MM Magazine - May 2021

Resident
Evil
celebrates
25 years of
chills and
thrills
By James Walters
The Resident Evil franchise has
been a staple across a host of mediums
since it first burst onto our
screens in 1996. This year marks
the 25th anniversary of the original game
that kickstarted the series, with last week
seeing the release of latest entry, Resident
Evil: Village, the eighth mainline game
which continues the story of Ethan Winters
from 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
The series has come a long way since its
inception, spanning multiple console generations,
platforms, spin-off titles and mediums.
With more content releasing later this year,
Japan-based developer Capcom are investing
more and more time and effort into the franchise
going forward.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary, here are
six of the biggest moments from the franchises
history that have shaped the series into
what it is today.
Resident Evil (1996)
Developed for the original PlayStation, the
first entry (next page, top left) went by the
name Biohazard in Japan.When it was localised
for western audiences, it was renamed
Resident Evil and eventually released in the
UK on August 1 1996.
The groundbreaking game takes place in
the Arklay Mountains near Racoon City, a
location that has become synonymous with
the series. It followed a group of police officers
from the Racoon City Police Department,
called Special Tactics and Rescue Service
(STARS), who are sent to investigate a series
of strange events in the mountains, as well as
the disappearance of Bravo Team who went to
investigate first.
The player chooses from two main protagonists,
Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, each
offering a slightly altered version of events
to the games story, as they take refuge in the
Spencer Mansion and have to fight to survive
the zombies found within. Along the way
they uncover the truth about the Umbrella
Company, a pharmaceutical company that has
secretly been developing bioweapons.
The game helped popularise the fixed
camera style of gameplay. This combined
with the tank style movement controls meant
that enemies could appear just off-screen and
surprise players when the angle changes to
reveal them.
Upon release it received critical praise
and went on to sell 5.08 million units across
multiple editions on PlayStation, making
more than $200 million. The sequels, Resident
Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released
in 1998 and 1999, kept the same fixed camera
style gameplay, continuing on from the events
of the first instalment.
Resident Evil (2002)
2002 saw Hollywood get its hands on
the franchise, with a big screen adaptation
written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.
The director had a track record of adapting
video games, having led the 1995 adaption
of Mortal Kombat. Milla Jovovich (top right,
next page) and Michelle Rodriguez starred in
the franchise, with the later being dubbed “the
reigning queen of kick-butt” by VH1 for her
involvement in the franchise.
It was loosely based on the games, using the
series lore and creatures rather than directly
adapting the story and characters. Jovovich
played Alice, an original character and series
protagonist who awakens with amnesia in
a mansion above the Hive, a secret underground
facility operated by Umbrella. The
films received negative reviews from critics,
however the first entry went on to make $102
million worldwide and has recently gained a
more prominent cult following. Six films were
released in the series, with a reboot scheduled
to be released later this year titled Resident
Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
Resident Evil 4 marked the biggest change
for the video game series at the time, swapping
the traditional fixed camera perspective
for an over-the-shoulder angle that the series
popularised.
Released in 2005 for the GameCube, it
featured the protagonist from Resident Evil
2, Leon S. Kennedy, as he is sent to rescue the
President’s daughter Ashley Graham from a
remote village in Spain after she is kidnapped
by a cult calling themselves Los Illuminados.
The game featured a greater focus on
action and combat over the traditional horror
elements the series was known for, including
inventory management, quick-time events,
and escorting Ashley to safety. It has been
released on 11 different game systems across
multiple generations, the most recent version
being on Nintendo Switch in 2019.
The game is the second best-selling game of
the franchise, with a combined total of 10.4
million units sold and in 2012 it was awarded
the title of Best-selling Survival Horror Game
in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s
Edition. After the success of the new direction
for the series, Capcom would later release
Resident Evil 5 in 2009 for next generation
systems, followed by Resident Evil 6 in 2012.
RE6 was a critical flop and Capcom put the
series on hold for several years afterwards in
order to refocus their efforts.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
(2017)
Released in early 2017, Resident Evil 7:
Biohazard (centre) was the series first entry to
be set in the first-person and featured a mode
to play the whole game in virtual reality with
PlayStation VR. It told a completely new story
separate from the series established lore and
had a greater focus on the horror elements the
series is known for, while keeping some action
sequences newer fans would be familiar with.
The story followed new character Ethan
Winters who receives a message from his wife
Mia, who has been missing for three years.
This leads him to a farm in Dulvey, Louisiana
where he encounters the Baker family, the
game’s main antagonists who hunt Ethan as he
attempts to escape with Mia and uncover the
truth behind their strange behaviour.
RE7 takes inspiration from the 1981 horror
film The Evil Dead with its single location
setting, focus on more enclosed environments
and sense of unease in a traditionally normal
environment. By the end of the game, there
are connections drawn to the wider series
lore including the Umbrella Corporation,
bioweapons and the return of fan-favourite
character Chris Redfield.
Well received upon release, the game averaged
around 85/100 on Metacritic, selling 8.5
million units as of 2020 and being nominated
for 29 awards, ten of which it won including
Best VR Game from the Golden Joystick
Awards 2017.
Resident Evil 2 (2019)
A remake of the original Resident Evil 2
was revealed to be in early development in
2015, being officially unveiled during an E3
conference in 2018.
The game retold the core story of the original
title but was built using the same game
engine as RE7 and used the over-the-shoulder
gameplay style from RE4.
It featured the same two playable characters
as the original release, Leon S. Kennedy
and Claire Redfield, and offered players four
versions of events, as each character has an ‘A’
side and a ‘B’ side to their story.
The remake was very well received, being
given the Metacritic ‘Must-Play’ banner as
well as a nomination for Game of the Year at
The Game Awards 2019. Capcom would go on
to remake the next game in the series, Resident
Evil 3, in 2020, adding upon the style and
mechanics implemented in RE2 remake but
cutting the games overall length down from
the original 1999 version, choosing to keep a
tighter narrative focus with more replay value.
Resident Evil: Village (2021)
Resident Evil: Village (right) is the latest
game to released from the franchise and
highlights Capcom’s desire to move away from
traditional numbered entries. It released on
7th May 2021 and at the time of writing has
already sold 3 million units, receiving very
high praise from critics and fans.
The story follows on three years after the
events of RE7 as Ethan and Mia are raising
their daughter Rose and trying to move on
from what happened at the Baker farm. One
night, Chris Redfield shows up at their home,
kills Mia and takes Rose away, prompting
Ethan to track them down. He arrives at a
remote village where everything is not as it
seems, as the villagers are being hunted and
killed by mysterious creatures, ruled over
by four lords and worship a woman called
Mother Miranda.
As far as anniversary celebrations go,
Capcom has other projects planned for release
later this year. A new animated Netflix series
is set for July, bringing back Leon and Claire
in a brand-new story and featuring the voice
actors behind their portrayals in the RE2
remake. During a livestream where Capcom
revealed information about RE: Village, an
online multiplayer arena shooter game called
RE: Verse was announced to be releasing for
free for owners of RE: Village later this year.
The original RE4 is also set to receive another
port, this time to be playable entirely in VR on
the Oculus Quest 2 sometime in 2021.
The Oculus Quest 2 is one of the latest VR
headsets to release, featuring two hand
controllers and no wiring. Finally, a new
live-action film is currently in development,
separate from the older movies and more
faithful to the source material. The official title
was revealed as Resident Evil: Welcome to
Racoon City and will recreate the story from
the first two games, set to release towards the
end of the year.
20 21