![]() Ok, to finish off my week of Resident Evil, I am going to play Resident Evil 6, for the first time. I have had this game sitting on my shelf for months now, and have been waiting for this Week Of... to finally give it a go. Much like I did with God of War, I am going to try and "live blog" my through as best as possible, for the sake of creating an interesting read for you, the readers. We'll see how this goes. 5:00 - Put the disc in. Playing the fun game of "wait while we update and blah blah blah" that comes free with every PS3 game. Seriously, if they manage to just eliminate this with the new generation of consoles, it will be well worth the price of admission. 5:12 - Starting it up (no, it didn't take that long to download the update, I was busy writing about the waiting I was doing). Let's do this. 5:14 - I can't remember where I saw it, but back when this game came out, someone on the internet (where else?) pointed out that the logo for this game looks like a giraffe getting oral sex from a slug. Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to read, but it has forever ruined the logo for me, so I thought I would share with you. Thank me later. 5:16 - Boom, explosions. Yes, this is the new Resident Evil direction. I'm *OK* with it. 5:19 - I like the way the controls tutorial is mixed in with an opening cut scene almost. Doesn't feel forced or unnecessary. 5:24 - Doesn't appear that I can run ... yet. This better change, or it will be a long night. Also, Voice acting isn't bad. I'm not sure what to think about this. Are we sure this is a Resident Evil game? I'm not convinced yet. 5:25 - Green herb found. Cancel my last thought. This is totally a Resident Evil game. Whew! 5:29 - OK, that was a legit zombie. Man, it feels like forever since we've had those in a Resident Evil game. New combat controls, especially when grappling, will take some getting used to, but I think I like them. Makes me feel more apart of the action I suppose. 5:34 - I seriously cannot remember when killing zombies in a Resident Evil game ever felt as satisfying as the first scene down on the streets with the hoard coming after you in between all the cars. For some reason, it just felt right. Hard to explain, but the mechanics are on-point with this game so far. 5:37 - So I just died in an unexpected QTE while typing the last entry. Note to self: pay better attention. The helicopter scene was nice, though. Overall, well done. 5:39 - Can a brother get a flashlight? Seriously. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage by not being able to see. 5:41 - After seeing so many "dead bodies" rise up as zombies, you would think Leon would stop running up to every dead body to check the pulse. You would think. 5:42 - Ummmm, boss battle already? Big monster foot, followed by, "Are you back for more?" muttered by Leon. Gun drawn, monster purposefully not shown. fade out to game logo, iconic "Resident Evil" is spoken by creepy narrator who only gets work once every few years. Those words, spoken that way, still gives me chills. 5:45 - Laundry time. Not in the game, but in real life. Hey, this is a live blog, right? This is what you get. I'm a total package. And yes, ladies, I do my own laundry. Because I'm an adult. Add another awesome quality to my resume. 6:00 - On top of laundry, I also do dishes. Ladies, send in your requests for a date to [email protected]. 6:01 - Trying to decide which campaign to start out with. I think I will stick with Leon, if only because his is the first one listed. Nothing says OCD like staying in sequential order just for the fun of it. 6:02 - Forced with a difficulty selection. "No Hope" = "A mode that will quickly rob you of any hope for survival." I don't think so. How about we just roll through on Normal and call it good, eh? 6:03 - Choose to play as Leon or Helena? Well, considering I just saved Helena as Leon, I'm going to assume he is probably better equipped for this fight. I doubt my choice matters though. 6:06 - Online settings? Allow anyone to jump in and play with me? Not a chance. Apparently my own consoles hasn't figured out my play style yet. Maybe the PS4 will be smart enough to. 6:08 - I just shot the President. Well, in a cut scene. On a related note, this might be my last blog post once big brother reads "I shot the President." It's been fun, friends. 6:14 - Remember what I said about the decent voice acting? Scratch that from the records. We're full blown back into the Resident Evil universe, 100%. 6:17 - A NPC has a flashlight and I'm still stumbling around in the dark? Really? 6:19 - NOW I have a flashlight. It's attached to my head. Apparently Leon is too cool to use the classic flashlight-over-gun tactical police stance. Oh well, it's something. 6:22 - I'm not liking how it switches from "being able to run" to "forced to walk slow" back and forth, with no warning or explanation why. Really throwing off the pacing of this game. 6:25 - Has a bloody hand print on a door EVER led to anything good? Ever? 6:26 - Classic Resident Evil jump scare. Game =1, Noyse = 0. Well played. 6: 28 - Pro tip: If a zombie victim dies, they will probably turn into a zombie. Leon has dealt with this truth for over a decade now. Why is so naive to the rules of a zombie outbreak? 