Video games had an amazing numbers of categories back then, so stuff like we grew playing with action, platforms, arcades, RPGs, and FPS, but there's one of the thing that shook the gaming worlds which is a horror, the genre that focuses on the level of scares and terror that you've never seen anything frightening in video games such as people getting their bodies torned out in pieces, there's monsters coming to fright you with jumpscares, a psychological stuff with many dark illusions themes going on, crazy demonic rituals scattered all over the places, and many more dark shit with the level of gores and hearing someone screaming at the background kinda makes your skin go shivers and feel mentally disturbed after playing these kinds of games that offers a huge numbers of scare factors which is why the genre became quite popular in video games industries.
As a long time fan of the horror games, I got to talk about a Capcom's flagship horror franchise called Resident Evil which many of gaming medias and fans communities heavily regarded this series as not just being one of the greatest, but also a most popular video game franchises of all-time had labelled the series as a major example of popularising survival horror genres thanks to varieties of fantastic main titles like the first and second RE games are clearly an successful titles that created the whole franchise in mid-90s.
I wanted to make my 5 favourite RE games that really defines my gaming childhood which I really never forget the moments that I really liked spending time defending myself for survival purposes, saving up enough ammos and health packs, running through the corridor rooms in each areas, solving numerous of puzzles to reveal mysteries, and of course fighting with hordes of zombies and monsters.
So without go further do, here is my top 5 RESIDENT EVILLLLLLLLLL!!!! GAMEEEEEESSSSS!!!!
5 - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
After I got really disappointed with the previous entry such as Resident Evil 6 which led many of the fans and the critics just straight-up hated the game that kills the franchise's legacy because it took away the horror elements from the earlier RE games which is why it labelled as the worst entry in the series.
Capcom had learned the lesson after the failure of RE 6 which led the developers had decided to going back to its original root that should have been in the 6th game for first place, so this is why they bought a next installiment such as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard which was hailed as the franchise's return of the survival horror that everyone been wanting for the RE game.
In RE 7: Biohazard, you get to play as Ethan Winters went on searching for his lost wife in the abandoned house of Baker's family.
What made the game got it right is the mainly survival horror roots which retains a original style of gameplay elements involving a survival approach and puzzle solving, and much darker and the intense level of scares is finally what you called a true Resident Evil game that we been asking for ages.
What makes the game stands out is the whole presentation design shares the influence from the 70s and 80s classic horror movies such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and The Evil Dead which adds the excellent overall atmosphere fits pretty really well to the game's concepts, and the best part of the game are mostly Baker's family members because I finding these people quite terrifying as f**k, such as you have Jack Baker is a chaotic bold-head old man that has ability to break through the wall and starts beating the shit of the Ethan, so that what you call a one tough old son of a bitch. The rest are sick-minded freak like Marguerite that surprise you with unexpected jumpscares, and that crazy asshole Lucas that really threatens the f**k out of Ethan is just makes these villains so insanity, but entertaining at the same time.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is an huge improvement over the previous entry makes the return to its roots that made the whole franchise successful again, so it's definitely must play for the fans of the series, as well as horror genre fans in general, so it's available on PS4, PS5, XBONE, XSX/S, Switch, and PC.
4 - Resident Evil (Remake)
As I much loved the first RE game for PS1 back then, there are a full remake that just got released in 2002 for Gamecube, so that is a first Resident Evil.
You take control of two S.T.A.R.S members such as Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine went inside the mansion to uncover the mysteries behind the Umbrella's dark secret who are responsible for the virus outbreak incident that had occurred at Raccoon City infecting the whole human citizens which transformed them into a zombies.
The game is exactly like the 1996's original, but featuring a better overall graphics and cinematic presentation, improved story written with fixed dialogue, and has much more scare factor than the 1996's original counterpart.
While noting the improvement, the game as a whole are just plays fantastic especially on Gamecube which I am impressed with the visuals that are surely dark and terrifying, as opposed to the 1996's counterpart which are not so creepy as the 2002's remake.
What makes the whole game so great that made the first RE game quite recognisable is the major focus on exploration where you need to explore around the rooms to gather the documents to reveal a Umbrella's history behind outbreak, as well as collecting important keys and objects that leads into a next areas can be solved by completing numerous of puzzles, while your goal is to protect yourself from getting bitten by zombies which requires a limited survival tool that may helps you to defend against them such as weapons and health items only if its necessary to use it.
