Monday, June 05, 2006

Control


I don't know if I should admit it for reasons of sheer nerdity, but one thing I like to do after beating a video game is to visit its wikipedia page. Shions_Glasses and I finished Resident Evil 4 about a month ago, and when I browsed through RE 4's pages I came upon this:


Many feel the game may have even been less tense and frightening just because of how "in control" Leon feels in the game, lending the game more of a 'survival action', rather than 'survival horror', element.

I found RE 4 to be more intense than the other Resident Evil games, mainly because of the number of people that you have to plow your way through, but I found that I was creeped out more by the remake of the original Resident Evil. I'm thinking that I felt more secure during 4 because we could carry more items and had ammo and first aid sprays to spare.

What do you think? Did you feel more control while playing as Leon? Did you feel threatened when you played as different characters (such as Jill)? Or is Resident Evil 4 such a departure from the earlier games that it's hard to compare?

I have to admit though, either way, those Regenerators were really freaky.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

RE4 was fun but not creepy at all. Even with Ashley-has-to-use-lamps-as-weapons I wasn't scared, just annoyed.

The other RE games.... I had to have my friends sleep over. Partially because zombies scare the hell out of me (Shaun of the Dead gave me nightmares), but also because that game is creepy!

The lack of creepiness in RE4 did disappoint me. I still liked it, but it was disappointing in a lot of ways.

100LittleDolls said...

Yeah, I couldn't believe how many times I laughed during the game--and not at the cheesy dialogue and voice acting. And I really liked Jill in the first game, so I didn't want her to die because I felt that I could identify with her. Leon, not so much.

Right now we're playing Silent Hill 4, and I'm sufficiently freaked by the atmosphere of the game. The whole idea of my apartment becoming infused with ghosts has already given me plenty of bad dreams.

Anonymous said...

Right now we're playing Silent Hill 4...

Aaah, I'm so jealous. I wish I had someone to play those kinds of games with :( Can you believe it's been over a year since I played any of that kind of stuff? Jeez, probably almost two at this point!

*sigh* If I had a PS2 I might actually try to work through them on my own, even though it's infinitely more fun to discuss plot points and whatnot with my playing partners. :/

Shions_Glasses said...

Personally, I loved the second disc of RE4, that research lab place that was full of monsters that you couldn't beat right off the bat, brought back all those survival horror instincts. I felt that area really combined the new game play mechanics, with the old tension and structured progression of the other games. The action scenes in 4 really were a great experience, but I hope the next game is more of a combination with the old.

I know how you feel tekanji, My first time with a survival horror was RE2 played entirely with my brothers. We made a tradition of it. For some reason those games go great with other people.

Brinstar said...

If I wasn't busy with other games, I'd fire up the GC remake of RE1. Wish I had more time.