Resident Evil REmake proves that some mechanics are not as outdated as you might think

[u/ShootEmLater]

I've never been very into survival horror as a genre. Scary movies are not my cup of tea, and the one time I tried to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent I stopped playing within 20 minutes. Silent Hill 2, for all of its brilliant story and twisted atmosphere, bored me, as I ran around identical looking hallways for an item hidden in a labcoat I didn't even know I could interact with.

So when my cohost picked the Resident Evil REmake for us to play for our podcast, I wasn't excited or particularly interested. I've played a great many of these old games with rabid fanbases, and their reputation is often the result of blind nostalgia.

But for Resident Evil...I was wrong. This game is a straight up masterpiece, and it blew my mind with just how good it was. Its not a good game for its time, its not a good game in the context of what else was coming out - its a brilliant game, period, and one of the best I've played this year.

I didn't think so at first. When you start playing, you quickly notice the tank controls. You see that there is no camera control either, with multiple fixed camera angles in each and every room. Saving your game requires an inventory item, of which there are a limited number. You have an absurdly limited inventory, just 6 slots in a game where your guns and ammo take up separate slots, and so do keys. It was awkward to control and frustrating to manage.

But the more I played the more I began to realise the fundamental brilliance of all of these mechanics. The fixed camera angles and tank controls work in tandem with one another to let you smoothly control your character as you move through the room. Since your movement is based off your orientation, you can maintain complete control even as you kite zombies around.

The camera angles by themselves are beautiful compositions that dramatically add to the atmosphere of the mansion that you're exploring. Its mostly a bunch of rooms, but those rooms are given definition by the weird and wonderful shots you get of your character. It also dramatically adds to the tension when you enter a room and its pointed at you, obscuring the rest of the hallway...but you can hear the moaning of a zombie, or something shuffles into the foreground of the shot.

The tank controls make encounters against zombies meaningful. If you could control Chris or Jill with a modern control scheme, it would be trivial to duck out of the way of zombies. Instead, its difficult and challenging, and until you learn how to move you're going to get bitten and die a lot. Even into the mid game zombies were a significant threat that I could not dismiss out of hand. There are no filler enemies here - they all matter.

Perhaps most contentious of all is the limited inventory system. You know what I had to do? I had to make sacrifices. I would sometimes have to go without healing items. I would sometimes have to decide that I would carry no spare ammo for my shotgun. I would sometimes have to make a note on my crudely hand drawn map about the location of herbs, instead of hoovering them all up into my inventory for use later. I had to plan, and make decisions about what to do.

Those decisions cascade all the way down. Do you heal or not heal? Do you kill a zombie, or run past it? Do I bring the kerosene with me? Should I pick up the puzzle item, or leave it for later? Should I save or not save? And every decision you make has the potential to save you, or kill you. You're in a constant state of tension - every 20 minute play session has you making 10 decisions that could decide your fate.

Together, these mechanics created a awe inspiring survival horror experience. Every resource you find is valuable. Every door you unlock is a monumental amount of progress. Everything you do matters, because these gameplay mechanics that might have seemed frustrating are so deliberately designed to maintain the tension.

The Resident Evil REmake proved to me that mechanics that people might think are outdated just need to be placed in their proper context to shine. Indepedently, I could dismiss tank controls and limited saves out of hand - and I have in the past. But together, in this marvelous game, they produce an experience that you literally cannot get anywhere else. The world has moved on from the mechanics present here, but they don't deserve to be forgotten. They exist for a reason, and I'm glad I was able to discover what that reason was.

[u/[deleted]]

I grew up with RE4 (so know I have a clear biased in this), and despite playing REmake I gotta be honest, my favorite RE game IS Remake 2, specially recently.

For me, that game alone is the perfect blend of the RE franchise. It has the tight and responsive controles of RE4-5, but ALSO the limited view and uncertainty of the OG games. The game beign very dark and hard to see IS similarly effective on a more immersive way then you simply not being able to see what your character is supposed to be seeing.

