RESIDENT EVIL...RACIST?!
RESIDENT EVIL 5 was announced in 2005, and while I'd begun to lose slight interest in video games once again, I just had to get it since part 4 had made such an impression on me. After seeing a TRAILER for the game online in 2007, it looked to be just as entrancing as RE4, but with an awful lot of daytime gameplay. The setting was moved to Africa after the deadly virus linked to the Umbrella Corporation had spread to the dark continent.
The plot concerns Chris Redfield (whom you'll remember from RESIDENT EVIL, RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA X and RESIDENT EVIL 6) being sent to the fictional Kijuju, Africa to find and arrest Ricardo Irving, who has stolen a deadly bio-organic weapon with plans to sell it to interested, and no doubt insidious parties.
After the fourth game, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning after seeing the trailer. Unfortunately, it would be some two years before we'd see the finished product due in no small part to one massive stumbling block that became bigger than the game itself. RESIDENT EVIL 5 came under serious fire akin to a mob zombie attack for alleged racism, which, judging by the rantings of detractors, was thick as molasses as found in a 2007 E3 trailer. In fact, as late as AUGUST OF 2010, a year and a half after it was released in the United States, folks were still going on and on about how racist it was and also about what Capcom was going to do to not make such a careless mistake again. Incredible.
Despite there being black protagonists in the game and black actors and actresses contributing their voices, the sight of the white Chris Redfield shooting down waves of infected black "zombies" (The Ganados in RE4 and Majini here) rubbed certain parties the wrong way; unnecessarily turning a popular game franchise into something political. I guess it's okay to gun down white zombies in the first few games (although there's blacks in some of those, too) and Hispanics in the fourth installment, but a setting populated by predominantly black citizens is off limits. Well, the game does take place in AFRICA. Personally I never saw the trailer as racist. In my view, it's these "better interest groups" who are displaying racial tendencies in cases like this. They're doing nothing to dispel racial tensions, but perpetuating them. That's the only way to keep such an inflammatory scenario alive is to create an issue where one never existed (or exacerbate those that do). In this case, the target is a fucking video game.
An example of this gaming as a political issue, a writer named Tolu Olorunda had this to say in an excerpt from 2008 -- "The Video Game industry is one which has profited immensely from the casualty of black on black hostility. Notable products of its faculty include, 50 CENT: BULLETPROOF, DEF JAM: ICON and GRAND THEFT AUTO This $10 billion market owes the majority of its inspiration to the tragic decisions of young black and brown teenagers..." -- Even when you have black protagonists as your lead characters in a video game (as some of these do) ya still can't win! Oddly enough, some of the actual websites proclaiming RE5 to be racially inclined have removed those posts, showing up as dead links instead.
With that political nonsense out of the way, the game itself is fun, but if you're expecting anything resembling RESIDENT EVIL, you might be disappointed. I have yet to finish it, but do plan to go back to it at some point. I felt more like I was playing a video game version of MAD MAX, but with monsters. Much of what I played took place in broad daylight. It was suitably intense and extremely gruesome and also integrated offline co-op play; which hadn't been seen in the series before.
Still, it's more RAMBO than RESIDENT EVIL. Rife with gun action, thousands of bullets fired, car chases and explosions, it's all rather exciting, but much farther away from the familiar horror machinations than the series as yet seen. However, some could look at this as a natural progression for the franchise while maintaining the revolutionary approach integrated in the mechanics by series creator Mikami in the fourth entry.
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #5: ONIMUSHA
This unique 2001 'Survival Horror' game took Japanese history and wove horror-fantasy elements around them. The plot has depth, yet it's simplistic in this tale of Samanosuke Akechi doing battle with an undead Nobunaga Oda to save Princess Yuki from armies of demonic creatures. There's lots of flashy fighting moves, magic, impressive sound effects and some spooky moments spread out. The game was a huge success which led to the even bigger ONIMUSHA 2: SAMURAI'S DESTINY. Yagyu Jubei is this games main character in addition to a band of other wildly diverse characters you play throughout the game. Occasionally convoluted and drawn out, it's still a fun, if overblown action-fantasy fest. ONIMUSHA 3: DEMON SIEGE from 2004 brought the pain and the scope. A simply amazing game. Samanosuke returns (as does famous Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro) in this bombastic third entry that introduces a time traveling plot device. Actor Jean Reno features in this game as an unlikely ally for Samanosuke against the enormity of the Genma hordes. I never played DAWN OF DREAMS released here in 2006. I would love to see this series get resurrected on the PS3.
