Resident Evil: Part 0: The Prelude

Game Dev - RE: Part 0: The Prelude - Picture this. A younger version of me is in high school. It’s 30 years ago… Wait… 30 years ago! Wtf?! When did that happen? Why didn’t someone tell me? I’d better get a move on as time is apparently a waste’n. Anyway, I was bright eyed, believed anything was possible, and had no idea I could, or would, have a career in games. Yet here we are

There are lots of games that had a personal impact on me in my formative years. One such game was transformative. A game from the company know for such classics as Mega Man, multiple after school Disney cartoon tie-ins,** and an obnoxious fighting game at which I am consistently terrible. A game that would define a new genre and what games could be. I’m obviously talking about Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo

On March 31, 1996 Resident Evil was released on the Playstation 1, or what we called the Playstation as no one knew they’d keep making those things. Now, I didn’t have a PS1. Instead, I would be at my friend Gary’s house (everyone knows at least one Gary) and watch Mitch play RE1. It was unlike anything I, or frankly, players had seen before. There was a live action opening cinematic, incredibly awful voice acting (didn’t feel awful then), incredible music, 2D low poly backgrounds, and 3D low poly characters, zombies, dogs, frogs, and bosses

For the outset you get to choose either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, members of an elite Raccoon City police tactical unit called S.T.A.R.S. You arrive in the Spencer Mansion with the remaining members of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, searching for the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo team. They are so elite, most of them died before getting to the mansion. Once inside, you’re treated to b-movie dialogue and a b-movie horror plot complete with obvious twist

Over the next unknown number of “parts” I’m going to break down what’s made these games special, why they’re relevant 30 years on, and how they have synthesized into RE9, which launched this Feb (a month shy of the 30th anniversary). Together with my writing and your patience for literary nonsense, we’ll look at the evolution and value of the components. What order will these come in? No idea. Will they be insightful and interesting? Absolutely! Were all those topics proper nouns that needed to be capitalized? Absolutely not!

Without further adieu, let’s start (bet you thought you could call it a day) 

Some would say the Sega Genesis was the first console for “mature” games (i.e. horror). There was the ad campaign that I have practically no recollection of that said “Sega does what Nintendon’t.” The Genesis brought Mortal Kombat from the arcades with all it’s gory fatalities. The SegaCD brought Night Trap, which was banned due to depictions of violence. Other consoles also arose, like the TurboGraffix 16 with Splatterhouse (you knew they were edgy because they spelled graphics, graffix). While Sega may have paved the way, it was the PlayStation 1 and RE that forged a new path. The game was bloody, violent, scary, and adult focused. While DOOM had launched 3 years earlier, that was a PC game and PCs were for NERDS! More accurately, consoles were still thought of as playthings for kids 

Note: there should be a callout for Shadowgate (1987), Alone in the Dark (1992), and Clocktower (1995). They were all progenitor horror games

While Capcom was known for the games mentioned earlier there was a Japan only release that likely no one here played or even saw. *[Sweet Home](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_(video_game)#)* was a little known horror game on the NES that would go on to inspire the making of *RE*. Kind of like how FromSoft released *King’s Field* before it ever had a *Souls* game or a Miyazaki

*RE* was such an early PS1 game the original copies came in those big PS1 game boxes (does anyone else remember those things?). From the outset, it was destined to be different. Like *Night Trap* it used some live action. Unlike *Night Trap* it wasn’t banned for violence towards women, though Jill does get eaten by a lot of zombies, dogs, frogs, plants, etc. The opening cinematic which showed grainy footage of members of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team being attacked and killed in the woods before the survivors escaped to the nearby Spencer mansion. Once inside the survivors do what everyone in a horror movie must; they immediately split up

“Why in the name of all that is holy is this in the GameDev section?”

Because I write this and I choose what goes where. Sorry, I lost myself there. It’s here because what’s past is prologue. Over the next unknown number of “parts”, We’re going to break down the evolution of design (gameplay, level design, puzzles, resource management, combat, camera), art (colors, backgrounds, enemies, lighting), narrative, characters, audio (music, sound design), and how everything focuses on core game values when they work (let’s ignore *RE5* and *RE6*), and the general evolution of these systems. Maybe each will be it’s own part, maybe parts will include more than one. I’m not hear to define that because, frankly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. Whether you like *Resident Evil* or not, understanding what works is key to understanding why it’s around 30 years later. Suffice it to say, you will walk away a more complete person for having read it. At the very least, a more informed person with something to talk about at future GDC parties