The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 7 + 8)

During the fourth phase of development Resident Evil 4 underwent a change to involve Zombies again, however it felt that it was again being too stale, and with the poor sales of Outbreak File 2, Resident Evil 0, 1, 2,3 and CODE; Veronica it was definitely time to introduce a new Enemy. E3 ‘04 introduced us to the new and final design of Resident Evil 4.

Resident Evil 4 had completely re-invented itself, first of all Umbrella was finished and there is no T-Virus or any virus for that matter within the game. Secondly the setting was in an unknown village at first thought to be South America, and later revealed to be Spain.

This time Leon would have to fight against faster and more intelligent enemies that would hound you throughout the game, no longer were they mindless monsters, this time they used weapons and traps against you.

Resident Evil 4 had turned into a panic ridden action game, the mechanics had been given an overhaul, of which you could carry items in an attaché case which was upgradeable, instead of carrying 6 – 8 items at a time. The action button could mean object you could interact with it, such as jumping over fences, climbing ladders etc.

Fans were at first shocked and disgusted by what Mikami had done to the franchise, but grew to love the game with every new development.

Eventually upon its release Resident Evil fans were quick to hail the game as the best Resident Evil game to date, despite it not involving Umbrella or the T-Virus. Resident Evil 4 had attracted new audiences who would never usually touch a Resident Evil game with a taser on a pole. Resident Evil 4 had become one of the most popular and talked about games of 2005, however 6 months into it’s “exclusive” time with Nintendo Capcom decided to break contract due to the poor sales of the previous gamecube tiles, Resident Evil 4 was ported onto the PS2, and then went multiplatform apart from Microsoft’s X-Box.

While people speculated what RE5 would be like, many hardcore Resident Evil fans decided the honeymoon period with the new style was over, and wanted a more horror orientated game. Come July 20^th 2005 Capcom announced RE5 with mixed results, while it was announced that the game would be going back to the routes of the original, it seemed that the enemies, like last time were fast moving. Many speculated a cross-breed between Las Plagas and T-Virus, to produce Zombies seen in 28 days later. It wasn’t until 2006 that it was revealed to be an even more action orientated game, leaving out much more horror than previous.

The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 6)

A year passed and to make sure fans didn’t get angry for the already 2 year delay Resident Evil 4 they released an Online co-op ResidentEvil, which once again gave use a higher detailed insight into Raccoon City with Resident Evil: Outbreak.

The same year and Resident Evil: Dead Aim (Gun Survivor 4) for the Playstation 2 hit the stores. Dead Aim consisted of both first and third person gameplay. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t all that great either, especially in the story department. ‘

Outbreak was the more popular, and helped keep the anxiety of the impressive Resident Evil 4 which was about to change without the knowledge of anyone: Resident Evil 4 took on it’s third form; this time it took on a more paranormal route involving Leon hallucinating due to the effects of the virus in his system. Enemies including creepy dolls, suits of armour and the famed “Hooked Man” who stalked you through the game. However this version was ultimately scrapped without the knowledge of the general public and press on the grounds that it was too paranormal and didn’t fit that well with the “Biohazard” theme. However gameplay footage shows that this game could have been the most innovative and most scary Resident Evil to date despite the lack of Zombies. However the game again was still under development until 2004 making it excessively hard on the fans who thought it would be out by then.

To tide over the fans Capcom brought out Outbreak File 2 which improved gameplay and added new scenarios and added extra plot elements, and for the first time YOU could play a Zombie. This game wasn’t really enough to quench the thirst of fans, and they began to run impatient.

The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 5)

In 2002 Capcom brought out what was and still is rumoured to have been in development since CODE Veronica was in pre-production back in 98’ the game was a full on remake of the original Resident Evil. This game was amazing in both visuals, and the gameplay didn’t feel too bad, even though the control mechanics hadn’t really been altered since Resident Evil 3. The plot of extended to include mentions of the G-Virus, Birkin, and Alexia it also released an online Wesker’s Report 2.

The game in my opinion had surpassed Resident Evil 2 in what I thought was the greatest Resident Evil game, however the care and attention that went into the Remake of the original had just made it superior in every sense. If a remake of the original came out, surely a remake of its sequel was to follow?

Well before any sequel remakes came out we finally got our hands on a fully refurbished Resident Evil 0, and it gave fans a slightly different game, for example it had the “Zap” system that was advertised so much by Capcom back in 2000, you also had no item boxes so wherever you dumped you items you had to backtrack to get them back, a more realistic challenge, but a pointless and frustrating one none the less. This however was a turning point for Resident Evil as far as plot and genre: Ever so slowly the game had started to become more ridiculous, and slightly more action orientated, rather than being of the horror genre.

The last straw came for Resident Evil when not remakes but ports of Resident Evil 2 and 3 were released with little to no changes since the N64 and Dreamcast versions of the game. It looked like Resident Evil had finally died.

