The remake ofResident Evil 3is set to drop in just a few months' time, and for many fans of the franchise, it’s one of themost anticipated games of 2020. There’s several reasons for this, ranging from the success of theResident Evil 2remake and the hot streak Capcom has seemingly been on with releases to the simple nostalgia for the game. And while opinions will always vary, few, if any, are saying anything about it being just another zombie game, seemingly implying that the franchise is immune to zombie fatigue.
Zombie fatigue, for the uninitiated, can be roughly defined as an extreme tiredness of seeing zombies in any particular medium due to its overabundance. And while this can apply to any entertainment medium, it’s always been true in video games. After all, there are zombies everywhere fromCall of Duty’s zombie modes to The Walking Dead(and every version of it from the Telltale series to the discontinuedOverkill’s The Walking Dead), fromDeadlighttoDying Light, fromDayZtoWorld War Z, and far, far more. And through it all, there’s beenResident Evil.
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Before moving forward, it’s worth mentioning that Capcom’s franchise isn’t the only zombie-oriented game to date that has seemed immune to this fatigue. Several, likeLeft 4 Dead, had such unique formulas or gameplay styles that it overcame any zombie fatigue, for the most part at the very least. But here’s a few reasons whyResident Evilstands out in the zombie-infested crowd.
First, it has time on its side. The originalResident Evilcame out in 1996, withRE2andRE3being fan-favorites well before zombies became a trend, andResident Evil 4also being well-receivedas more and more zombie games became available.Resident Evil 5andResident Evil 6have had its major detractors over the years, though little has to do with the zombie aspects, and so on and so forth through other spin-offs andResident Evil 7. However fans feel about latter games, the first few original games gave the franchise all the credibility it needed.
Then, it’s easy enough to put out the idea of a “zombie apocalypse” or “infection outbreak” and leave that vague for players. Doing so allows for gameplay and the zombies to be a focus, even when it’s a bad idea, as zombies create the perfect atmosphere for dumping rounds and rounds into an enemy, giving players “Challenging and rewarding” combat. Yet, from its various mysterious organizations andzombie types inResident Evil, it’s not that simple.
When players factor in the common types of zombies with and up to the Tyrants, fromResident Evils’s Umbrella to TriCell, there’s actually a lot of lore surrounding the zombies in-game. In other words, they’re not a simple mindless mechanic, but a incredibly complex story-and-world building device inResident Evil. Even when it doesn’t always hit home, it’s far more than generic “shoot-these-zombies,” while at the same time not being overtly complex. It captures the middle ground between thoughtless and overcooked.
Another good reason is that players know going into a zombie game that they’re relatively safe. They might die andState of Decayhas nice permadeath features, for example, but their character is going to be more or less immune to zombie bites. Some narrative games like Telltale can still work the emotion with someone being bitten, but the majority of games will not. Seemingly well-aware of this,Resident Evilhas tiptoed that line several times.
Characters die in these games, and while it’s not the main characters, it’s nice to see an actual impact from a zombie outbreak instead of the generic “they’re all dead” approach. Furthermore, not all big characters are completely protected, as long-timeprotagonist Jill Valentinegets infected at one point (though she does get cured). Once again,Resident Evilfinds itself in-between two extremes, and it works.
Ultimately, it may be becauseResident Evilis a horror survival franchise first, with zombies being secondary to that. Instead of a zombie franchise that just has survival horror elements as opposed to straight FPS or strategy elements, it’s a horror survival franchise with zombie elements. Using them properly goes a long way in whyResident Evilstands out as it does.
Resident Evil 3launches on July 22, 2025, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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