RESIDENT EVIL GOES TO THE MOVIES
In 1999, it was announced that Playstation's massive horror hit would become a live-action film under the direction of George Romero, the king of the Undead. Romero was already familiar with the RE series having directed a commercial for Japan's BIOHAZARD 2 (RE2). His version of the film would have followed the original game very closely.
Sadly, the producers didn't like his script. Unfortunately, Paul W. S. Anderson ended up directing the picture from his screenplay. Incidentally, his film deviated a lot from what made the game great. Most of the characters are killed off in a single sequence leaving a few left alive to run and gun against zombies. For whatever reason, the Tyrant was decided against as the main menace. Instead, the Licker, the four legged version of the Hunter from RE2 was now the main monster.
I saw the film twice in the theater because the first time, the sound was seriously screwed up so myself, and everyone else got a free pass for another showing. Needless to say, I disliked it immensely both times. RESIDENT EVIL (2002) was a success which led to more sequels, most of which I avoided.
I saw a portion of RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (2004) when it hit DVD. About the point where they made RE3's Nemesis look like a joke, being beaten up by series regular, Alice, I tuned out and didn't finish the movie. Since then, we've gotten RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION (2007), RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (2010), RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (2012) and next year, we'll likely get RESIDENT EVIL: AD INFINITUM.
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #6: DEAD SPACE
If ever 'Survival Horror' got a shot in the arm, it was by 2008s DEAD SPACE. Not since Playstation's original RE juggernaut from 1996 (not counting the later REmake on GameCube) had their been a game with this level of fear and intensity. In it, the essence of 'Survival Horror' returned in a big way. You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who finds unending horror aboard a mining ship in outer space.
Essentially RESIDENT EVIL in outer space, DEAD SPACE distinguishes itself with some intriguing additions for the maximum in visceral thrills. There's no HUD (Head's Up Display). Instead info like your life bar is visualized via holographic imagery seen on your suit. The ability to target body parts is an ingenious method in dealing with hostile alien lifeforms. There's a distinct lack of high powered weaponry in the traditional sense, so Isaac must use mining tools as his weapons of creature destruction. It's simply a spectacular game all around. DEAD SPACE 2 was released in 2011.
RESIDENT EVIL: BIGGER DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN BETTER
RESIDENT EVIL 6 has just come out earlier this month (October 2nd, 2012) and after the lack of a true feeling of RESIDENT EVILness in the fifth chapter, I was hesitant to pick this up. The gaming bug had bit me again, and I had extra cash burning a hole in my pocket and figured why the hell not? Upon getting home with RE6 (and also the new TWISTED METAL and RESISTANCE 3), I went online to read up on it (something I should have done ahead of time) and found lots and lots of negative reviews. I'd never seen an RE game of the main story arc receive such a low rating before. So I put the game in fearing the worst.
While I've so far played only a small portion of it, it does put the evil back in RESIDENT EVIL and zombies are zombies again (although they do pick up weapons and throw them at you), there's a Fulci styled blood geyser of gaming additions that threatens to derail the whole enterprise instead of keeping it on track.
From the very start, one gets the impression the makers were gunning for the closest to a movie-gaming crossover experience as possible. It's movies, movies, movies crammed with Qick Time Events that often give off the impression they would rather you WATCH RESIDENT EVIL 6 as opposed to actually PLAYING IT. The co-op play returns as does the dark ambiance of those early games. Collecting herbs has now been modified where you have to put them into these tablet things to use them. Fighting game style maneuvers have also been integrated to help out in hairier situations and bullets seem to be in less abundance compared with the last few games.
