Resident Evil 6

[News Bot]

In contrast to RE6, I'd say RE4s side story was pretty good.

Both have interesting aspects, but they are overshadowed by lack of exposition where it's actually needed.

[Wrathborne]

I honestly don't even care that much about the horror elements anymore; I just want Capcom to make a great RE game again. RE6 is far from it. Something like RE4 would be great; its plot was shit, but as a game it was incredible.

In contrast to RE6, I'd say RE4s side story was pretty good.

[Carnivol]

The first time you encountered the Regenerators ... man ... after all you'd been through up until that point ... there was just no telling what something like "that" would be capable of + the great sound design when one of them has an open path to Leon's current position ... Christ, I don't think I've ever wanted someone to be dead, stay dead and to die as fast as (in)humanly possible as during the first encounter with a Regenerator.

[DarkMemories]

Bold words sir.

I don't think the "horror" of the older games was solely dependant on monsters. They used isolation, which is basically nonexistent now, and atmosphere to draw the player in and make certain situations a lot scarier than they really were. As for the newer games having more terrifying enemies, I'd have to say Lisa Trevor trumps them all.

Regenerators are, IMO, still the scariest thing the series has ever seen, bar none. And even if we limited ourselves to just REmake, I'd say Crimson Heads were more terrifying than Lisa (who's still a great enemy, don't get me wrong, but not the scariest thing by any stretch).

[Det. Beauregard]

I honestly don't even care that much about the horror elements anymore; I just want Capcom to make a great RE game again. RE6 is far from it. Something like RE4 would be great; its plot was shit, but as a game it was incredible. The forced AI partner thing has done nothing but diminish my interest in this once great series, and even for the horror enthusiasts, it's hard not to argue against forced AI partners. Even Revelations, an exclusively single-player game, felt the need to have an AI partner with you for most of the duration, decreasing the immersion factor and the horror.

I guess the way I see it is that atmosphere is more important than horror. If they can do both, great.

[REmaster]

Nostalgia goggles off.

Seriously. The "horror" of the older RE games is a joke narrowed down to technical limitations and a couple of monster closets.

I dare claim that the first Chainsaw Ganado in RE4 and ... Mayday...mayday...mayday... from Revelations were far more terrifying than pretty much anything the RE series of days of yonder ever provided.

Bold words sir.

I don't think the "horror" of the older games was solely dependant on monsters. They used isolation, which is basically nonexistent now, and atmosphere to draw the player in and make certain situations a lot scarier than they really were. As for the newer games having more terrifying enemies, I'd have to say Lisa Trevor trumps them all.

[Code_R]

Nostalgia out the window, the atmosphere in the old ones is just basically the ambient soundtrack. Which is the kind of thing I like. The miniboss type characters in RE4-5 are panicky at first, but just boils down to running around in circles taking shots after a minute or two.

[Bianca]

Nostalgia goggles off.

Seriously. The "horror" of the older RE games is a joke narrowed down to technical limitations and a couple of monster closets.

I dare claim that the first Chainsaw Ganado in RE4 and ... Mayday...mayday...mayday... from Revelations were far more terrifying than pretty much anything the RE series of days of yonder ever provided.

Too annoying and laughable, in my opinion, to ever be scary. I had to fucking mute my DS during that boss battle.

[Rick Hunter]

Dead space is still scary at times, when you don't know what to expect. And you also feel the stress of being out of ammo, and surrounded by monsters who's behavior can't necessarily be anticipated. I'm thinking about these rooms when you hear the monsters, it's dark, you see them running around, but their attacks are totally random.

I think that it's something Resident Evil has lost. Dead Space is better at everything it does compared to resident evil. Its only problem is that past the first half of the game it always turns into some kind of mindless shooter once we upgrade weapons/armor.

[Shield Key]

Going off of what NewsBot said: I've argued for years (since RE4 to be exact), that mainly the horror elements are fading because we're growing older. I can't speak for everyone, but not even the real "scary" games out now, like Dead Space and Slender, scare me much. Maybe they make me a bit uneasy here and there, but so does RE6... so.

Somewhere in that rambling stream of consciousness was an attempt to state that if my ten year old self played RE6 as his first RE he'd still find it scary... maybe not quite as "tense" or "atmospheric" as I felt when playing the older games the first time, but it's a creepy game in parts and still feels like RE to me. I just don't see the gap some people are yelling about between action and horror. I feel RE4 and 6 mixed these styles very well. RE5, on the other hand, had zero scares or atmosphere outside of "Lost in Nightmares."

You know, I was saying to a friend the other day that this is the exact reason I'm flabbergasted by the negative reviews for RE6. The shit they mostly complained about have been in the series for 7 years, since RE4, and were WORSE in RE5; yet RE6 is the game that gets shit on? RE6 has more puzzles/scares/atmosphere than RE5, more creative and varied enemies than 4 and 5, better controls, the return of zombies, Leon and Chris in the same game, and Sherry is finally back... you couldn't get more fan-service than that; and yet so many people shit on the game. I'm at a loss.

[alexdz]

...but...like...a dog jumps through a window....

[News Bot]

It used to have a heavy emphasis of horror, its emphasis on horror isnt that strong anymore and its on its way to becoming an outright shooter with some horror elements.

No, its emphasis is just as strong. The differences now are superficial, and as Carn said, back then the "horror" was mainly produced through technical limitations. Fear also fades with age, and to be honest, if they simply replicated the horror style of the old games, it wouldn't work. That's why they have tried to move on to new shit. That's why Zombies were replaced with crazy parasite infested bastards that were replaced with intelligent bastards with amazing body horror aspects. That's not saying BH6 doesn't have some very, very bad parts, but overall it has quite a bit of horror if you look past the style of gameplay. Action doesn't automatically negate horror, and can sometimes add to it. BH3 is a great example, as it has an excellent mix of both and is balanced relatively well.

Oh, and you take Revelations as an exemple, but this game is not like RE4, RE5 and RE6.

It is BH4 with very minor changes. The addition of moving while aiming and the subtraction of melee being the key differences.

[Dracarys]

Nostalgia goggles off.

Seriously. The "horror" of the older RE games is a joke narrowed down to technical limitations and a couple of monster closets.

I dare claim that the first Chainsaw Ganado in RE4 and ... Mayday...mayday...mayday... from Revelations were far more terrifying than pretty much anything the RE series of days of yonder ever provided.

...but...like...a dog jumps through a window....

[Grem]

Nostalgia goggles off.

Seriously. The "horror" of the older RE games is a joke narrowed down to technical limitations and a couple of monster closets.

I dare claim that the first Chainsaw Ganado in RE4 and ... Mayday...mayday...mayday... from Revelations were far more terrifying than pretty much anything the RE series of days of yonder ever provided.

Still, in previous games the focus during the whole game was on horror and building tension, not on providing action. In contrary, RE6 is a shooter with some horror elements in it. Whether the actual games are more terrifying or not is pointless since what matters is the direction of these games.

Oh, and you take Revelations as an exemple, but this game is not like RE4, RE5 and RE6.

[Carnivol]

Nostalgia goggles off.

Seriously. The "horror" of the older RE games is a joke narrowed down to technical limitations and a couple of monster closets.

I dare claim that the first Chainsaw Ganado in RE4 and ... Mayday...mayday...mayday... from Revelations were far more terrifying than pretty much anything the RE series of days of yonder ever provided.