THE 10 KEY MOMENTS IN RESIDENT EVIL HISTORY

Resident Evil has proved to be a critically and commercially succesful franchise, stretching far beyond its original limitations, and recently reinvigorated to become more relevant now than ever before. In its 10th anniversary year, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is already causing ripples in the handheld market, Resident Evil 5 will undoubtedly see more of its nature revealed, and pre-production on the third film is underway.
Looking back now, I have selected the ten key moments regarding Resident Evil that have shaped what the franchise is today. These aren't bits from the games or films themselves, more the decisions, the titles and the directions that have kept the Resident Evil brand as strong and vibrant today as it was back in 1996. Agree? Disagree? Talk about it in the forum. But without further to do, here's my top 10 in (roughly) chronological order...

Resident Evil Is Released

When Resident Evil (or Biohazard - as it's known in Japan, as I'm sure you're aware) was first released, I thought little of it. But when my best friend said I absolutely had to come round to his house and play it, my interest was piqued. And when I finally played it, it was extraordinary. Never before had a game terrified me as much as it did, situating yourself within the terror. I had entered the world of survival horror - and so had many others. The legend was born...

Resident Evil 1.5 Is Scrapped

A sequel to Resident Evil was inevitable, and development seemed to be going well, until Capcom pulled the plug and scrapped their work. Unhappy with how production had been going, and how much graphical detail was being sacrificed to make more zombies on screen, Resident Evil 2 was built again from scratch. Leon remained, but biker chick Elza Walker was replaced by Claire Redfield. Ever since, the so-called 'Resident Evil 1.5' has remained elusive, and fans have tried their best to convince Capcom to release it as a bonus...so far, without results. As we will see, Resident Evil is marked just as much by its releases as its non-releases...

George A. Romero's Resident Evil 2 Ads

Zombiemeister Romero's Resident Evil 2 advertisements, starring Brad Renfro and Adrienne Frantz, as well as a whole heap of great-looking zombies, are must-see trailers, though only shown in Japan - the stigma of appearing in a videogame commercial despite being a 'proper' actor was clearly too great for Renfro's agent. Its a shame, as they are amazing, and by bringing in the King of the Dead on directing duties legitmised the Resident Evil brand in the eyes of horror fans.

Resident Evil Survivor

While the Survivor (aka Gun Survivor) spin-offs haven't been too well-received, they are important in Resident Evil terms. For the first time, Capcom was taking the Resident Evil name, not only outside of Raccoon City and its outlying mountains, but outside of its 3rd-person action-puzzle constraints, and into the world of on-the-rails shooting. Taking its cues from Sega's House of the Dead game (itself no doubt inspired by Resident Evil), you could battle zombies, dogs, lickers and the like face-to-face. Further Survivor spin-offs have followed (most recently Dead Aim) running parallel to the main installments, receiving little attention, but their importance to the franchise in terms of trying out new ideas should not be ignored.

Resident Evil Canned For The Game Boy Colour

An audacious attempt at cramming a PlayStation game onto a handheld machine (only really now achieved with Deadly Silence), it seemed Capcom were less impressed with HotGen Studios work than gaming publications had been. Its limitations had been clear from the start of its development, so it seems a shame that Capcom decided so late down the line to ditch it for reasons of tarnishing the brand's name (a little hypocritical maybe). Not as sought after as Resident Evil 1.5, but I'd still sure like to play it!

Wesker's Reports

Released as a bonus DVD with pre-orders of Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X, with a sequel of sorts released when Resident Evil hit the Gamecube, this was Capcom's attempt to position Albert Wesker (supposedly dead at the end of the first game, but back to life with special powers in RECV) as the over-arching nemesis of the franchise. But as plot points were filled, plot holes were created, and his plans never really matched the events of the games. In its attempts at giving answers, it raised more questions that are unlikely to be answered anytime soon. Still, it was interesting to see Capcom try and create a thread to the storyline of their games, while other developers would choose to ignore such oversights.

The Capcom Exclusivity Agreement With Nintendo

On the eve of the Nintendo Gamecube's release in Japan, such incredible announcements don't come so unexpected. And the weight of its promises clearly proved too much down the line. Resident Evil to be remade for Gamecube? All previous installments to be rereleased on Gamecube? Resident Evil Zero and Four to be Gamecube exclusives? Plus 4 other games? Capcom certainly delivered on the first two promises, but RE Zero was the only brand-new installment of RE to remain on the Gamecube. And out of the Big Five, Resident Evil 4, Killer 7 and Viewtiful Joe were released on PlayStation 2, Dead Phoenix was canned and P.N.03 got its exclusivity, but was poorly received and sold about as many copies as Nadia from Big Brother's debut (and so far, only, single). Still, it was a nice gesture and began a period of Nintendo's closer ties to the big developers.

Resident Evil: The Movie

The gestation of the Resident Evil film would perhaps make a better story than what Paul Anderson came up with, as Capcom rejected George A Romero's early script for being too zombie-orientated and not having enough biological meanies, and fans were infuriated with Anderson's story-meddling. When it finally did come out, it was about as well received critically as any video-game movie had been up until that point, but it made enough money to merit a sequel (and soon a threequel), and its low-budget, high-octane Milla vs. monster action has pushed the Resident Evil name into a new media more successfully than the spin-off novels and comic books had done previously.

Resident Evil Outbreak

The Raccoon City-setting may not have been anything new, but its online features saw Resident Evil enter an even more expanded world of survival horror. Its perhaps as not up to scratch as Resident Evil 4, but its co-operative context created a community of those bonding together in adversity - a bit like being in your own disaster movie, or alcoholics anonymous. Shame the first game didn't feature any online capabilities when it reached Europe.

Resident Evil 4's Turnaround

When Capcom did the whole 'scrap it and start from the top' schtick again, this time with Resident Evil 4, it showed a company taking risks with one of the biggest franchises - and it paid off hugely. Sure, there was outcry from the fan community (not from The Necropolis though! Confused, yes, distraught, no), but Capcom, and to a greater extent, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, brought back to direct #4, knew what thet were doing. Widely regarded as the best game of 2005, the future of Resident Evil looks rosier (or bloodier, depending on how you like your tone of red) by the day...

Well, I e-mailed contributors and affiliates for their views...and I only got 1 reply. Well...it was a little short-notice. Still, here we go anyway...and I've stuck a little something from myself at the bottom anyway!

"First off, the one moment that I remember the most not matter what is the first time I met Nemesis! That was the best thrill ride at that time! The whole game was great, with the new dodging tactics the game introduced to the series. Then came Resident Evil 4! I bought the game when it first hit the shelves. I was scared in the first ten minutes of the game! At first with the new camera scheme, I didn't like it, because I was fine with the original camera, but as I played, I thought to myself, the creators really outdid themselves. Truly Resident Evil 4 is the Best Game ever made, Period!"
Beth Zimmerman, Necropolis Fan-Art Contributor

"My most vivid Resident Evil memories are probably playing the first game with my friend. His brother told me to walk up to the zombie lying on the floor. Naively, I did as he requested - and it grabbed my legs and gnawed my ankles off! Gave me a real fright. The opening cutscene to Code Veronica made me buy a Dreamcast, so it certainly provoked a reaction. And I remember when I found out about Capcom bringing such a bounty of Resident Evil to the Gamecube. It was late at night, and I couldn't get to sleep afterwards. The next day, I drastically overhauled by website."
Rory Steele, The Necropolis

© 17.02.06 - The Necropolis