However in September 2002 fans were intrigued by Resident Evil 4 for the Gamecube: First of all not only did the game look visually beyond its time, but it looked menacing and scary. The plot revolved around Leon investigating Umbrella’s headquarters and being infected with the Progenitor virus mentioned in Resident Evil 0. Fans couldn’t wait.

The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 4)

2000 - 2001

During 2000 a huge burst of Resident Evil games emerged from the cracks, such as Resident Evil: Survivor for the Playstation; it was a poor FPS which was meant to use a light gun, it also struggled to be a good game due to the fact there were no save points and so you had to play this shitty game in one go rather than taking a break to recuperate your senses, along with this Resident Evil 0 was announced for the Nintendo’s 64 bit console the aptly named Nintendo64. It was due out in 2001 and was set before the Mansion incident, and was set after Bravo team’s Helicopter crashed. The game would feature a new “zap” system so you could control two characters at the same time, also the fact that there was not item box was a first.

Also Resident Evil 4 was due for release at any moment (it had been rumoured to be in development since 1998), however the game that was released was Devil May Cry in 2001. If you have played DMC and Resident Evil 4 you can see the similarities in hairstyle and looks between Dante and Leon. Fans would have to wait yet again for an “official” 4^th instalment of the series.

In 2001 fans were treated to an un-cut edition of Code: Veronica on the Playstation 2, which made up for the huge disappointment by adding more scenes with Albert Wesker in and contained (for a limited time) a DVD with “Wesker’s Report” which explined how the hell he managed to stay alive. Unfortunately for the handheld community Resident Evil: Gaiden was released in Europe and later on a very limited release in Japan and North America. It was abonable, which was a shame, because I’d like a good game with Barry Burton in it.

With CODE: Veronica X came Resident Evil: Survivor 2: Code Veronica, released this time for the arcade – It flopped. The third in the series eventually turned to a Dino Crisis based game.

This year was supposed to be the birth of Resident Evil 0, which would bring us back before our original scare, with twice the graphical power. Maybe this would be Resident Evil’s salvation, from being completely ruined by stale game mechanics, voice acting and repetitive gameplay, and horrible attempts to change to game from TPS to FPS?

However by this time Nintendo brought out its slightly more powerful console: the Nintendo Gamecube, so Capcom decided to do an all exclusive deal with Nintendo to bring out the Resident Evil series exclusively for its console.

Many fans were shocked by this, many had got a PS2 with CODE: Veronica X in the hope that Resident Evil 4 would be coming to the PS2 as promised only to get Devil May Cry (as mentioned previously). Despite this Devil May Cry was a great game, and a great success.

The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 3)

With the huge success of Resident Evil 2, easily out-shadowing the original it was time to make another game, however with the release of the 128-bit console the Sega Dreamcast around the corner it was planed that a sequel involving Claire Redfield looking for her brother Chris alongside Leon S Kennedy. The game would have been fully 3D using the next-gen graphics. However due to some teething problems a spin-off involving Jill escaping Raccoon City 24 hours before Leon and Claire made it would be made for the Playstation while development for “Resident Evil 3” for the Dreamcast would go underway. Originally called Resident Evil: Last Escape the game would be pre-rendered and have Jill valentine trying to escape the city while being hounded by an Umbrella built BOW. However due to the long wait for Resident Evil 3 they decided to make Resident Evil: Last Escape - Resident Evil 3 and for Western audiences change the sub-heading to Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

This game proved to have some of the best gameplay in a Resident Evil game: No longer did you have to press a button to head up the stairs, but you could just run up them. There were also better looking Zombies, and more of them including ones of different weight, gender and ethnicity. You could now mix gun powders to make more ammo, or change the type of ammo, and a dodge and 180 degree turn was added too.

The visuals were a lot better, despite the major jolts between FMV and cut-scenes where the character model barely had any features. This gameplay would surely be carried on?

Unfortunately the “true” sequel to Resident Evil 2 now called “Resident Evil CODE: Veronica” was not about to break any boundaries. In fact because it was under development by a different team they used the exact same controls as they did in Resident Evil 2, which made Resident Evil 3 a far superior game as far as gameplay.

There were some minor changes to the original concept. Whereas in the original script Claire met Leon on Rockfort as a fellow prisoner where Leon and Claire would fall in Love, and Leon would be killed off. However it was decided that fans loved the character of leon so much, they feared too much of an uproar, so a small love story was decided for a new far more annoying character that made every teenage guy wonder how the fuck he managed to get Claire to ever fall in love with him. The name was Steve Burnside. The game also resurrected an old foe - Albert Wesker. Not much was known about his motives until a Director's Cut was brought out for the Sony Playstation and Sega Dreamcast called Biohazard: Code Veronica Complete (in Japan) or Resident Evil: Code veronica X (everywhere else) in 2001, but we’ll come back to this game later in the history lesson.

The Long History of Resident Evil (Part 2)

Quickly after its success Resident Evil was to have a spin-off. Not much is known; all what is really known is that it was based in the mansion, and was about killer plants. Thank god that one didn’t get further than the drawing board. Quickly though it was realised that the sequel would have to be based in the near-by city of Raccoon.

