Resident Evil is the game that most common gamers will say when they are asked what is a horror game. I got the first game on the game on the Gamecube and, surprisingly, I beat it at the age of 10. With a little help from my dad, of course. It has a special place in my heart and when I heard the game was getting a new coming sequel that would come back to the horror roots, I was excited until I saw the game's demo. Hello and welcome to this never ending series thought blog!
My dad rented the game to check out if it's good. Once the game was done downloading, we started it up with the closest we can get to a critic personality. The beginning is a bit cliche: a girl says she's doing fun and can't wait to come home, when in reality she's actually captured at a home with hick nutjobs. You, the player that literally has no fear regardless whether or not you would react to something differently, finds out where she is. You waited for her patiently for 3 years and you still have the emotions of a coffee mug. Before it begins, the player's character calls his friend while he's driving to her location and is told this is a waste of time. First off, that's a great thing to say unknown friend and second, why are you going alone? She was gone for 3 years! Bring a gun, some pals, call the cops for christ sake!
Okay maybe that wouldn't have turned out better, but at least you wouldn't put yourself at risk! I think she wanted you to be in better shape than herself, pal!
Anyways, the game begins in a semi-creepy forest where you are suppose to walk into and stumble upon the cabin. On approaching the cabin, the player can see that there is a guy clearly watching you and a cow head shrine full of human body parts. No sign of turning back, Protagonist? No? Okay. You venture in the cabin that is the one from the demo and go in without a flashlight or any readiness of clear danger. You make great choices, Protagonist!
And from there you begin the real game. The cabin or house has the same setup as the one from the demo so everything you know about the demo is put in the game. Nothing from the demo was going to be put in the game? Well said. The lever in the fireplace, the basement where that one dude died in, almost everything was put in here. Even the mannequins with the cheap scare is in the game! Couldn't have thought of something different, devs? Anyways, the basement is more explored and gives more atmosphere to the house's danger, followed by a few cheap scares. "C'mon StarterPack! The scares are scarier to other people!" Well, I would have to say differently. This game is aimed to those who have experienced horror games and most try to not just disturb you, but try to make you hesitate on continuing the game. "Well, that kind of game would be looked down upon because of it's hardcore creepiness." Well, that is where you would be wrong.
Let tell you about Condemned. It was a marvelous game of it's time and deserves its praise. The game gave you a cliche creepy ally with some hostile hobos for some added flavor. As you progress, you meet these creepy-crawly guys that grab you and run away. Doesn't sound creepy in words, but it was well executed. That little segment of the game where you meet these guys for this moment made me not want to continue. That is a great example of a perfect horror. It gives you something new to get use to and doesn't try to condition you with the same enemies for the duration of the entire game.
Resident Evil 7 kind of does this for the first few minutes of the game and throws the rule out the window. "What about the bosses, StarterPack? They were new things!" Yes, they were new and you had to get use to them, but they were bosses, not common enemies. You meet them for a small duration of the game and after you beat them, you're done with them entirely. You are suppose to get use to them because the game forces you to. Common enemies aren't forced on you all the time, they are sometimes thrown at you, but they can still be met in different ways.
If you ask me, enemies are a tough thing to handle in the horror genre, since they can be seen as a boring doofus that likes to chase you. This game does this constantly. "What about the swamp monsters things, StarterPack! They are different." Can you name any others? "Uuum... That... One dude?" Yeah, this game doesn't do the enemies well and they aren't much of a hassle like in the original. You meet the same thing over and over and still get the same results: Run or kill it. There is the hick guy that comes out once in awhile, but you can run past him and he's so slow! "You clearly haven't played the game, StarterPack!" I know, he has different forms! Like every other boss. I know he can appear scarier shirtless and with a long weapon in his hands, but you can still run past him.
The swamp monsters are awesome when you first meet them, but they are still a constant enemy that just gets old. And the one thing I want to point out is how the game likes to remind you of the older games. Remember that one famous part with the Shotgun swap in the original? Remember the giant spider you had to fight? Remember that one creep thing you fought in 4?
Yeah! that thing! You can get all the nostalgia here! I know the game is apart of the same series, but you don't have to copy everything it had! "But, StarterPack, It's a reboot!" I know, but can they give me something different instead of giving me the same thing and ask me if they did it better.
To be honest, the game plays pretty smooth. I know, I said the game is kind of bad, but I like out the game plays. The view is perfect for a horror, the graphics were something to look at and inventory menu was easy to use. Most fans of the series would say that's a bad thing, but I kind of enjoyed the set up. Felt like something I would do for a Resident Evil game.
But the rest of the game just didn't feel like a Resident Evil game. The first person perspective felt more like Outlast to me and the set up made me think the game took inspiration from the Evil Dead than the previous (good) games. I don't know if I can call the game a Resident Evil sequel, but more of a reboot! I know that's what was intended, but the developers seemed like they didn't even play the game let alone seen it. This felt like they had someone explain the game to them and wanted to do all that in a different way.
Overall the game is a tall 6 in my book. The game is fun, but sometimes you feel like you need to put it down for the game's length instead of horror. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! And before you guys ask, I didn't finish the game, my dad did. And 'til next time...
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