Snake's Resident Evil 20th Anniversary Retrospective

Twenty years ago today, Biohazard released in Japan. To avoid any legal complications with that name, North America got Resident Evil here one week later, for the PlayStation 1. It was a massive success in many ways, bolstering PS1 sales, starting a wide-reaching multi-media franchise, and launching an entire genre, coining and providing the blueprint for nearly every survival horror game for the next decade after it and even the following decade once Resident Evil 4 launched. And yet, despite the series' influence, Resident Evil has also been a franchise marred with an identity crisis, sub-par experiments, and swayed by the ugliest of gaming trends: homogenization.

But despite all its struggles, Resident Evil is the series I call my favorite. I've been with the franchise for ten of those twenty years, and I've absolutely loved every second of it. I find the games endlessly replayable, I love the lore and storyline of the series, messy as it may be, and most of all, I love the challenge and atmosphere many of the series' best games provide in spades.

So I'm here today and for the foreseeable future to provide a complete retrospective of gaming's premier survival horror franchise. From the original landmark release to every wacky side project to the near future of the series, I will try to leave no stone unturned. I'll be providing development history, gameplay notes, plot summaries and analysis, as well as my own personal thoughts on each item.

I hope long time fans, newer fans, or people who have never even played a game in the series come read along for a passion project I've been looking forward to for a long time!

You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck...

Resident Evil Release Date: March 22, 1996 (JP), March 30, 1996 (NA), August 1, 1996 (PAL) Consoles: PS1, PC, Saturn, DS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1V4VC2R8g

They just don't make title screens like that anymore. The cheesiest of FMV gaming, but incredibly classic. It immediately sets the stage for a B-movie gaming experience. We're introduced to someone who is essentially the main protagonist of the series, Chris Redfield. A shadowy presence lurks behind him; is it one of the series' many zombies, or perhaps a Cerberus? The low angle shot coupled with an immediate swooping upwards suggest the latter, and it's what I always thought. Lastly, we get a glimpse of the mansion setting we'll be screaming our way through quite like our protagonist. It's cheesy yes, but imagining myself in a dark room with nothing but the glow of the TV and this intro playing gives me the chills just thinking about it.

But, let's back up a little, to 1989. Sweet Home, a Capcom Famicom (that's a mouthful) game, that, though primarily an RPG, has many elements that would lump it into the survival horror genre, including item management, creepy enemies, permanent death, save rooms, file storytelling and though not a hallmark of the genre entirely, door loading screens that are now very closely associated with Resident Evil. Resident Evil was also closely inspired by Sweet Home's mansion setting. With all of this plus more, Resident Evil is a near remake of Sweet Home, which I find pretty interesting.

Of course, Sweet Home isn't the only thing that inspired Resident Evil. Alone in the Dark played a big role as well, mostly in the use of camera angles and control in a 3D-environment. Resident Evil was also initially conceived as a first-person shooter in the vein of Doom, but that was quickly set aside. In 1995, a first build of the game surfaced after a year in development, showing very ambitious design for the time, like the presence of both Chris and Jill working together in a co-op environment. It also showed things that would be very different in the final release, like fighting Yawn in the shed before the residence, Kenneth's dead body in a different location, and the characters Dewey and Gelzer, who became Rebecca and Barry, but Dewey still lives on in the minor Bravo Team character Edward Dewey. It's very interesting, and I think it may even be playable, though I have not tracked that down.

But finally, Resident Evil is released for the PlayStation, the cheesy opening plays, you press New Game, and choose your character; either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. Though essentially the same game, different key story points make them both worth playing. The choice between Chris and Jill also serves as a hidden difficulty selector; Chris is essentially the hard mode, with less inventory slots and the lack of a lockpick, while Jill has more slots, access to better weapons, and help from Barry throughout the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf0EpML-AWM

The introduction cutscene continues in the same vein as the short title screen video, filmed by a rookie production team with actors that were grumpy and did not want to be there at all. And it's glorious. We're introduced to the basic premise; a special forces team is looking for their missing teammates. It's part of an operation to uncover the source of gruesome murders happening in and around Raccoon City. Alpha Team finds their teammates' helicopter, along with a severed hand. Suddenly the team is attacked by a pack of Cerberus, and red shirt Joseph Frost is killed while Brad Vickers, their cowardly pilot, abandons them. The rest of Alpha make it to a nearby mansion, the now infamous Spencer Mansion; if you're playing as Chris, Barry disappears; if you're playing as Jill, Chris is absent. Things go from bad to worse when a gunshot rings out in the main hall. The player investigates, finds the dead body of Kenneth, and are suddenly alone when Wesker disappears.

The player is thrown into the deep end. If you're playing as Jill, at least you have Barry, who hands you a lockpick, eliminating the necessity for the Sword Key and small keys, allowing access to many areas of the mansion right away. But Chris needs them both, and in his search, meets Bravo Team rookie Rebecca Chambers, a kid really, but she's plucky and eager to help. She does help heal Chris and solve some puzzles beyond his capabilities, so she's not completely useless. Slowly, the player also uncovers the conspiracy of the Umbrella Corporation and what exactly went down in the mansion, surviving zombies and dogs and eventually even a giant snake. It becomes clear that Alpha Team captain Albert Wesker had a hand in all of it, and it all leads to a showdown in a laboratory basement. It's one of the truly great betrayals of gaming. The player defeats the ultimate bio-weapon, the Tyrant, and either escapes alone or with all their teammates.

It's not the most complex of stories, but uncovering it all through files is strangely compelling and creepy. The famous "Itchy. Tasty." file exemplifies this perfectly. It's a slow building horror novel told in a few pages at a time. The characters aren't all fleshed out yet beyond stereotypes; Chris is noticeably more brooding in future games, while Jill has a sassy thing that shows it's face in future entries. Barry is the goofy comic relief yet also has one of the darkest backstories of the game, being a rare character where family comes into play. When I first played, Barry was killed, and picking up the photo of his family was incredibly sad. Though Wesker was killed in this game, he of course comes back into play in a big way later on in the series.

As far as first impressions go, Resident Evil is one hell of a good start. There was little like it at the time, and though barren in retrospect, lots of detail was placed into the environments. And the barrenness of it all just makes it that much more creepy. I absolutely love playing through the mansion; it has so much character, after a few playthroughs, it's so easy to memorize thanks to each room and hallway offering something new and exciting. Branching paths make each playthrough a treat as well. It's one of my favorite gameplay gimmicks, showing new sides to characters and plot elements. It's an incredibly ambitious project that clearly payed off. There was nowhere to go but up. And after finishing this game, how can you not be excited for a sequel?

Version Madness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZlh6esji4w

The Sega Saturn version was mostly unchanged from the PS1 release. The major big difference is the presence of a Battle Mode, a precursor to Mercenaries. It features new enemies like a Gold Tyrant and a zombie Wesker. It's pretty cool!

The PC version has little changed as well, just new weapons and costumes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRCd2VVmLXw

There's also the unreleased GBC version, which does have a playable ROM online. Another super ambitious project, it's unfortunate it never came to be.

Of course, there's also the Director's Cut, the Dual Shock Ver., Deadly Silence for the DS, and the remake. But we'll get to those.

Resident Evil: Director's Cut Release Date: September 25, 1997 (JP), September 30, 1997 (NA), December 10, 1997 (PAL) Consoles: PS1, PC, PS3, Samsung Gamephone

It's 1997, and the fans are clamoring for a new game in the series. Resident Evil 2 is being worked on fiercely in development. But there were complications. So, in true Capcom fashion, they decide to push out an updated version of their previously released game. The Resident Evil: Director's Cut was born. It promised uncensored cutscenes, an Arrange Mode, and a demo of Resident Evil 2. It delivered on two of those promises!

On the account of the uncensored cutscenes, many remained unchanged from the original RE1 release, which was attributed to translation errors by Capcom. The PC version however does have all the uncensored cutscenes, and it's the only version to have that unique feature.

But cutscenes are only one very small part of the Director's Cut. The Arrange Mode is why you should pick up this game. New costumes for its main characters, new item and enemy placements, different camera angles, even new features like a zombie Forest and so-called "hyper zombies" that would lunge or sprint at the player. For those who have played the original RE1 experience more times than they can count, the Arrange Mode is a delightful treat that will keep on surprising you all the way to the end of the game.

The game also has a beginner mode with boosted health and ammo counts, a fine addition for new players.

The Dual Shock Ver., famously composed by Mamoru Samuragouchi, the supposed deaf composer who turned out to have been lying the whole time and didn't even write his own stuff, takes advantage of PS1's new DualShock controller but otherwise nothing else is different.

And that's that. Not a major groundshaking release, but it advanced the series in some subtle ways and the Arrange Mode is a pretty neat feature for hardcore RE vets.

Resident Evil 1.5 Release Date: N/A (Originally slated for May 1997) Consoles: PS1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ho6JzIyj0I

Resident Evil 1.5 is probably one of the most famous and most talked-about cancelled games of all time. To this day Resident Evil fans clamor for Capcom to release a finished version of this game, and many fans have taken it into their own hands to leak builds of the game for people to play and experience, as buggy as it may be. I've played it myself, and it's hard to say if the final version of this game would've been better than the Resident Evil 2 we eventually got. There's little continuity in the beta between rooms or story beats (that I can get out of it anyway) and you mostly just jump around with the debug menu. But what little ideas that are there really make the game seem like it would've been an intriguing experience.

Yet, all of that was scrapped, months of progress and work, as much as 80 percent of the game was discarded because the developers were unhappy with it. They were unhappy with the boring gameplay, dull locations, and Mikami's too conclusive story (he had originally planned to end the series with RE2). In the blink of an eye, it was all gone, and work was started over, though assets from 1.5 would still eventually be used in RE2.

Though ultimately very different from the final release, Resident Evil 1.5 has many similarities to it nonetheless. Obviously, Leon S. Kennedy would still go on to star in Resident Evil 2 and many entries beyond, and the game still takes place in the Raccoon City Police Department. Sherry, Ada, Marvin, and even someone resembling Kendo were still all there, though in slightly different roles from the final game. There's even a mutated William Birkin!

One of the biggest differences is the presence of Elza Walker, a college motorcycle racer who would be changed to Claire Redfield to have that sibling relationship and connect better with the first game. The RPD is basically unrecognizable, with interesting areas like a shooting range and expanded jail cell area absent from the final game. The game also allowed more zombies on screen at once, had dynamic music to respond to certain situations, and even had visible player damage beyond the limping.

It all sounds very promising. Would it have been better than Resident Evil 2 is the ultimate question? We may never know, but having faith in developers is a good thing to have sometimes. Since it was scrapped so late in development, we have to believe that it wouldn't have been. And with Resident Evil 2 as one of the most well-regarded entries in the series, I honestly wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Resident Evil 2 Release Date: January 21, 1998 (NA), January 29, 1998 (JP), May 8, 1998 (PAL) Consoles: PS1, N64, DC, GC, PS3, PC, Game.com

So, after a long delay and a messy web of development and production involved in both the Director's Cut and this title, Resident Evil 2 was released in North America, one week before Japan for the first time in the series. And the wait and struggles were definitely worth it. Resident Evil 2 is now considered one of the best titles in the series, if not considered the best by some certain fans.

With Hideki Kamiya at the helm this time, Resident Evil 2 was a humongous shift from the original game in terms of scope, presentation, and sheer production value. Gone were the cheesy live-action segments, replaced with CGI cutscenes which admittedly look pretty terrible nowadays, but were cutting-edge at the time. Characters now provide visual feedback as health status changes, environments are no longer barren and ooze with detail everywhere, there's a great variation in zombie type, and graphics in general look much sharper and pleasant to look at. Even the voice acting is slightly improved.

And that just scratches the surface of one of the best sequels ever. Our two new lead characters, rookie officer Leon S. Kennedy, and college student Claire Redfield offer much more in the way of character this time around. Leon repeatedly shows frustration in his inability to give leadership, and gets romantically involved with a woman who lies to him. Claire's relationship to her brother Chris defines her character and is a driving motivation to see the nightmare to the end, and she's also able to show her motherly chops as she cares for a little girl who hasn't had much in the way of parental relationship. Even the villains are more interesting; William Birkin becomes a Frankenstein's Monster by his own design and hubris, Chief Irons is a perverted creep betrayed by the hand that fed him, Annette is an anxiety-riddled wife and mother who just wants to see her daughter safe but lets the G-Virus get in the way of that. The cast is varied and interesting and makes you look forward to the cutscenes in a genuine way, rather than just to laugh at the bad dialogue and acting.

