There was a time when the name Resident Evil caused waves of excitement. These days it’s lucky enough to generate a bowel movement. Let’s face it friends, the Resident Evil franchise has become the very thing it made us fight. A shambling, bloated, husk of a being. Shuffling around awkwardly, only making us take notice when it would expel some mildly interesting game mechanics from its wretched gut. But now blinking on the horizon is Resident Evil 7, a new chapter in the ongoing saga of Biohazards and back-stabbing. Latest game Revelations 2 caused a ripple that pleased a lot of people, but there’s still an air of uncertainty hanging over the gaming world, will Resident Evil 7 bring the series back to its former glory? Or will it be the game that buries it forever?

For the record, I love Resident Evil. Always have, always will. I have fond memories of watching my dad play the original trilogy when I was a child. Questionable parenting aside, I was captivated by the characters and creatures on screen. I was however a little too scared to play the games myself, but flash forward ten years and I fell head over heels in love with them. I devoured every last morsel that Capcom threw at me, even sub-par efforts like Dead Aim and Outbreak File #2, which ditched the traditional formula in favour of zombie elephants.

Capcom, what were you thinking?

Resident Evil 4 however is a masterpiece and I’ll go fisticuffs with anyone who says otherwise. It revolutionised the gaming landscape and blew all other third-person action games out of the water. However it did fail in one area; the horror. Yes, it can be intense and nerve-racking but there’s a distinct lack of tension and scares that disappointed fan-boys like me. Jump ahead to Resident Evil 5, which is a great game in its own right, but a terrible excuse for a Resident Evil game. It took the iconic characters and turned them into bloated, cartoonish variations of the charming B-Movie stock personalities they once were. There was some great co-op, fun set-pieces and enough ridiculous dialogue to keep me smiling, but it was still a far-cry from the series heyday. Then along came Resident Evil 6. The less said about that game the better.

The recent Revelations games have proven to be a step in the right direction, but we still aren’t in the right place. There’s been a return to the survivalist nature of the first few outings, but Capcom are still cuddling up to the action genre and poisoning the games in the process. We’re currently drip-fed info on the next chapter and I’m finding it harder and harder to care. My once favourite franchise is simply boring me with endless copy-and-paste jobs littered with fan service. So what about Resident Evil 7? What exactly do we know?

The short answer is, not a great deal. A tentative release date is set for this coming December and we can expect the typical slot at this year’s E3 to provide us with samplings of gameplay. Capcom officials have stated that they want to move away from the direction of more recent offerings and it’s about time. Murmurs about returning to the drawing board of the first three games have also been heard, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Triple-A gaming has taken to the horror genre and given it a well needed kick up the arse. Critical and commercial success has been lavished upon games like Alien: Isolation and The Last of Us so surely it’s about time Resident Evil got back on the praise train and showed the games it inspired a lesson or two in fear. Now we’ve come to the root of the problem with recent Evils, they lack the fundamental elements that made Resident Evil so popular. A keen eye for horror and game mechanics that leaned heavily on survival.

The original game was so ground-breaking because you couldn’t just blast your way through zombies, you had to save every last bullet as you were never sure what was waiting in the shadows. There was a constant slew of creepy music to accompany you as you wandered around the Spencer Mansion. Usually followed by sudden bouts of silence that would make you clench so hard you’d leave indents in the upholstery. Nowadays, we have none of that. Gone is the subtlety and atmosphere; replaced with plentiful ammo pick-ups and enemies with the bone density of papier-mâché. As much as I enjoyed the fourth and fifth outings, I never really found myself struggling to beat them. There was some challenge in the later stages, but never a feeling of helplessness or genuine terror. Let’s face it ,it’s pretty difficult to feel helpless when you’re carrying a hand-cannon the size of your well-toned thighs. Even more so when you’re constantly being followed a side-kick who’s AI has the intelligence of a three year old.

I for one am finding it hard to believe Capcom on their statements. The wounds of the past are still open and games like Operation Raccoon City smashed salt into it like nobody’s business. Just because they say they’re taking a different direction, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re taking it in the right direction. Again, look at Operation Raccoon City, a detour into four-player co-op that completely missed the point and offered up a buffet so bland even the most gluttonous gamer turned their nose up at it. In my useless opinion, they need to drop the Christopher Nolan aesthetic, tear the fat from the flesh and give us what we all want.

A scary Resident Evil game.

We don’t want co-op, we don’t want quick-time events and we certainly don’t want an NPC that we have to shove in a bin every time an enemy appears. We want to be afraid of turning a corner, rationalising whether or not we can risk firing a slug into a nearby enemy, knocking it off balance for a second to quickly run away whimpering like a small child. Give us one gun, little ammo and a corridor of shuffling nasties and we’ll be satisfied. The recent HD remaster was a loving reminder of what Capcom are capable of when they put their minds to it. It’s solid, scary and very challenging. It also has it’s own one of a kind atmosphere that you can’t find anywhere else. Even with the face-lift, the REmake still packs that classic punch, undercutting the more horrific moments with spatters of horror cliché cheese. If you’re looking for a good horror game on the PS4 download market, you can’t get much better than that.

And whilst we’re on the subject, where has all the charm gone?

The first few games had all the appeal of late-night B-Movie schlock and revelled in every last moment. The voice-acting was dire but endearing. The controls were cumbersome, but that only added to the survivalist element of the game. You either adapted to it or become zombie food, your choice. That’s what hooked us fans, we didn’t need the flashy graphics or Matrix-inspired fight scenes. Even the tissue-thin plot of the original had its own charm, despite a twist so obvious you’d need to blind and deaf to not see it coming. The sequels did play up this angle, build to a point of perfection with Code Veronica, which is arguably the last truly great Resident Evil game. Personally, I put it down to Capcom’s decision to abandon the fixed camera angles that the series is famous for. Whilst the third-person over-the-shoulder view was innovative for the time, it’s basically industry standard now. Not only that, but it really takes away from the horror. Having a wide field of vision and free reign on aiming takes away the claustrophobic atmosphere of previous games. It may have won over a whole new bunch of fans from 4 onwards, but it definitely ushered in the beginning of the end.

The recent entries haven’t just been negatively received with fans either. Commercial sales for the series have plummeted and critics haven’t been especially kind either. Capcom knew that in the past fans would buy the games regardless and then word-of-mouth would boost sales, sadly that’s not the case now. When even the Call of Duty loving masses turn their backs on a game because they saw it for the generic mess it was, you know something is clearly amiss. Resident Evil 6 very nearly spelt the end of the franchise, sending it off in a flurry of bad design choices and uninspired set-pieces. This didn’t go unnoticed and most have washed their hands of Resi, however some people like me believe that there may still be some life in it yet. It’s growing tiresome trying to even show affection for a series that has derailed so badly that it doesn’t even know its own identity any more, but alas, I hold out some hope for the future.

Resident Evil 7 is still in development and sword of Damocles is dangling above it, ready to drop at a moment’s notice. All we can do is wait for E3 to roll around to see what Capcom are going to dish out. Here at VGU we will keep you updated with news as it surfaces. Let’s all hope for the best.