I've not played enough of it yet, but so far, I'm fairly disappointed with it. It seems to be the most sharply divided amongst fans and critics of the series thus far. Capcom seem genuine in their perseverance in taking the series in new directions to keep it fresh and viable. However, closing the door on the series at this point and starting over from scratch might also be worth thinking about. RESIDENT EVIL has strewn so far away from what made it "Survival Horror", that if it continues on this path, the name itself will need to evolve to keep up with the innumerable changes the various Umbrella Corporation contagions have inflicted on this once mighty franchise.
THE END...?
EVIL GETS AN UPGRADE
When news broke that the very first RE was being remade, I was elated. But that excitement turned to serious concern akin to being the guest of honor at a zombie cook out when it was revealed the series was going to be exclusive to the friggin' Nintendo GameCube. It was pretty easy to cure this melancholic mood, though. I just had to buy a GameCube system. I never cared for Nintendo systems, mostly because they were known mainly for Mario and other kiddie style games (I did like Playstation's CRASH BANDICOOT series, though), which I was never a big fan of.
Later it was revealed that this exclusivity deal was for three titles, one being the next official installment in the franchise. I didn't actually buy the GameCube system till RESIDENT EVIL 4 hit the streets; and when I got the system, I also got the RE remake and also the other GameCube exclusive, RESIDENT EVIL 0. This game explored the origins of the events that led up to that fateful night in and around the Spencer Mansion.
Purchasing all three at once ensured that lots of evil would be encountered. I first gave the RE remake a spin, having heard rave reviews about it and also in how fucking difficult it was to play. And it was all true. The whole look of the game was one of the most beautifully macabre things I'd ever seen. To say the game looked gorgeous is an understatement. It also reinforced the fear factor that the first game did so well. The ability to scare hadn't evaporated from the series, but it wasn't on the level of that iconic first game till this GameCube entry. The RE do-over multiplied the terror times a hundred and amped up the difficulty level, too.
For this revamped version, everything was overhauled and major differences were implemented. About the time I realized why the "dead" zombies hadn't disappeared from the hallway and room floors after I'd put them down was about the point where frustration overpowered me and I shut the damn thing off.
I didn't have a strategy guide and hadn't bothered to look at one online. But I was curious why there were gas cans and gasoline about. I continued to play and once I left the house and returned, I discovered, much to my horror that the zombies have returned from the dead again stronger than before and nearly invulnerable. After emptying bullet after bullet back into them to no avail I went online and learned that you have the burn them or else they come back to life even more powerful than before. But from what I have played so far, this was an amazingly detailed, absolutely terrifying game. I can only imagine what the remainder is like. Hopefully, I can get around to trying it again in the near future.
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #3: THE THING
"This is one intense action/horror game. You gotta play this one, man -- it'll blast you against the wall." -- John Carpenter
Now here's a
game I could play again and again. John Carpenter even gave it a great
review! The game itself is something of a sequel to the actual Carpenter
film of the same name from 1982. Captain Blake is a member of two
different teams sent to both the US and Norwegian arctic camps to find
out what has happened there. When Beta team loses contact with Alpha
team at the Norwegian camp, Blake heads for their location. The rest of the game is made up of mountains of
suspense, horror, gore and tons of monsters.
The game is highly
innovative in that you can have multiple people on a team. The AI is
great and they'll engage in a heated firefight as opposed to just
standing there like in other games. Trust is an important part of the
game, too. If you accidentally shoot one of your men, they may lose
trust in you and try to kill you, or they're possibly infected by the Thing and
you'll have to kill them instead. Also, the stronger monsters can't be killed
with conventional weapons. They must first be weakened by bullets then
destroyed with the flamethrower. You also have a life bar and when
you're outside in the extreme cold, there's another bar that, if it runs
out before you get back inside, you'll freeze to death!
Fans of
Carpenter's movie will be pleased with nods to his version of THE THING and rewarded by
an appearance from a familiar face during the big boss finale. A shame
the sequel game never got released.