There are really great stuff that made the first game quite horrifying such as the zombie dog jumps out the window, the zombie comes out the closet, the big boulder came rolling down to you in undergound, the bunch of crows flying onto you in painting room, there are a one trap room where you'll likely to get squashed like a Jill's sandwich, and you'll be encountering by numerous of creatures like big long python, huge clawed green hunter, large eight-legged tarantula, tall-balded dude tyrant with one spikey arm, and of course indestructible monster Lisa Trevor which is why the game is not typically just a zombie game, but more of a monster-style horror game that is why I really liked having a kinds of title that are quite different from traditional zombie genres.
Resident Evil Remake is a fantastic horror title that you may want to check it out on Gamecube or also on the Wii as part of the RE archive.
It is also got fully remastered for later platforms such as PS4, XBONE, Switch, and PC as part of the Resident Evil: Origins Collection which features two games such as Zero and first RE Remake, supports 5.1 surround sound, 1080p resolution with 16:9 widescreen aspect ratios, and added new control scheme allowing players to move their character in the direction of the analog stick as opposed to old-fashioned tank controls from the original counterpart release makes it a welcoming recommendation for newcomers, so don't forget to get yourself a Jill's sandwich ready for lunch guys.
3 - Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 2 is a Survival-Horror title for PS4, XBONE, and PC which was developed and published by Capcom. It is a 2019's full remake of 1998's title of the same name and of course a sequel to first Resident Evil game.
The game takes place two months after the event of the first game and it's set at Raccoon City in September 1998 where most of the people have been turned into zombies, due to an outbreak of a viral bioweapon known as the T-Virus, manufactured by Umbrella Corporation.
You take control of Leon S Kennedy or Claire Redfield in 2 separate scenario depending which characters you're playing as first in single-player story mode, as their goal is to find the way of escaping from the city feasted with hordes of zombies.
The story is is done absolutely well for making the plot much easier to follow the point of the story that has well-written dialogue, memorable story sequences, and of course two of the major characters like Leon and Claire are my favourite RE characters is what really adds the game's biggest highlight.
The whole presentation in the game is pretty well done which brings up the nostalgia of the original design. You have the recognisable locations such as police station filled with the hallways, library, office room, statue's room, clock tower, parking garage, the sewers, and underground base that these settings in the remake are much more appealing to look at and how nicely these level structure came close to the 1998's original design.
I also liked the tone of the whole game are much terror and darker than the original version that really adds up the overall atmospheres of horror design.
The remake made the improvements upon the original 1997's game such as playing on third-person perspective view which really helps the game, as opposed to fixed-camera angle from the original that didn't hold up to today standards which is the reason why Capcom wanted to go for a over the shoulder view for its easier gameplay design such as being able to aim and shoot freely at enemies, making easier to navigate items and objects what's front of you, and controlling your playable character precisely than the tank controls from the original that made the game fully playable for newcomer of the series.
The combat system is nicely balanced with limited ammo and range-shot that are heavily designed for survival depending on which weapons that works effectively against types of monsters, as well as using it as the self-defence mechanics rather than being the lethal is what makes the game feels just right for the genres.
The puzzle solving aspects is actually fantastic that keeps me engaging with the game well because I really liked finding objects to reveal the hidden area as well as finding key or cards in different rooms that leads me to next locations that makes the whole exploration very satisfied.
The best of all are actually cast of monsters such as Lickers the fast moving monster can scratch you with their deadly claws, Plant 43 creatures can bite your head off clean, Lesser G monsters has large tentacle mouth and arm, Tyrant Mr. X chases you around the rooms till you get a massive beatings, Giant Crocodile is a huge-ass monster chases you through the sewers hall, and that god damn William Birkin always never dies that adds up the scare factor which is the reason why these monsters are so memorable in the game.
Resident Evil 2 is by far the best remakes of whole franchise that is worth checking out for all newcomers and the fans of the series will be impressed with the game's results turns out very successful.
2 - Resident Evil: Code Veronica
I know many of you been wondering why did I put this game a bit higher than the 1 and 2? well it's just my sake of opinion guys, so please don't get upset because this is my first childhood game in the series that made me more interested in the franchise back then.
The game set after the event of RE 2 and RE 3: Nemesis, so you take control of Claire Redfield went on her quest to search for her lost brother Chris Redfield in Rockfort Island.
What made the game so great is that I really liked how the overall production had been produced in the game such as cinematic design just feels more like a actual movie, as opposed to in-game dialogue sequences as seen in RE 2 and RE 3: Nemesis.
The voice performance and story dialogue are very well done during the conversation between the characters which feels like the characters are talking and communicating each other.
