In this ongoing look at significant moments in the history of video game design, we have already taken a look at Nintendo’s Kid Icarus, Electronic Arts’ Mirror’s Edge, Raven Software’s Soldier of Fortune 2 and several others. The goal of this series is to go beyond simple gaming magazines and iPhone Apps, and take a closer look at what defines memorability and quality in game design. In this twenty-eighth part of the series we will examine some more of those classic moments where video game designers undoubtedly got it right and delivered a memorable, enduring and progressive gaming experience.

Resident Evil (Playstation) – Developed by Capcom and released to the PlayStation in 1996, Resident Evil (RE) was a huge success, both critically and commercially. With over forty million titles in the series being sold, the game has also gone onto spawn five major films and over ten sequels. Still, none of this immense success would have been seen if not for the strength of the original title. But, what is it about RE that allowed it to connect so strongly with gamers around the world?

For starters, RE was one of the very first games of the ‘survival horror’ genre. This new genre put players in the position of being hunted by enemy forces while they try to use their environment to survive. Moody, atmospheric and, at times downright creepy, the mansion setting used in RE offered just the right amount of claustrophobia to keep players on edge throughout. RE was also a more mature game than most of its time, and its M rating from the ESRB was proof of this maturity.

Players realized nearly immediately that RE was a different type of game than what they may have been used to. One of the first scenes in the game shows a zombie eating the brains of a fallen character, and very early on in the game there is a classic moment where some rabid dogs burst through a window to attack the player. This unexpected moment was not only very startling; it set the tone for the rest of the game and warned the player to expect the unexpected.

For this ongoing series we typically single out a single aspect of gameplay, or a standout moment from the game, to focus on. With RE the element we will focus our attention on is the game’s cinematic presentation. Though difficult to enjoy today due to its constant load times, RE does stand up in terms of gameplay. However, it is the game’s cinematic camera angles that make the gameplay as immersive as it is. Artistic, mood setting and gameplay enhancing camera angles are present throughout RE. Sometimes these camera angles are chosen in order to increase the tension during an enemy encounter. Other times they are craftily chosen to illuminate the player on a clue or interactive element of their environment. Still other times the angle is chosen simply to show off the game’s graphics, which were very impressive for their time.

RE is a game that forever changed what players would expect from a video game. It is one of the first games to truly scare the player and was one of the most cinematic games of all time upon its release. For helping to solidify games as an art form, upping the ante on art direction in games and providing the foundation for what would become one of the greatest franchises of all time, RE deserves its place in this series.

Games mentioned in this video: FlightControl HD 10 Pin Lite Air Hockey Bird Strike The Pinball Visit my site: www.iglaswegian.com Twitter www.twitter.com My OTHER YouTube channel: www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5