BEGINNINGS OF THE LIVING DEAD
Putting that one aside, I dove straight into the other two. RE0 was an interesting, if seemingly detached prequel game. I liked it, but it had an odd feel about it that didn't seem to gel with the others. Possibly because the storyline wasn't as engaging as some of the others mirroring the bland plot of RE3, yet RE0 has no other game to feel like it's an expansion pack to. It also lacks the familiarity of some of the series' more recognizable names.
It was different in that you played two characters (Rebecca Chambers and ex-Marine deathrow captive, Billy Coen) onscreen at the same time. You controlled one and the computer controlled the other. It's pretty much par for the RESIDENT EVIL course here with little variation. The ability to drop items at random spots and pick them up later was a nice touch.
The familiar monsters are all here with some new additions like the Leech Zombies (which foreshadow the beyond creepy Regenerators of RE4), mutant scorpions and these rabid ape monsters called Eliminators; which are basically the Hunters, just as damn dirty apes. I don't remember a great deal from RE0, but one part in particular really "jumped out at me"; it was a scene on the train when a zombie burst out of a refrigerator for a snack.
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #4: THE SUFFERING
This was a
particularly brutal game from 2004. It's about a condemned man named Torque about
to be executed for allegedly murdering his entire family. The night
Torque arrives at his new prison home, the Earth cracks open and out
pops all manner of horrifyingly demonic creatures. Torque must escape
the island alive in an effort to learn what really happened to his
family. This was an incredibly gloomy, yet kick-ass game filled with tons of hallucinogenic and nightmarish imagery. It differentiated
itself from RE by having the main character make decisions whether to
help, kill, or ignore innocents, or other prisoners. His actions
determine a possible outcome at the end. It also added an Insanity meter
that when at full capacity, Torque could change into a powerful monster.
The game was also unique in that Stan Winston designed the impressive
menagerie of monsters. A sequel game was released the following year,
but I never did play that one.
EVIL GETS AN OVERHAUL
The meat of all this monster mayhem is undoubtedly RESIDENT EVIL 4. This game remains my all time favorite game. I remember buying GOD OF WAR around this time and as great as that game is, Kratos is Krushed by the monstrous might of RE4 and its insurmountable number of enemies and magnificently macabre, epic atmosphere. A complete and total overhaul was in order, so the series originator was brought in to take the reigns of this groundbreaking, series altering fourth entry. The antiquated pre-rendered backgrounds and alternating camera angles were tossed out the window as were other familiar mechanics of the series. Replacing them was an innovative "over the shoulder" angle and unique aiming system.
Also revitalized were the franchises most famous, and recurring creatures--the zombies; only these shufflers weren't actually zombies. They were individuals turned ravenously insane by these parasitic creatures called Las Plagas. Upon learning that there weren't any flesh-eating dead in this upcoming RESIDENT EVIL game, that was cause for alarm. But after playing it, this was a great direction to take the series. Los Ganados, as they're referred to in the game, turn out to be a far more vicious, and dangerous adversary than the standard gut-munching zombies. These homicidal human monsters talk, run, duck, dodge and throw weapons at you! There are also other types of Ganados that have various types of parasitic beings that erupt from their heads after taking damage. The various types of reptilian insectoid things are all hazardous to your health.
Also, the entire game takes place in fog enshrouded European locales. Much of the scientific gobbledy-gook that loomed large over the previous entries is overshadowed by Los Illuminados, a vile cult who has kidnapped the daughter of the president of the United States. Leon Kennedy, last seen blowing away zombie hordes and assorted monster scum in RE2 is tasked with the job of rescuing the presidents daughter.
Not since RE1 had a video game had me so enthralled that I didn't want to put it down. It's that damn good. It's also a lengthy adventure that alternates between outright horror and action-adventure. I suppose it's the natural progression of the series, but from here on out, the "Survival Horror" portion of the series takes a back seat to gun action, car chases and big explosions. RESIDENT EVIL also introduces Quick Time Events to the series for the first time. These heighten the intensity of numerous sequences whether you're battling El Gigante or engaged in a knife battle with the mercenary Jack Krauser.