The gameplay plays just like the previous entries in the series which is totally fine for late 90's standards, but what makes the game quite great is that it had a best encounters in any of RE games such as yellow long-armed creature can grab your head in long-range distance, long large ground-worm digging through the grounds, a tall-balded tyrant with one spikey arm, mysterious three-long arms Nosferatu, and of course creature-looking chick Alexia Ashford.
The graphic design is looking specular especially on SEGA Dreamcast's hardware which really nails the overall 3D environments on every in-game settings just to make the game look more appealing on 6th gen system.
It clearly has the best overall soundtrack in any of Resident Evil games just came quite close to previous RE games.
The game also offers a cool battle mode where you need to complete a hordes of monsters while aiming to beat a new time record in order to get a higher overall rank is a nice bonus to this game.
Resident Evil: Code Veronica is a must have title for Dreamcast owners who are looking for a best possible survival horror games on their libraries, or you could also get it on PS2, Gamecube, PS3, X360, and PC titled as Resident Evil: Code Veronica X which featuring additional cutscenes and story elements that aren't present on original Dreamcast releases.
1 - Resident Evil 4 (Original)
There's one of the RE games that really changed the gaming industries back in mid-2000s, so the title that I did not expect to be a game changer which is Resident Evil 4 for Gamecube in 2005.
It's one of the game made a departure of survival horror genres from the previous entries, instead they made the horror game as a action-oriented approach which I thought the ideas they putting in the game might not work so well to the franchise, but boy I was wrong when the game got released in the 2005 it became a universally acclaimed title which I did not expect the game turns out to be one of the greatest games of all-time, and it also credited as a most influential video game which they viewed Resident Evil 4 as the biggest pioneer of modern third-person shooter genres, so I had to pick-up a copy of RE 4 for Gamecube to see if this really changes my expectations.
The answer is yes because this really consider it as one of my all-time favourite game for Resident Evil franchise that I ever played.
You take control of Leon S Kennedy set in Spain for mission to search for president's daughter named Ashley Graham, an annoying young blonde lady who are being held captive by groups of Spanish cult members.
It is a quite different from the previous RE games which you'll notice the new changes that you don't see from the previous titles.
Stuff like the gameplay design where they changed the third-person perspective of fixed-camera angle into the over-the-shoulder view which makes the navigation quite easier to interact what's front of you, and it also improves upon the aiming control where you can able to freely aim at the enemies with the laser-pointing cursor makes the shooting accuracy so much easier to point and shoot at them.
Controlling the character in the game is a big changer because you don't have to go for a old-school tank-controls like from the previous game, instead you can freely move around thanks to over-the-shoulder perspective makes it so much practical for third-person shooters.
I had to admit that the game has the best looking visuals for Gamecube libraries because it feels like a early 7th gen era than the 6th gen standards which delivers a best looking character's design, the environments in many places filled with large open-areas, sharp details textures and uses a special effects techniques that you've never seen anything amazing on the 6th gen console.
The game does have the best written story and has likable cast of characters that really adds the game's main highlight entirely.
It has Leon S Kennedy which is one of our favourite RE's greatest heroes in the franchise, and it also has Ada Wong which she's one of the returning character we know her from RE 2.
It also shares with the greatest boss battles in any of RE games such as tall-bearded guy Bitores Mendez, tiny-little freak Ramon Salazar, big-tough solder Jack Krauser, and of course dark cultist Osmund Saddler are the best part of the game.
The best part of the game which includes the mercenaries mode where you had to take down the endless numbers of villagers to gain many scores as possible in order to get a highest ranking, and you have an extra scenario called "Separate Ways" where you take control of Ada Wong which never been featured on Gamecube version, so you really need to get it on other console platforms in order to play this scenario.
Resident Evil 4 is clearly being the Capcom's biggest horror masterpiece which is definite an recommendation to all gaming horror fans out there, so you can get it on Gamecube, PS2, and PC, and you can also check out a Wii edition which features a Wii motion controls are perfect to play for Wii players.
It also has re-releases stuff on PS3, PS4, X360, XBONE, and Switch which features better controls, HD resolution, and all bonus content from previous releases.
The game also received an 2023's full-on remake was released for PS4, PS5, XSX/S, and PC, which also gained a higher praise for its more horror-focused presentation, modernised combat gameplay, and redesigned visuals.
Honourable Mentions:
Resident Evil Zero
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (Original)
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2
Resident Evil 8: Village
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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging and have a nice spooky Halloween everyone, MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
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