But even better than the story is the gameplay itself. Kamiya gave the game a shot of adrenaline; ammo counts are boosted and weapons become more powerful with upgrades, but enemies are a lot more dangerous, densely populated, and more varied. The stand-out enemies are the Lickers, that will wreck you with sweeping claw attacks and a piercing long-range tongue attack. Plus, they only react to sounds on account of being blind, which adds an interesting layer to how to deal with these long-tongue freaks. Then of course there's the T-103, better known as Mr. X or Trenchy, a pre-Nemesis type that follows you around the Raccoon Police Department, bursting through walls or showing up in hallways at the most inopportune of times. These new advancements in action and horror strike an amazing balance that never gets boring.

The R.P.D. itself is designed a lot like the Spencer Mansion. There's keys and emblems and whatever else, and like RE1, it's not too hard to get lost due to each room offering up something unique in the way of visuals. Being a former art gallery gives it an excuse to show pretty sculptures and art pieces and provide different types of puzzles from that of the mansion. And I've always felt the R.P.D. to be the scariest location of the series. Ambient sounds of enemies and footsteps enhance the atmosphere tenfold, and coupled with the amazing soundtrack it offers so much tension to just walk through an empty hallway.

Also new to the game is the "zapping system", with 4 different paths through the game depending on which character you play as first. This provide incredible replay value, offering new shades to characters, different item locations, and if you A-rank these scenarios, you even unlock new modes like The 4th Survivor starring HUNK. It's yet another genius gameplay gimmick to give as much bang for your buck as possible.

Resident Evil 2 was simply a landmark release in every way. It's the gold standard for a sequel and a masterclass survival horror game. Messy development cycles would be nothing new with the series; if anything, they add a whole outside layer to the game that gives it it's legendary qualities. Getting Resident Evil 2 made the way it did simply would not happen in today's gaming climate, with big budget bloated action spectacles not leaving any chance for a game 80 percent done to be completely scrapped. But Capcom and the Resident Evil team pulled through, and delivered one of the greatest games of all time.

But Capcom's experiments were far from over...

Version Madness Squeezing two discs into an N64 was a hell of an accomplishment. It even has ADDED stuff. That's amazing. The N64 version includes the EX files, which are mostly rehashed stuff from Resident Evil 3. But there's one file that mentions Billy "Koen" written by Rebecca Chambers. Since Resident Evil 0 was in development for the N64 at the time but ultimately never released, this ended up creating an oddball continuity nod once RE0 was actually released on the Gamecube. Just a neat piece of trivia. It also has a myriad of cool options, like violence level and an item randomizer to make each playthrough different. The N64 version is one hell of a marvel of development.

The Dreamcast and PC versions don't differ too much. Just various peripheral support for their respective systems.

Besides the N64 port, the other notable re-release is the Dual Shock Ver. which features the Extreme Battle Mode, an improvement on the Saturn mode. It features Chris Redfield as a playable character! This version was the one ported to mild reviews for the GameCube.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Release Date: September 22, 1999 (JP), November 10, 1999 (NA), March 17, 2000 (EU) Consoles: PS1, PC, DC, GC, PS3

While not nearly as rocky a development as Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis does have its fair share of backstory and quirks that make it the game it is today. The game was originally envisioned as a game starring HUNK on a cruise ship, but this version was quickly scrapped in favor of a spin-off game starring Jill Valentine and set in between the original game and RE2. The HUNK version may have eventually been inspiration for Resident Evil: Dead Aim or hell, even Revelations way down the line, but that's just my speculation. This game was being developed alongside Code: Veronica, but Resident Evil 3 eventually shook off it's spin-off status to cap off the PS1 trilogy with a proper numbered entry while Code became a spin-off in the eyes of some fans.

Though the game still uses the same engine as the prior two games, Resident Evil 3 is heads above them both in terms of gameplay and graphical fidelity. Characters don't look so blocky anymore, especially seen in the monster design, which is just excellent here. Even the CG cutscenes hold up better nowadays. There's a plethora of new features, all designed to lead the game towards a more actionized approach. There's a dodge mechanic that's very hard to pull off, but is extremely satisfying when you do. An ammo crafting mechanic is here too, which makes no other appearance in any game. You find gunpowder, combine it with the Reloading Tool, and voila, handgun ammo, shotgun shells, even grenades are available instantaneously! You can even make enhanced ammo eventually if you keep using the same gunpowder too. This makes everything a lot more liable to be gunned down, especially in the tight corridors of Raccoon City, but it never feels like it sacrifices its survival horror ethic for this. Enemies are generally faster, more dangerous, and come in greater numbers than ever before. And there's one monster that balances it all out: the real star of the game, the Nemesis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6e4uElYPyQ

Once Nemesis enters the picture, the game immediately separates itself from the previous two entries. Suddenly, if Nemesis is after you, no room is safe, not even the sacred save rooms at certain points! Nemesis is faster than you, and can easily make every experience with him a heart-pounding encounter as he's upon you in a flash. His boss fights are a test of mettle, eating magnum bullets and anything else like a champ while you're either handicapped or can only deal high damage in a certain way. Nemesis makes this one of the scariest entries of the series and elevates Resident Evil 3 to something special.

As the end of the Resident Evil trilogy, the Capcom team very clearly wanted to tell a story that wrapped up the era of Raccoon City in a nice little bow. With the rest of S.T.A.R.S. gone off to fight Umbrella, and Leon and Claire entrenched in missions of their own, Jill Valentine remained the only character still left without her next story chapter. In Japan, the game is subtitled as Last Escape, and that's exactly what this is: Jill's last escape, from her life in Raccoon, from Umbrella, from the nightmare.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/0/09/Jill_prunyuu~.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150920092431

Jill wears this nice outfit in place of her typical S.T.A.R.S. gear and though it's pretty impractical, it's her most iconic outfit and established Jill as something of a sex symbol and more of her own character, rather than a typical policewoman. She has a lot more personality in this game, and shows a lot more steel and toughness than RE1. She's extremely mistrusting of the UBCS but does take a liking to Carlos who rescues her like Barry. Guess she has a type! She also has one of the best moments of the series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSLhdtxLoLo

The main plot of this game is centered around the Umbrella monitor Nicholai Ginovaef, a real Wesker-type collecting combat data on the monsters in the city. Canonically, he gets off scott-free but you can shoot down his helicopter which is a lot more satisfying. Other than that, it's just about Jill escaping the city really. There's a feature called "Live Selection" in this game, but they're glorified quicktime events compared to the zapping system and branching paths of previous games. They rarely change anything major, sometimes just literally making your journey a few steps longer. Other times, you're able to down the Nemesis momentarily and pick-up an item, but the only event that truly makes a story difference is the choice on the bridge before the Dead Factory, which changes who saves you at the end. Raccoon City is nuked no matter what and Jill closes a horrifying chapter of her life. But it's only the beginning...

When you beat the game, a Mercenaries mode is unlocked. It's the same thing as the Battle Mode of previous entries really, but is a lot tougher to survive and you need high scores to unlock anything substantial. There's also epilogues focusing on the 8 survivors of the Raccoon City incident.

Honestly, I love Resident Evil 3 more than most I think. I see many fans regard it as a weak entry that's short and unsatisfying, especially compared to Resident Evil 2 but it's one of the most fun to play in my opinion. I love traversing the Raccoon City alleyways, I love the soundtrack, and most of all I love Nemesis, he's one of my favorite villains in gaming and in general. If you play Resident Evil for the scares, Nemesis provides it in spades. The ammo crafting is fresh and different, and I don't really mind a little boost in the action. If you're a detractor of this game, give it another shot!

But... we're still not done with the PlayStation. Oh boy, nuke me now.

Version Madness Resident Evil 3 is one of the least different games between ports in the series. Dreamcast version has a few extra costumes, door animations are skippable on PC, and the graphics are a little better on other systems. But otherwise, it's the same no matter which version you play.

Resident Evil: Survivor Release Date: January 27, 2000 (JP), March 31, 2000 (EU), August 30, 2000 (NA) Consoles: PS1, PC (only in Taiwan)

Resident Evil: Survivor, released in Japan about a month before the next mainline entry, was Resident Evil's first attempt at a true spin-off video game. It's widely considered to be the worst in the series next to Resident Evil: Gaiden, and a messy port to the United States that lacked GunCon support made it even worse. Is is truly that bad though? Does it have anything to redeem it and make it worth playable? Well, let's take a look, shall we?

Resident Evil: Survivor, though marketed as a light gun game, is essentially just a classic Resident Evil experience played from the first-person. Though you do have unlimited handgun ammo, the game does try to scare you, there's a bit of item management, and there's puzzles, piss-easy as they may be. This could truly be an okay concept, but Survivor botches it pretty hard. Without the light gun, Survivor is a below mediocre first-person shooter with terrible movement speed that still opts for tank controls, an aiming system that's clunky as all hell, and the game just does not feel good to play at all. Every weapon basically feels exactly the same. There's challenge, but it comes in the form of enemies who move too fast to hit properly and general bad controls.

Survivor also happens to have the worst voice over work I have ever heard in a video game. Every character delivers their lines in the dullest, most monotone voice possible. But it doesn't really matter; the story and characters are uninteresting, with an amnesiac main character and plot twist that does not pay off in the slightest.

If I had to say something positive, I like the setting. Sheena Island would be a fine place to explore in a typical survival horror setting. And there's different paths through the game if you just love torture. I really do hate to rag on a game so hard, but Survivor is an undeniable flop. Maybe with GunCon it could've been different, but as it stands, Survivor is only worth playing for hardcore RE fans who want the completionist factor under their belt.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica Release Date: February 3, 2000 (JP), February 29, 2000 (NA), May 26, 2000 (EU) Consoles: DC, PS2, GC, X360, PS3

With the PlayStation 1 era firmly behind us and Raccoon City in ruins, it was time to look to a new future for the series. As mentioned in the Resident Evil 3 write-up, Code: Veronica was being developed alongside Nemesis as the next true main entry of the series, a direct sequel to Resident Evil 2, and it truly shows. Using the next generation software of the Dreamcast, Code: Veronica abandoned the use of pre-rendered backgrounds for 3D environments and was able to create more realistic character models. I think everything still looks pretty good today, a lot of effort was clearly poured into the graphics of this game.

Gameplay wise, Code: Veronica borrows the quick turn from Nemesis, but there's no more dodging, ammo crafting, and you still have to press a button to go up stairs! There's an emphasis on dual-wielding weapons here, and enemies most certainly take more hits than they ever did before, so you need all the firepower you can get. Code: Veronica is no cake walk, the zombies are faster, enemies like the Bandersnatch can hit you from across a room, and it probably has the hardest boss in the series: the T-078. Ammo conservation and item management are even more important in this game, you really do have to save your good stuff for the bosses and harder enemies. I've always found the locations of item boxes lacking and tough to get to, and there's a metric ton of backtracking here. At its worst, Code: Veronica is grueling, tiring, and tedious, and even a hardcore survival horror fan can get pretty sick of it, but Capcom was not kidding around with this game and they've crafted one of the toughest survival horror games out there and it's a beautiful thing nonetheless.

Storywise, Code: Veronica is a lot deeper and more involved here. It features my two favorite villains of the series, Alfred and Alexia Ashford, a Psycho-inspired pairing complete with crossdressing and a creepy dark-shrouded mansion where the villain hangs out to do said crossdressing. Starring opposite them are Claire and Chris Redfield, and that creates some really nice theming based on the bond of siblings and how that relationship affects the characters. Claire clearly has a deep love for her brother, and Alfred his sister, and the two are almost kindred spirits which makes each encounter emotionally-charged and meaningful. It's still a Resident Evil game though, Alexia turns into a giant dragonfly monster that poops out things, there's the horribly whiny Steve Burnside and an attempt at a romance with Claire, and Wesker returns resurrected by a virus that gives him superpowers! And that's all great too (well maybe not the Steve stuff, but eh, it could be worse)! This isn't Silent Hill. As established in the first game, these are B-movie games, and the psychological and the outlandish merge to create a fun experience all its own.

Code: Veronica is a tougher game than most in the series to get into. The game is entrenched in RE lore and the game is not easy by any means. This shouldn't be the one you start with, that's for sure. But if you're a fan already, there's just so much to love here! It has one of my favorite video game stories with my favorite character in the series at the center of it, and it's a challenge even for hardened survival horror vets. It's so good!

