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The Devolution of Resident Evil: A Survival Horror Game Abandons Its Roots by Susan Carmichael TURN ON SOUND RE3: The Last Escape by Masami Ueda & Saori.

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Presentation on theme: "The Devolution of Resident Evil: A Survival Horror Game Abandons Its Roots by Susan Carmichael TURN ON SOUND RE3: The Last Escape by Masami Ueda & Saori."— Presentation transcript:

1 The Devolution of Resident Evil: A Survival Horror Game Abandons Its Roots by Susan Carmichael TURN ON SOUND RE3: The Last Escape by Masami Ueda & Saori Maeda

2 While the Silent Hill series has devolved in its progression from the “survival horror” game genre, the Resident Evil series has abandoned the genre all together in favor of "action horror." Project Purpose

3 Storylines of individual games in each series ♦ Gameplay characteristics Characters & monsters ♦ Sound & environment ♦ Scare tactics Game Aspects This presentation will only address Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4 in the Resident Evil series and Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 in the Silent Hill series.

4 The classic Resident Evil story begins in Raccoon City, a location overrun by zombies. Members of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team enter to help find members of their disappeared Bravo team and to continue the investigation. Their exploration of a seemingly abandoned mansion turns into a fight for survival against the Umbrella Corporation's experiments. Six years after the original zombie infestation in Raccoon City, the U.S. government officially shut down the Umbrella Corporation and recruits Leon S. Kennedy, a former Raccoon City cop, to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter, Ashley Graham, from a remote village in Spain. In Resident Evil 4 Leon does battle against the Los Illuminados cult and their parasite- infected villagers. STORYLINE RE4: Krauser by Misae Senbongi and Shusaku Uchiyama

5 Silent Hill 2, the hallmark game of the series, documents James Sunderland's journey through Silent Hill to find out the truth about his wife Mary's death. The town and its inhabitants are manifestations of James' mind, and in the end James faces the truth. Silent Hill 3 takes place 17 years after Harry Mason's nightmare in the original Silent Hill game, and his adopted daughter Heather meets Claudia Wolf in the mall. After fighting her way back home, Heather finds her father dead and heads to Silent Hill to kill Claudia. Heather faces Claudia in a church and ingests a capsule of red liquid. She then vomits the bloody fetus of a god worshiped by the town's cult. Claudia thwarts Heather's attempt to kill the god and ingests the fetus herself, giving birth. Heather kills the resurrected god and survives.

6 Resident Evil 4 abandons the previous games' focus on zombies in favor of parasitic attackers. An action fight against a global spread of deadly viruses replaces the immediate and personal struggle for survival. The Silent Hill series might not encompass many of the same characters and stories or offer a continuous timeline, but each game is a psychological fight for one's survival against dark secrets.

7 The survival horror perspective is third-person, intensifying the sensations of vulnerability, isolation, and shock (McRoy par. 5). Resident Evil 4 was the first in the series to have an over-the-shoulder view of the fully three-dimensional world instead of the typical third-person perspective. GAMEPLAY Resident Evil 1 Screenshot Resident Evil 4 Screenshot

8 Survivor horror throws players into scenarios that induce fear; limited ammunition and health exacerbates these situations. Items in Resident Evil 4 are more plentiful, and the game introduces “ the merchant," allowing the player to carry more items at once, thus ditching the survival aspect. Limited supplies encouraged the player to run from enemies and conserve supplies. This aspect weakened in the Resident Evil series but not in the Silent Hill series. “Got sumthin' that might interest ya‘, stranger.”

9 Leon S. Kennedy Jill Valentine & Chris Redfield S.T.A.R.S. Ashley Graham CHARACTERS In Resident Evil, surviving the zombie infestation requires endurance and cunning from the characters; however, physical ability dominates in Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil Resident Evil 4

10 Silent Hill games have always focused on the characters' ordinariness. Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3 offers an androgynous appearance and narrative centrality, successfully combining the imperiled and masculine femininity of the survival horror genre (Kirkland 3). Heather Mason James Sunderland Silent Hill 3 Silent Hill 2 SH3: Heads No. 2 by Akira Yamaoka

11 Zombie Resident Evil 4 Enemies Zombies are frightening. They will eat you if given the chance, but they move slowly enough to either avoid or destroy with relative ease dependent on their numbers and cramped spaces. In Resident Evil 4, smart and agile opponents are the norm. Resident Evil

12 Pyramid Head – The Executioner Nurse - The Anxieties surrounding his wife's terminal illness & The Sexual Deprivation that came with it Maria - The Mary he always wanted In contrast, the enemies in Silent Hill 2 are manifestations of the James Sunderland's real fears, for surviving your own nightmares is real survival horror.

13 SOUND Low-key lighting not only plays up shadows, but it perpetuates a progressively disturbing tone of gloom (McRoy par. 8). While the Silent Hill series remains a dimly lit town, Resident Evil 4 lights up the scenery with the wide open spaces and rural town environments. ENVIRONMENT The Resident Evil series no longer incorporates creepy music to such a high degree. In contrast, the Silent Hill games continue to offer sinister soundtracks for an expressionistic audio experience (Kirkland 2). SH3 - Fairytale Monster by Akira Yamaoka

14 Japanese survival horror relies heavily on ghost, rituals, and the unseen. Western survival horror is more visceral and action-oriented. As the Western design becomes the dominant paradigm, action and gore will continue to supersede psychological dread (Alexander). SCARE TACTICS

15 conclusion Gamers want the sense of being truly alone in the dark with just their thoughts and fear. Hopefully, the Resident Evil series will reach that point again and return to the roots that defined the genre.

