Warning, this is somewhat of an essay but it has a point. If you want, skim to the bold. If you're especially impatient, skip to the red.
I recently started reading a book called "Black Rain," a translated Japanese historical novel that chronicles a survivor's journey through the decimated "spacious island" city (hiroshima). Previously I had thought that the atom bomb was something that simply destroyed everything. There seems to be a common attitude that the atom bomb is dropped and everything is destroyed, leaving a blank slate. To my surprise, the said to be accurate novel (based off of the experiences of real survivors) describes the survivors making their way through a curiously affected city. Yes, while there was much destruction, at the same time much of the city's infastructure was still there - horribly mangled into a test of wits and physical prowess. People came out of it alive, yet damaged. Characters inch their way under live wires, make their way through trecherous paths, and a variety of other obstacles that scream the essence of "survival."
This is the very survival emphasized in Survival Horror. And suddenly the survival stories of those who made it out of Raccoon City alive come to mind. Yes, we're departing from reality into videogame land. Isn't this exactly the same spirit behind the Resident Evil titles involving Raccoon? I suppose the word "survival" has no meaning behind "horror" without the word "struggle" hidden in it's meaning. This is exactly what Resident Evil is about, except struggle and survival not only includes the mangled infastructure of a once thriving city, but zombies and other horrible monstrosities.
The funny thing is, an atom bomb was dropped on Raccoon city ... and apparently capcom made the supposition that it would create a blank slate situation as well. Raccoon city, a pile of rubble. Resident Evil 3 provides the overwhelming feeling of being "over" and being "unfinished" all at the same time. People constantly claim that Resident Evil was getting stale or that it needed a change into what ultimately became a new series titled "Resident Evil 4" that lost the emphasis on struggle that had come to prevail into titles of old. The real reason why RE got stale is because Capcom seemed to be intent on stretching their new cash cow so thin there was no milk left to give before properly concluding it.
Going back to 1999, with the knowledge of what real affects an atom bomb have and the massive potential for biohazard + radiation in mind, Raccoon City didn't really have to end with 3. In fact, a bigger struggle than ever could have been realized. If people from hiroshima didn't die, then what's to say that people in Raccoon or even more likely the monsters wouldn't survive? Which is why Capcom needs to realize the pressure cooker of biological threat that should exist in Raccoon City. Even though Capcom didn't capitilize on it when they should have, who's to say that there isn't something horrible sleeping under what was Raccoon City just waiting to wreak havoc?
I can't help but feel that capcom missed out on so much potential. There's this perpetual idea that because "Resident Evil was never scary" it should just give up on trying. As technology, expertise, and resources increase - Resident Evil should CONTINUE to try to bring out the emphasis of the previous titles more so than they were able to. Let's have some new horrible threat crawl out of Raccoon City, attack another, and apply new technology, ideas, and resources to it. Let's touch on what was cheesy before, and try to make it compelling. Let's take biological horror disaster and make it a drama. What Resident Evil is now is a confused mess. It doesn't know what it wants to be. Screw the critics with 13 year old mentalities that would write off what isn't action. Capcom, if you could develop a new action series and title it "Resident Evil" just to guarantee sales there's no reason you can't make SURVIVAL HORROR better than you ever had before and title it "Resident Evil" to guarantee sales once again.
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