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Podcasts - Resident Evil and Horror Games

With Halloween approaching Jeff, Jason, and Korey reflect upon their experiences with horror games. They discuss the evolution of the Resident Evil series, the survival horror genre, horror games from the past, and the direction of horror games today. And what exactly does make a video game scary?

Tags: the loading bar, korey, videogame, podcast, spill, spill.com, resident evil, franchise, zombie, monster, horror, survival, thriller, action

87 Comments for The Loading Bar: Horror and Video Games

October 25, 2012 at 6:44 PM, Azteca said ...

System Shock showed up before Resident Evil but was overshadowed because it was considered an FPS but inferior to say DOOM or Duke Nukem but far superior as a game and for being one of the first detailed horror survival games at that time.
October 25, 2012 at 4:28 PM, said ...

I would contend that Minecraft has the missing elements that horror games need to keep their longevity. So many games play on your irrational fear, but minecraft will play on your rational fear (cowardice). By giving you a safe place (your house with torches), a risk of loss (namely your stuff), all of your venturing has been tempered by risk, with definite consequences (do you dare venture too far, it might get dark?). Furthermore daylight gives a player reprieve from the horror element, a hope to look forward to, and the chance to make more dumb risks.

Do you guys think more games should/could add this sort of 'safe place' dichotomy to games
October 25, 2012 at 10:57 AM, Dr. Detfink said ...

Played the first two Resident Evil games but the first I owned was Veronica X *insert laugh track* Not just Survival games (aren't all games survival) but more or less mystery horror. Basically had to explore and find clues and objects to unravel the mystery and along the way r an into creatures of the night. As much as people nostalgically talk up the early Resident Evil days, I absolutely hated not being able to move and shoot. Or crouch//crawl and shoot. Pretty much that dated game play skeleton wouldn't let you walk and chew bubble gum. The modern Resident Evil plays off an action skeleton but that allowed the developers to ante up the complexity of monsters for better or for worse.
October 25, 2012 at 8:48 AM, said ...

The genius of the first three Resident Evil games was the innovation of "Survival Horror", the idea that you're given limited ammo and have to pick your battles carefully and use your brain. The fact that those games dealt with the living dead was icing on the cake as I LOVE Zombies with Return of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Zombie being my top three Z flicks. But RE were truly the first video games I had ever played that felt like you were in a Horror movie with incredible mood and atmosphere helped by the sound design and score which made them the masterpieces that they are, especially RE2.

When I first saw the trailers for Resident Evil 4 I was very worried. No Raccoon City? No zombies? A Moving camera?! I was skeptical to say the least but those fears were dissuaded as RE4 is without a doubt the best game I have ever played and a masterpiece of the Survival Horror Genre surpassing even by beloved RE2. Yes, there was more action but that was PERFECTLY balanced with the mind-blowing aura of Horror that the game achieved.

The lack of zombies was troubling but after finishing the game I realized that CAPCOM made the right decision to move forward without them. The first three RE games are clearly influenced by George A. Romero's living dead series (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead) but RE creator Shinji Mikami (who supervised RE 1,2,3 & 4) has stated (in Jamie Russell's tome on Zombie cinema Book of the Dead) that Lucio Fulci's 1979 masterpiece Zombie (itself made to ape the success of Romero's Dawn) was a bigger influence in terms of its overall aesthetics. This is abundantly clear with RE4's Spanish setting which gave that game a wonderfully Gothic Old World look and feel while its antagonists invoke H.P. Lovecraft's universe of cults and cosmic Horrors with a smattering of John Carpenters The Thing remake and a hint of Amando de Ossorio's The Blind Dead film series.

Unfortunately Shinji Mikami did not return for Resident Evil 5 which was, IMHO, the beginning of the end of this series as Survival Horror and replaced by the run-and-gun gameplay mechanics of any number of generic shooters. At first I thought that the African setting was brilliant as a counterpoint to the traditionally dark and misty world of the other RE games and also alluded to the fact that pharmaceutical companies are well known for testing experimental drugs in poor African nations which would have gave RE5 a nice political subtext. But it's clear from the get-go that creeping Horror takes a back seat to rampaging hordes of infected African's, who act more like extras from Black Hawk Down, that you simply beat and shoot to death. OT but I find it laughable that people claimed the game was "racist" because of this, as no one made such accusations against RE4 despite the fact that Spaniards are in fact bloodthirsty genetic freaks. :) Then there was the terminally stupid Co-op system that stuck you with a consistently useless partner that got in your way and wasted valuable supplies. I played through RE5 once and haven't felt the need to touch that game ever again.

