Welcome back to our continuing Resident Evil 15th anniversary celebrations. Today, we offer up our top six sofa-soiling scares—and believe us, there’s plenty to choose from.
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DOWN, FIDO
I know what you’re thinking—“how predictable,” right? While I’ll concede RE1’s dog-through-the-window surprise isn’t exactly the most original pick, it’s here for a reason: it’s a bloody good scare. Indeed, I’ve yet to meet anyone who hasn’t admitted to soiling their sofas during their first play-through of the original survival horror classic when it comes to this iconic jump-out-of-your-set showstopper. It’s a quintessentially classic Resi fright-fest through and through: simple, yet ruthlessly effective. Taking place during your initial snooping of the Mansion following Wesker’s disappearance, you find yourself creeping down a corridor adorned with some of the ugliest game carpet we’ve ever clapped eyes on.
As you stroll through the conspicuously decorated halls—highlights of which include a cabinet packed full of human bones—a quick switch of the camera signals one of the local mutts to come crashing through the window, its decaying husk flapping about like a meat rack. Eager to sink its teeth into your supple flesh, the pungent-smelling pooch doesn’t give you much time to react as it leaps forward, fangs bared. You dispatch it, move on, and wallop as another hell hound rocks up for a mid-night snack. After putting doggy no. 2 down to rest, the blaring, heart-pumping score finally recedes, leaving you to ponder over how you didn’t see it coming a mile off.
Classic stuff.
MR X DEMONSRATES THE ART OF DRAMATIC ENTRANCES
I’ll freely admit that Resident Evil 2 overall lacked the same stomach-knotting atmosphere as its predecessor, but in terms of scares, its potential to bake trouser brownies was almost unparalleled at the time. Curiously, most folk seem to name the attack of the giant Alligator (or is it Crocodile?) as one of the sequel’s crowning pant-cacking moments, but I disagree most emphatically. The Croc packed a mean punch, but I saw it coming like a bull in a china shop. Mr. X, on the other hand, is in my humble opinion the pinnacle of the game’s knee-tremblers. And I’m willing to be the more discerning Resi nut will agree. Naturally, I’m talking about THAT moment in the R.P.D Press room, where X surprises you the only way he knows how, by busting through the wall with one meaty fist. The great thing about this scare is it’s genuinely unexpected. Up until this point, you haven’t clapped eyes on your inexorable adversary for a good hour or so, and so the game allows you to relax. That perpetual sense of foreboding doom, the inner warning that some mutated monstrosity is just seconds from tearing out your liver has alleviated—well, just about.
After solving yet another incongruously-placed puzzle, you pop on over to the corner of the room to pick up a key object and BAM—X comes crashing through the wall. From here on out, you’re on amber alert. And if you aren’t, RE2’s about to give you another slap on the backside for not being prepared as the trench coat-wearing Tyrant apparently has another disagreement with the wall outside, smashes out of the room you were just in, and subsequently blocks the sanctuary of the hall exit with its considerable bulk. In all my years as a RE fan, I’ve yet to encounter another out-of-your-seat screamer that’s been implanted on the old grey matter as much as this. Considering RE2 was made back in 1998, that’s quite a statement. Well, okay, there was that time with Nemesis, but X laid the stepping stones for his successors.
NEMESIS HAS A SMASHING TIME
Plucking a suitably sofa-soiling moment from old Nemmy isn’t exactly difficult—there’s a myriad of occasions where the S.T.A.R.S stalker’s instilled an unyielding sense of fear in our systems. Whether it’s the tense, nail-biting creeping around that precedes an encounter, or the pulse-pounding battles with the creature itself, Nemesis delivers the goods and then some. However, I ultimately plumped for a good old fashioned shocker—namely, the infamous moment where our growling guest smashes through the window in the R.P.D. brandishing a rocket launcher. I’m pretty sure that cost me a fresh pair of underwear back in the day, and in February 2000, I was still living off the remnants of my pocket money. Not a pretty picture. Anyway, more pertinently, the scene serves as one of RE3’s defining scares, although to be fair you could argue the toss between this and a number of other Nemesis-centric spectacles dotted throughout the game. It’s admittedly not quite as unexpected as Mr. X’s wall-busting antics—primarily due to a pre-emptive crash ominously emanating through the halls – but you’re still never quite sure when it will happen.
Furthermore, in typical Resi fashion the game kicks the fear factor up a notch with the accompanying Nemesis-is-about-to-rock-up-and-kick-your-arse score that accentuates the already heart-pounding proceedings as you creep downstairs to investigate.Reaching the bottom, you press on forward, only for your hulking adversary to bust through the window behind you, howling for blood. If that wasn’t bad enough, the situation is further exacerbated by the cramp nature of the corridor, giving you very little room to maneuver, much less take on your leather-clad pursuer. Better hope you grabbed that Magnum or Grenade Launcher in the S.T.A.R.S office prior to your encounter, or consider yourself brown bread. Oh, and about the rocket launcher, I’m still not sure how Miss Valentine is able to survive a rocket up the rectum, but somehow she does. Still, don’t expect to brush it off—you’ll be hobbling all the way from here to the save room after a shot or two, providing Nemmy with ample opportunity to finish you off for good. Those of you who possess immaculate timing and/or just want to show they’ve mastered the intricacies of tank controls will probably be able to dodge a shot or two, but it’s not worth the risk. Time to get the hell out of dodge.
