How do you want your Evil served?

[The Curmudgeon]

I completed Resident Evil 6 last night. I stayed up till after 3am, cursing at the screen trying to beat a boss that seemed to verge on parody he kept coming back so many times. I honestly killed that fucker about ten times.

Anyway, I was reading about the new Resident Evil game (apparently Capcom are in financial trouble? How the hell can that be?) and the complaints the recent games have received because of their deviation away from the Survival Horror genre that defined the series.

And I can see why. Resident Evil 6 is a blast to play, but the elements that made the series famous are as dead as the hordes of fodder eating up your precious ammo. It's a shooting game, plain and simple, and it's easily the most visually stunning game I've ever played to boot.

So if you're into this series, what do YOU want to see in the new game? A continuation of the current games, where action and frantic button mashing cut-scenes are the order of the day, or do you want more tense, frightening atmosphere and genuine scares?

There's a part of Resident Evil 4 that if you've played it you'll know what I mean. There is a gun that is the only thing that kills this shuffling, slow heavy breathing monster. But it's at the other side of a dark room filled with twists and turns and locked doors. While you run, the music almost stops and all you can hear is this fucking abomination b-r-e-a-t-h-i-n-g. It was genuinely very frightening.

Resident Evil 5, and to a further degree 6, didn't have anything like that. Great fun to play, but no real scares. I was never a fan of the series until I was actually given the fourth installment which I reluctantly played and then loved. So I suppose I'm used more to the action games than the horror ones. But still, any game that could re-create those genuine scares is something I'd be interested in.

What do you think?

[trashcanman]

I played the demo for RE5 and 6 and didn't even finish them. Weak fucking sauce. I still need to play 4 before I get a new console but as far as I'm concerned this series is done with.

[The Curmudgeon]

So were you a fan of the original games, Trash? I think that's why I enjoy the new games so much because I didn't enjoy the first one at all. The controls were just so fucking awful. Never played the second. I'll give 6 it's credit, it's the most visually impressive game I've ever seen.

So what didn't you like about it? The gameplay? The deviation from the original games?

[trashcanman]

All of the above. I'll give you that the old games had bad controls, but sometimes that difficulty is part of what made it so scary. It took real skill. Then there were moments like these that have burnt themselves int my nightmares:

gamemoir.com/2014/04/22/five-terrifying-moments-from-the-original-resident-evil/

The new games just aren't scary from what I've seen. They seem to be just generic action games. Walk here, shoot that, get this, open that, walk there, shoot those, lather, rinse, repeat. And as far as action games go, there are so very many more out there that do it better.

[trashcanman]

Just started playing RE4 last night. God DAMN it, I forgot how much I hate the controls for that series. And how freakin' hard it can be. That first village....are you fucking kidding me? Damn, that's real old-school "fuck you, figure it out, loser" difficulty. I can't believe they'd uncork a challenge that insane right off the bat. But man, I love those creepy villagers. After all the zombies, it's cool that they went with the more disturbing Crazies-style enemies. Great game; it's just a shame that the gameplay is so fucking unfeasible. It'd be a million times more playable if they used a normal goddamn control scheme.

[The Curmudgeon]

Believe it or not, I actually played that on the Wii. Imagine that.

The village level is insane. 1000 of those fuckers all attacking at once until that bell FINALLY rings. Yeah, that was hard going. Have you been locked in the church yet? If you have, you'll know the bit I mean.

[trashcanman]

I just got out of the church with Ashley. It wasn't difficult so it must not be the part you're talking about. I almost crapped myself when I crossed that bridge to get back there and those fucking wolves jumped me. That is classic RE horror, right there. That village, though. I literally had no idea what to do. There wasn't enough ammo to kill them all and they just kept coming and coming and I was running all over and there were all these dead ends... After dying like ten times I finally looked it up online and found out that you just have to wait it out after you trigger the cutscene in that building in the middle of town that is really easy to miss while being chased. They just expect you to randomly figure out that that's the specific building they want you to go to and then just run around for several minutes until a bell saves you. Fuck, RE4,I have a voiced character; why not have him say out loud that he needs to get away or should search all the buildings or something? It's the first damn level!

[The Curmudgeon]

I don't play a lot of games, so when someone starts playing a game I love it's so cool. Fun fact, when you're climbing down a ladder go first and then look up Ashley's skirt when she's climbing down. She yells at you to cut it out. I, er, found that out by accident. Honest.

Damn it, you're really making me want to play this game again..

[trashcanman]

It's actually pretty impressive that that game is as old as it is. The graphics on the HD version are really nice, the voice acting isn't bad, and the little touches like Ashley calling you a pervert over that ladder thing give it personality. Good boss fights too. I can see why RE4 is so revered. If they'd just give it a normal control scheme that allows you to see more than 1/3 of the screen at will it'd be about perfect. Sure as hell beats the crap out of the demos I played for the last two games in the series.