Version Madness The big version here is Code: Veronica X, released for the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast in Japan, as well as for GameCube, which is an extremely rare game for that console so good luck obtaining. Gameplay is mostly the same, but it adds 9 minutes of additional cutscenes, so that's cool.

The X version was remastered for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It's definitely the best version, and the easiest to obtain, so you should play this one I think.

Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica Release Date: November 8, 2001 (JP), March 22, 2002 (EU) Consoles: Arcade, PS2

They made ANOTHER ONE?!

Resident Evil Survivor 2 Code: Veronica has always been something of an oddity to me. It's the only console-released Resident Evil I have yet to play and that's because it's also the only console-released game to not be released in the United States. Not even the Arcade machine was released here, and there's no intention for that to ever happen. It's technically a sequel to one of the worst received games of the series, though it shares no connection outside of gameplay. And the events are technically canon, being Claire's nightmare after the events of Code: Veronica.

It's hard for me to talk about this, but from what videos I've seen the gameplay is much improved from the first Survivor. The game controls like any standard first-person shooter, but even so, the whole thing looks very cheap and shoddily produced, which is just fine for an arcade machine really, but for a console release, a little unacceptable. One cool thing about Survivor 2 is the appearance of Nemesis after a certain time limit.

Other than collector's value, Survivor 2 doesn't really look that fun to play and is a pretty inessential entry in the series.

Resident Evil: Gaiden Release Date: December 14, 2001 (PAL), March 29, 2002 (JP), June 3, 2002 (NA) Consoles: GBC

Resident Evil: Gaiden is a very special game in the series that features every video game character ever as the bad guy in the game. Look it up.

No, but really Gaiden is the black sheep of the Resident Evil franchise. It's constantly the butt of jokes everywhere and makes Survivor look like Resident Evil 4. As the title suggests, Gaiden is a side story, a non-canon entry in the series that features Leon S. Kennedy and Barry Burton as the main characters. Such a pairing sounds like a very fun time, but the game doesn't really do much with the characters or its story, which is rendered ultimately pointless being that it's never referred to again.

Gameplay is one of the hugest departures of the series, playing from a top-down perspective, initiating random encounter-like battles upon contact with zombies, and having Metal Gear-esque conversations with HQ. The game is not a fun time, combat is a huge drag, the screen is incredibly ugly to look at, and the puzzles are rote and boring.

Resident Evil: Gaiden is widely derided for a reason. Like Survivor 2, Gaiden should only ever be played if you just have to play every game in the series.

Like me.

The Resident Evil Film Series

The Resident Evil films are not good movies. They're schlocky action-horror films that are in your face, have barely followed the source material, and have writing that's just bad. And not "You were almost a Jill Sandwich" bad. Just bad. But they're still fun and enjoyable movies nonetheless. You just got to laugh at the sheer spectacle of some of these action scenes. Separate the films from the games and you'll have a good time. Without further ado, let's venture off from the games for the first time into the biggest multi-media branch the Resident Evil series has.

Resident Evil Release Date: March 15, 2002 (US), March 21, 2002 (Germany), April 3, 2002 (France), July 12, 2002 (UK) Directed by: Paul W. S. Anderson

The first Resident Evil film introduces us to the main character: Alice, a completely original character and our resident (no pun intended) kick-ass action heroine. The film uses no characters from the games besides monsters unless you count an uncredited cameo of William Birkin who turns into the character Dr. Sam Isaacs. There are references to the games, tenuous as they may be, such as camera angles and a timed countdown. This film could almost be called something else and you wouldn't even notice. Still, Resident Evil is actually a pretty competent film. The plot moves along briskly and there's an almost video game-level sense of progression that's pretty fun, especially with its expendable characters. Some action scenes are genuinely tense and exciting! It wouldn't be a stretch to the call the first film here a "good" movie. It has its fans certainly and was definitely popular enough to warrant a sequel.

Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8gfGhVL3qs This great laser scene action setpiece would later inspire similar segments in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse Release Date: September 10, 2004 (US) Directed by: Alexander Witt

Resident Evil: Apocalypse is actually my favorite film of the series. It takes the most inspiration from the games out of any in the series, being set fully in Raccoon City and introducing us to Jill Valentine, the S.T.A.R.S., Carlos Olivera, and even the Nemesis. The story is silly and there's a lot going on, I mean look at all these plot points: there's Raccoon City's collapse due to the the T-Virus outbreak, an Umbrella researcher named after the Ashfords trying to rescue his daughter, there's a new super-powered Alice kicking ass throughout the city, Jill Valentine and the S.T.A.R.S. trying to survive, a reporter chick trying to record the happenings in the city, Matt Addison returns as the Nemesis, the UBCS is there, and then there's L.J. goofing his way through the outbreak. JE-SUS. Apocalypse is an incredibly fun movie though even if there's a frustrating lack of focus at times.

Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3tfakWkXRo Though this film would turn Nemesis into the Terminator in future Resident Evil games, Nemesis gunning down the S.T.A.R.S. members and L.J. as the only guy standing is kinda funny and badass.

Resident Evil: Extinction Release Date: September 20, 2007 (Russia), September 21, 2007 (Canada/US), October 12, 2007 (United Kingdom) Directed by: Russell Mulcahy

Extinction is where the films go off the deep end. Any pretense of the films being based on the games at all is pretty much abandoned here; only characters, monsters, and Umbrella really remain. The film is set in post-apocalyptic Earth, and takes cues from Mad Max as we're introduced to Claire Redfield as the leader of a vehicle convoy. I like Claire in these films, Ali Larter is a good actress and she's not as perfectly badass as Alice is. She's treated well from game to screen in my opinion, even if it's not a 1:1 to translation. Extinction has a lot more focus and it's mostly the Claire and Alice show, but the supporting characters get their own scenes to shine as well. After Extinction ends and Alice Clones are set up for the sequel however, it truly clicks that these films are stupid.

Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrAToeKGq0E Just a fun scene, there's a guy on the Eiffel tower, a million zombies, and characters just kicking ass.

Resident Evil: Afterlife Release Date: September 10, 2010 Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Paul W.S. Anderson is back in the director's chair, and that means more Alice, Alice, ALICE! All the Alices. Which get killed off as quickly as they're introduced. The schlock is so bad it hurts. Hot on the heels of Resident Evil 5, Afterlife features the Majini, Axeman, and Matrix Wesker with a Majini mouth. The final fight scene with Wesker is friggin' hilarious. The action is turned up to 11 in this film and it's a rip-roaring hilarious time. There's no plot to this film, each scene is an excuse for a new action set-piece; sit back, turn your brain off, and watch.

Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J58VPpPrmQU / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LMLmDZIVs Tie between these two scenes. The Wesker fight is hilarious fun, and the Axeman scene has some cool visuals.

Resident Evil: Retribution Release Date: September 14, 2012 (International) Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

So in this long line of sometimes exhausting and convoluted action films, Retribution caps everything off so far with even more action, even more new characters, and even more convoluted plot points. Wesker's apparently a good guy now, and previously deceased characters return due to a lot of the film taking place in a simulation. Leon S. Kennedy makes his first appearance in the films, leading a team consisting of himself, Barry, and Luther from Afterlife. No Claire this time, which is sad. Ada is also here as well. Once again, if you're not here from the action, what are you here for?

Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QONEDJyOjdc Blonde Jill from RE5 vs. Ada Wong and Alice in a suburban town. Yeah, says it all.

In Conclusion The Resident Evil films are all over the place. Plot points are brought up and then immediately dropped. These are action films first and foremost. There's no deliberate pacing like the games have. But, I like them. They're enjoyable enough, and like I said before, separate them from the games and they're a fine time, truly. Sit back, laugh, and see the novelty of game characters brought to life on the screen. The next film will be the last, and though marred by unfortunate set accidents, if it's anything like the others, it'll be just the same.

Resident Evil Release Date: March 22, 2002 (JP), April 30, 2002 (NA), September 13, 2002 (EU) Consoles: GC, Wii, PC, PS3, X360, PS4, XBONE

Up until 2002, the Resident Evil series was primarily a Sony PlayStation focused-series. Even Code: Veronica jumped ship to the PS2 from DreamCast for a superior X edition. But in 2001, that all changed when Capcom partnered up with Nintendo for an exclusivity deal that spanned three main series games released only for the Nintendo GameCube, as well as four other non-Resident Evil games. While PlayStation 2 would see a few spin-offs ranging from bad to decent, and would even eventually see Resident Evil 4, a Resident Evil fan in the early 2000s definitely would've wanted a GameCube. History and trends would have different plans, but at the end of it all, we still got three of the best titles in the series, including the one I'm here to talk about now: the remake of the original Resident Evil, released exactly 6 years after it.

So much love, detail, and attention is poured into REmake. The GameCube version still looks insanely good thanks to loving crafted pre-rendered backgrounds, an emphasis on lighting, and FMV techniques to simulate things like rushing water or swaying trees. The settings in this game are just simply breathtaking. An emphasis on direction is seen throughout the game, each camera angle placed deliberately for maximum balance between player knowledge of the area, showcasing the environment, and to scare the player with a sense of the unknown. You never quite know what could be around the corner of a camera angle change. The steadily increasing actionizing of the series is extremely toned down here; Mikami wanted to make the player feel horror again. Ammo counts are extremely toned down as well as your arsenal. You'll be using a shotgun/handgun combo for a majority of the game; magnum bullets and grenade shells are scarce and should be saved for bosses only. Zombies take plenty more hits, they bite hard, and the more special enemies are quicker and harder to deal with. Additions like breaking door knobs and the game's best addition, Crimson Heads, make inventory management and backtracking a renewed experience that's more than a tedious chore navigating clear hallways to get back to your item box. There's constant danger in every room. Zombies can burst through doors and windows at any moment, a Cerberus can persist you in the main hall, and veterans of the original game can expect variations on the same scares that's scarily unpredictable. Every survival horror game should take notes from REmake on making a game that's challenging and scary, but not impossible and extremely rewarding.

Story is mostly the same. S.T.A.R.S., mansion, traitor Wesker, the same plot beats are hit here but with a lot more production value. The charm and goofiness of the original has its place; in the heightened horror and graphics of REmake, things have to be a bit more serious. Lines are reworked here, Barry's myriad of famous quotes especially; they're still humorous, but in less a campy, over exaggerated kind of way, and more in a "he's just your friendly buddy" kind of way. The new Trevor subplot is executed in a classically creepy fashion; reading through a deranged and desperate man's final thoughts as he just wants to reunite with his family is depressing and tragic. The transformation of young Lisa Trevor into a grotesque virus experiment is the darkest the series has ever gotten. You barely get this kind of stuff anymore.

REmake is just about the only game in the series that shows restraint in it's setting and characters. There's an obviously different tone that this game goes for: less action spectacle, more melancholy and horror; less cross-dressing maniacs and cheesy one-liners, more realistic, scared, and tired characters. And I'm not saying any of that is bad, it's quite fun and unique! But taking it slow once in awhile and not looking like you've completely run out of ideas is sometimes the route you have to take. No game would look like this ever again. The next game after this we're back to an opera-singing leech master and goofy giant bug monsters.

REmake has an identity and horror all to its own. But this experiment was not a success. Sales slumped with this title, due to being on a console that was not selling well, did not have Resident Evil's target audience, and people being generally fatigued with the whole overdone survival horror genre. The people had spoken; REmake was unfortunately the catalyst to the near death of a whole genre, despite being one of the best examples of it. Things had to change, and that meant leaving the fixed camera angles, limited inventory and ammo, and tank controls behind. It's a sad, tragic story and we all know where it led. We've gotten some great games from this shift, but this classic survival horror style will always remain my favorite. And REmake, as my favorite game of the series and of all time, is the landmark representation of this left-behind relic.

Version Madness REmake was a Nintendo exclusive for over 10 years until it saw a recent re-released in HD last year for all the current and last-gen consoles, as well as PC. Everything is there from the GameCube version. And it looks superb. Buy it, support survival horror any way you can! It sold much more than it ever did on GameCube, so it's always nice to see history rectify itself.

The game's also on the Wii, a direct port from GameCube. It's fine I suppose, not the best way to play really, but if it's your only option, you can still play one of the best games ever.

