When I finally held the full game in my hands, playing in VR was the first thought on my mind. I raced to the bathroom, fearing I was going to vomit all over Sony's booth.Įven after that bout of tummy-rumbling trauma, I still loved the idea of Resident Evil 7 in VR. About half-way through my playthrough, streaming live on Facebook, I started to feel feverish and sweaty, and minutes later I had to pull the PS VR off my face and stop the demo early. At least, not until the Resident Evil 7 E3 demo. I had plenty of experience with Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PS VR, and I'd never experienced the dreaded "VR sickness" that ruined these experiences for some of my peers. That is, until I actually played Resident Evil 7 on PlayStation VR. All of my most nightmarish dreams were coming true. What's more, it would be fully playable in virtual reality on the PlayStation 4. Resident Evil, one of my favorite gaming franchises of all time, was back and it looked as terrifying as ever, even as a first-person shooter. However, when the jump scares were done and the title screen appeared, I couldn't help gasping in surprise - and pure joy. Secondly, the trailer showcased a dilapidated, cockroach-filled house that looked like it would fit in a modern horror title like Amnesia or Outlast, rather than Resident Evil's universe of Raccoon City and the Umbrella Corporation. To begin with, it was a first-person game, when Resident Evil is famously a third-person perspective series. And why not? It’s practically perfect.I didn't recognize Resident Evil 7: Biohazard when Capcom revealed it at E3 2016 with a mysterious teaser trailer. Capcom, and action games, have chased that “Resident Evil 4” high for more than a decade now. But you can’t blame them for trying to repeat perfection - fruitless as those efforts have been. Many view it as both the savior and the downfall of survival horror games, kick-starting Capcom’s obsession with zombie action over fear. Over time, Resident Evil fans have developed mixed feelings for the fourth game. The raw confidence in its action systems, enemies and mechanics inspired a generation of action game directors, who would then go on to lead their titles with similarly panicked introductions, like the train wreck of “Uncharted 2.” In “RE4,” you never knew what to expect, and the game never lets off the pedal. “Resident Evil 4′s” first five minutes offer one of the most striking first impressions a video game has ever made, mobbing you with angry Spanish villagers, all communicating with each other, wielding tools like pitchforks and chain saws, and opening doors and propping up ladders. Resident Evil Remakeīeyond the angle, the game raised the bar in action pacing. Even if other games did it better, no game does it quite like “Resident Evil 2.” 2002 3. And even though Nemesis upped the pursuer monster game, Mr. Being on two separate discs meant there were four different ways to play the game. Even its excellent 2019 remake couldn’t replicate the divergent storytelling. It basically wedged two games into one, giving you two protagonists who go on different paths throughout the world, often times fighting completely different monsters and meeting new characters. It was directed by Hideki Kamiya, who admitted to disliking horror, and pushed the game to have more zombies, more creatures and more arenas.Įven if it’s a bit rough around the edges to play today, it still does things that modern day Resident Evil games haven’t done.
It laid the foundation of many series principles, including multiple perspectives, a hard right turn into science fiction storytelling, and the introduction of one, big, persistent monster hounding you throughout the experience. The first sequel is the “Link to the Past” of the series. For now, the sixth game stands as the popular but maligned adrenaline-fueled outlier of the series. It was a game so out of character for the series that the team pivoted hard back to horror for the next sequel. Despite the fact that the game is awful at teaching you its mechanics, it’s a damn fine action game, and a robust evolution of the combat mechanics of “Resident Evil 4,” letting its characters become fully-formed combat experts and zombie martial artists. Still, this title’s low place on the list hurts me. While it was critically lambasted for its departure from horror, it’s still the best-selling entry in the series. The game was littered with quick time events, and its denouement included fighting a zombie Tyrannosaurus rex with a Jeep. It’s the game that took Resident Evil’s cinematic ambitions to farcical, absurd extremes, almost ditching its horror roots in all but name and aesthetics. This placement shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows the series.