Which brings us to Resident Evil 6.

I had high hopes that Capcom had learned from its mistakes with RE5 and for a while it looked like there was potential. It was revealed that the game was going to consist of different campaigns and characters around the world dealing with bio-terrorism. Tom Clancy meets Resident Evil? Sounded good to me as the Umbrella Corporation storyline had ran its course and was about as fresh as a zombie ass. The fact that they were bringing back RE2/RE4 protagonist Leon S. Kennedy and putting him in an old school zombie style outbreak in the city of Tall Oaks was a huge bonus while RE1/RE5's Chris Redfield was even making a return in his own storyline set in Europe and China that focused more on action which was fine given that we were promised some classic RE gaming with Kennedy. Sherry Birkin from RE2 was also back in another campaign involving Jake Muller, son of main RE series baddie Albert Wesker who died in RE5, and shares screen time with Leon as villain Ada Wong (RE2/RE4) also returns in her own story.

So, some classic RE characters mixing in four campaigns set around the world, what could go wrong? Well, a great deal as Capcom is clearly not interested in Survival Horror anymore as the RE universe is now an action series that just happens to have monsters in it. Add in too many cut scenes, too many combo kills (shooting and head crushing is enough for me) and virtually nothing in the way of mood, atmosphere or even good music.

I blame the development of the RE games on Capcom's corporatist attitude towards this franchise and their desire to capture some of the all-important shooter market but they don't seem to understand that there are too many of those already, not to mention any number of zombie shoot'em-up DLC's for existing games. What Capcom needed to do was buck the trend and deliver a game, not for the braindead plebs who eat up generic action games and Paul "What Script?" Anderson's absolutely horrible Resident Evil cinematic abominations like lab rats pushing buttons for a feeder pellet, but one that harks back to Shinji Mikami example of doing something new and innovative which helped him birth Survival Horror and as it stands with Resident Evil 6 this series is dead and buried with no hope left for resurrection.
October 25, 2012 at 8:36 AM, said ...

What makes the original three Resident Evil games memorable is the MOOD and ATMOSPHERE!!! Sound design and score are CRITICAL when trying to create an ambiance of dread and fear. Slower pacing is also a factor and the problem with the RE series, as with many Horror franchises, is that they start focusing on ACTION rather than SUSPENSE.

Carnival of Souls had its 50th anniversary this year and it's one of the best Horror movies ever made despite the fact that it's cheap with bad acting and a meandering story. But what give it its power is the score and sound design which elevates it into the realm of nightmarish masterpiece.
October 25, 2012 at 2:46 AM, Issac Valdmir Kojiro said ...

"Let's put them in a situation where they're fighting mutated creatures"-korey *points to the mother fucking guys who's arms tranform info sheilds and legs morph into grasshopper legs* were you playing some other game? Beside default human like apperance, which some lose, they are exactly what you want korey.
October 25, 2012 at 2:26 AM, Issac Valdmir Kojiro said ...

To back up my previous claim of games that in group situation can still cause panic, demon and dark souls, even with a full pack of people. If you go into a new area and get jumped by those laughing clown dudes(in demons) or a pack of those large blighttown ogres that can kill you in a good swing(in dark) and see if you don't panic!
October 25, 2012 at 2:00 AM, said ...

the suffering
October 25, 2012 at 1:23 AM, Issac Valdmir Kojiro said ...

Trade offs of RE6: You have better manuverablity and tools=Enemies have guns You get insanely powerful weapons with skills to boost your ablities=enemies have multiple mutations that won't die right away. Also guys did you try to follow the outline bone mage posted on the review? Because its a very episodic that way.
October 25, 2012 at 12:46 AM, Issac Valdmir Kojiro said ...

Hampering controls and camera is cheap as shit, the lack of freedom of movement shouldn't be what makes it tense nor should the lonely feeling. As the feeling of panic and fear can be manitained in a group situation in a wide open space with freedom of movement, it's just a matter of balancing the threat. Now time for some sweet home.
October 25, 2012 at 12:23 AM, Issac Valdmir Kojiro said ...

I got sweet home as a translated rom on my android.
October 24, 2012 at 11:34 PM, said ...