Resident Evil Zero Release Date: November 12, 2002 (NA), November 21, 2002 (JP), February 28, 2003 (AUS), March 7, 2003 (EU) Consoles: GC, Wii, PC, PS3, X360, PS4, XBONE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsx_ZaXXCK4

Development for Resident Evil Zero originally began as a concept as early as 1995, when the Nintendo 64 was first announced. The first game was not even out yet, and just even thinking of a prequel was an ambitious thought, even being little more than sporadic thoughts. A few years later, it would come up again on the announcement of the N64DD, with a disc-based and cartridge-based version both planned. Delays of the DD caused plans to fall through, and development switched to just cartridge-based, but the cart simply did not have enough RAM to support it. The game was announced for July 2000 originally, but the game may have only ever been close to 10% complete according to Hideki Kamiya, while others suggested 20% complete. Production was completely shelved mid-2000. Resident Evil 2 for the N64 would have references to this version of Zero, and in my opinion, even with a spelling error, those references are still canon to the GC version.

When development restarted for the Nintendo GameCube, the system's more powerful hardware and switch to discs made Zero the game the team hoped for. Basic story, setting, and character details were carried over, but everything else was re-designed from the ground up, using the same engine and graphical techniques as the remake. Zero was released later the same year as REmake, with a few changes to shake up the formula a little bit. Item boxes are a thing of the past, now, players can drop items anywhere they please. Secondly, there's the "partner zapping" system, not to be confused with Resident Evil 2's similarly named "zapping system". Zero is the first game in the series to feature two simultaneously playable characters, and it serves as a progenitor to the standard two-character set-up the series would eventually adopt. This allows the player to solve specially-designed "partner" puzzles, share items between inventories, and have extra back-up in a gunfight. The partner stuff is great in my opinion, but the item dropping is a little pointless. I still find myself using one large safe room hub zone to leave all my extra items in, and this just pads gameplay as I have to look around for an item I need instead of just getting it from my box. Still, it does come in handy on occasion, and I still applaud the attempt at freshness.

Story wise, it's still a prequel to Resident Evil, the REmake now and not the original. While the intro of the game promises answers and backstory to the Umbrella Corporation, it really just details the story of mad scientist James Marcus and shows us how Rebecca Chambers and S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team got to where they did in the REmake (sort of). The story of this game is honestly largely unnecessary; we've already got all the backstory we need in the files of the first four main series games. The game is definitely much more interested in exploring the relationship of Officer Chambers and the so-called dangerous convict Billy Coen. Billy is a fan favorite amongst series fans, myself included, but he still only has one true canon appearance. There's a lot of trouble underneath that tough exterior, and his past glimpsed in flashbacks hints at PTSD. It's very out of tone with the rest of the series, but it's still great. Billy's backstory does not have anything to do with viruses or Umbrella or anything even closely related to the series' canon; he's just a wrongly accused survivor of war sentenced to death for following orders.

And he plays very nicely with Rebecca, a green rookie with a lot of cute charm and spunk who already has to question things on her first mission; does she trust and survive with the escaped convict, or follow her orders and bring him in? Over the course of the game, their relationship goes from forced to uneasy to a genuine partnership leading to a touching goodbye as Rebecca declares Billy officially dead, allowing him to start a new life. Rebecca and Billy is just a partnership I love.

Behind the scenes of this game, we also have Albert Wesker and William Birkin discussing Wesker's mansion plan and Birkin's G-Virus. The friendship they show is also great and brought into focus through several files and cutscenes of the game. The main antagonist, James Marcus, trusted those two the most and were eventually betrayed by them. He was a leech-obsessed man who used human test subjects in his research and generally sounded like an insane creep in his files. He's a fine villain and he turns into a giant leech monster in true RE fashion, so he fits the mold.

Zero is a divisive game. Most fans find it forgettable, others underrated. Many cite outdated gameplay, boring monsters (a fair criticism), and the new gimmicks not being enough, further driving the nail into survival horror's coffin. For me, Zero is a game I've played a lot. It provides a lot of good scares (especially with the leech monsters), great atmosphere and backgrounds à la REmake, and I just love Rebecca and Billy. It's more Resident Evil, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Version Madness Like REmake, it was remastered just this year for all current systems, past-gen systems, and PC. It did not do much to alleviate the same concerns as when it was originally released, but the graphics and backgrounds were particularly praised. It's probably the one you should play.

It also has a Wii version, a direct port like REmake.

Resident Evil: Dead Aim Release Date: February 13, 2003 (JP), June 17, 2003 (NA), July 9, 2003 (PAL) Consoles: PS2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO28Ff-1CLs

Resident Evil: Dead Aim is the series' third attempt (technically fourth, we'll get to that in the future) at making a light gun shooter out of Resident Evil. Capcom originally had no intention of releasing Dead Aim in the States like Survivor 2 before it, but here it is. And it actually has light gun support this time!

Dead Aim is a very okay in many aspects. It doesn't do anything particularly well, but it's leagues more playable than the first Survivor. The game now switches between third-person and first-person perspectives; all combat is done in the first-person, while you get the traditional survival horror experience with third-person. It's what you expect from a light gun game. I've never personally played it with one, but the controller works just fine. Some enemies are still too quick to handle with the clunky interface but you manage.

The story here is that you either control Bruce McGivern or Fong Ling, two separate agents from different organizations that have the same goal. Androgynous Umbrella maniac Morpheus D. Duvall threatens to destroy the world using T-Virus missiles and wants $1 Billion dollars in ransom; so of course only two agents are sent in to deal with this. Morpheus also infected the cruse liner Spencer Rain with the T-Virus, and this is where he is located. Early in the game, Morpheus infects himself with the t+G Virus, and turns into a Tyrant with breasts. Morpheus' obsession with beauty does play nicely into that design, the game really does not have strong writing or voice acting to carry any of the plot or characters. And everything looks generally fugly in my opinion, especially the character models. It also has no bearing on the series, though it is a canon entry due to a guidebook mention.

Ultimately, I'd say Dead Aim is not really worth your time that much, but it does have some kickass music like the save theme above. And Morpheus is a fine villain even if the writing isn't all there. And it's way better than any of the other Resident Evil Survivors.

Resident Evil Outbreak Release Date: December 11, 2003 (JP), March 31, 2004 (NA), September 17, 2004 (PAL) Consoles: PS2

Resident Evil Outbreak was an idea that had middling success. Released early on in console network capability features, Outbreak had several problems that made the online experience shaky and hard on its players. It did reach its goal of a 1 million copies sold, but it had little staying power.

Outbreak began as an idea before even Resident Evil 2, suggested and tried by Noritaka Funamizu, but found to be not typical to the Resident Evil brand, and found co-op to diminish the scares of the game. Resurrected in 2002, Outbreak, then titled Resident Evil Online, was part of a three game effort by Capcom to test online play. The game was later titled Resident Evil Network and it had as many as 18 scenarios in development, thought the final release would only have 5. Finally, it was released the title we all know it by, and it only lacked online support in the Europe region.

Outbreak boasts a huge 8 playable characters, even more when you factor in skins. What character you choose affects certain gameplay related things in each scenario, rather than story beats, with a few exceptions here and there. For example, Alyssa Ashcroft is the only one able to lockpick things, while Yoko Suzuki can hold 4 extra items in her backpack. The characters that can hold extra items always make the scenarios easier; 4 inventory slots per character does not leave a lot of room for weapons, ammo, and healing items. There's also a virus meter, if it reaches 100% your player collapses and it's game over. If you play online however, your character can turn into a zombie! Other than the differing characters and virus meter, you can expect the same Resident Evil experience you've been playing for nearly a decade at this point.

I wish I could speak more on the online portion on a personal level rather than from what people have said. I've never played online, and by the time I played Outbreak, I probably couldn't have anyway. There is no voice chat, instead characters just get ad-libs based on the context of the situation. They're not particularly helpful if the single player is anything to go by, they're repetitive and never mention specific items. It must have been a nightmare, and not in the way you would expect. I can't be sure how the connections were, but all signs point to a very mediocre online experience.

I've played through this game many times on single-player though. The game takes place as episodes during the Raccoon City Incident, and I'll never miss a chance to better explore the city in depth. Settings include the streets of Raccoon at the very beginning of the outbreak, Birkin's lab before Leon and Claire got there, Raccoon General Hospital which gets blown up in RE3, and the new locations Apple Inn and Raccoon City University. These settings are great and breath even more life into the city. Storyline is tenuous at best, and there is no continuity between scenarios. Scenarios are challenging, there's A LOT of key items and it's hard to carry the better weapons because ammo is scarce for them and you can't use them on regular enemies or else the boss will kind of be impossible. And you can never ever trust NPCs in this game, they will drop important items in the blink of an eye. These gameplay quirks can be annoying, but I like the added challenge to be honest.

Historically, Outbreak was not a success and quickly forgotten, despite reaching the target sales. But taken as a straight RE game, I think it's pretty damn good. If you love Raccoon City or challenging survival horror gameplay, pick it up! And if you want to play online, I think there's some small dedicated communities out there for you still.

Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 Release Date: September 9, 2004 (JP), April 26, 2005 (NA), August 26, 2005 (PAL) Consoles: PS2

Talking about File #2 feels like a retread of what made Outbreak both good and bad. File #2 feels like little more than an expansion pack of new scenarios than a fully new game. Online was revamped slightly, but made even worse in NA versions due to the elimination of spoken ad-libs besides 4 analog stick commands. There's also a new lobby system and special events, which do sound like good advancements. But again, I cannot speak on online gameplay.

All the characters return from the first Outbreak, and each carry a second unique item this time, which are all kind of useless and quickly dropped. And though it may sound like I'm a really ho-hum about this game, I actually think all the scenarios are a huge improvement over the first. File #2 treads a lot of new ground in Raccoon City, and of course that's right up my alley. "Wild Things" is fun romp through the Raccoon City Zoo, with zombie lions, hornbills, and even a zombie elephant! "Underbelly" is very backtracky and not my favorite, but the subway is still a pretty creepy location. "Flashback" is my favorite of all the Outbreak scenarios; the Ax Man is a terrific Nemesis-type villain, and it also has a branching path that you have to wait around a long time for. And it tells the most complete story of any scenario. "Desperate Times" takes us back to the R.P.D., and being placed in the middle of the siege of monsters mentioned in RE2 and RE3 is ingeniously exciting. Finally, "End of the Road" caps it off with an epically long trek from the Umbrella R&D Center to the sewers to the streets of Raccoon City to a bridge where you face against the Nyx. All of these scenarios are great fun and an awesome way to experience the Raccoon City Incident.

And besides that, there's nothing else to really talk about. File #2 most definitely still has a dedicated fanbase, so you probably get an online game if you try hard enough. If you liked the first, you'll like File #2. It's the Raccoon City simulator you know you need.

Resident Evil 4 Release Date: January 11, 2005 (NA), January 27, 2005 (JP), March 18, 2005 (PAL) Consoles: GC, PS2, PC, Wii, Zeebo, iOS, PS3, X360, Android, PS4, XBONE

Resident Evil 4 is so much more than just a game. Its long, twisty, storied development, its release, and its legacy all show us the meaning of brand identity, how time affects trends, necessity of change, and how something so revolutionary can end up starting a chain of unstoppable homogenization. As I've said right from the beginning, Resident Evil as a series has always had a bit of an identity crisis. From the very beginning of development in the first game, where it was originally envisioned as an FPS game, to various spin-off experiments ranging from light gun shooters to top down GBC adventures, to a more mature and less campy approach in REmake. Experimentation isn't a bad thing. But the developers at Capcom have always had differing ideas on where the series should head, main in the argument of fear vs. action. Resident Evil 4 was always going to shake up the status quo in a huge way from the very start. Hideki Kamiya and Noboru Sugimura originally came up with an idea to make the Resident Evil series cool, stylish, and action heavy, with an invincible protagonist and superpowers being the defining traits of the game. Doesn't exactly scream Resident Evil does it? Mikami saw this, and that game eventually became the start of another great series, Devil May Cry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOzr9hvaerE

The next version up is the commonly dubbed "Fog Version". As you can see from the trailer, Leon was still the protagonist and he even has his signature jacket. In this version, Leon was to be infected by the Progenitor Virus, and looks like he's being stalked by an Uroboros Monster from Resident Evil 5. I like the locations and concept of this version, and the atmosphere looks terrific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3qYoR6m8o

This is the most famous scrapped version of Resident Evil 4, dubbed the "Hook Man Version". This version looks really great and scary, but I'm not entirely sure if the whole supernatural element fits into the Resident Evil universe. Elements of DMC can be seen here, as one room is locked by spirits until you defeat the enemies. Armaduras from RE4 are also seen here, and there's over-the-shoulder aiming seen. The biggest different is the Hook Man, who seems to emerge from paintings and is a stalker-type of enemy. Ultimately, this version does look pretty sweet, but there's something a little off about the whole thing.