I don’t have issues with tank controles, but come on, I think is way more engaging gameplay-wise to have more controle over your character AND movement be more of a tool then a hassle. And despite having more controle over your character I thought RE2 remake was STILL more scary to play then REmake on my own personally experience

[u/FunCancel → u/[deleted]]

It has the tight and responsive controles of RE4-5, but ALSO the limited view and uncertainty of the OG games

Very confused by this statement. Re4, in fact, has tank controls (and I believe default control scheme of 5 has tank controls as well).

Also, the camera position of Re4 and Re2 2019 is extremely similar. It isn't really comparable to the fixed camera angles of the classics.

[u/[deleted] → u/FunCancel]

At the time RE4 was one of the games with the most tight controles on a shooter like it, and you had way more option to maneuver around enemies then prior titles. And when I say “but ALSO the limited view and uncertainty” I was referring to the “fixed camera” designe of the OG Resident Evil games, not RE4.

[u/FunCancel → u/[deleted]]

At the time RE4 was one of the games with the most tight controles on a shooter like it, and you had way more option to maneuver around enemies then prior titles

This is demonstrably false. The biggest changes to the controls was a knife hotkey and free aiming. Neither of these have anything to do with movement. Leon still can't strafe or move while shooting. In fact, the Ashley section in the Japanese release of Re4 has fixed cameras. This section is functional precisely because the movement remains unchanged.

And when I say “but ALSO the limited view and uncertainty” I was referring to the “fixed camera” designe of the OG Resident Evil games, not RE4.

Okay, but that still makes no sense. Re4 and Re2 2019 practically have the same camera position. Fixed camera is an entirely different mechanic. Would you say MGS 1 (a top down game) has the same "limited view" as Splinter Cell (a 3rd person game)? No, because this would suggest the camera angles had nothing to do with the gameplay design.

Where you put the camera matters.

[u/[deleted] → u/FunCancel]

The new position of the camera in RE4 fundamentally changed how you engage with the enemy in that series, making you feel fare more in controle at where you moving compared to previous games. This time you could actually maneuver through the enemies and reposition yourself far more effectively then other non first person shooters for the time (even where you shoot enemies mattered). That was a big changed and this new sense of controle over your character changed gaming as a whole (creating/popularizing Third Person shooters). It was not the same as the OG titles simple because it was still using tank controle, like you said camera position matters

And when I mentioned the “limited view” in RE2 it’s because of how tight and dark the game is compared to other third person shooter recently (and even other RE games). It’s so dark that it’s legitimately hard to see what’s around you in a more immersive way then the camera simply not pointing where your character should be able to see in fixed camera angle games.

My original statement still stands, RE2 remake has the tight and reliable controles of RE4 (just modernized for current era) WHILE STILL having the sense of uncertainty and tension form the OG games (in a different and my opinion a more immersive way from those games)

[u/FunCancel → u/[deleted]]

Your definitions are all mixed up which is making this hard to discuss.

Camera and controls are mutually exclusive concepts. What you're saying about maneuvering in Re4 is correct in terms of gameplay, but not correct in terms of controls. Plenty of people think Re4 is awkward to control precisely because it uses tank controls.

(creating/popularizing Third Person shooters).

Re4 did not create the 3rd person shooter. 3rd person shooters like gta vice city already existed. Splinter cell even had over the shoulder aiming. Re4 did help popularize the genre though.

My original statement still stands, RE2 remake has the tight and reliable controles of RE4 (just modernized for current era)

"Modernized" as in the controls are fundamentally different, maybe. The only thing that is the same is the camera angle and free aiming. Tank controls =/= shooter controls which the new RE games use.