6:32 - Running out of bullets probably wasn't ideal Then again, Leon seems to have learned Kung-Fu over the years, so crisis adverted. For now. Also, the hunting knife is still useless. And my head light is missing in action. Great. 6:36 - Oh, staircases. Thank you for not being like the staircases of Resident Evil heydays. 6:37 - I know this is a beautiful game. A flashlight would help me know for sure. 6:39 - Hunting knife does make for impressive kills, though. It's just a bad idea to rely on it as your primary weapon. 6:41 - Zombie in a hoodie? I don't know why, but that made me smile. Also, Leon just did a flying bulldog on said hoodie-wearing zombie, crushing his skull like a water balloon. Wrestling fans, you know what I'm talking about. 6:47 - A zombie just fell over and "died" before he got to his feet, and before I got anywhere near him. I don't trust this scenario. Years of conditioning won't allow me to trust what I just saw. But alas, Leon runs right by it like it's normal. 6:48 - There is literally nothing worse than hearing zombies that you can't see. Literally. It's the worse. Take my word for it. 6:55 - A small, tight corridor with windows up and down both sides - I should have known this was a bad idea. 6:59 - Had to *ahem* try that again. Realized I had a couple of incendiary grenades in my pockets that turned out to be more useful than I would have thought. Also, I'm really enjoying all the cool ways to finish off zombies. Pretty sure I just impaled one with a broken object. 7:15 - I'm really starting to get annoyed with Leon's half-jumps over corpses. Why are they still there when others I kill disintegrate? Oh, Resident Evil - how I love you and your little quirks so. 7:19 - Oh, I get it now. It's because they are going to rise up as zombies once I come back through here! Duh! 7:25 - I keep picking up "Skill Points" but have no idea how to use them. I'm assuming it will make sense eventually, right? 7:29 - A zombie just through a beer bottle at me. We are definitely on a college campus, no doubt about it. 7: 36 - Pro tip: When in doubt, run to your objective. Cue cut scene. Anxiety, lifted. 7:37 - Leon, why are you so over-dramatic? You flipped the car because a zombie was on the roof? Really? 7:38 - Surrounded by burning cars in the street. Looks familiar. Have I played this game before? Feels an awful lot like a game I've played before. And now we're going to travel through the sewers? This should be a walk in the park, right? What can possibly go wrong? 7:41 - NOW I have my flashlight back? 7:45 - Running past zombies? Great idea. Dodging out of the way of an incoming zombie train? Better idea. Letting said train demolition all the zombies behind me? Fantastic idea. Thinking I could handle a pack of Cerberus' with my Kung-Fu kicks because I'm low on ammo? HORRIBLE idea. Needless to say, I just mauled, ripped apart and my lifeless corpse dragged away. *sigh* 7:54 - Never trust zombies engulfed inflames. Especially if they have electricity coursing through them. 7:55 - Just found another one of the BSAA symbols. Found one earlier, forgot you had to shoot it. Tried picking it up to no success. This time I totally got it. Makes me want to start over now. 8:00 - What is scarier than a hoard of zombies coming your way? Seeing their giant shadows well before the actual zombies get to you. Also, I just got derailed by the train, which apparently, is going the other direction now? Awesome. 8:07 - If there is one thing I have learned from the Resident Evil franchise, it is to never trust trains. Or mansions. 8:13 - Mad dash time through the city. Leon needs to learn that being a hero isn't conducive to surviving the zombie outbreak. Not every civilian needs saved. I appreciate his goodwill, nonetheless. 8:14 - Killing a zombie firefighter with his own ax is oddly more gratifying than you would think. 8:16 - Leon just mentioned this felt like deja vu. Nice touch, writers. 8:21 - Daddy just got himself a shotgun. Uh-oh! 8:23 - And I died. Apparently I overestimated the power of the shotgun against a large group. Well, lesson learned. I think I am calling it a night, though. This has gone long enough. I can't wait to finish this game, as I am thoroughly enjoying it so far. I just hope the other campaigns are equally as entertaining. We shall see.
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![]() I have a love/hate relationship with Resident Evil 5, one that I often try to forget about, but comes right to the forefront the moment I even think about playing the game, much less actually doing it. When I played it today, all the things I love about the game and everything that drives me crazy all came to the forefront, leaving me feeling how I have every other time I've played it. The game itself is beautiful. Aside from the fact that it was developed in this current generation of systems and capable of toting some amazing graphics, the development team really took a lot of pride in creating a gorgeous environment for the game to take place in. No details were spared, as everything, from the distant background to the wooden crates next to your character, and everything in between were crafted with precision and care. Resident Evil games have always enjoyed success mainly due to the atmosphere, mood and settings in which they take place. With Resident Evil 5 taking place in the heart of Africa (see what