There's also a version called "Hallucination" that is just a story concept. It was a last ditch effort to make Resident Evil still bring horror over action, with a stalking killer, pet B.O.W. dog, and the Spencer castle, all still starring Leon. No footage or concept art has surfaced for this as far as I know.

Finally, Mikami took the reigns of the series forcefully. After middling successes for REmake and Zero, Mikami knew something had to change. His team disagreed with the direction he was taking it, and were not entirely happy with the gameplay changes and emphasis on action over horror. But Resident Evil 4 was now set in stone. With release date fast approaching, production on Resident Evil 4 ramped up with elements taken from the past versions and was released as we know it today as one of the best games ever made.

Resident Evil 4 completely changed everything you thought you knew about Resident Evil. In place of zombies are Ganado, and these guys use weapons, use strategy to swarm Leon, and even blowing one's head off does not necessarily mean death. Camera is always placed over Leon's shoulder and emphasizes enemy interaction instead of avoidance. There's little backtracking, no item boxes, and key items don't take up inventory space. Speaking of inventory, Leon now has a huge attache case that fits all his weapons, ammo, and healing items. Sorting it out to make it look neat is a whole game in itself. Arsenal is widely expanded, with different stats for each gun and the ability to upgrade at the Merchant, as well as buy weapons and sell valuable jewels and treasures. The game also serves as an extended escort quest, with the president's daughter Ashley tagging behind you for a majority of the game. But she never feels like a burden, she always stays behind you no matter what, you can put her in a box, and you can upgrade her health bar to make her take more hits.

The combat in this game is perfect. Every hit feels like your fault, and not the result of cheapness on the game's part. Enemies swarm and hit hard, but you have more than enough firepower to make it through any situation. The game has action over horror sure, but the tougher enemies never makes you feel like you're an invincible super-soldier, but a survivor scraping by. And some enemies are genuinely the scariest the series has to offer, the Regeneradores for one. Resident Evil 4 is able to skirt this line gracefully, rather than future attempts at this same style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EGjuZPaZsY

Resident Evil 4 serves as a sort of soft reboot of the series' canon. It completely glosses over the fall of Umbrella, there's no T or G-Virus, and hardly any of the series' key characters are mentioned. Instead, we get a bombastic, over-the-top action-horror film that borders on comedy. Leon spouts one-liners left and right, the villains all banter with Leon, and there's just an aura over the whole thing that you can tell no one in this game is taking anything too seriously.

But the way it builds up to that is ingenious. The game actually does start off pretty seriously. The village is quiet and atmospheric, and shit hits the fan early. Your two police escorts are killed off, burned at the stake and eaten by Del Lago. The village chief Bitores Mendez spouts cryptic dialogue about Leon being infected with Las Plagas, and the infection starts to affect Leon's performance. Things look grim as night falls, Leon rescues Ashley and meets with cult leader Osmund Saddler, and Leon faces off against a "The Thing" inspired mutated Mendez. Finally, Leon and Ashley escape the village, and... that's when things start to get goofy. Ramon Salazar, short in temper and stature, with an extreme Napoleon Complex, becomes the game's shining villain. His castle is a fun house of traps and attractions; there's everything from fire-breathing dragon boats, to a Hall of Armor, to a cheap roller coaster ride, to a giant statue of the man himself. The game's tone shifts so suddenly and yet never feels out of place. This is the best of Resident Evil camp.

Resident Evil 4 represented a monumental shift in the gaming world. Nearly every third-person shooter after it would adopt the over-the-shoulder aiming system. Resident Evil 4 would popularize the now derided QTEs, and most of all, horror games would all adopt actionized approaches. This brings us right back around to brand identity. Why does Resident Evil 4 succeed when games like Silent Hill: Homecoming or Resident Evil 6 don't? It's simple, imitation is never as good as originality. Resident Evil 4 was not trying to be another series. It was always designed with Resident Evil at its core. Freshness was injected WITHOUT sacrificing its identity. Those prior versions were scrapped for a reason. Action has always tinged the series. Resident Evil 4 took that in the next logical step. This is what other games that try to be RE4 miss.

With Resident Evil 4's stamp on so many games, its easy to criticize Resident Evil 4 for killing the series and strangling gaming. It does not deserve that. It's a near-perfect game that keeps the series' ideals close to heart while expanding into new territory. Resident Evil 4 should be celebrated, but it unfortunately leaves a retroactive black mark on its legacy thanks to cheap imitators and a misunderstanding of why it's so great in the first place.

Version Madness If it was financilly viable, Resident Evil 4 would release on all pre-Gamecube systems as well. Resident Evil 4 has been made for basically everything since. If you've owned a console or played a game or used a computer in the last ten years, you can probably play this somehow.

The PS2 version was better than the previously exclusive GC version, including Separate Ways, which focuses on Ada's story in the game, as well as new costumes.

The game was remastered for X360 and PS3, it's not the best port job, but it's still RE4 and it has Separate Ways.

Best port is probably the Wii version, the aiming controls are excellent.

Avoid the first PC release at all costs, and get the Ultimate HD Edition on Steam instead. Another fine port.

If you're really hard up for this game, iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms are semi-viable. Or Zeebo, the only version I haven't played.

It's hard to go wrong with any version.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence Release Date: January 19, 2006 (JP), February 7, 2006 (NA) March 31, 2006 (PAL) Consoles: DS

Deadly Silence is an amazing port job that adds a whole bunch of new features to the original Resident Evil. Squeezing this game onto the DS is already impressive work, and it's honestly one of the best and most unique ways to experience the first game.

The touch screen adds new features like a Knife Battle mode which is done in the first-person and done by swiping the touch screen. Puzzles are now done on the touch screen as well, as well as some that make use of the microphone, like giving Richard CPR. These are all part of the new "Rebirth Mode", but the game does have a classic mode. Rebirth Mode also adds new enemy placements and sometimes complete replacements; there's a lot more Chimeras in this mode. The dual screen set-up also allows the map to be viewed at all times.

Lastly, there's a multi-player mode which I have not played but it's very similar to the Battle Mode of previous REs. It's the first and only game mode where Bravo Team members (excluding Rebecca of course) are playable.

Good port, cool new additions, not much else to say.

Resident Evil Mobile Games

Resident Evil is NO stranger to the mobile game market, as my research for this project certainly showed. Like what I did with the films, this will cover all the mobile games in the series in one fell swoop. As a disclaimer, I have little to no experience with a majority of these games, and I didn't even know some existed until last month. So, this will be more of a listing than a retrospective review.

Resident Evil: Assault the Nightmare Release Date: 2002 (JP)

An FPS mobile game set in the Arklay Mansion. Not bad for an early attempt at a mobile game.

Resident Evil: Confidential Report Release Date: February 13, 2003 (JP), September 2006 (NA/PAL)

Confidential Report is one mobile game I have played, only File #1. It's a turn-based strategy game set during the Raccoon City incident and stars "new" characters Tyler Hamilton, a rookie RPD officer, and Naomi McClain, an FBI agent. They're basically expies of Leon and Claire. The game is surprisingly a lot of fun, and is perfect for a mobile experience and the story is decent as another episode in the Raccoon City incident, and told over 4 files.

Resident Evil: The Missions Release Date: December 1, 2005 (JP), April 19, 2006 (NA)

The Missions is the first mobile game to provide a series of short challenges without much story based on prior backdrops and games of the series.

Resident Evil: The Stories Release Date: 2004? (JP)

The Stories is apparently a sequel to The Missions, so there's gotta be some date discrepancy here. Oh well, it's what you expect from this sub-franchise.

Resident Evil: The Episodes Release Date: 2007 (JP)

The Episodes consists of short timed segments from Resident Evil 3 and there's not much story to it.

Resident Evil: The Operations Release Date: 2007 (JP)

The Operations, like prior entries in this sub-series, is made of short segments based on the first game.

Resident Evil: Genesis Release Date: March 12, 2008 (NA)

Genesis is an interesting isometric re-imagining of REmake. The layout of the Spencer Mansion is extremely different and there are some differing story elements. It reviewed well and I'd love to play this some time.

Resident Evil: Degeneration Release Date: May 12, 2009 (NA/JP)

Based on the animated film of the same name, and is playable on Apple devices, Blackberry, and the N-Gage. It's very similar to the iOS port of Resident Evil 4 and follows the plot of the film loosely.

Resident Evil: Uprising Release Date: September 9, 2009 (US)

Uprising is another re-imagining like Genesis, this time based on Resident Evil 2.

Resident Evil: Survival Door Release Date: 2010 (JP)

A simple mobile game where you pick 1 of 3 doors and participate in some kind of minigame.

Resident Evil: Mercenaries VS. Release Date: April 14, 2011 (US/JP)

Released a few months before Mercenaries 3D, it's about what you expect from a game based on the popular Mercenaries sub-mode.

Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive Release Date: 2011 (JP)

A free-to-play mobile game with in-app purchases. It was some kind of card game, and it was shut down last year.

Resident Evil: ZombieBuster Release Date: 2011 (JP)

Play as Claire or Leon and defend yourself from incoming zombies. Easy.

Resident Evil: Team Survive Release Date: Unknown

I can barely find any information on this Japan-only mobile game. It appears to be some kind of card game with lots of fanservice-y costumes and characters you won't find elsewhere in the series. My curiosity is piqued.

In Conclusion As you can see, there's no shortage of mobile games in this series. A lot are only available in Japan from what I can gather, and a lot of these are just short and simple experiences. Still, I'd like to check them all out one day. And that concludes our short trek through the world of RE mobile gaming.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Release Date: November 13, 2007 (NA), November 15, 2007 (JP), November 30, 2007 (EU), December 13, 2007 (AUS) Consoles: Wii, PS3

As a spiritual successor to the Survivor sub-series, the Resident Evil Chronicles games provide the arcade-style light-gun challenge Capcom had always hoped to deliver to living rooms. You'd be remiss to think that these games are the same quality level as the Survivor games, no, they're a whole lot better than that. Umbrella Chronicles was designed with the Wii Remote exclusively in mind, and was originally envisioned to be a Resident Evil 4 type game before it was changed to a rail shooter designed with the casual Wii audience in mind. Umbrella Chronicles consists of abridged re-tellings of the series' first three games, canon-wise (RE0, REmake, and RE3). But it also includes new canon scenarios as well, providing a lot of background into Wesker's actions during these events and a glimpse into the fall of Umbrella mentioned at the beginning of RE4.

As a rail shooter, the game moves along for you. It's your job to just do the shooting. Killing zombies with headshots is extremely satisfying, and despite the casual tinge the game can get pretty challenging. Environments are completely destructible; shoot down the paintings of the Spencer Mansion, destroy the lights of the Ecliptic Express, you can even destroy the statue in the main hall of the R.P.D.! Destroying these aren't just for show either, they can net you healing items or files, and increase your rank at the end of the scenario. The gameplay, especially in co-op, is just a whole lot of fun!

The abridged scenarios here feel very choppy and definitely gloss over a lot of important events. But, for someone who would like to get into the series, it's still a nice primer. The whole thing is hosted by the man Albert Wesker himself, narrating the events behind the scenes, and he's basically the main protagonist of the game. Several of the new scenarios focus on him; "Beginnings" takes place during Zero and hearing him receive support from William Birkin highlights their friendship nicely. "Rebirth" takes place after Wesker's supposed death from the Tyrant in REmake, and sees him fighting back through the Spencer Mansion to escape the explosion with his new abilities. "Dark Legacy" takes place during Chris and Jill's assault on Umbrella, and Wesker seeks the location of Ozwell E. Spencer's whereabouts. These scenarios flesh out Wesker's character and motivations throughout the series, and it's kind of a shame that comes in a spin-off genre game initially only available on the Wii.

