I agree. Though we must keep in mind that not everyone has the same definition of horror. I bet that there are plenty of people who were/are horrified by the the first 3 main games. Even I agree that they are horror, despite the fact that I was never really scared by them. Startled sometimes, but not scared.
From what I've seen on RE4/5, they are 95% action, 5% horror... at best.
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I personally like Resident Evil as a horror franchise. The Resident Evil REmake alone made me want to have a heart attack from time to time. Crimson heads rushing at you, zombies popping out of nowhere, and those friggin hounds bursting through windows.
They have never been real horror games, the giant spider boss fight or the giant plant in Res1 saw to that. There have been points that made me jump, or in the case of Res2 (and only Res2) the Zombies moans have scared me, but never the game itself, it is more survival then horror.
Unlike Silent Hill which is just terrifying. Anyway I agree Res 4 is more actionish, 5 is just an action game without a doubt, I like the style of 4/5 but I do wish they sort of went back to what gave the original 4 games (yes regardless Code Veronica is a game in the main series and is technically Resident evil 4) that certain charm, just having to reserve ammo and you know think about things, like puzzles and how to finish them really helps make Res stand out, since there is a lack of such things in 5, it does feel just like another shoot em up, and it kinda suffers from this.
Why is everyone resorting to the "It's not scary to me, so it's not horror." nonsense?
I don't find The Exorcist scary. It's still very clearly a horror movie though.
Resident Evil has always been a horror game basis. It has grown to develop a more action-based game dynamic, but that doesn't change the genre. If ANYTHING, it's a horror/action game.
You get people saying it's never been a horror game, like Neo, who then cites Silent Hill as a horror. Silent Hill is a survival horror, and it came after Resident Evil...which more or less created (At least revived) the genre.
1. An overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear: to shrink back from a mutilated corpse in horror.
Adjective.
7. Inspiring or creating horror, loathing, aversion, etc.: The hostages told horror stories of their year in captivity.
8. Centered upon or depicting terrifying or macabre events: a horror movie.
So, yeahhh. Kinda never lost its horror.
The only horror it ever "lost" is the subjective horror that comes from being scared. We've established that not being scared doesn't then stop something being a horror.
People can debate about it all they want, but the Regenerators are still one thing in terms of stock horror that RE4 has over RE5.
I think it was really just a different type of horror they were trying to approach in 4 and 5. The style of horror they were going for seemed like it was meant to, by a plot standpoint, better emphasize the idea of the term "biohazard" in ways that make it seem like something other than an excuse to put zombies and the occasional grotesque behemoths in it. In doing so, coupled with the new gameplay engine (which, regardless of how it affects the sense of horror, is still very solid in RE), the whole thing is more fast-paced which kind of gives a bigger impression of something like a survival game with more elements of suspense and adrenaline than horror.
Overall, it's not so much that the complaints people have about the recent RE's aren't legitimate, just a bit exaggerated.
Gender: Male Location: In Luna's mane, chasing STAAARS!
In previous Resident Evil games, players used to travel spooky zombie infested mansions and a city on their own and from time to time something would just pop out and spook ya while in Resident Evil 5, it's barely that scary. I still get spooked when I play RE2 and RE REmake so don't be telling me that I don't know horror.
The first game (on PS1, not the pretty yet infinitely easier remake) was a proper horror game. Not just in the technical definition, but it had genuinely creepy parts to it.
2 and 3 were more action oriented, but still retained a good portion of what made the 1st one great, as did Code Veronica (even if it was a step back from 3 game play wise).
4 and 5 aren't the typical zombie horror games that the others were, but that in no way lessens how simply messed up they were at times.
Gender: Male Location: In Luna's mane, chasing STAAARS!
Here is what makes Resident Evil less scary now.
1: Action on Steroids
Remember when you always felt helpless and vulnerable in Resident Evil while you got those zombies and other B.O.W.s on your tail? Well in RE4 and 5, you're a badass killing machine shooting at enemies like cardboard ducks at a carnival. When you play Leon or a roid monkey like Chris, it's less frightening.
2: Locations are less scary
Last I checked, a creepy mansion and zombie infested city alone made me freak out when I was little but in settings like Africa you just get that "meh" feeling.
3: Parasites.....Really?
Don't get me wrong, I do like the Las Plagas but when you think about them and the zombies at the same time, you'll realize which is more creepy. It just seems sad that what made RE scary got replaced by the likes of the Plagas.
4: So...Many....Weapons and Ammo!
I am disgusted by Capcom calling this a horror franchise now because the limit of ammo and weaponry always raises up the fear but now in the new RE it's weapons galore.
5: Why Delete the Hook Man?
It would seem that Capcom tried to take a supernatural direction with Resident Evil by putting in a mini-game in RE4 where Leon wanders into a haunted mansion filled with ghosts and moving inaminate objects but for some reason this creepy mini-game got deleted. Resident Evil would've gotten back up to a horror franchise if they kept that in there if you ask me.
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Last edited by Nemesis X on Aug 9th, 2009 at 07:12 AM
It doesn't MATTER if you find it scary, what part of that do you find difficult to grasp? Seriously?
There are a lot of movies I do not find scary that are still clearly horror movies.
Stop being an idiot.
For the love of God.
NONE of that means it ISN'T a horror game at all. What is your issue? Tell me what you are having problems with.
I've explained it to you, definitively, why Resident Evil is still a horror and why YOU not finding it scary doesn't mean it isn't one. So then why are you continuing to insist it's not a horror?
What if someone didn't find the first one scary? Is that no longer a horror?
Also, stop with the bullshit of deciding for everyone what is and isn't scary. Some people may find Las Plagas were scarier. There's only so long that the shambling, rotting undead can be scary to someone who has fought mutated monsters and is essentially trained to the highest level. You act like the enemies are less challenging now. How stupid. With the zombies, you were safe unless they got close. They had nowhere near the threat level of the newer enemies. What do you expect Chris and Leon to do after enduring the incidents they have? Sit on the couch eating ice cream?
No, they're gonna be better at what they do.
The horror isn't gone, it's just changed, it's different and it contains MORE action style gameplay.
I'm just giving a personal experience, it may well be categorised as a horror but if it doesn't scare me, then to me it's not a horror, like Dead Space, It's classed as a horror but to me there's nothing about it that's scary; I'd go far as to say it's more of an action game.
But I understand what you mean, generally it would be labeled as horror to the general consensus, although RES 5 is very much an action game, and I mean that really does pull all the conventions of the action genre so...
Last edited by Neo Darkhalen on Aug 9th, 2009 at 11:01 AM
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Aug 9th, 2009 12:03 AM
