Halloween Gaming Blog #4 Resident Evil Series Part 1

Today we are covering one of the premier series in gaming history. This is a game series that ultra defined the horror game franchise. Resident evil has had us killing zombies and scrounging for items like green herbs for ages. This series has so many game sin it that it will make your head spin. I have only played a lot of the games and though so not all of them will have a substantial presence on this list. I will, however try to touch on each one. 

We were all taken aback by the huge step up in technology  brought out by the playstation in the 1990s. During this time one game was introduced that really changed the genre and threw it for a loop. We had survival horror games in the past such as haunted house, Alone in the Dark and stuff like the Clock Tower series. This game really gave you an opportunity to fight with the zombies and where this is nothing totally new adding the horror factor with it instead of a novelty factor such as with Zombies ate my neighbors. Adding to this we have new graphical and game play upgrades that have lead to beautiful background visuals and more realistic action and cut scenes that drove fans crazy.

This game again redefined the series giving you a choice between playing two characters: Chris and Jill. You had an element of challenge to this game that stepped it up with limited ammo, dangerous enemies and top notch puzzles. The game could be completed in about 90 minutes but the hidden factors would keep you coming back again and again trying to beat your time. Healing items and saves were available but were discouraged due to the rating you would get in the end.

One factor that also characterized the series came from the consistent bad voice acting that made this game into more of a B movie type. For those of you who have experienced it you will find the above pic pretty funny. To this day I feel the voice acting identified the game.

The next game released was the director's cut which offered slightly better graphics and a remix feature that would allow for a different gaming experience and allow for an easy mode with plenty of ammo for people who preferred to blast their way through. This version also came with a demo of the second eagerly awaited game in the series. I would say that this helped to take an old game and make it into something new.

Our next entry in the series is a game we had all eagerly awaited which was the first real sequel to the game series. This game gave us some graphical innovation and improved upon the original formula incorporating even more puzzles and creative baddies. This game improved on the weapon and items available to you in the series including allowing you to alter your weapons to make them even more innovative. This game improved upon most aspects of the series.

The biggest improvement on this game is it got rid of the corny nature of the last game and incorporated a great and deep story into the series. The other aspect of improvement you see is the ability to not only play as one of two characters but each one had their part in the story to play. After beating the game you can reverse the roles making it into four different games to run through.  I considered this a huge development and in my opinion made this the single best Resident Evil game.

Well as the series developed they decided to incorporate the new playstation Dual Shock Controller allowing for greater movement flexibility and the ability to feel little shocks to build tension. This version of the game not only added extra ability but added some new moves such as little extras with new weapons such as the gatling gun and an easy play mode much like the Director's cut.

After this point things start to get complicated. Look out for part 2 for the next set int he series.