The other new scenarios are great as well. Rebecca gets a scenario that takes place between Zero and REmake and sees her team-up with Richard Aiken. Anything to do with more Bravo Team focus gets a plus in my book. And it shows how Richard was bitten by Yawn. "Death's Door" is an Ada scenario that details her escape from Raccoon City after her thought fatal injuries at the hands of T-00. Thought not entirely new, HUNK's "Fourth Survivor" scenario features some pretty memorable radio chatter from around Raccoon City. And "Umbrella's End" sees Chris and Jill team-up again to take down Umbrella's last base in Russia headed up by Sergei Vladimir. All of these scenarios are excellent and flesh out certain parts of the canon quite nicely.

In short, Umbrella Chronicles is enjoyable for new and veteran fans alike. New fans will like the shooting gallery the game provides and it's a great gateway into the survival horror entries. Veterans will definitely enjoy the new canon elements. It's a win-win for both sides. This is a spin-off done right.

Version Madness A port for PS3 saw improved graphics and PlayStation Move support. The lack of Wii Remote definitely stings though, nothing will ever be as accurate as that.

Resident Evil 5 Release Date: March 5, 2009 (JP), March 12, 2009 (AUS), March 13, 2009 (NA/EU) Consoles: PS3, X360, PC, PS4, XBONE

With Resident Evil 4 changing the face of survival horror and third-person shooters forever, the follow-up sequel had a lot to match. Early trailers for the game showed an isolated Chris Redfield (his first mainline appearance since Code: Veronica) surviving in some kind of shanty town. The enemies were numerous and aggressive, more so than RE4, being surrounded look tense and terrifying. Part-way through development, co-op was added to the game and this feeling of being surrounded was kind of mitigated. But I don't want to approach this review in a harsh way. I love Resident Evil 5, I think it's one of the most fun and highly replayable games in the series. And even with co-op the game has pretty good atmosphere and some truly tense parts.

Back around 2008, I had just about finished going through the entire series. The trailers for Resident Evil 5 came about at just the right time. I watched them daily, I was so hyped for this game. It was the first game I'd ever pre-ordered, and counting the days to release was agonizing. I had so much fun theorizing over the story details in the trailers, especially on the matter of that hooded lady. It being survival horror or not did not really matter anymore. I was just looking forward to another Resident Evil game.

Resident Evil 5 basically plays exactly Resident Evil 4. New melee moves and roll-back to a more classic inventory system are really the only huge changes besides co-op. With your partner Sheva Alomar, you have extra firepower, someone to heal you, and to order around for puzzles. With online multiplayer, Sheva can even be human controlled. I've never personally had a problem with Sheva A.I. even on the highest difficulties, but it is a common complaint. One other thing Resident Evil 5 was criticized for was being "Gears of Evil", but I've always felt that complaint to be way blown out of proportion. There are some cover elements but it's hardly the focus of the game.

Along with Code: Veronica, Resident Evil 5 is one of the most canon heavy entries of the series. If you can't tell your Spencers and Weskers and evil corporations apart you're going to have a bad time. Wesker has completed his Matrixification and along with it has developed the Uroboros virus, which was derived from the original Progenitor virus. One of the best twists of this game is that Jill Valentine, Chris' long time partner, is being controlled by Wesker and has also turned blonde! There's a truly great boss fight with her, a very nice emotional background to it. It's a cinematic boss fight done right. At the end of it all, Wesker is killed after 13 years of planning since his initial death at the Spencer Mansion. It's bittersweet to see such an iconic villain die, but in terms of closure, it's excellent storytelling. The game also sets up the next chapter of Resident Evil by introducing us to key concepts like the BSAA, an anti-bioterror organization.

The DLC expansion packs "Lost in Nightmares" and "Desperate Escape" are excellent. Lost in Nightmares is a very scary trek through an another Spencer Mansion with fanservice galore. There's even a fixed camera Easter egg. Story-wise, it details Jill's sacrifice to keep Wesker from killing Chris, setting up RE5. Desperate Escape sees Jill team-up with BSAA member Josh Stone, after she's freed from Wesker's control. It's an action-filled scenario with a rooftop defense section at the end.

Survival horror or not, Resident Evil 5 is a damn fine game. It's so much fun you won't even notice it. And the story is truly thrilling with plenty of twists and turns. Resident Evil 5 didn't kill the series, it took the next step up from Resident Evil 4 to deliver an even more focused third-person shooter experience.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Release Date: November 17, 2009 (NA), November 26, 2009 (AUS), November 27, 2009 (EU), January 14, 2010 (JP) Consoles: Wii, PS3

Since Umbrella Chronicles did not cover Resident Evil 2 or Code: Veronica, a sequel to the great rail shooter definitely had to be made. If you liked what Umbrella Chronicles offered, then Darkside Chronicles should provide even more fun.

Darkside Chronicles makes some small improvements to the formula, including a status screen and more upgrade options for weapons. One bad thing added was a shaky cam effect that can really hinder your performance at times and gets a little sickening. Other than that, it's still a solid game.

Darkside Chronicles is a near pseudo-remake of Resident Evil 2 and Code: Veronica, with brand new environments no longer recycled from Outbreak and brand new character models that look damn good, especially on the PS3. I absolutely love the new updated character designs, modernized without sacrificing the original intent. And it's just gleeful exploring an HD version of the R.P.D. and related areas, guided and abridged as they may be. Code: Veronica's story kind oif suffers from the cut-up style of the Chronicles series, but RE2 is mostly intact here, and the added dialogue during scenarios definitely make it a worthy re-telling.

The new scenario here is "Operation: Javier" which sees Leon and Jack Krauser from RE4 teaming up for their first mission together. While it's great to get more insight into one of the series' best side characters (including an entire scenario with his thoughts playing throughout), I don't feel like Krauser's heel turn is particularly earned here. His jealousy seems petty at best and his hatred of Leon is sort of unbelievable. It's a good story, but it deserved slightly better writing.

If you played Umbrella Chronicles, you know what you're getting into here. It's just as good if not better in my opinion thanks to the all new graphics. A third Chronicles game is in order, there's still so much of the RE universe to yet explore.

Version Madness Like Umbrella Chronicles, Darkside is available on PS3 and it looks pretty great. It's up to you what controls you like better.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Release Date: June 2, 2011 (JP), June 28, 2011 (NA), June 30, 2011 (AUS), July 1, 2011 (EU) Consoles: 3DS

Mercenaries 3D was definitely a good idea gone bad. I'll be the first to admit a Mercenaries game sounded amazing after playing RE4's and RE5's modes to death. But it's very clear that Mercenaries should be left as a side mode and not much else. Maybe it would've been better served on a different console, but the biggest problem is that Mercenaries just doesn't have enough depth to last a full retail release.

There's no story threads to tie anything together, and I think it should've been a feature. Even the simplest of still images with text would've sufficed honestly. There's a lot of characters and the game plays fine, but the game gets old fast. There's only 6 mission tiers counting the EX missions, and maps are only taken from RE4 and RE5. It's simply way too small a number; maps based on older games would've been interesting.

It was worth a shot I suppose. It's not the worst game, it's still Mercenaries and getting high scores is still addicting. The problem was too high a price for too little content. This is what happens when you try to make a minigame into a full fledged release I guess.

Resident Evil: Revelations Release Date: January 26, 2012 (JP), January 27, 2012 (EU), February 7, 2012 (NA) Consoles: 3DS, PC, PS3, WiiU, X360

Resident Evil: Revelaitons was an important step in the series. For over 6 years, Resident Evil waded in a pool of criticism for losing its survival horror roots despite some strong games in the series. Revelations was the attempt to merge Resident Evil 4 style over the shoulder action with the classic emphasis on horror and survival, and this combination proved to be a winning formula for fans of the series. Even the survival horror purists had to admit the game did things right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es0xReoS2nA&nohtml5=False

This early trailer for the game showed Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield at some kind of odds with each other. The cruise liner was still a setting; I've always wondered where the story would go if they stuck with this plot. HUNK seems to be in this trailer, though that very well could've still been Jack Norman from the final release. Ultimately, this probably was just a tech demo to show off what the 3DS could do. Game director Koshi Nakanishi has said it took a lot of effort to make this 3DS game look just like a console release and it shows.

Revelations places a huge emphasis on sound, in both enemy noises and soundtrack. Enemies were designed to emit moans and other sounds to signal players to their presence and to make things scarier. The claustrophobic halls of the cruise liner harkens back to the classic Spencer Mansion design, and is made whole with key items and specifically locked doors that need certain keys. Ammo is definitely more rare than RE4 and RE5, even with the addition of the Genesis, a scanner than can read enemies and find items hidden in the environment. You definitely need to use it often if you want ammo. Players can now aim and shoot for the first time since Outbreak File #2, and back from Resident Evil 3 is a dodge feature that's just as hard to pull off. Combat is fun and challenging, but it's still the one aspect that still feels really actionized and enemy avoidance is still not really a priority despite good intentions. The atmosphere, sound, and claustrophobia more than than make up for this.

Revelations' story is a pulse pounding thriller told through episodes and various character perspectives. There's Jill and Parker Luciani on the Queen Zenobia cruise liner, Chris and Jessica Sherawat trekking a snowy European mountain area, goofballs Quint Cetcham and Keith Lumley investigating there too, and a flashback scenario that sees Parker and Jessica trying to survive the Terragrigia Incident. The villain changes seats several times throughout the story, there's more twists than you can shake a stick at, betrayals are handed out left and right, and there's another terrorist with a virus on top of it all. Il Veltro, headed by Jack Norman, wants to infect the world's seas with the T-Abyss virus, and he's secretly funded by Morgan Lansdale, who initiated the Terragrigia Panic to increase his own power. Lansdale tried to incriminate the BSAA for conspiring with Veltro but ultimately Lansdale is arrested, Norman turns into a Tyrant-like monster and killed, and Jessica is revealed to be a double agent for Tricell. The plot definitely goes much deeper, but that's about the sum of it. It's a fun little story and I do wonder if its loose ends will come back for another game.

Revelations is a terrific game that deserves the praise of any RE fan. It bridges the gap between action and horror in spectacular ways, and the series is all the better for it. Book your cruise soon if you haven't checked this game out yet.

Version Madness Revelations was ported to home consoles in 2013. It being a 3DS game shows through, especially in graphics and the out of place episodic structure. There's new Raid Mode characters and a remixed difficulty mode that's tough as nails. Both the 3DS version and home ports should each be played in their own right; I personally prefer the home versions just because I prefer a bigger screen and better controller to use. That's just me though.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Release Date: March 20, 2012 (NA), March 22, 2012 (AUS), March 23, 2012 (EU), April 26, 2012 (JP) Consoles: PC, PS3, X360

I remember really looking forward to this game. The alternate history story of the game intrigued me early on, and the game looked like a full embrace of action, something I think can work in a spin-off setting with the right characters; the USS being the perfect conduit for that. But the game did neither well; the story was unfortunately underdeveloped, and the third-person cover shooting was done better in countless games. It's considered up there with Gaiden and Survivor as the worst the series has to offer. I was initially unimpressed with this game, but I actually grew to like certain things ORC does and it's become a game I've actually enjoyed replaying a few times too.

ORC is hardly a technical masterpiece. The shooting is floaty as hell and the cover system barely works. It does not feel that good to kill things in this. This is only game in the series where the primary enemies are completely human which is strange enough in itself. It's playable but you can also play Gears of War and have a much better time. The one satisfying gameplay element is the CQC however, especially the brutal finishing moves. I have a lot of fun pulling those off.

ORC is a non-canon game that takes place during the Raccoon City Incident. This is where I've come to like this game. The Birkin Assassination from RE2 is playable and come on, that's really cool; it plays out differently but it includes some of the same dialogue and it just feels awesome physically being in such a pivotal moment in the RE canon. Whenever I play through the games in timeline order now, this first ORC mission now gets thrown in for fun before I start up RE3. The rest of the missions have some cool concepts too, like storming the City Hall passed by in RE3 or choosing to kill Leon or Claire in the final mission, but it's never as great as the opening. The latter is especially saddening. This is a non-canon game! Let us kill Leon or Claire before they even reach the R.P.D.. Let us kill Ada in front of Leon. Let us kidnap Sherry and send her to Umbrella. Go all out with your concept damn it! It's definitely the most frustrating part of this whole thing. The game's scenarios and setting are interesting but so much more could've been done.

I don't expect everyone to share the same level of enthusiasm as me with canon-focused things like that. ORC probably does ultimately deserve the criticism it gets and I know that. The sub-par shooting is enough to prove that and ORC was thrashed by critics and the public for that reason alone. Still, I think the game is underappreciated and does not deserve to be called one of the worst games in the series.