16 RESIDENT EVIL 4 PARODY

17 Works Cited Alexander, Leigh. “Does Survival Horror Really Still Exist?” Kotaku. n.p. n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2010. Capcom Production Studio 4. “Resident Evil.” PlayStation. Capcom. 30 Mar. 1996. Video Game. Capcom Production Studio 4. “Resident Evil 4.” PlayStation 2. Capcom. 25 Oct. 2005. Video Game. Kirkland, Ewan. “Restless Dreams in Silent Hill: Approaches to Videogame Analysis.” Journal of Media Practice 6:3 (2005): 167-178. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Jan. 2010. Konami and Team Silent. “Silent Hill 2.” PlayStation 2. Konami. 24 Sept. 2001. Video Game. Konami and Team Silent. “Silent Hill 3.” PlayStation 2. Konami. 6 Aug. 2003. Video Game. McRoy, Jay. “‘The Horror is Alive’: Immersion, Spectatorship, and the Cinematics of Fear in the Survival Horror Genre.” Reconstruction. n.p. 6:1 (2006): n. pag. Web. 14 Jan. 2010. “Resident Evil 4 Cutscene 2-2.” YouTube. 1 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_lRWLV3QZo.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_lRWLV3QZo “Resident Evil 4 Parody.” YouTube. 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCSpMAgkZxM.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCSpMAgkZxM “Silent Hill 3 Cutscenes 08, Hellish Elevator Decent.” YouTube. 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGb_wGYAS9c. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGb_wGYAS9c “Ten Years of Resident Evil: The Official Soundtrack.” Sunthing Else. 27 Mar. 2007. Audio. 19 Jan. 2010. Yamaoka, Akira. “Silent Hill, Vol. 3.” Sony/Columbia. 28 July 2003. Audio. 19 Jan. 2010.

18 Pictures Slide 1http://www.file-extensions.org/imgs/app-picture/5260/resident-evil.jpghttp://www.file-extensions.org/imgs/app-picture/5260/resident-evil.jpg Slide 2http://media.photobucket.com/image/Resident%20Evil%205/jimato/wallpaper_resident_evil_5_01_1600.jpghttp://media.photobucket.com/image/Resident%20Evil%205/jimato/wallpaper_resident_evil_5_01_1600.jpg Slide 3http://api.ning.com/files/OjFOux2Sv-GOFp5jzVyUyVrD75idw-rAC8rn7aDsyIg_/silent_hill1.jpghttp://api.ning.com/files/OjFOux2Sv-GOFp5jzVyUyVrD75idw-rAC8rn7aDsyIg_/silent_hill1.jpg Slide 4http://www.pwned.com/gamecovers/playstation/2588c3f3d10c4c7043be71999e08d1c7-Resident_Evil.jpghttp://www.pwned.com/gamecovers/playstation/2588c3f3d10c4c7043be71999e08d1c7-Resident_Evil.jpg http://www.gamekicker.com/files/RE4CoverPs2.jpg Slide 5http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1100333368-00.jpghttp://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1100333368-00.jpg http://www.tothegame.com/res/game/1470/boxshot_uk_large.jpg Slide 6http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9990/cartoon1.pnghttp://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9990/cartoon1.png http://www.brightsideofnews.com/Data/2009_7_24/Silent-Hill-demoed-at-Comic-Con-09/SilentHill_01_675.jpg Slide 7http://www.gameandplayer.net/images/inset/inset1_09_0311_residentevil.jpghttp://www.gameandplayer.net/images/inset/inset1_09_0311_residentevil.jpg http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/614/614449/resident-evil-4-20050516000049172_640w.jpg Slide 8http://residentevil.wikia.com/File:Residentevil4_conceptart_WVepg.jpghttp://residentevil.wikia.com/File:Residentevil4_conceptart_WVepg.jpg http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2005/20050114h.jpg Slide 9http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=55http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=55 http://residentevil.wikia.com/File:Chrs_and_Jill.jpg http://www.kaskus.us/showthread.php?p=64443202 Slide 10http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/James_Sunderlandhttp://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/James_Sunderland http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Heather_Mason Slide 11http://residentevil.wikia.com/File:Zombie_Deadly_Silence.jpghttp://residentevil.wikia.com/File:Zombie_Deadly_Silence.jpg http://residentevil.wikia.com/Villagers http://projectumbrella.net/articles/Resident-Evil-4 Slide 12http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/File:PyramidHeadPic.pnghttp://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/File:PyramidHeadPic.png http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/silent/images/1/1e/Demon_Nurse.jpg http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/File:Sh2_art_35.jpg Slide 13http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ir_residentevil4_gchttp://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ir_residentevil4_gc http://www.kombo.com/article.php?artid=13862 Slide 15http://www.blogcdn.com/xbox.joystiq.com/media/2007/06/soaloneinthedarkgun.jpghttp://www.blogcdn.com/xbox.joystiq.com/media/2007/06/soaloneinthedarkgun.jpg


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