When we talk about zombies, a very specific name comes to mind for all fans of the genre: George A. Romero. The director of Night of the Living Dead is considered the inventor of the zombie concept, and he dedicated almost his entire life to making films about it.
However, the end of the 20th century completely changed what we all thought a zombie was, and it’s something that has been exploited to the fullest in recent years. From the dead coming out of graves we went to viruses and big corporations, from horror stories to “survivals”, and from Dawn of the Dead to The Walking Dead, World War Z, The Last of Us and, of course, Resident Evil.
Current zombie stories would not be understood if it were not for Resident Evil, and the success of the Resident Evil 4 remake is the best example of this. Capcom’s saga has been a hit in video games, movies and adaptations of all kinds. And, above all, it has influenced many other later works that drink directly from its conception of the Zombie Apocalypse.
Why did Resident Evil succeed?
Released in 1996 for PlayStation, Resident Evil was Capcom’s biggest bet for the new generation of consoles. After succeeding with Street Fighter II, the company needed another bombshell to stay at the top. And, thanks to this relatively unexpected success, it established the idea that horror could also come through consoles.
Resident Evil takes us back to July 1998, to a future very close to its release date. In the fictional city of Raccon, strange murders have been discovered. The victims show signs of cannibalism and seem to be incubating a strange virus. Desperate, the city council sends the elite S.T.A.R.S. group to investigate the case.
But, one by one, the soldiers begin to fall. As the game progresses, we meet the zombies who carry out the murders, while we discover that everything comes from the multinational pharmaceutical company Umbrella.
This mix between science fiction and classic horror, with scenes that have remained engraved in the memory of players -like the first time we see a zombie, when it devours the body of soldier Kenneth Sullivan-, worked perfectly at the end of the twentieth century. Resident Evil not only took the zombie craze to a new level, but also took the opportunity to make a scathing criticism of pharmaceutical companies in a much more mature story than video games of the time were used to.
In addition, Resident Evil became stronger as the years went by. It managed to maintain the essence of the videogame in its following installments, among which those belonging to the original trilogy stand out. Thanks to its numerous innovations, both in mechanics and narrative, the saga inspired dozens of video games that came later, Silent Hill being the most prolific of them all.
The keys to Resident Evil’s success
The development of Resident Evil dates back to 1994, when Capcom’s development team, led by Tokuro Fujiwara, began working on a new project. The goal was to create a game that could combine three elements that had rarely been brought together in video games: action, adventure and horror. With these three key points, they began to put together what we were all able to play shortly after.
Capcom’s development team was determined to create a game that could capture the essence of horror, with a plot involving zombies and a dark, oppressive atmosphere. To do this, they were inspired by several George A. Romero horror films. However, they wanted to add action so that it would have mechanics more adapted to videogames, and thanks to this they managed to create what we all end up knowing as survival horror.
One of the keys to the success of the first RE was that it was one of the first adventure games to use real-time 3D graphics. In addition, it was also one of the first to incorporate real-time cinematic cutscenes, allowing players to become even more immersed in the plot.
The development of the game was not easy. The development team had to face several technical challenges, including the memory limitation of the PlayStation console. They also had to work hard to create a game environment that was truly terrifying.
But success came soon. As soon as the video game was released, the public responded and soon asked for more, so Capcom did not take long to make their title a millionaire saga that forever changed the future of pop culture.
After the first Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2 was released in 1998 and featured a completely new plot and different characters. The sequel’s story took place two months after the events of the first game, and focused on a zombie outbreak in Raccoon City.
Resident Evil 2 was also a best-seller and critically acclaimed. The game was followed by Resident Evil 3: Nemesis in 1999, which continued the plot of the second game and introduced a new main character, Jill Valentine.
In the years that followed, Capcom released several other Resident Evil games, including Resident Evil: Code Veronica in 2000 and Resident Evil 4 in 2005, after several years of development in which they sought to change the genre’s outlook. Each game introduced new characters, plots and environments, but all maintained the essence of horror that made Resident Evil so successful.
But the franchise became even more popular thanks to its film adaptations. Paul W.S. Anderson, an action director who had caught the industry’s attention thanks to Soldier, a 1998 film with Jason Isaacs and Kurt Rusell in the cast, struck a deal with Constantin Film to make the first Resident Evil movie.
In the beginning, the franchise was almost a B series that sought to carve out a small niche for itself in the U.S. domestic market. However, it worked so well that it soon became a film saga that has gone on to have six installments, the latest in 2016.
In the meantime, videogames continued their course and Resident Evil found many competitors, such as Left 4 Dead, who drank directly from the same formula to overshadow it. However, thanks to a mix of good stories and constant innovations, it has never ceased to hold the title of zombie saga par excellence.
One of the biggest innovations in the franchise was the introduction of online multiplayer in Resident Evil 5, released in 2009. This allowed players to join others online and fight together against hordes of zombies and other creatures.
But the biggest change came in 2017, where the resurgence of the new era of Resident Evil is placed. With the zombie stories almost passed after a great saturation because of The Walking Dead, Capcom released Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which presented a significant change in gameplay and plot.
The game focused on a new character named Ethan Winters, who finds himself trapped in an isolated house in Louisiana. Its much more costumbrist perspective, of classic horror and that drank more from the fourth installment than others made it continue with an eighth game worthy of admiration. But what has stood out the most in these years have been its remakes.
Capcom has done a spectacular job of remastering its games, and Resident Evil 4 Remake has been the best example of this. Thanks to its good work, the franchise continues to gain new fans while the classics enjoy their large doses of nostalgia.
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