Odds and Ends

As we wind down the retrospective with the last few entries of the series, this is the perfect time to delve deep into some of the more strange, obscure, and bizarre experiments with the series. As a huge worldwide franchise, Resident Evil has dipped its hand into everything from comics to stage plays to pachinko machines to an entire restaurant devoted to the series. It is downright astonishing the amount of exposure this series has had.

But first, let's start off simple.

Cameos in Other Games Trick'N Snowboarder http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/1/14912/786887-epsxe_2008_11_01_23_56_34_24.png http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/1/14912/786886-epsxe_2008_11_01_23_56_32_41.png http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/square_small/1/14912/786885-epsxe_2008_11_01_23_56_30_58.png

Published by Capcom in 1999 for the PS1, Trick'N Snowboarder featured Leon, Claire, and a Zombie Cop as playable characters. It's definitely the most memorable thing about the game at this point. Nice little novelty.

Dino Crisis Dino Crisis reputedly features crates with the Umbrella Logo on them, though I'm not able to find a pic of this. Dino Crisis itself has many, many similarities to Resident Evil, and it's commonly said to be "Resident Evil with dinosaurs". It's even said to be a pseudo-sequel to the series by Mikami himself, with more realistic, violent, and stronger enemies. I love Dino Crisis, it's a terrific survival horror game, and I'll gladly consider it part of the RE canon.

Dino Stalker Remember when I said Dead Aim was technically the fourth Gun Survivor game? Well that's because Dino Stalker is part of the series too, even though it does not bear the name Resident Evil. If you wanted more proof Dino Crisis is probably just a spin-off of RE, here you go. Dino Stalker is easily the best Gun Survivor game, it absolutely delivers arcade thrillers and then some. It's actually fun to play, imagine that.

Under the Skin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dotoKgZ7aqc

This goofy looking game features an entire level based on Resident Evil 3, complete with Nemesis. I haven't played this game, but this is pretty neat.

Haunting Ground https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cn7fTb6GSE http://www.mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/multi/2008/02/hauntingground_small.jpg

This is a pretty interesting theory, that the dog you save from the trap in RE4 shows up in another excellent survival horror game by Capcom, Haunting Ground. This is pure speculation of course, but I like it. There's also rumors Jill's blonde appearance in RE5 is based off of Fiona's design.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelvscapcom/images/3/35/Jill-mvc2-stance.gif/revision/latest?cb=20080512012534 https://thejillvalentinevirus.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/38.jpg

Jill Valentine is playable in this crossover fighting game. It also features classic enemies like a zombie, Cerberus, Crows, and even the Tyrant.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds MvC3 ups the ante with even more playable RE characters, including awesomely the Nemesis. There's plenty of fanservice quotes between the characters and of course it's great.

Namco x Capcom http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/9/2/5/gfs_62165_2_570.jpg http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/f/2/0/gfs_62165_2_566.jpg

Who ever knew Dead Aim would ever crop up again. Its two stars make an appearance in this game bring Dead Aim some relevance.

Project X Zone http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/122/1223273/project-x-zone-20120418030427049.jpg http://i1.wp.com/www.letstalknintendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/pxz2jill1.png

A spiritual successor to Namco x Capcom, Jill and Chris make their appearances this time, in their BSAA outfits.

Project X Zone 2 http://tinyurl.com/z9fxd6x

Jill and Chris return again, this time with Leon, Ustanak, Nemesis, and Ada Wong.

If you want to be a superfan, go out and seek these games immediately! They're very neat little cameos and I'd say all of them are good games in their own right, some excellent.

Odds and Ends Pt. 2

Drama Albums Back in the late 90s, several radio dramas were aired over radio stations in Japan. They served as alternate prequels and sequels to the first and second RE games. Though only available to listen to in Japanese, English transcripts are available for some through Project Umbrella.

Makoba Village Tragedy Originally Aired: December 31, 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPAdN14EoV0

A prequel to the original Resident Evil, it details the story of Jill Valentine going to investigate a small village in the Arklay Mountains. She's involved in a car crash with a deceased driver. This does not have a translation as far I can tell, which is a shame, since it sounds like a creepy story.

The Fate of Raccoon City (Volumes 1-3) Originally Aired: February 21, 1998 http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/BIO_HAZARD_DRAMA_ALBUM_~the_fate_of_raccoon_city~_Vol.1 http://projectumbrella.net/articles/BIO-HAZARD-DRAMA-ALBUM-Fate-Raccoon-City-Vol1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX_w80jTjZw

Consisting of several interconnected episodes set during the Raccoon City incident, this too unfortunately does not have a translation but you can read the synopses on Resident Evil wiki.

The Little Runaway Sherry Originally Aired: March 20, 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukz7HZ2TsRY http://projectumbrella.net/articles/BIOHAZARD-2-DRAMA-ALBUM-Little-Runaway-Sherry

This story details Sherry's life after the Raccoon City incident, as she befriends a girl named Meg in the town of Stone Ville.

The Female Spy Ada Lives Originally Aired: April 21, 1999 http://projectumbrella.net/articles/BIOHAZARD-2-DRAMA-ALBUM-Female-Spy-Ada-Lives

In this drama, Ada Wong heads to France after HUNK trying to get another sample of the G-Virus. The story sounds pretty epic in scale.

--

These four drama albums are very creative story wise and I'm glad at least two of them have full translations because they're great reads, fully in the spirit of the games. You should definitely check them out some time.

Odds and Ends, Pt. 3

Supplemental Video Resident Evil has been the host to a few different video projects, ranging from canon re-tellings to viral campaigns. There's some pretty interesting stuff here, so let's dive right into it.

Wesker's Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyq4i08ULR8

Wesker's Report is a fully narrated re-telling of the events contained in the first three Resident Evil games. This is a very interesting watch, as Wesker fills in the gap for some events and hints at machinations and plans to come. The report is completely canon. It was initially included in some releases of Code: Veronica X, and later rewritten to accommodate information from REmake and Zero. It was also included and completely redone in Resident Evil Remastered HD, but only in Japan sadly.

Wesker's Report II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivHYwGAKYjc (The original picture slideshow)

Special Narration by D.C Douglas: (Part 5 is as of yet unavailable) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU7-Yf83_6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZjqXBP-4wk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvLNsRvhq5o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIaay6nGNzA

Wesker's Report II is not only a prequel to Wesker's Report, but also the entire series. Way before the Mansion Incident in 1998, Wesker was a researcher working at that very mansion in 1978. Wesker's Report II dives deep into Wesker's time there, his relationship with William Birkin, Birkin's own struggles as a researcher, the origins of Nemesis and Lisa Trevor, and early turnings of the wheel for the man in sunglasses. I'm not entirely sure when this was first put out, but I first came across it in the strategy guide for Zero. It was a fascinating read then, and it's even better to hear it narrated by Wesker. It was also in Japan's REmaster but not here.

Resident Evil 4 Incubate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fH5EBODqmM

Incubate is a full movie version of Resident Evil 4. It ignores some parts of the game for better cohesion. I guess if you're too lazy to play the game, this is for you!

Resident Evil 5 Viral Campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVPZm16V3D4&list=PL453D921B07C1B045

These 5 episodes were part of a marketing campaign for Resident Evil 5. They show a very tortured Chris experience flashbacks from Kijuju. I doubt these are canon, there are a few mistakes here and there, but they could be. They're interesting watches nevertheless.

Jessica's Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfCmgfTrvEs

A DVD extra included alongside Japan releases of Revelations. It's done as interview between Excella and Jessica and is a summation of the Terragrigia Panic.

Las Plagas: Organisms of War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS-wB3vS3LU

Narrated by one Dr. William Gibson, it explains a few of the creatures featured in the film Resident Evil: Damnation.

Odds and Ends, Pt. 4

Miscellaneous Games The games that don't really fit well in any other place but here.

Pachinko Machines PACHI-SLOT biohazard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Flh7XG6cI

PACHISLOT BIOHAZARD 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwbs1BlqXAo

PACHISLOT BIOHAZARD 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aiHdBaaVXc

Everyone's favorite gaming trend Pachinko is here in Resident Evil form! Don't fret too much, these are just harmless money grabs and not the future of the series. Probably! Resident Evil 2 Remake might be be a Pachinko Machine. Now that's the real nightmare.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game

The Deck Building Game is your typical deck building card game. You start off with a random character, some weapons and ammo, and you get more cards by buying. The rules can get a little bit more complicated than that, but I've only played one game of this and I'd be hard-pressed to explain them! No one ever wants to play card games. But I digress! I like the concept of a survival horror game put into card form, and the one game I played was a lot of fun. There are 5 expansion packs so far, and if you deck building games, you'll probably like this.

Inserted Evil http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/Inserted_Evil

An ARG game meant to tie in with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, I remember having a lot of fun with this, with very nice Raccoon City world building.

No Hope Left http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/No_Hope_Left

Another good ARG game, but it wasn't as fun as Inserted Evil. It was used to promote Resident Evil 6. The most prominent feature of this was various locations having "No Hope Left" graffiti.

Undead Unleashed/Street Invasion A pair of cheaply made browser games used to advertise Resident Evil: Retribution. Undead Unleashed was a top-down shooter and got old fast. Street Invasion placed zombies onto Google Maps roads. I never played that one though.

Raccoon City Contagion/Re-Contagion http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/Raccoon_City_Contagion

This pair of web games was used to market Resident Evil HD Remastered and Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster where you'd sign up and get a special infection card and contribute to unlocking free in game items and real world prizes.

Odds and Ends, Pt. 5

Theater Yes, Resident Evil has been the focus of not one, but two stage plays in Japan! I find this amount of reach just incredible.

Biohazard: Bioroid Year Zero https://youtu.be/vNLkSQv36ok?t=20m51s

This stage play was a musical-horror comedy that focused on the lives of zombies. This looks positively crazy and very little footage exists.

Biohazard: The Stage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btytyf1RCE0

A much more professional and respectful approach to the stage format, The Stage began in October of 2015 and focuses on the BSAA and brings back Rebecca Chambers as a university teacher. It is available on DVD in Japan with English subtitles. It is considered a canon entry in the series as well, and chronologically takes place between Resident Evil 5 and Revelations 2.

Odds and Ends, Pt. 6

Animated Films The world of animation has been much kinder to Resident Evil than live-action has. At least two of these films are full canon, and the third may be as well. They have game characters fully present in personality, and have some of their best moments as well. They usually take a more action approach to the material, but there's some horror to be found too.

Biohazard 4D-Executer Release Date: November 2000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoZjz_g-lRw

4D-Executer is a 20 minute short film designed as an attraction for theme parks and movie theaters. It's one of those indoor theater roller coaster rides, where immersion is felt with moving seats and air blowing out from behind you. The story is a side-entry about the UBCS, featuring all new original characters. The animation is kind of atrocious, but as a fan of these kinds of 4D rides, it'd be worth it I think. There's nothing here that specifically makes this canon or non-canon, but I lean towards the former. In any case, it's mostly made just to be a fun attraction, and watching it through Youtube is fine but this is something where you need the full experience.

Resident Evil: Degeneration Release Date: October 18, 2008

Here's the real meat and potatoes of the animated REs. This film is a carefully crafted game-based experience. There's no Alice, just Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy in their first team-up since RE2. I love Claire in this film, she's at her peak of badassness, slapping corrupt Senators and eliminating a whole squad of zombies surrounding her. The film sets-up Tricell for RE5, and the real crux of the film is Curtis Miller and his G-virus transformation, with a majority of the film built around a huge, sprawling action scene with him at the center. I highly recommend this film to any fan, it's so much fun, well animated, and a treat for fans.

Resident Evil: Damnation Release Date: September 25, 2012

I flip-flop between which of these two I like more. Damnation definitely tells a better story, but Degeneration has Claire! It's tough. This film puts a lot of focus on Las Plagas, and even gets a little political as the Eastern Slav Republic is in civil war and the rebel fighter known as Buddy lost his fiancée in a government bombing. This is some pretty new ground for the series. Leon's the main protagonist this time, but Ada's along for the ride and she has a great fight scene with Svetlana Belikova, President of the ESR. Once again, if you like the games and the previous film, you'll love this. There's plenty of cool action set-pieces and some good emotion in the film too.

Some of my favorite scenes from each film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puNgfhWqN28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH_JcpyoVho https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TNeZM4Ixfo

Odds and Ends, Pt. 7

Novels and Comics We've reached the end of Odds, and for our last entry, I will be covering the various printed works of the series. There's the S.D. Perry novels, various other novels, and a whole sea of comics Western and Eastern alike. Let's get right to it.