I did there?), creating an enticing and memorable out of the bleakness was crucial in maintaining the a standard in the franchise. The pace in this game is revved up tenfold, piggybacking off the direction that Resident Evil 4 went and then taking off like a rocket. The pace hardly ever slows down or feels methodical, as running and gunning is a common theme throughout. From the opening moments of the game when you have to do your best to clear a seemingly endless wave of monsters, you know you are in for a ride. With the popularity of online gaming when this game was under development, it was only inevitable that the series would jump into the realm of online co-op, which of course happened with this installment. Now, I have to admit that I've never played this game with anyone co-op online, but I did a little bit of offline co-op back in the day when it first came out. Either way you play co-op, with anyone you choose to play with, I have to assume is a far better experience than anything the crappy AI partner will give to you. In a time when we as gamers have had amazing AI partners recently, with Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite and Ellie from The Last of Us, it's easy to forget the really bad ones. And my friends, Resident Evil 5 is infamous for it's horrible and useless AI system. It's times like these that I wish I had more gaming friends back in the day. Overall, this is a fun game, regardless of the frustrating issues with the AI. After beating it for the first time a few years ago, I immediately turned around and played through it again. Once you get hooked on the action, it's hard to walk away from it. Like it, love it or hate it, this was a defining game in the series, as it possibly brought it more new players to the franchise than it did lose long-time fans for having a bold, brash new game style. I can't wait to finally see what Resident Evil 6 has in store for me. ![]() The Wii wasn't exactly designed to be a mature-gaming console experience. It was aimed at hitting the casual gaming market from the get-go, and that it did - and did it well. But that didn't stop Capcom from publishing one of the biggest mature-rated game on the Wii, which of course was Resident Evil 4. The game was originally released on the Gamecube, but was later brought to the Wii, mainly to take advantage of the unique controller that the Wii brought to the table. Playing this game again reminded me of how fun it was, and still is, to the Wiimote to aim and fire your weapon of choice. The controls, especially using the nunchuck to control your character. But honestly, aiming and headshotting zombies using the Wiimote to point at the screen is oddly entertaining. The best part about it is that it works well, with little lag and almost perfect responsiveness. This in its own right was an accomplishment for not only the game, but the system itself. Another memorable thing about this game is a noise. Not just any noise, but THE noise. Anyone who has played this game knows exactly what noise I am talking about: the chainsaw. Oh man, that chainsaw. Easily of the most recognizable sounds in any video game, and after you experience it for the first time, you will never hear that sound again without knowing, and fearing, what's coming next. Spoiler alert: It's a bad thing. For a game that was originally developed to be on Nintendo consoles exclusively, the game doesn't hold anything back, when it comes to mature concepts, blood and gore, that lovely foul language and sheer tension. And I couldn't be happier with it. This was the first game that longtime Resident Evil fans were legitimately up in arms about, specifically for it focusing heavily on action and less on "survival-horror." But much like the evolution of Nintendo consoles to allow M-rated games, the Resident Evil franchise had to evolve as well. ![]() Reinvent the wheel. It's a concept, that in the video game development industry, sounds good on paper. But when it comes down to actually applying it to the game being developed, it can either be the best idea ever, a complete disaster, or completely avoided altogether in favor of the tried and true blueprint for success. In the case of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, they decided to pull the trigger on their attempt to reinvent the wheel, which ultimately would change the direction of the franchise forever. The first two Resident Evil games followed certain styles, which was almost unique to the genre aptly named Survival Horror. They were slightly slower in pace, they focused on puzzle-solving and, obviously, surviving in methodical ways. Also, they were filled with quick, pop-up, "cheap" scares that were designed to work perfectly with the tension filled scare tactics that was fueled by suspense and fear of the unknown. With this game, however, they introduce a new enemy called "Nemesis," who pretty much stalks you throughout the game. Sometimes he is just a lurking presence, other times he pushes you into rushing decisions and making you play careless, but either way, he is pushing the action of the game the entire way. It's subtle, but looking back on it tonight made me realize how the developers really are trying to eliminate the "survival horror" label - or at least change the definition of it. The game also introduced a