I think the first horror game that got to me was clock tower. It was a really good example of the slasher genre where you may be helpless most of the game but in the end you do kill your attackers.

Fatal Frame games are scary at first but after a while they get boring. A combination of retreading the same areas and buildings over and over with the exact same six or so ghosts attacking you constantly just wore on my nerves after a while. It also made me mad that people in those games act like they can't run.

As for resident evil, those games definitely have their moments but the story for the games are crazy stupid. The newer ones are worse in that they turn into cheesy action games early on or halfway through. I just can't take these games seriously.

The best recent horror games for be would be condemned, the suffering and dead space. Condemned and the suffering more for the story and the story behind the enemies. Dead space because it's the thing in space. Those games have a great atmosphere and really kept me on edge the entire time.
October 24, 2012 at 10:21 PM, said ...

Ummm...I know this is more about the Resident Evil series but...

What about the Doom series? I think that deserves some mention, I think it might one of the first horror games. Doom 3 was great by the time you finally get to the Delta Labs you see some crazy shit. And it was blatant about the existence of hell. Demons crucify people, people are impaled, decapitated-all that shit. It's a game that plays on our archetypes of religion, and it doesn't hide it.
October 24, 2012 at 9:10 PM, said ...
October 24, 2012 at 7:53 PM, Juan C Santillan said ...
October 24, 2012 at 7:31 PM, Samuel Kent Jackson said ...

You know the Condemned games never get enough love for all the scare they provide. Also I couldn't believe Korey brought up Call of Cthulhu! That game was so so good for the first act, then you get weapons and it all goes to shit. Also Lone Survivor is an indies horror game that is super creepy, and I think you two especially would love it Korey and Jeff. It has a Silent Hill sort of vibe going on
October 24, 2012 at 6:37 PM, Brandon Mack said ...

MAN FEAR brings me back. Cant stand what they did with that series
October 24, 2012 at 6:34 PM, said ...

Shame you guys didn't talk about my favorite game of all time, F.E.A.R. The first one, never played the second or third. Think they balanced power vs powerlessness and horror vs action pretty well in that game.
October 24, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Brandon Mack said ...

@leprechaun pimp

I feel that all resident evil games are short.(I mean they really are) Completely agree about REmake for the gamecube. RE4 doesnt compare to the REmake. It amaze me that some ideas didnt get added to the future games. (defense weapons, crimson heads, burning bodies)
October 24, 2012 at 5:13 PM, said ...

@Billy Tomlinson yah not many people know that, if the left creator left the franchise then you know the game will mostly turn out bad.

@Dom P. Thats what i have been saying resident evil 3 its really good game except for two things, 1. the game is short. 2. the final boss fight and thats it, everything else is done well you just wish they would content in the game like resident evil 2.

For the top RE games i would put resident 1(remake) real RE fans know why that game would rank hell that game would that the next Re games would look that untell you played 4. Then i would put Re 2,3, and 4 out of all the RE games those four games can still hold there own to this day. I am really afraid about the re 2 remake that capcom is trying do. If you guys know anything about games or the history about them you know capcom isn't the same company that they use to be. So mostly likely the game would turn to shit, I just hope it dosen't.We shall see.
October 24, 2012 at 4:52 PM, said ...

These guys in this podcast have some good remeberble scary moments in games @ 1:37:00
October 24, 2012 at 12:39 PM, said ...

The reason Resident evil 5 didn't work is that the creator of Resident Evil series,Shinji Mikami left Capcom After Resident evil 4. There wont be any more real Resident evil games Capcom don't know what too do with the series that why 6 was like those shitty Paul Wes Anderson movies
October 24, 2012 at 8:45 AM, said ...

Michigan: Report from Hell, scary ass horror game from Suda 51
October 24, 2012 at 8:08 AM, Deniz Balbay said ...

@Obscene Otter

I know:) but for me 10 times is a lot.. I usually only play through games 1 maybe 2 times before I move on to something else.
October 24, 2012 at 6:53 AM, said ...

The regenerators (the asthma monster korey was talking about) are the scariest things in resident evil to me. I had to turn my game off and take a break, because I was positive I was going to have a heart attack! there was no warning to them, you hear hissing, then you turn around and see this horrifying monster walking to you in a creepy way, and you don't know how to kill that Damn thing! I'll never forger that lol

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