FINGER LICKING GOOD
Lickers made a welcome and long overdue return in Resident Evil 5, but it’s their classic Resident Evil 2 incarnation that really made the hairs on our neck stand to attention. And it’s here that I’ve singled out what I perceive to be the Licker’s defining moment—namely, the part where the razor-tongued lizard-man nearly slobbers all over Leon’s face moments upon his arrival in the R.P.D. A classic slow burner, the Licker’s introduction throws in a few subtle ingredients into the pot, stirs it up a bit, before bringing the fear factor to the boil. And boy, does it sizzle. First, there’s the moment where you clap eyes on a mysterious, humanoid shape scuttling past the window; it’s so fast, you barely have time to form a coherent thought to comprehend just what the bloody hell it is you just saw. Moving on through into the next corridor, all is silent as a tomb. Well, except for a faint dripping sound—and somehow, it’s unlikely someone’s left the tap running.
Skulking around the corner, you clock the source of the pitter-patter; a headless corpse lies sprawled on the floor a few feet in front of you, blood dripping from the ceiling. Yes, the ceiling. In FMV mode, you look up, wide-eyed at the eye-less, red form creeping overhead. The creature roars, gobs all over the floor, and swoops down in one effortless motion—and you’re next on the menu. As you exit the FMV, the Licker attacks right off the bat, giving you little time to react. It’s a fitting intro to one of the series’ most iconic creatures, and instills a very firm sense of caution upon your old Grey Matter. Speaking of Grey Matter, the Licker’s is fully exposed, so here’s a tip: aim down.
ENTER THE REGENERATOR
I could waffle on to the ends of the earth about how I feel Resident Evil has lost its Survival Horror mojo since the release of Mikami-san’s highly lauded swansong (that’s Resident Evil 4, in case you didn’t guess), but I won’t. No, Resident Evil 4 wasn’t particularly scary, in fact, I’ve probably been more scared by an episode of the Telly Tubbies (although upon reflection, the very thought of LaLa and co gives me the cold sweats). However, one area where the over-the-shoulder shooter did triumph is the introduction of the slobbering Regenerators—unequivocally one of the most unnerving foes in the illustrious franchise to date, bar none.
Make no mistake, these guys are the stuff of nightmares, and make the chainsaw-wielding Dr. Salvador look like some fat bloke who’s just chucked a potato sack on his head after one too many pints down the local boozer—which oddly enough, is a pretty accurate description all the same. Still, it’s not just the very sight of them that gives me the heebie-jeebies –although their bloated, razor-toothed features certainly would crack a few mirrors—it’s the fact they’re insanely tough buggers who soak up ammo like a sponge. As such, the application of a special infra-red scope is required to put them down without wasting bullets, a method that requires pin-point accuracy and leaves you highly susceptible to their brain-sucking tendencies.
SOMEONE GET ME A DOCTOR
Resident Evil Code: Veronica represented a significant leap for the series, namely being the first core entry to employ 3D backgrounds as opposed to static, pre-rendered environments. And, despite the extra pixel-pushing power required to squeeze out those detailed locales, the game didn’t skimp on scares. The general consensus among RE fans, however, seems to point to the morgue/torture chamber as the most prominent of knee-tremblers. And frankly, I’m not surprised—it’s a right corker. The scene takes place while you’re still in the confines of the Prison complex on Rockfort Island, with heroine Claire Redfield poking around inside an old shack hidden behind a blood-splattered guillotine stand. Accompanied by an ominous, stomach-knotting score, you snoop around a medical ward, before spotting a door in the corner. As you enter, the camera shifts behind Miss Redfield, giving you a view of the body bag slumped on the table behind you. It moves. In the next room, you dispatch the gaggle of flame-grilled undead and pick up a few objects strewn about the place, which seems to be a makeshift torture chamber equipped with numerous incinerators.
Back in the next room, the body bag is conspicuously empty. You hear a noise just beyond your viewpoint that sounds like someone’s busy chewing on something…or someone. Sure enough, you clap eyes on a zombified doctor tucking into who we presume was a former patient. The dead doc spots you, and, preferring a Happy Meal on legs as opposed to a cold corpse, lumbers after you at an alarming pace. The patient’s body, meanwhile, soon rises and joins in the free-for-all feast. After feeding them some hot lead and solving yet another brain-aching puzzle, you unearth the entrance to mad man Alfred Ashford’s private “amusement” quarters—that is, a grisly, claret-drenched chamber filled with various torture devices. All that’s left of his unfortunate victims however, are a group of rotting zombies. Indeed, there’s no fancy jump-out-of-your-seat antics here; just a perennial sense of dread that infects your senses as you survey the actions of an unscrupulous aristocrat, who not long ago tried to put a bullet between your pretty eyes. Gripping stuff.
Join us again tomorrow for more Resident Evil-related highlights here at PlayStation Universe.