Resident Evil is truly in a golden age, and this is the most excited I’ve been as a fan of the long-running horror series.

As we approach Halloween, I find myself reflecting on my favorite horror games and how they’ll fare in 2024. I’ve realized that we’ve never had it so good. Not only do we have classics like dead space and Silent Hill 2 has been remade – to rave reviews – but Resident Evil is leading the charge in this horror renaissance.

We live in an era where not only has the original Resident Evil trilogy been remade on current-gen systems (Yes, yes, I know RE1 is technically a remastered GameCube game), but Capcom did what many thought which was impossible when redone Resident Evil 4; He improved what many saw as perfection.

Capcom

Resident Evil 4 improved what was already legendary.

A new golden age of survival horror

Of course, there’s no such thing as a perfect game, but remaking something as beloved as RE4 was a huge gamble for Capcom, and they absolutely nailed it. In addition to honoring the past, the series also moves forward. Resident of the bad townthe eighth mainline RE game, it improved on RE7, served as a love letter to RE4, and also did what RE6 couldn’t do: cater to all RE fans in some way.

Those who love the more action-packed side of Resident Evil were well served in Village, but the game also managed to strike a balance between this and traditional survival horror, something Resident Evil has struggled with for most of its existence. . However, the remakes of 2, 3, and 4 should also get some credit for achieving this balance, at least for the most part.

This success has also had a ripple effect on the industry. While the original RE4 revolutionized the third-person shooter in 2005, Resident Evil’s current format is inspiring other horror games like Alan Wake 2, the Alone in the Dark remake, and the upcoming one. Cronus: The New Dawn. Then there are games like Dead Space, The Callisto Protocoland Silent Hill 2 to consider, all use this formula in their own way.

We are now firmly back in the era of third-person survival horror games. This is curious, since the last decade belonged to first-person horror festivals like Outlast, Amnesia and Soma. Even Resident Evil flirted with the first-person perspective in RE7 and Village before adding the third-person style to Village as DLC, which I think is a pretty telling move about the future of the series.

Speaking of the future, the first rumors of Resident Evil 9 have begun and now it’s just a matter of time until Capcom shows us what they’ve been working on. Whispers of an open world make me nervous, as sandbox games often don’t translate well to horror. I’m sorry dead island 2Dying Light and Days Gone, I love you, but you’re not scary.

But then again, Resident Evil has often used a large central area for its action, a location that players explore over and over again, unlocking more and more as they go, so this could work on a broader scale. . Technically, the titular Village served this function, as did the Spencer Estate, Raccoon City, and Baker Family Compound. So, we’re open to whatever Capcam has in store; after all, they bought a lot of goodwill with RE Village and the RE4 remake.

Capcom

Resident Evil Village had some truly disturbing moments.

The debate over Resident Evil camera angles

However, a new Resident Evil game means that a tired old debate about horror camera angles is likely to resurface. Even in 2024, there are still people who argue that a horror game can only be a true survival horror if it uses fixed camera angles like the Resident Evil games of the PS1 era did. No matter how many amazingly creepy horror games are made in first-person or using the over-the-shoulder camera style, a la RE4, these self-proclaimed “purists” persist.

I loved fixed camera angles in my horror games from twenty years ago as much as the next person, and they certainly suited the genre well, but this argument was won by the opposing side a long time ago. Games like Outlast and Amnesia: The Dark Descent showed that horror works exceptionally well in first person, and games like Dead Space, Alan Wakeand Resident Evil 2 Remake showed that it also works well in third person.

The fact is that these purists, and indeed all horror fans, should stop living in the past, remove the filters of nostalgia and open their eyes to the absolute. Smorgasbord of violent and creepy delights. that modern games have in store for them. Not only do we live in a golden age for Resident Evil, but we live in a golden age of horror games.

Many would say that the golden age of survival horror was between the late 90s and early 2000s. I would say it is right now, and I intend to gorge on them this Halloween and will likely continue until next Halloween. After all, for many of us the spooky season lasts all year long.