This was the first time I had encountered actually playing, or interacting with a cut-scene. I remember putting the controller down expecting the game to take over for a time, not knowing it was going to put me in control of how the scene would play out. Needless to say, I found this new addition to the series pretty amazing. The high point of this was the aforementioned knife battle between Leon and Krauser as perfect timing was key to surviving the scene.
I've never actually been a HUGE video game fan. I go through spells where I play them, than may not touch the damn things for months or more. RESIDENT EVIL 4 rekindled my interest in gaming. Not long after, I purchased GOD OF WAR, an awe-inspiring barbaric bloodbath that was probably what CLASH OF THE TITANS would've looked like if it were directed by Chang Cheh. As gloriously over the top as it was, I thought RE4 nudged passed it in pretty much all areas. Something about RE4 grabbed me, and thankfully it wasn't one of the numerous nasty nightmare monsters healthily spread throughout the games lengthy running time. The game rightfully won several awards and also remains the biggest selling entry in the franchise up to this point.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR
EPIC EVIL
After beating RE1, I was incredibly hyped for the sequel; a demo of which was included with the RE Director's Cut edition. RESIDENT EVIL 2 was everything I hoped it'd be and more. It did what good sequels are supposed to do -- expand on the mythology, but retain what made the initial storyline so intriguing.
Spread over two discs and four campaigns, the sequel was able to keep it creepy; even with the scenario away from the confines of the Spencer Mansion and into the now destroyed ruins of Raccoon City.
There's more of everything -- more zombies, more monsters, more guns, more ammunition. Even though the series begins its first dip into action game territory here, the horror still maintains its prominence. The creep factor is maintained despite the expansive new world. Think of it as a massive version of the Spencer Mansion, but instead of exploring untold horrors in, around and under a spooky mansion, it's in, around and under an entire city.
The storyline concerns rookie officer Leon Kennedy and his fateful meeting with Claire Redfield, the now vigilante sister to STARS member Chris Redfield. Both try to survive the many zombies and assorted creatures that have led to the destruction of the city after the deadly T-virus is unleashed on a widespread populace. Through each of their respective campaigns, they meet various characters and learn there's a new, even deadlier bacteria, the G-virus capable of creating an even more horrifying biological weapon.
Thankfully, the weapons you (eventually) get are up to the numerous challenges you will face. Even the uselessness of the knife is required at a couple points in the game. Incredibly, there were people who somehow managed to finish these games using nothing but the knife!!! One of RE2's bonus games when you complete it is a game for those hardcore Dead-Heads where you go through the entire thing with nothing but a knife as your sole weapon.
My favorite parts of the game were the confrontation with the giant alligator in the sewer (now where have I heard that before?) and the handful of jump scare confrontations with the new, improved Tyrant, the Tyrant-103; his occasional, unannounced appearances manage to keep you on the edge of your seat. The final confrontation aboard a moving train with the Tyrant-103s final form packs a wallop and ends the game on an extremely satisfying note.
The new additions to the monster roll call include various mutant creatures, walking plant monsters, humongous and deadly insects, and these man-sized creepy-crawlies called Lickers. They're more or less a quadruped version of the Hunters from the first game. Their creep factor is enhanced by the heavy, intermittent breathing sounds they make.
RESIDENT EVIL 2 was an enormously fun game that sold like hot cakes and went on to become the biggest selling game of the series on a single platform. It was released on my birthday, January 21st, 1998. I couldn't have asked for a better gift to myself than that at the time!
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #1: NIGHTMARE CREATURES
With the enormous success of RESIDENT EVIL, it wasn't long before a slew of other creatures great and small began attacking mankind. One of my favorites of these was NIGHTMARE CREATURES from 1997. The game takes place in the 1800s and deals with a satanic cult led by Adam Crowley who creates ghoulish monsters with which to use to take over the world. Standing against him is a kung fu fighting preacher and an equally skilled, vengeance seeking woman. The atmosphere is unique and infinitely creepy with a great score. The game sets itself apart from others by having two separate life bars -- one for your life and an adrenaline bar that gradually runs out due to exposure to a city-wide virus unleashed by Crowley. Your playable character must constantly kill creatures to keep this bar replenished. NIGHTMARE CREATURES 2 emerged in 2000, but it wasn't as good as the first game in what could have been a promising series.
