Welcome to the Umbrella Corporation: The Legacy of Resident Evil
by CheekyGuy, HSM team writer
Pick up any popular game title nowadays, and you are almost guaranteed to discover it has a “mode” or DLC which you can purchase that has zombies in it. Indeed, they seem to be the enemy du jour in the majority of titles currently available on the PS3. From Call of Duty: Black Ops to Red Dead Redemption, the undead are everywhere. And while the earliest zombie video game appeared in 1984, it took over a decade before we saw the debut of what quite possibly is the most influential game franchise of the genre.
Resident Evil, a first for its time way back in 1996 (an inspiration from obscure Horror Japanese RPG ‘Sweet Home’ released from Capcom for the NES back in 1989), was ambitious in that its ‘emphasis’ involving surviving your own horror movie nightmare. It had HUGE first time shocks; I can recall my first introduction to the shuffling zombie moving toward my hero, a pistol outstretched on my screen, nervously firing off at least five shots into it before watching it crumble to the ground. It was a moment of sheer dread. Zombie doberman dogs jumping through windows- a HUGE classic scare right there! Probably the most famous scare in the original Resident Evil series.
By all means for those that haven’t sampled Capcom’s original masterpiece, I suggest taking a look now, as it is now available in the PSN store and those lucky enough to be a Playstation Plus member, you can download all three Resident Evil titles for free.
'Sweet Home' Obscure Japanese horror that became inspiration for 'Resident Evil'
The younger generation will probably point and laugh at its graphical presentation compared to games of today, but if you can see pass the bad voice acting, it still has an old B-movie charm that brings you back for more.
I believe there are classic games just as there are classic movies that you can come back to again and again, and the original Resident Evil, for all its retro charm, seems to be one of those titles.
I remember smiling in amusement when I first played this game because I remembered reading a magazine article circa 1986 of which one journalist suggested that video games couldn’t have the power to scare. Fast forward to 1993 then, when ID’s iconic horror FPS Doom made you feel uneasy whenever you turned the next corner.
What makes it work is that it takes its inspiration from much of the horror genre, George Romero being a HUGE nod, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and in later incarnations (specifically Resident Evil 5) Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. Set within the confines of a haunted mansion, the action is viewed from fixed, voyeuristic camera angles, which are very Hitchcock like in origin – you always feel like your being watched. You can be the most careful player in the world and yet you’re still bound to turn a wrong corner and run into something quite nasty.
Your nerves would be absolutely shredded if it weren’t for the micro-management of the way in which you store and find items scattered around the house. The scariest thing about the game is not so much the monsters you face, but in how much ammunition the character you control has. The puzzles can be anything from outright obvious to hair-pullingly devious. Thankfully the ‘Director’s Cut’ edition of this game allows you to do away with playing the puzzles section (TheTraining game mode), but why would I want to tell you that?
If your patience and nerves haven’t already been shredded enough, the other skin crawling factor about this game is its soundtrack. It veers from fairly typical, ominous, incidental stuff to discordant, disturbing, metallic shrieks that sound as though they’re being played backward.
Zombies are my most scariest horror movie monster of all time; I am absolutely terrified of them. Unrelenting, emotionless hordes that shuffle toward you with one single minded goal – and that is to eat you alive.
It was ironic that I auditioned as the monster I was so afraid of in late 2003. I remember seeing this poster campaign for a “Horror Zombie, Rom-Com” and the brief for it was about this slacker that had to win back his girlfriend back against a backdrop of a zombie outbreak. It starred Simon Pegg, who to me was from a small sitcom over here in the UK called Spaced (which was also about a slacker too – see a pattern forming here?). This was before he became as big as he is now. Anyways, the casting director states on the ad that he was looking for zombie extras and to give them a call. Weeks later, I enter into at least two auditions for the role of a zombie monster. We were put into groups and entered this dimly room together. We were given a brief of which we had to work as a team to chase down a young, screaming girl, but before that, we had to get into the mindset of a zombie. A soundtrack was played to us and it was very hypnotic with deep reverb, as if from some Australian didgeridoo.
A young girl would come running into the room, screaming like hell. Some of us caught her, some of us fought for her, pushing each other aside while still transfixed in that hypnotic state, my mind said the same thing as everyone else’s – get her. Some of my group fell and hung onto her ankle. I took her arm, another took her neck as we proceeded to bring her down, until we closed in and – the music stopped.
We snapped out of character.
It was one of the most surreal and frightening moments of my life.
