10 Things Resident Evil 7 Must Learn From The Evil Within
Shinji Mikami's latest masterpiece shows exactly where the talent lies.
Shinji Mikami is a name you might have heard of, but outside of touting him as the 'man who changed Resident Evil' with part four, he tends to forever be in the shadow of other industry heavyweights such as Metal Gear's Hideo Kojima or Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto.
Like some incredibly proficient ninja in the night, Shinji has darted from one franchise to the next, inventing and helping to pioneer awesome game mechanics and artistic direction-changes along the way. The first three Resident Evil games speak for themselves, but it was the potent action-twist that kickstarted a long-stale sense of movement and elevated Resident Evil 4 into greatness territory right off the bat.
Following that, Mikami helped bring to life the incredibly under-played God Hand, 'Gears of War-on-steroids' sci-fi shooter Vanquish, the absolutely ridiculous Shadows of the Damned, and now returning to full-on horror roots; this year's The Evil Within.
It must be said it's a remarkably similar title to that of Resi 4, and although the later titles in that series would veer off alarmingly fast into all-out action territory, Evil Within proves you can do tension-filled horror, expansive set-piece moments and heart-pounding boss fights providing you treat them with the right amount of care and placement.
Resident Evil 7 is no doubt dropping next year, and following a wobbly fifth instalment and a terrible sixth, Capcom are surely taking notice of how many things their once-exclusive golden boy is now doing elsewhere.