THE DEAD DON'T DIE
For RESIDENT EVIL 3, things took a slight dip. It wasn't nearly as intense, nor as scary as the previous two games. It had its moments, but played more like an expansion pack of the second game. Which isn't too far off the mark considering it takes place before and after the incidents of RE2. It's still a lot of fun, just don't expect anything you haven't already experienced.
The plot such as it is revolves around STARS member, Jill Valentine, last seen in the first RESIDENT EVIL, attempting to escape the monster filled ruins of Raccoon City. The rest of the game consists of her interacting with various characters that pop in and out of the game. One is a character named Carlos, who you will play during the game. And that's pretty much it. Like I said, it was a good deal of fun, but felt more like an extended version of the previous game.
The monsters are mostly retreads of past enemies, although the Hunters make their gruesome reprise here and in a different form than before under the name of Hunter Beta. There's also a Hunter offshoot that has amphibious features called a Hunter Gamma.
The one major innovation here is the inclusion of the Nemesis. This formidable foe is essentially the Tyrant with some modifications. He often runs after you and, unlike the previous games, running into another room doesn't save you from the chase. The Nemesis will enter the next room with you! He also carries a rocket launcher and will use it on you; not that this big boy needs one.
There's also a string of ten "quick decisions" that influence certain moments of the gameplay, or possibly affect the ending of the game. There's also a nice addition of explosive barrels for those moments when you're swarmed by many monsters and you need to "blow shit up real good."
The inclusion of gunpowder and a reloading tool offers players the ability to create different types of ammunition such as various bullets and grenades. The ending boss battle isn't quite as satisfying as part 2, but the ending movie closes things out on an explosive note.
SURVIVAL HORROR FILES #2: DINO CRISIS
DINO CRISIS was Shinji Mikami's answer to his own RESIDENT EVIL. It's essentially the same game, but substitutes flesh-hungry dinosaurs for flesh-eating zombies. The games plot, structure and characters are all virtually identical to the wildly popular RE series. I never cared much for the game, but it was popular enough to garner two official sequels. A demo for DINO CRISIS was included with the release of RESIDENT EVIL 3. I never played the other two games, but the third one took place in outer space and featured mutant dinosaurs.
NOT ALL EVIL IS GOOD
There's been somewhere in the ballpark of two dozen RE games. Most of these were stories not associated with the main storyline and some of them I bought were pretty mediocre affairs. I pretty much hated RESIDENT EVIL SURVIVOR, a weary and bloody boring first person shooter. Ditto for the RESIDENT EVIL OUTBREAK (see image above); which differentiated itself by integrating cooperative gameplay into the mix with a varied group of people trying to survive against the gallery of RE foes. I disliked them both, never finished them and ended up giving them away.
EVIL GOES GLOBAL
RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA X from 2000 was a huge breath of fresh air. It was my new favorite game at the time. It redefined BIG. It gave the feeling an epic was unfolding before your eyes. Granted, it was a morbidly gruesome epic, but a far reaching plot just the same. A lot of it takes place in Europe, beginning in Paris, then shifting a chunk of the action to an island prison, the ominously spooky Ashford Mansion, than trotting off to the cold climates of the Antarctic.
Claire Redfield, in Paris searching for her brother, Chris (who we're told was sent there during the second RE), is captured during a firefight at an Umbrella facility. She's imprisoned at Rockfort Island. A T-virus outbreak occurs on the island and Claire escapes. The eccentric and unhinged commander of the island, Alfred Ashford, is at the center of the new outbreak, as well as involvement with a new bacteria, the T-Veronica virus. Meanwhile, Chris Redfield makes his way to Rockfort Island and discovers some old enemies are connected with this new Umbrella plague.
