Resident Evil: Not Scary

[ConstantErasing]

I thought the regenerators in RE4 were pretty scary when you knew they were coming but had no or limited way to fight them. I will admit though that the Chicago Typewriter somewhat kills any scariness they might have had once you have it.

 

[cjspyres]

So I've realized that, while on my journey to find some of the scariest games, Resident Evil is a common factor among many of the gaming population. What I don't understand is, why? In all the years that I've played the RE series, not a single one has been scary. The most that has every happened is maybe a jump or two from the earlier games, but that's it. So why do people insist on the series being scary?

Looks like someone reads Cracked [http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-video-games-that-just-didnt-get-it-and-6-that-did/][/quote]

Funny thing, I read that right after I posted the thread xD. Which reminds me that yesterday, I started playing I Have No Mouth, and today I got my GI with an article talking entirely about the game.

Oh, and quick question. Amnesia, Scarier with or without the music?

Edit: Well, Now it's just a theoretical question. Just realized you can't turn the music down, lol

 

[BulletMagTrig]

The scare of RE came from the survival, not the terror. It was the unnerving tenseness of knowing something will show up, and back in the days when they paced RE well, it was the times when nothing happened that scared you even more.

Look at a game like Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Everyone has heard this, but it and its predecessor (Penumbra) had horror down. They create an atmosphere of tension and heightened awareness, and then use everything at their disposal to fuck with you.

RE, on the other hand, has now become an action game. Part of the terror of the originals was how poorly you controlled your character. You weren't Solid Snake. You were 'guy with handgun and a bit of training so he knows how to reload'. With the demand for better handling, you lose the tension bad controls created. Silent Hill Homecomings (Origin? One of the two) added a dodgeroll, and removed all horror from the game because you could dodgeroll away from EVERYTHING. All the different aspects need to work together to make horror work. We as an industry have ruined it by demanding HD graphics, super slick controls and a hand to walk us through.

This is true, I've been watching all the Resident Evil games over the shoulders of my friends and the times that I actually got tensed up and excited was when ammo was scarce and there was something wrong just barely on screen, but you couldn't tell what it was. Was that thing I just walked by going to haunt me because I didn't want to waste my lighter fluid and fry it.

Add ammo, Camera controls, Quick Time Events, and decent controls and it loses it all like the later games.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Resident Evil wasn't even meant to be scary... was it? I mean I though the first Resident Evil was intentionally B-Movie levels of hilarious and after that it kinds changed direction. Either way, I haven't been scared of Resident Evil or zombies since my childhood... more fascinated.

 

[Drop_D-Bombshell]

Resident Evil only has startling moments, like in RE2 in the interrogation room. The only one that can be considered scary is REmake, because the zombies continue to rise until you decapitate them or burn their ass, which when playing on hard is severely limited and you're gonna be running from five crimson heads within an hour.