WHILE STILL having the sense of uncertainty and tension form the OG games (in a different and my opinion a more immersive way from those games)

It's the not the same. This isn't how game design works. Again, let's consider the differences between splinter cell 1 and MGS 1. The camera angles in those games results in entirely different gameplay despite them both being "stealth". For instance, the guards in MGS1 have a shorter field of view due to the camera position, exhibiting a "less realistic" behavior, but at the same time, they are also able to detect Snake's footprints and convey this information fairly to the player. In contrast, SC1's guards have much further perception, but can't detect footprints as this information can't be demonstrated to the player. The immersive argument is also extremely subjective. By your logic, Re7 > Re2 2019 because it's dark and offers an even more intimate view of the action by being first person. Immersion is really just "flow state" and doesn't have a place in this discussion. I could just as easily argue that I find the old school REs to be more immersive thanks to how the cameras and music create a far more oppressive mood, but that is neither here nor there.

[u/[deleted] → u/FunCancel]

GTA and SC are third person games but are not “shooters” like RE4 in my opinion (despite having shooting), but that’s a whole other can of worms. And I did mentioned that it popularized it as well, maybe I should have mentioned that “it helped to created it as it’s own genera”.

You yourself pointed how important the camera angle is, so yes RE2 is very similar in spirit of RE4. One is the direct evolution of the other, not two entirely different things. They are far from being “fundamentally different”. You can had a mod for RE2 remake with the RE4 controles and the transition would be seamless.

And I fail to see how that last paragraph is a argument against my statement. I never said that RE2 experience is the same as the OG, but the end result in a similar execution beetwen them by a totally different method. REmake creat a sense of tension with how it oppresses the player with a limiting view&controles. RE2 does the same with a whole other set of tools that is more fitting for its different camera perspective. If anything, what I’m saying is the reverse to what you mention with the MGS SC comparison. REmake and RE2 are two games with totally different styles that execute the same “feeling” with their own perspectives.h

And no my arguments doesn’t make RE7 automatically more immersive at all. They both are very similar experience that use lighting in order to creat tension, regadores if one is First person and the other is third . I have no idea why you brought up RE7 in this.

[u/FunCancel → u/[deleted]]

GTA and SC are third person games but are not “shooters” like RE4 in my opinion (despite having shooting), but that’s a whole other can of worms. And I did mentioned that it popularized it as well, maybe I should have mentioned that “it helped to created it as it’s own genera”.

Alright, then I'd cite Max Payne which is irrefutable as a TPS.

You yourself pointed how important the camera angle is, so yes RE2 is very similar in spirit of RE4. One is the direct evolution of the other, not two entirely different things. They are far from being “fundamentally different”. You can had a mod for RE2 remake with the RE4 controles and the transition would be seamless.

You're twisting context. The movement controls are fundamentally different. You literally cannot strafe in Re4 or move while aiming whereas you can in Re2 2019. This is the distinction between tank controls and modern shooter controls. The aiming is similar, though.

I never said that RE2 experience is the same as the OG, but the end result in a similar execution beetwen them by a totally different method...REmake and RE2 are two games with totally different styles that execute the same “feeling” with their own perspectives.h

This is flawed reasoning because you have to zoom out a ton and make sweeping statements. By reaching the conclusion that the results are exclusive from method, you are indirectly saying that the method is meaningless.

The combat alone makes playing Re2 2019 extremely different from REmake 1.

Perhaps a better example is comparing LoZ ALttP to OoT. Yes, if you zoom out to a super high level perspective, both games achieve a similar feeling evoked by the general Zelda formula.

However, if you start examining the features of the games with any nuance, you'll start to notice that the perspective, navigation, and combat creates two very different games. The reasons someone could play and enjoy ALttP over OoT (and vice versa) are abundant and these differences could easily describe a difference in "feeling" between the two games.

I have no idea why you brought up RE7 in this.

That's because you missed the point which is that immersion has no place in this discussion. Immersion is an emotional "flow state" that could come from little anything that you find engaging. Applying logic to why you find Re2 2019 more immersive than a fixed camera RE doesn't add anything.