The sheer amount of creatures is staggering compared with previous games. There's multiple types of zombies, Hunters, enormous black widow spiders, parasites, man-eating worms, a mutating female beast known as Alexia and the all important Tyrant; which you must do battle with on more than one occasion including the confined space of a cargo plane.
CODE: VERONICA X was the revamped version of RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA, the first franchise entry on a system other than the Playstation; that one being the Sega Dreamcast. I ALMOST bought a Dreamcast just for this, but after I heard it was coming to the PS2, I figured I'd wait. The game itself evened out the scares with the action pretty well, but it wasn't hard to see the series was slipping where the horror was concerned.
REC:VX was a great deal of fun filled with lots of excitement; and while more of the same, it showcased a ghoulish level of grandeur the series had touched on in part 2 and later in part 4. It also foreshadowed, ironically enough, that the best entries in this ever expanding franchise were debuting on other consoles outside of the Playstation universe.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE
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RESIDENT EVIL 5 was announced in 2005, and while I'd begun to lose slight interest in video games once again, I just had to get it since part 4 had made such an impression on me. After seeing a TRAILER for the game online in 2007, it looked to be just as entrancing as RE4, but with an awful lot of daytime gameplay. The setting was moved to Africa after the deadly virus linked to the Umbrella Corporation had spread to the dark continent.
After the fourth game, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning after seeing the trailer. Unfortunately, it would be some two years before we'd see the finished product due in no small part to one massive stumbling block that became bigger than the game itself. RESIDENT EVIL 5 came under serious fire akin to a mob zombie attack for alleged racism, which, judging by the rantings of detractors, was thick as molasses as found in a 2007 E3 trailer. In fact, as late as AUGUST OF 2010, a year and a half after it was released in the United States, folks were still going on and on about how racist it was and also about what Capcom was going to do to not make such a careless mistake again. Incredible. 
Despite there being black protagonists in the game and black actors and actresses contributing their voices, the sight of the white Chris Redfield shooting down waves of infected black "zombies" (The Ganados in RE4 and Majini here) rubbed certain parties the wrong way; unnecessarily turning a popular game franchise into something political. I guess it's okay to gun down white zombies in the first few games (although there's blacks in some of those, too) and Hispanics in the fourth installment, but a setting populated by predominantly black citizens is off limits. Well, the game does take place in AFRICA. Personally I never saw the trailer as racist. In my view, it's these "better interest groups" who are displaying racial tendencies in cases like this. They're doing nothing to dispel racial tensions, but perpetuating them. That's the only way to keep such an inflammatory scenario alive is to create an issue where one never existed (or exacerbate those that do). In this case, the target is a fucking video game.
An example of this gaming as a political issue, a writer named Tolu Olorunda had this to say in an excerpt from 2008 -- "The Video Game industry is one which has profited immensely from the casualty of black on black hostility. Notable products of its faculty include, 50 CENT: BULLETPROOF, DEF JAM: ICON and GRAND THEFT AUTO This $10 billion market owes the majority of its inspiration to the tragic decisions of young black and brown teenagers..." -- Even when you have black protagonists as your lead characters in a video game (as some of these do) ya still can't win! Oddly enough, some of the actual websites proclaiming RE5 to be racially inclined have removed those posts, showing up as dead links instead.
With that political nonsense out of the way, the game itself is fun, but if you're expecting anything resembling RESIDENT EVIL, you might be disappointed. I have yet to finish it, but do plan to go back to it at some point. I felt more like I was playing a video game version of MAD MAX, but with monsters. Much of what I played took place in broad daylight. It was suitably intense and extremely gruesome and also integrated offline co-op play; which hadn't been seen in the series before. 
