Although the Resident Evil series was very clearly inspired by the likes of Alone In The Dark and Sweet Home, it wasn't until the release of the first entry in the franchise in 1996 that horror in gaming became legitimate. Capcom trapped you inside a creepy mansion, filled to the brim with zombies and limited ammunition, creating fear that gamers had never felt before. Though later games like Metal Gear Solid were able to show that the PlayStation was a contender, Resident Evil was the first game that showed us the implications of what the machine could do. Resident Evil began a very noticeable trend in games after its 96 release; survival horror started dominating the industry. Though Sweet Home is often thought of as the first true survival horror game, Resident Evil brought it into the mainstream and made it marketable. Sweet Home was a relatively unknown game at the time, but was a favorite of Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, who originally conceived it as a remake of the 1989 game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWo0Hhx07Pc In the years following the release of the game, more games branding the survival horror sticker started to scare players. Silent Hill, Parasite Eve, Dino Crisis, all of them borrowed heavily from the 96 original, starting a golden age of survival horror. The late 90's was a playground of terror, as the genre exploded thanks to Resident Evil. Though the series has been criticized for its reliance on modern day, wall-to-wall action, the original game stands tall as having made a tremendous impact on the industry.
