparate ways. This picture was taking from the Chronicle series, but the events were still was placed within RE2.

 

 

Multiple Endings

You see Jill...there's only one reason I saved you. Oh, you're sleeping. Un-zip*Save Jill or disregard saving anyone but yourself.

The horrible endings gave you the persona of a selfish son of a bitch, but at least there were different ways and decisions to man-handle as you came  closer to the end of the games.

The endings mostly represented absents of characters on the first game, but the second consisted of different scenarios (Claire A and Leon B) , and involved a superior (and real) climax. The final fights with the Tyrant and William Birkin were marvelous.

More is better, right?

 

So what are your thoughts on the Resident Evil series and the destiny of Revelations? Would you like to see the series swamp back to the horror-sort, or a more action-packed Rambo?