As always, I shook the producer and casting director by the hand and went Home from Ealing studios (London, England) I thought nothing of it but had a great day auditioning.
It wasn’t until the summer of that year I received a letter telling me that I got the part of the zombie creature and it was suggested that I shaved my head, as dead people don’t have hair. The movie was officially called Shaun Of the Dead, and I was one of the many “featured” zombies that would show on screen. I was also told I would have to wear contact lenses and that I would have to arrive early for make up and contact lens testing. I was personally uncomfortable with contact lenses to begin with, I had never worn them and really didn’t like the idea of glass inside my eyes. As these are thicker lenses of which are reflective for the cameras, I had the concern of, “What if I become allergic them?”
I was still excited that I go the job – it was only a full days filming. That morning, before I even begin the huge fourteen hour day, I get told by the security personnel, communicating though radio contact that my part had been cut. And that they now have no plans to shoot it. At that time I didn’t have an agent, so there was no guaranteed payment. I was young and naive, I guess I lived and learned. But I had no idea how big that movie was going to be.
Since Resident Evil, many of today’s horror survival games have now gone much deeper into the art of scaring us. Even to the point of psychological mind games. The original FEAR, an all-out action horror thriller not only gave you all out action but relied heavily on it’s Japanese horror influence – one such influence being the RING. A ghostly shape of a little girl would be found walking toward you in a red coat. It was one of the first FPS titles that forced the player back during gameplay. And the game’s deadly protagonist, Alma had a real sense of presence.
In the PS2 incarnation of Silent Hill, Konami introduced a Sony 3-D sound middleware “S-FORCE 3-D Sound Library.” The technology reproduced a 3-D positional audio by two channel speakers. Simply connecting to a TV set, it provides sound effects as if the speakers were beside and behind, surrounding the player. Konami opened up new era of horror game effects with the first time adoption of 3-D audio system for PS2 game software. The result is a game, which when coupled with its gameplay, is arguably the scariest experience of any game before or since.
Deep Space was another game in that toys with the player through it’s soundscape. Throughout the halls of the Ishimura, the ship of which you are investigating, you are stalked mercilessly by the Necromorphs, and while you can’t always see them, you are constantly surrounded by the menacing noises they produce or the eerie pitter-patter they make as they crawl through the ventilation shafts. You’ll occasionally hear the distant screams of Necromorph victims or the creepy singing of a mentally unbalanced survivor, and environmental effects such as those generated by the sudden release of a burst of steam will keep you on the edge of your seat.
As the years pass and more titles and game franchises come and go, Resident Evil will always be the game that inspired a new generation of zombie/horror survival games that will not only bring the hairs of the nape of your neck standing on edge, but will make you sleep with the lights on for many nights to come. If you’re willing to overlook the outdated graphics, it’s still a spectacular and scary game to play.
October 30th, 2011 by CheekyGuy | 4 comments
CheekyGuy is a loveable, mischievous Brit who first entered virtual reality via Second Life, and now frequents Home as a Grey Gamer to keep in touch with friends. In real life, Cheeky is a video editor who has just completed a Master's degree in screenwriting from Liverpool John Moores University.
I have never been much of a horror movie fan. I was raised with Frankenstein and the Wolfman and Dracula movies. I can remember watching them on something called Shock Theater, it came on rather late and it was a treat for us as kids to be allowed to stay up on Saturday night with our dad to watch them. Zombies weren’t as popular then as I don’t remember seeing any movie of that type growing up. I think it really took off after a little movie called “Night of the Living Dead” came to be.
Zombies are probably the most used monster in any video game ever. There have been over 70 games created over the years about killing them, RE being the most long lived and famous of the lot. I know this because I looked it up once.
Until recently the only game I had ever played in this genre was Zombies Ate My Neighbors which was a tongue in cheek game that was fun to play.
More recently I have played Undead Nightmare, and Dead Nation. I liked them both very much. There is something oddly satisfying about killing something that is already dead, lol.
Great review of the series Cheeks, but somehow I can’t imagine you as a zombie, you are too much fun.
Great article. My fav zombie game is Plants vs. Zombies. Good fun and not scary… my style!
I personally cannot play scary games, but I really wish I could! Resident Evil did bring a “light” to horror! Dead Space was probably the most scariest game I have ever WATCHED, I would never play that… (are you crazy!)
I have played DEADSPACE and finished it on hardmode it really is a scary but the original resident evil is the grand daddy of modern videogame survival horror and it scares me to the bones!!!.