Resident Evil (1996) was the beginning of the survival horror genre, or at the very least was the first game to be called a survival horror. Other games have been retrospectively given the title but Resident Evil was the true first. Set in a creepy secluded mansion, members of a special police group called S.T.A.R.S were trapped by flesh eating zombies and various other nasties, after investigating the disappearance of the rest of their team. The game combined simple but effective combat with interesting puzzles, a compelling story, and gameplay that was genuinely scary. After it's massive success there was no doubt that there would be a sequel and frustrated fans had to be pacified by the release of Resident Evil: Directors Cut in 1997 before the delayed release of Resident Evil 2 (RE2) a year later. Thankfully, RE2 was awesome. Using similar mechanics to that of the original, RE2 got the Hollywood treatment. Taking place in Raccoon City, located near the mansion of the original game, the game presented a sprawling city overrun by zombies and other terrible creatures (Remember that WTF moment when you saw the first licker? Ew). Everything was bigger and better in RE2: bigger environments, bigger story, better graphics, better animations, and there was more of the good stuff: guns, monsters and scary moments. All in all it was an epic adventure that was like playing through a zombie film. Survival horror proved it was not a one-off, and the success of this game made sure Resident Evil would dominate the genre for the next twenty years.
I work at a college as a janitor even though I feel like I'm smarter than most of the people who go there. Sometimes I see an equation written on a blackboard like half an equation and I just figure it out.
Really though I'm a Journalism graduate so I like to write words and stuff. Getting back into it thanks to WhatCulture! Oh and my best friend is Ben Affleck...