Like the original Resident Evil 2 went through several changes. The character of Leon for example went through several stages of looks and rank of police officer.

Claire Redfield didn’t exist and instead a foxy blond character – a student of Raccoon University was on the scene called Eliza Walker. The most notable thing though that Raccoon City was actually a city and not a small mid-western town. There were also several character changes, for example Robert Kendo the gun owner was a supporting character similar to Barry Burton, and so was Marvin Branagh. Ada was also a scientist, but one can only assume that she had the same connection with John, it wasn’t known if she was a spy. The story was also different. In this edition Umbrella had already been found out, and the board members of Umbrella were being tried: Furious – Ozwell E Spencer decides to unleash the T-Virus in Raccoon City and from there all hell breaks lose.

However when the game was 70% complete and with only a few moths before launch Mikami scrapped the projected and started almost from scratch, he claimed that the game played “too much like the original” and vowed to bring audiences a superior product.

In 1998 he did, and Resident Evil 2 was released a year late, however it was to prove to be one of the most popular titles within the franchise to date. Instead Raccoon was a small town, the characters had been changed, and the layout was far less boring compared to the more repetitive backgrounds of ultra modern life in a big city. The story had changed to Umbrella still working behind the shadows, which made Umbrella more formidable, and gave the possibilities for more sequels. Mikami delivered what he promised, and thanks to a controversial (still to this date) overhaul we have one of the best Resident Evil titles to date.

The Long History of Resident Evil

Ok so now RE5: AE has been announced and Halloween is around the corner i thought I'd release a little history lesson for all of you!

Part 1:

The story of Resident Evil starts back in 1989 when an RPG style horror game translated in English to “Sweet Home” swept the stores. The story was about a team of paranormal investigators where they get trapped inside the mansion by evil spirits.

Back in 1989 this was a shit scary and very hard game to complete. You had permanent character deaths unlike other RPGs which you could simply revive them during battle, traps, and 5 different endings.

As early as 1994 Resident Evil started Development as a concept for Nindendo’s CD based system: Originally a remake of “Sweet Home” Shinji Mikami was Inspired by George A Romero and decided to make changes to the game and make the “ghosts” into “zombies” and have an evil corporation behind the events of the mansion. Throughout this period Sony broke away from Nintendo and brought out the Playstation in 1995. Nintendo now had no new system, Capcom decided to side with Sony and begin to develop the game to suit the 32-bit CD based PlayStation.

Many changes through the concepts were considered, for example during its concept phase Barry was a cyborg with a robot arm, and at one point during the development in 1995 the game was to be a FPS. However it was quickly established that the game wouldn’t be as scary. Eventually settling on the pre-rendered route, which allowed amazing visuals for the time.

In 1996 Biohazard was finalised released in Japan, and when legal problems arose in America with the band "Biohazard" the game was given the title "Resident Evil" everywhere else.

Out of pne man’s dream to remake one of the scariest RPGs in 1994, came an idea that would put the genre of survival horror on the map just two years after conception.

Friday 13th Part 2 release date

It's August 13th, 2010 in case you're wondering...

The Cleveland Show

Yeah like I predicted it's Black Family Guy, but despite it being "aimed" at Black people (talk about segregation), but not actually reaching genuinely to its target audience.

BUT at least they point it out in the pilot. I have nothing more to say. It's just as "funny" as Family guy, but not...I can see cleveland returning to family guy in 2 seasons of this crap....

That is all..

Zombieland

What can I say? Zombieland is the best Zom-Com, ever. Yes the American's did it better than the British, with the exception of Charlie Brooker's Dead Set. It ticked every box you could possibly want in a zombie film. I mean I don't think anyone ever will b e able to top this film as far as zom-coms go. In fact everyone should give up making zombie movies as comedies after this, maybe again in another 20 years, but this has everything and more. You can't beat Zombieland.

I mean you could clone the film and do it with different characters, but never will you get such a great combination of characters, especially for this sub-genre. Especially the scenes involving Bill Murray, I mean without spoiling things, who wouldn't want to do that with Bill Murray?

There isn't really any complaints, I can't believe it, but this is equally (for its genre) as good as District 9: D9 was a great classic, it had amazing acting, direction, and pulled the audiences' emotions the right way. Zombieland did just the same; it delivered a great actors, great directing, and pulled the audience's emotions perfectly too. For its genre it's perfect.

Shaun of the Dead may have been amusing, and referenced a lot of more "serious" zombie films. But this film made itself different, made itself without having to recreate scenes from other films. It did things so much better when referencing other films. Bravo

The only criticism is that I felt the gore factor could have been upped to more OTT levels, but apart from that it's a perfect zom-com film.

All in all I'd have to say that if you like zombie films go watch it. Those who think this is a scary movie though, it isn't, but that's because zombies have long gone being scary, and are now more adrenaline fueled, redneck, fun entertainment which everyone needs once in a while. So if you like gore, cool inventive gun scenes, a few jump moments, and great characters that you care for - this film is for you!

This is Anonymous Gamer here saying:

You stay classy internets!