S.D. Perry novels The following books are part of the Perry series: The Umbrella Conspiracy Caliban Cove City of the Dead Underworld Nemesis Code: Veronica Zero Hour

Since the first game in the series all the way to Zero, author S.D. Perry had written these companion pieces for the games. Umbrella Conspiracy was released in 1998, and follows the plot of the first game with liberties, like all the novels. Being a necessity of the format, Perry's books focus a lot more on the paranoia of Raccoon City and the heightened danger around the area than the games do. Perry is also places a lot of focus on Rebecca Chambers, who plays a prominent main role in the two novels not based on games, Caliban Cove and Underworld. An original character named Trent also serves as a very mystery player who's side he on is never all that clear. The books are not exactly high literature but they're okay reads. I enjoy seeing events of the game play out differently and the original novels play out like any of the games would. They were recently reprinted in 2012 and are not hard to find at all, give them a try.

Keith R.A. DeCandido novels  The following books are part of the DeCandido series: Genesis Apocalypse Extinction

Unlike the Perry novels, DeCandido's novels are all based on the films. They don't deviate too much, the biggest deviation being the Extinction novel, which features a Jill sub-story and alternates between just before the film and the events of the film. Not essential reading for anybody really, but they're there if you want 'em.

Resident Evil: The Book The first ever book written for the franchise, it was first included as part of The True Story Behind BIO HAZARD, which also incuded an interview Mikami and the "Trevor Letters" as backstory for the first RE. Perry took a lot of inspiration for her novels from this book, including the disappearance of Billy Rabitson and Jill's neighbors Becky and Priscilla.

Biohazard: Rose Blank Essentially a Resident Evil fan-fiction, Rose Blank was chosen by Capcom in a contest to become an official RE book. The book focuses on Emily Ran and her Rose Blank vaccine program. The book does not have an official English translation yet. The German version tried to tie it in with the S.D. Perry novels by placing an "8" on the cover.

Biohazard to the Liberty Another RE fan-fiction turned real novel, Liberty takes place in New York and revolves around a man suspected to be Jack the Ripper. It had a "9" in Germany quite like Rose Blank to try and tie in with the Perry novels.

BIOHAZARD The Wicked North Sea Wicked North Sea is a comic/novel hybrid that takes place on a small island uses for bio-weapons research.

Biohazard 4 Incubate Incubate is a short companion book that takes place before RE4. It uses the pictures from RE4's credits and has a village explain them.

Biohazard The Umbrella Chronicles Side A/Side B Little more than 1:1 novelizations of Umbrella Chronicles, they don't have English translations and like Rose Blank and Liberty, are marketed in Germany as a continuation of the Perry novels.

Resident Evil: Retribution This novel was not written bu DeCandido, but follows some elements of that series nevertheless. It differs little from the film, aside from a whole new storyline focused on a clone escaping from Umbrella Prime.

Western Comics Resident Evil Published by Marvel Comics, it was released as a free companion prequel to the original game and focuses on Bravo Team's disappearance. It's a short 13-page book.

Resident Evil: The Official Comic Magazine The Official Comic Magazine, published by WildStorm, was a compilation of stories set during the Raccoon City incident, both adaptations of the games and original material. There's 5 issues.

Resident Evil Code: Veronica Code: Veronica is an American localization of the Chinese manhua of the same name. It follows the games pretty closely, but there are some nonsensical plot elements and character choices.

Resident Evil: Fire and Ice Fire and Ice was the follow-up to the Comic Magazine published by WildStorm. It referenced and used characters from the series. S.T.A.R.S. Charlie Team is sent to a circus filled with G-Virus freaks. It has 4 issues and was re-released in 2009 by DC as a graphic novel.

Resident Evil Unrelated to the previous Wildstorm series, Resident Evil was a RE5 prequel series that ran for 6 issues. It features the most ridiculous name ever, Holiday Sugarman, and features the BSAA fighting against G-Virus creatures.

Eastern Comics Manhua Zero, 2, 3: Nemesis, and Code: Veronica were all adapted into manhua, or Chinese comics. The RE2 series ran for an impressive 60-issues.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles: Prelude to the Fall A manga that takes place just before Umbrella's End in Umbrella Chronicles.

Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire A prequel manga to Resident Evil 6, The Marhawa Desire takes place at the Marhawa School which quickly turns into the epicenter of a C-Virus infection. The main character is Ricky Tozawa, and he eventually works with the BSAA to combat the infection. There's also a sub-plot about a cover-up of a student's death covered up by the school's headmaster. The series is fully available in English in 5 volumes and it's canon so get reading.

Resident Evil: Heavenly Island Heavenly Island is a Revelations 2 tie-in manga, but takes place after Resident Evil 6. It sees TerraSave members Claire Redfield and Inez Diaco head to an island where a swimsuit model competition is taking place. I'm not sure if an English version is available yet. Like Marhawa, Heavenly island is a canon entry and currently the latest entry timeline wise.

Resident Evil 6 Release Date: October 2, 2012 (WW), October 4, 2012 (JP) Consoles: PS3, X360, PC, PS4, XBONE

Resident Evil 6 is a hot mess of a game. With over 600 people working on this game, there was no way this game would have ever achieved one singular vision. This is the farthest the series has ever been from the original game, in a pure console game sense. It has a myriad of problems, ranging from camera issues to questionable gameplay segments, but there is still a decent game in here. It just takes a lot of digging to see.

Resident Evil 6 was first revealed with a promise to bring the series back to its roots and back to being scary again. I guess the Leon campaign kind of did that? That was a promise that was just frankly unfounded. It could've been different at one point, but there's no evidence of it in any case. Unless the series' roots are long Jeep and motorcycle chases with explosions everywhere.

Resident Evil 6 abandons all pretense of survival horror. It's a third-person shooter through and through, and it's actually a pretty good one. There's a whole host of acrobatic dodge moves and a robust melee system with context-sensitive moves being very satisfying to pull off. Shooting is satisfying, enemies heads blow off nicely, and the addition of a "quick shot" that automatically shoots the closest enemy is such a great feature that I still cannot believe is not implemented into more third-person shooters. Frankly, combat is fluid, fast, and fun, and does provide a decent challenge.

But, here comes the bad. The one big thing for me that keeps this game entertaining is the camera. Coupled with janky character animation, thinking about playing this game for more than an hour makes me literally sick to the stomach. It was even patched, and it still gave me problems. It's just way too loose and floaty, a rigid RE4-camera would've did this game wonders. 6 also has a glutton of QTEs, it's just way too much. RE4 paved the dark road for that. They're not fun, pop up way too much, and are so unnecessary. RE6 is also way too in love with its vehicular segments. Piloting the helicopter in Ada's campaign was the most bored I'd ever been with the series. These don't belong in a Resident Evil game, plain and simple. They're the worst gameplay mechanic of the series in my opinion.

The game features 4 different campaigns; Leon, Chris, Jake, and Ada. Leon's campaign tries to be horror at the beginning, but it very quickly falters in that mission. By the time you land in China, Leon's campaign becomes a Simmons boss rush that wears thin. Chris' campaign knows what it is from the start and it's my favorite of the campaigns thanks to this plus some terrific storytelling and a great partnership between Chris and Piers. Jake's campaign tries to recall some of Nemesis with the Ustanak, and it also features the return of Sherry Birkin all grown up. Jake's campaign is a good one, and there's some interesting story there as Jake is the son of the one and only, Albert Wesker! There's something good about a Wesker and a Birkin working together again. Finally, Ada's campaign, as is usually the case with her stories, shows her working behind the scenes and is a very puzzle-oriented campaign. It's decent, but I feel the camera issues are more apparent here for whatever reason.

4 campaigns means the game is gigantic and long. Each campaign has 5 chapters, about an hour-hour and a half each. This game will easily run you 20+ hours. As good as the shooting is, the game becomes a little grating and frustrating in its pure unfocused state. It also gets very repetitive as a few of the campaigns cross over and you play it from a different perspective. I think the game does handle story very well with an all-star line-up of the series' characters. If this had Jill and Claire it'd be even more amazing and it's not like it'd make it much more bloated than it already is. The game still has so much fanservice for the series' long time fans, including the first meet-up of Chris and Leon that feels pretty epic.

Resident Evil 6 could've been a great game. Instead, it's a merely decent one and has left a black mark on the series that's been tough to recover from. It was a classic case of trying to do too much; trying to capitalize on market trends started by your very own series, trying to have horror here and there to appease fans, providing boatloads of action that completely overshadow said horror, and just not having the care or focus to just stop and look at what they were turning the series into. But, it was a financial success and it is even Capcom's second best selling game ever, so maybe I'm wrong.

Resident Evil 6 is not one of my personal favorites by any means, but it's still worth a look and is absolutely essential for story. I think you'll have fun with the shooting mechanics at least, but the stings of the old games might just be a little hard to get through at times.

Version Madness Just last month for current-gen systems, Resident Evil 6 was re-released in 1080p and with all the DLC from the original release. It's only $20 and RE6 is worth it for that price.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Release Date: February 24, 2015 (NA), February 25, 2015 (JP/EU) (Episode 1, episodes were released weekly after this date) Consoles: PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, X360, XBONE

As of today's date, Revelation 2 is the latest new release in the Resident Evil series. It's a deliberate entry made for long time fans of the series, and like Revelations, is a survival horror entry. After the overblown spectacle of Resident Evil 6, Revelation 2 was a chance for simplicity, to bring things back down to what makes the series what it is.

Revelations 2 is largely a story-focused game. It makes very little adjustments to the core gameplay of the series, besides a larger focus on stealth. Characters can be swapped on the fly like in Zero, and your partner characters Moira Burton and Natalia Korda are needed for puzzles while the main characters Claire and Barry handle the combat. Moira is needed to open doors blocked by metal with her crowbar and can see items and blind enemies with her flashlight, while Natalia can see enemies that are invisible or behind walls needed for the stealth-heavy Barry chapters.

Revelations 2 functions as a pseudo-sequel to Resident Evil 5's "Lost in Nightmares" DLC, which has files that mention a certain Alex Wesker, who is the main villain of the game. The game is an episodic series consisting of 4 episodes, with each episode split into a Claire/Moira segment and Barry/Natalia segment. Moira, mentioned a few times in the early games, is Barry's potty mouthed daughter and a good friend of Claire. Moira joined up with TerraSave, and is at a party when it's crashed by soldiers and Claire, Moira, and the other TerraSave members are captured and brought to an island prison facility. Alex Wesker has injected each of them with a virus that turns them into a monster if they become too scared. Barry's segments occur after Claire's time spent on the island, with Moira seemingly killed there. The young girl Natalia was Alex's way to live on after her death, transferring her consciousness into Natalia's brain.

The game does a lot of interesting things with its characters. This is Claire's first starring main series game since Code: Veronica and Barry's first playable campaign appearance and general canon appearance since RE3. Claire seems a lot more hardened in this game, and has become noticeably rougher in dealing with children. She also gets another romantic arc with Neil Fisher. Moira's a great character, with amazing lines that are definitely Burton-worthy and gets a good arc where she has to get over her fear of guns and save Claire. Lots of daddy issues are definitely brought up too. The game and Alex Wesker herself use quotes from author Franz Kafka, and the game does do a decent job of creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere. It's something that could've easily been fumbled in an attempt to be arty but it succeeds.

Revelations 2 was one of the most fun RE experiences I've had in a while. There was no air of exhaustion that I had with RE6; it felt like a RE game from front-to-back with a great story. But, Revelations 2 is most likely not an indicator of where the series goes from here. The future is uncertain, with the sub-par looking multiplayer spin-off Umbrella Corps leading the next wave of titles and Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 2 Remake still shrouded in secrecy. But no matter what happens, Resident Evil is a series I'll stick with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pZV3UPmXI4

So, in conclusion, Resident Evil has certainly had its ups and downs over the years. But it really is truly amazing how much reach this series has gotten since its start as a simple homage to Sweet Home and B-horror movies. Every time I replay a Resident Evil, I'm always transported to the first time I played it, like it's starting all over again. The series is truly something magical for me and has been one of the best parts of being a gamer. Whether you think the series has lost its way through the years or is still as awesome as ever, you can't argue that Resident Evil has cemented its place in gaming history. Let's just hope for another 20 years of this great series.