Resident Evil needs to hit the reset button

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the need to re-introduce horror into the Resident Evil franchise, which has recently become more of a third-person shooter than a survival horror. I agree but before the series can go forward it needs to get back to its roots.

You see, when I was growing up, Resident Evil games were my favourite (Tomb Raider was up there too, but mainly because I was 14 and she had breasts). I loved the darkness, the characters, and I loved how real it felt. Sure, Raccoon City had its quirks but overall it felt like any small city, which made the whole game more visceral and much more terrifying?

And now?

Well, now we have Wesker (a goddamn supervillain who moves like superman on speed), giant underground bases, plans for world domination and blah blah blah. Even the characters have changed from a rookie cop struggling to survive to a James Bond, Max Payne hybrid.

Oh yeah and let’s not forget that it’s just not scary anymore, quite the opposite in fact, now you are so damn powerful that the game is nothing more than a Gears of War power trip.

Believe it or not, that’s not the worst part.

What the hell is going on?

The Resident Evil plot is now so complicated, and so tangled that it’s impossible to take seriously. One moment I am supposed to believe that this is a game set in the real world and then in the next I am confronted with human clones and vast underground complexes which make the Pentagon look like a doll’s house.

Do you remember the origins of Resident Evil? It was one company that had gone too far, certain elements of the government had supported them in making a weapon and slowly things had gotten out of hand, resulting in the horrors of Raccoon City. It wasn’t too simple, but it wasn’t ridiculously complicated either; there was government corruption, corporate greed, and human sacrifice all rolled together. It was interesting without being pretentious and most importantly, it wasn’t ridiculous.

So where did it all go wrong?

Well it’s a sad fact that the series’ greatest success was also its greatest failure. Do you remember how awesome Resident Evil 4 was, how awesome the setting was, how terrifying the Los Ganados villagers were, or how freaky it was the first time a parasite burst out of a dude’s head? That game was fantastic, but it also sowed the seeds of failure.