Resident Evil 4 - Great Games; Terrible Legacy

[robometal cowboy]

Resident Evil 4 - Great Games; Terrible Legacy
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[Sgt Scyther]

In many ways, this is right. RE4 was probably the best and worst thing to happen to survival horror. RE4 was amazing and it's my second favorite RE (right after REmake) but it did change the face of survival horror forever, for better or worse.

However, I still think Homecoming felt enough like a Silent Hill game, even if it wasn't the best ones and made you feel more empowered than previous games. Shattered Memories and Downpour took a step back in that regard, anyway.

And, even though they're actiony, Dead Space 1 and 2 are very much horror games. They're way scarier than RE4 and beyond are, at the very least. Dead Space 3, though, with its co-op and enemies with guns, may be loosing some of that.

[Eternal Rain]

I admit, this is probably kinda accurate. Now to be fair "big budget" survival horror isn't completely dead, because after Silent Hill: Homecoming the games to come afterwards (save the Wayforward developed Vita spin off) have been less action based (Shattered Memories had no combat, and Downpour returns to using an awkward combat system like older games where ammo is pretty limited and all melee weapons break [like in Origins], even the loading screens say "sometimes you should just run").

I remember once hearing someone use a similar argument regarding Toy Story. Great movie, but is sometimes seen as the harbinger to the end of traditionally animated movies in theaters until Princess and the Frog.

@Scyther
To be fair, the co-op in Dead Space 3 isn't forced like in RE5 and 6 (though between the two, the forced co-op in RE6 was more tolerable because if you play single player you don't have to manage your partners health and inventory like in 5). So if you play single player in Dead Space 3 you'll only see Issac and the other guy (gah, forgot his name) will only appear in story relevant cutscenes. Also, the way co-op is being handled in DS3 is actually pretty creative looking (sometimes one character might experience visions the other one can't see, which can cause moments of "what are you talking about? There's nothing there.")

[ridleysaria]

RE4 is fantastic. IMO, it made the RE games playable for the first time. The only thing I really hated about RE5 were the quicktime events. My co-op partner and I had to repeat some of them literally dozens of times. Awful. I haven't tried RE6 yet. I have the demo sitting on my PS3 but I'm too afraid to try it.

RE:R is also fantastic, so not everything about 4's legacy turned out terrible.

[FadedAreWii]

Uh..... ZombiU, anyone?

[Eternal Rain]

Uh..... ZombiU, anyone?

Ah my bad, forgot to mention that as a modern horror game from a big name studio that emphasizes survival over constant action. Sadly I feel like people are so used to action horror at this point that part of me feels like that's why ZombiU got such mixed reviews (I guess years of getting "unused to" stuff like item management, limited ammo, and actually feeling vulnerable has caused some people to forget this is how horror games were during their golden years).

(also add RE: Revelations, that game managed to replicate the atmosphere of RE4 well while still keeping the updated aiming system and adding extra control like strafe shooting)

Eh I dunno, I love the old school way of doing horror games, but I still don't find modern horror games to be "bad" even if they're not that scary. Dead Space is pretty fun even if I never found myself worrying much about ammo or health, and for all the crap they get (heck even I'll agree with some of the criticisms) I did still find RE5 and 6 fun action horror games for what they are. Do I wish there were more games like Amnesia, Silent Hill: Downpour, and ZombiU? Yes, but for the time being it does seem like games like these from big name companies are becoming fewer, so the indie scene is mostly where I get my legitimate gaming scares.

Hell even I find Slender: The Eight Pages to still be creepy even after watching a bunch of Lets Plays of it (favorite being the Two Best Friends Play one). Just downloaded it recently (it is freeware), and when you're playing it in a dark room after midnight and you're alone, the atmosphere and whatnot really shows. Pretty impressive for a freeware game (plus I'm a fan of the Slender Man mythos, so imagine how happy I was when it was confirmed the guys behind Marble Hornets will be doing the story for the upcoming full budget sequel "Slender: The Arrival" which will vary the environments, feature better graphics, a more camera-like HUD, and even feature a Slender Man proxy like most of the popular series feature [in particular he looks most like "Masky" and "Hoody" from Marble Hornets]).

[redhatdrawler]

Re4 is one of my top fav games of all time. Bought it three times...

[JonLeung]

I am in love with Ada Wong.

But yes, I do miss "classic" Resident Evil.

[bellboy]

My only hope is Capcom are able to maybe notice how things have changed now rather than pull the bizarre "we are like parents, developers and fans* " analogy and adapt it like so. But I don't know how RE6 was received. For all I know the nail in the coffin was hammered in months ago.
*But we know better.

[RustyCage]

Classic RE is an overrated mess. Same for SH1 & 2 - maybe moreso because of the long stretches of tedious door-checking and bland street-trudging.

Nostalgia goggles are insanely out of control on this one.

Bad gameplay does NOT equate to quality horror, quality survival, or quality -anything-. It's a hindrance to the experience.

How about give us a horror game with good gameplay that's scary for REAL reasons other than clunky, unforgivable controls?

I seriously cannot believe some people are LITERALLY trying to push the embarrassingly nonsense idea that "bad gameplay = good". smh