few new aspects of the series, which I had completely forgotten about. This was first game where you can craft ammunition, which was cool back then, and still feels necessary yet enjoyable. Also, you can run up stairs without having watch a boring, lengthy cut scene, which is fantastic in its own right. The 180 degree turn that we all know and love? Yup, that started here, as well. It was a cool idea to have the first half of the game be a prequel to Resident Evil 2, while the second half happened after the events of that movie. I had honestly completely forgotten about it until I started playing. So yeah, all these new ideas to improve on the game would eventually be the building blocks for the series going forward, even if it wasn't blatantly obvious when it was released. Did these changes and the inevitable evolution of the genre make the series better? I'll leave that one up for debate. ![]() Resident Evil 2 was a crucial game in the franchise's series. It was almost a make it or break it type of game, since the first one wasn't exactly a crazy mainstream success. Sure, it was popular and got a lot of people's attention, but the questions were persistent: could they make another relevant zombie game in this relatively untouched genre of survival-horror? Well, Resident Evil 2 happened, and quickly all the doubts were erased. The game took everything that the first one did so well, polished it, expanded it and cemented the namesake as a force of nature in the video game industry for years to come. The first game did a remarkable job of creating the foundation for one of the most popular and best-selling franchises, but this second one is not only the first story of the beautiful house, but the amazing landscaping as well. When people point to what game brought them into the series, this is the most common answer. And for good reason. Playing this game tonight, I was quickly reminded of the graphical upgrade of the game. It looks FANTASTIC, far better than the original game, as it is clear that the developers put a lot of love and dedication in to making this the ultimate experience visually. The storyline itself is good, and it's fun to have new characters introduced to the universe I was already slightly familiar with. The voice acting is still horrible, but without it, I'm not sure I would be able to think of this franchise in any other way. The game play and puzzles are far more advanced and flushed out than the first game, but the controls are still something to be desired. It's always fun to go back and find/play the games of popular franchises that set them into the orbit of mainstream popularity. Having context for a series that you are extremely fond of is great to help you understand how that series is where it is today. This kind of stuff is called hindsight, friends. ![]() Well, it's June, and that means another "Week of..." series. This month, I chose to start a franchise near and dear to my heart, that I actually planned on writing about later in the year, but figured, hey, why not do it this month? It's not like there is a new game coming out that I'm trying to coordinate with like other months. Yes, I am talking about Resident Evil. I'm starting with Resident Evil 0, which I realize was not the first game in the series as far as release dates go, but is technically the prequel to the original Resident Evil game. Zero came out for the GameCube, which at the time was an amazing feat because the general public was still under the presumption that Nintendo consoles only featured kid-focused games. For a game coming from a mature franchise such as Resident Evil, it was definitely a rude awakening for innocent Nintendo fans. I loved it though. I had been craving something, anything, somewhat mature for the GameCube. Also, I had been craving a new Resident Evil game, and since all previous Resident Evil games had come out exclusively on the PlayStation, I was worried I would miss out since I didn't have a PlayStation (1 or 2) at the time. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this was coming to the little ole GameCube! This game is a fun entry into the series. I understand a lot of people don't like it, but I think that had more to do with it being on the GameCube than anything. Zero was the first time the franchise seemed to take a turn towards the inevitable action-oriented game play that the die-hard series fans would grow to despise. Sure, it still has the puzzle aspects of the original Resident Evil games, but the pace of the game is definitely kicked up a notch from the slow, methodical yet always tense and terrifying pacing of the games before it. It's not my favorite game of the bunch, let's be clear. It's easily one that's easy to miss or forget about, and one could argue that Code Veronica is more crucial to the franchise than this game. But it was a giant leap for Nintendo to take, and for the sake of continuity of this week, I had to start with zero - since I am working my way up to 6. Also, it was a great way to showcase a Resident Evil game in an environment other than a mansion or a city, and the local of being on a train would eventually inspire (I assume) Resident Evil Revelations, which takes place on a cruise ship. Trains still freak me out to this day, though. |
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