This unique 2001 'Survival Horror' game took Japanese history and wove horror-fantasy elements around them. The plot has depth, yet it's simplistic in this tale of Samanosuke Akechi doing battle with an undead Nobunaga Oda to save Princess Yuki from armies of demonic creatures. There's lots of flashy fighting moves, magic, impressive sound effects and some spooky moments spread out. The game was a huge success which led to the even bigger ONIMUSHA 2: SAMURAI'S DESTINY. Yagyu Jubei is this games main character in addition to a band of other wildly diverse characters you play throughout the game. Occasionally convoluted and drawn out, it's still a fun, if overblown action-fantasy fest. ONIMUSHA 3: DEMON SIEGE from 2004 brought the pain and the scope. A simply amazing game. Samanosuke returns (as does famous Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro) in this bombastic third entry that introduces a time traveling plot device. Actor Jean Reno features in this game as an unlikely ally for Samanosuke against the enormity of the Genma hordes. I never played DAWN OF DREAMS released here in 2006. I would love to see this series get resurrected on the PS3.
In 1999, it was announced that Playstation's massive horror hit would become a live-action film under the direction of George Romero, the king of the Undead. Romero was already familiar with the RE series having directed a commercial for Japan's BIOHAZARD 2 (RE2). His version of the film would have followed the original game very closely. 
I saw a portion of RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (2004) when it hit DVD. About the point where they made RE3's Nemesis look like a joke, being beaten up by series regular, Alice, I tuned out and didn't finish the movie. Since then, we've gotten RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION (2007), RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (2010), RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (2012) and next year, we'll likely get RESIDENT EVIL: AD INFINITUM.
If ever 'Survival Horror' got a shot in the arm, it was by 2008s DEAD SPACE. Not since Playstation's original RE juggernaut from 1996 (not counting the later REmake on GameCube) had their been a game with this level of fear and intensity. In it, the essence of 'Survival Horror' returned in a big way. You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who finds unending horror aboard a mining ship in outer space. 
Essentially RESIDENT EVIL in outer space, DEAD SPACE distinguishes itself with some intriguing additions for the maximum in visceral thrills. There's no HUD (Head's Up Display). Instead info like your life bar is visualized via holographic imagery seen on your suit. The ability to target body parts is an ingenious method in dealing with hostile alien lifeforms. There's a distinct lack of high powered weaponry in the traditional sense, so Isaac must use mining tools as his weapons of creature destruction. It's simply a spectacular game all around. DEAD SPACE 2 was released in 2011.
RESIDENT EVIL 6 has just come out earlier this month (October 2nd, 2012) and after the lack of a true feeling of RESIDENT EVILness in the fifth chapter, I was hesitant to pick this up. The gaming bug had bit me again, and I had extra cash burning a hole in my pocket and figured why the hell not? Upon getting home with RE6 (and also the new TWISTED METAL and RESISTANCE 3), I went online to read up on it (something I should have done ahead of time) and found lots and lots of negative reviews. I'd never seen an RE game of the main story arc receive such a low rating before. So I put the game in fearing the worst.
While I've so far played only a small portion of it, it does put the evil back in RESIDENT EVIL and zombies are zombies again (although they do pick up weapons and throw them at you), there's a Fulci styled blood geyser of gaming additions that threatens to derail the whole enterprise instead of keeping it on track. 
From the very start, one gets the impression the makers were gunning for the closest to a movie-gaming crossover experience as possible. It's movies, movies, movies crammed with Qick Time Events that often give off the impression they would rather you WATCH RESIDENT EVIL 6 as opposed to actually PLAYING IT. The co-op play returns as does the dark ambiance of those early games. Collecting herbs has now been modified where you have to put them into these tablet things to use them. Fighting game style maneuvers have also been integrated to help out in hairier situations and bullets seem to be in less abundance compared with the last few games.
I've not played enough of it yet, but so far, I'm fairly disappointed with it. It seems to be the most sharply divided amongst fans and critics of the series thus far. Capcom seem genuine in their perseverance in taking the series in new directions to keep it fresh and viable. However, closing the door on the series at this point and starting over from scratch might also be worth thinking about. RESIDENT EVIL has strewn so far away from what made it "Survival Horror", that if it continues on this path, the name itself will need to evolve to keep up with the innumerable changes the various Umbrella Corporation contagions have inflicted on this once mighty franchise.
