We at AotF continue into a retrospective look into the Resident Evil franchise in preparation for Resident Evil 7 coming later in the month. Resident Evil has had a long, and somewhat ardous, journey through video game history. The series has appeared on over 10 different consoles spanning 20 years. No matter what direction the series is going, Capcom has always managed to create a ton of ‘wow’ moments. The moments below aren’t exactly a worst of or best of, just moments that surprised gamers.
The Zombie Head Turn (Resident Evil)
THE moment that defined Resident Evil. Its terrifying and disgusting in all the best ways. The coolest thing is that this moment didnt happen in the very beginning. You explored a bit of the mansion before finding the first zombie. It added a feeling of tension of not knowing what would appear in the next room after the room finished loading from the door animation.
Introduction of ‘El Gigante’ (Resident Evil 4)
Before 4, Resident Evil had memorable bosses, but they never quite had the scale. Tyrant’s were brooding and large, but were never a massive prescence on the screen. El Gigante changed what a Resident Evil boss could be. Massive in size and loud as hell, El Gigante made his prescence known immediately. The villagers and their attempt to open the door holding back El Gigante was also a nice touch in really bringing home what kind of evil they were unleashing.
Brad Vickers as a Zombie (Resident Evil 2)
A bit of a deep cut more for Resident Evil heads, but an awesome moment. To even have him appear, you had to do a list of things. With the easter egg, you also recieved a special key from Brad’s body to gain access to a locker within the RPD Police Department.
Red Eyes Wesker (Resident Evil: Code Veronica)
You ever get a pit in your stomach when you hear or see something that doesn’t feel right. It may not be a huge sight or sound, but the second you notice it then you know theres something up. That’s what Wesker’s red eyes is like. In the moment, you were excited to see Wesker again and especially with a possible boss battle looming. Deep down though, you knew those red eyes were the beginning of a story that was not going to end well. Well, you weren’t wrong.
The Volcano (Resident Evil 5)
Not all of these moments are positive. At this point, Wesker and his superhuman powers wore out his welcome. Naturally in a game that was nothing but ridiculous, the ending was no different. The final boss battle against Wesker takes place on a volcano. A Volcano. We went from a helipad in RE1 to now a volcano in RE 5. All hating aside, the boss battle itself was pretty fun.
The Capcom 5 (Resident Evil 4)
One of the most bizarre decisions in recent memory. Capcom agreed to an exclusivity contract with Nintendo to release five of their games only on the Gamecube platform. The games were P.N. 03, Viewitful Joe, Dead Phoenix, Killer 7, and Resident Evil 4. Not only was the Nintendo Gamecube seen as a ‘kiddie’ console, but the Resident Evil franchise felt at home on a Sony platform. Later in 2005, there would be an announcement that Resident Evil 4 would appear on Ps2 consoles and ensure more gamers were able to experience one of the greatest games of all time.
The Dog Hallway (Resident Evil)
The best jump scare in a game full of great jump scares. With the pre-rendered backgrounds, they looked so static we thought there was no way anything can from them. How wrong we were. Amazing audio of glass shattering and dogs growling made this one of the most talked about moments of the first game.
Chief Irons/Ben Bertolucci Death (Resident Evil 2)
There have been many side characters die in the Resident Evil games, but no one died quite as graphically as these two. Who died depended on which character you played as in the ‘1A’ campaign. They both died the same horrific way, with their should bring split from their body and a creature crawling out of the giant gaping wound.
Cargo Plane Tyrant Battle (Code Veronica)
All of the Tyrant fights hold a certain place in my heart. This fight was in such a great set piece and stood out from the rest. The claustrophobic setting of the back of an cargo plane made the fight personal and tense. Any wrong move and you were taking massive damage. The constant thought of when you should launch the cargo and how the cutscenes played out was a ton of fun and added layer of variety.
Do you have any we might have missed and should go onto part two of the best moments? Let us know in the comments below.
