There's a parallel that one notices when comparing the Resident Evil video game series to the George A. Romero "Living Dead" series, particularly the first three installments of each.
Back in 1968, George Romero unleashed his horrific vision of the dead returning to life and feasting on the living in his cult classic "Night of the Living Dead". Fast-forward to 1996, where Capcom achieves the same notoriety in the video game world by releasing "Resident Evil", or "Biohazard" as it's known overseas. It's as if Capcom was in tune with Romero's vision in the way they created dark atmospheres, a chilling soundtrack, gruesome monsters, and a plot surrounding the mishaps and evil doings of a corrupt organization. Sadly, as is the case with "Night of the Living Dead" being in black and white, many newcomers to the series may find the out-dated graphics of the game laughable. However, Capcom has since remade Resident Evil for the gamecube, updating the graphics and adding some new features.
Due to the success of Resident Evil, Capcom made a sequel that was much darker, gorier, longer in gameplay (alternate, intertwining character scenarios), had better graphics, and more beasties to gun down or run away from. Because of all of this, it is regarded by many fans of the series as the best installment. This is very similar to Romero's sequel to "Night of the Living Dead", which is nearly three hours long, has better special effects, a more elaborate plot, and better defined characters. "Dawn of the Dead" is also regarded by many fans to be Romero's best installment of the "Living Dead" trilogy.
As imaginable, due to the great success of Resident Evil 2, Capcom further progressed the series with Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Along with the updated graphics, game mechanics, and weaponry, Capcom introduced gamers to Nemesis, a relentless killing machine that pursues your character through-out the game. With Nemesis, players were also given a new feature of real time choices they could make in order to evade the hulking, rocket launching, menace. Much like in Romero's third installment to the "Living Dead" trilogy, Day of the Dead, there is now a military presence in the series, the leader of which is revealed to be corrupt.
Sadly, Capcom decided to take a different approach to the later Resident Evil games, placing a greater emphasis on action rather than horror and suspense, which left many fans of the original games disappointed. However, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which was released right after Resident Evil: Nemesis, still maintains the feel and play style of the original trilogy.
Resident Evil 4 removed the obscure camera angles that created the suspense and fear from the original games, and replaced them with a fixed over-the-shoulder camera angle. RE4 also added ammo a plenty, discouraging the player from saving ammo for when it was truly needed. And the biggest flaw of all from RE4 was the removal of zombies. That's right, the enemies are no longer walking dead people that want to feast on your flesh, but are instead parasite controlled villagers that want to stab you with pitchforks.
If there was any hope that Capcom would come to there senses and return the gameplay to the way it was in the original games, it was diminished with the release of Resident Evil 5, which was basically a continuation of Resident Evil 4 but in a new location with different characters. However, it has been reported by Capcom that Resident Evil 6 will be a reboot of the series and will also be returning to its roots, so there may be hope left after all.
It is slightly unfair to claim that Capcom has ruined the series with the newer games, because they have released the RE1 remake and RE Zero, both of which have the same feel of the original games but with much better graphics. However, seeing as the series was launched and gained success on the Playstation, some gamers may feel cheated that the RE1 remake and RE Zero are exclusively for the gamecube.
Back in 1968, George Romero unleashed his horrific vision of the dead returning to life and feasting on the living in his cult classic "Night of the Living Dead". Fast-forward to 1996, where Capcom achieves the same notoriety in the video game world by releasing "Resident Evil", or "Biohazard" as it's known overseas. It's as if Capcom was in tune with Romero's vision in the way they created dark atmospheres, a chilling soundtrack, gruesome monsters, and a plot surrounding the mishaps and evil doings of a corrupt organization. Sadly, as is the case with "Night of the Living Dead" being in black and white, many newcomers to the series may find the out-dated graphics of the game laughable. However, Capcom has since remade Resident Evil for the gamecube, updating the graphics and adding some new features.
Due to the success of Resident Evil, Capcom made a sequel that was much darker, gorier, longer in gameplay (alternate, intertwining character scenarios), had better graphics, and more beasties to gun down or run away from. Because of all of this, it is regarded by many fans of the series as the best installment. This is very similar to Romero's sequel to "Night of the Living Dead", which is nearly three hours long, has better special effects, a more elaborate plot, and better defined characters. "Dawn of the Dead" is also regarded by many fans to be Romero's best installment of the "Living Dead" trilogy.
As imaginable, due to the great success of Resident Evil 2, Capcom further progressed the series with Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Along with the updated graphics, game mechanics, and weaponry, Capcom introduced gamers to Nemesis, a relentless killing machine that pursues your character through-out the game. With Nemesis, players were also given a new feature of real time choices they could make in order to evade the hulking, rocket launching, menace. Much like in Romero's third installment to the "Living Dead" trilogy, Day of the Dead, there is now a military presence in the series, the leader of which is revealed to be corrupt.
Sadly, Capcom decided to take a different approach to the later Resident Evil games, placing a greater emphasis on action rather than horror and suspense, which left many fans of the original games disappointed. However, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which was released right after Resident Evil: Nemesis, still maintains the feel and play style of the original trilogy.
Resident Evil 4 removed the obscure camera angles that created the suspense and fear from the original games, and replaced them with a fixed over-the-shoulder camera angle. RE4 also added ammo a plenty, discouraging the player from saving ammo for when it was truly needed. And the biggest flaw of all from RE4 was the removal of zombies. That's right, the enemies are no longer walking dead people that want to feast on your flesh, but are instead parasite controlled villagers that want to stab you with pitchforks.
If there was any hope that Capcom would come to there senses and return the gameplay to the way it was in the original games, it was diminished with the release of Resident Evil 5, which was basically a continuation of Resident Evil 4 but in a new location with different characters. However, it has been reported by Capcom that Resident Evil 6 will be a reboot of the series and will also be returning to its roots, so there may be hope left after all.
It is slightly unfair to claim that Capcom has ruined the series with the newer games, because they have released the RE1 remake and RE Zero, both of which have the same feel of the original games but with much better graphics. However, seeing as the series was launched and gained success on the Playstation, some gamers may feel cheated that the RE1 remake and RE Zero are exclusively for the gamecube.