Summary
TheResident Evilfranchise has come a long way. Evolving from horror-themed adventure games with tank controls and esoteric puzzles to high-octane cinematic adventures with third-person shooter mechanics, and finally into modern first-person horror games.Resident Evilhas — for better or worse — always moved forward. Perfectly reflecting the franchise’s ever-progressing gameplay, the T-virus and its many variants have also continued mutating acrossResident Evil’s 30 entries, with the franchise having long evolved past traditional zombies in favor of newer, ever more grotesque enemy monsters.
Released between 1997 and 1999, the first threeResident Evilgames relied heavily on zombies. While all three PS1 games did feature their own iconic casts of strange and disturbing monsters — from lickers and chimera to mutant spiders and giant snakes —Resident Evil’s iconic T-virus zombies made up the bulk of the danger in the first few hours of each game. The zombies were a core part of the marketing and were the central focus of thelive-actionResident Evilfilms.
Resident Evil’s Gameplay Has Evolved In Tandem With the Industry
This focus on zombies changed in 2005 with the release ofResident Evil 4. In response toRE4’s new perspective and control system, Capcom made the decision to replace the franchise’s early-game zombies with something more dynamic and dangerous. It was decided thatResident Evil 4’s main enemy type would be Spanish Peasants infected withLas Plagas— a parasitic infection that causes its hosts to gradually mutate into insectoid mutants, tentacle-headed monsters, and massive fleshy orchids.
Capcom’s decision to move away from zombies makes sense. Modern first and third-person gameplay means that headshots are easy and the shambling undead pose little threat when the player can take a roomful of them out withJohn Wick-like precision. Likewise, more advanced movement mechanics and more open environments mean players have more options than ever to maneuver around slow-moving enemies. Combined, these elements risked making it too easy for the player to skip combat, and Las Plagas was a logical next step for the franchise when modern controls risked turning the slow-moving undead from a deadly obstacle to trivial.
The Resident Evil Remakes Combine Classic Zombies With Modern Controls
With the remakes ofRE2andRE3, the franchise’s classic and modern design philosophies finally clashed. Fortunately, it went better than anyone could have expected. While some fans have criticizedtheResident Evilremakes’ zombies for being too durable — often able to take a close-range shotgun blast to the face and still stay standing — the remakes proved that zombies can still be effective enemies in a modernResident Evilgame.
In particular,Resident Evil 2 Remake’s focus on tight, linear corridors meant 2 or 3 zombies hidden around a corner could both surprise the player and effectively block progression.Resident Evil 2 Remake’s level designforces the player to confront many of its small hordes head-on. While modern controls do certainly give the player more options to run past enemies,Resident Evil 2 Remake’s focus on faithfully recreating the original game’s old-school PS1 puzzles means many rooms can’t just be sprinted through, and instead needed to be cleared in order for the player to take a look around and figure out how to open the way forward.
Resident Evil is at a Crossroads
With recentResident Evilgames straying into science-fiction, grindhouse, and Gothic horror, the traditional zombie-centric adventure-game style of the originals has been left behind. With the release ofResident Evil 4 Remakeand rumors of aResident Evil 5remakeon the horizon,Resident Evilrisks finally leaving its zombies behind. Capcom now has to decide if that is the direction of the franchise — and if moving forward means fully severingResident Evilfrom its past.
Going Back May Be The Best Way For Resident Evil To Move Forward
Rather than feeling stale, a newResident Evilgame that puts a renewed focus on zombies has the chance to be a breath of fresh air. There are many routes Capcom could take with a new zombie-focused game — and if the rumors of aCode Veronicaremaketurn out to be true, that remake could establish the perfect framework for a new game with a focus on shambling undead. With the current wave of PS1 nostalgia, now seems like the perfect time to explore what madeResident Evilsuch an iconic franchise almost 30 years ago.
With recentResident Evil-inspired games likeNightmare of Decayproving that the oldResident Evilstyle is still just as effective in first-person, now might be the perfect time for Capcom to take a crack at revisiting the franchise’s roots. Otherwise, it might be time for franchise fans to accept thatResident Evilis simply no longer about zombies.
