It was 1996 and we
weren't ready. The doors of video gaming
were blown wide open with the release of Resident Evil (RE.) Having beginnings and inspirations from games
such as Sweet Dreams and Alone in the Dark, the game was a
critical success. From a graphics level,
RE was a genius blend of 3D polygons and pre-rendered backgrounds. From a point of storytelling, Resident Evil took players up, down,
in and out of a mystery that would remind them of Days of the Tentacle.
The Raccoon City
elite police force STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) – Alpha
division are sent to investigate the disappearance of their Bravo team
counterparts. Finding ill omens outside
the mysterious Spencer mansion, the team begins a tale of terror that will
unveil biological experiments, corporate espionage and ruthless betrayal.
There were highly
trained characters skilled in handguns, shotguns and even grenade
launchers. There was B-movie dialogue
that hurt as much as the snapping jaws of the shambling dead. There was limited health and, above all,
there were the zombies. In their
original incarnation on the Playstation, the undead were just reddish-brown
skinned creatures with boxy white shirts and a weakness for doorknobs and
travelling stairwells.
Resident Evil
exposed players to true gore and honest-to-God terror. Where some games had used a little red for
blood and marching bits for monsters, RE gave us true gore but it also gave us
setting mood and atmosphere for terror.
And this is where the series set itself apart as not just a B-movie on a
game console but as an example of a horror story made for a new
generation. Fear of the dark, unknown;
the terror of the human body turned against us and ultimately, the fear of
death and what lies beyond.
It was a blend of
sudden noises, shattering windows, giant spiders, dark rooms and the
pulse-pounding need to run, run and keep running. From the moment that the first zombie turns
its head towards us, we knew that the video gaming world had changed. Not only had it eaten one of the team we were
here to save but it threw us into the arms of fear. We didn't know what to expect. We didn't know what this thing lurching for
us was and we weren't complete sure how to stop it. If Resident Evil is anything, it is an
examination of fear. And we are the mice
in the lab.
Part of the lure
and love of Resident Evil is not too many weapons or too much ammunition. It is not an assured death because of
overwhelming odds either. The lure and
love come from the fear that our fate is uncertain. Whether or not Chris made it past the giant
spider or if Jill escaped the collapsing ceiling was all up to us, the
player. They say that in times of an
absolute fate, there is calm. If that is
true, then so is the opposite and that is the addiction to Capcom’s classic –
the rush. And this rush comes from “maybe
we make it past the decomposing scientist” or “maybe we don’t.”
Resident
Evil’s first launch created a generation of gamers that had higher standards because
of the game. We saw what was possible
and we saw a game that was more of an experience than just a controller and our
TV’s. Although we had experienced the
undead in games before, they were always just skeletons in dungeons or 8-bit
blips on a screen. Resident Evil took
the zombie from films and gave their rotted hands keys to our homes via our
consoles.
Legendary
game developer Shinji Mikami’s game changing entry into survival horror was
more than just a game – it was a shift in culture. It was old terror meets new media and it
worked. But has that same formula stayed
true through the years?
What
was your favorite Resident Evil moment?
NEXT – Leon, Claire. Claire, Leon.
