10 Crucial Video Games That Saved Dying Franchises
2. Resident Evil 4
The GameCube remake of Resident Evil was a critical success, but a commercial failure. The game helped singlehandedly reinvigorate the survival horror genre, and was praised by critics the world over, but it subsequently failed to generate mainstream appeal. In 2005, after numerous failed attempts to revive the franchise, Resident Evil 4 took the concept in an all new direction, shifting the series away from traditional survive horror towards a more commercial action-adventure style of gameplay.
Something of a hybrid, Resident Evil 4 represented a pivotal moment in the franchise, introducing a third person perspective and shifting the emphasis away from survival horror, accentuating pockets of high-octane action more so than ever before. As a result, the game was considered a huge success, selling over six million copies worldwide, making it one of the most lucrative entries in the entire franchise.
Unfortunately, the shift eventually culminated in the release of Resident Evil 6, a game that couldn’t even passably be described as a survival horror. With that said, Resi 4 did nearly everything right, and it saved the franchise from fading into obscurity.