Monsters, New Directors, Racist Zombies and More

6 responses to “Monsters, New Directors, Racist Zombies and More”

1. I found a screenshot of Resident Evil 5 “Borat”: http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1853/boratinre5qg4.jpg !
   IS NICE I LIKE!!!!!

2. Yikes, The Constant Gardener holds any clout whatsoever? That’s a scary thought. Methinks after this rampant globetrotting RE6 should be the mandatory “… In Space” installment.
   To be fair, the influence seems to work both ways, not just literally we-made-this-game-a-movie. First person behind-the-gun cam swelled in popularity relative to that of the FPS genre, while more specifically industry giants like Wall*E swiped the feel of its intro from Fallout 1’s stellar opener.
   Nick, how was the original Resident Evil? I’ve been meaning to catch up on the series considering back in the day I was too engrossed in other genres – namely, RPG’s – to snag survival-horror’s roots with that and Silent Hill. If only I’d slept less and played more…

3. Joe – Do you think this means that RE6 will feature enemies that look like Bruno?
   J – The “In Space” concept would seem the logical next step if not for the fact that the last two REs seem so interested in environmental realism.
   As for the first RE, I played the Gamecube remake a few years back and thought the template held up reasonably well. Once RE4 came out, though, all of the prior installments immediately came to feel severely outdated, both in terms of mechanics and level/combat design.
   I haven’t touched the PS original in over a decade.

4. Hello Nick,
   I’ve long enjoyed your film reviews and was pleased to see you bring the same wit and intelligence to bare on the videogame world, which desperately needs sophisticated critical voices to bring the medium out of adolescent fantasy. Are you planning to review games more often or were you just compelled to do this now because of the race debate surrounding RE5? Personally, I would love to see your take on more serious work like Ico or Shadow of the Colossus; to my mind the strongest examples of the medium’s artistic potential. Keep up the good work at Slant.

5. Adorimbo – Thanks for the kind words. As my “Sandbox” column over at IFC News (which runs every other Friday) is mainly designed to investigate the links between the film and video game worlds, I won’t be straight-up reviewing any specific titles. However, within that framework, I aim to critically address a range of games (and topics), and the opportunity may arise to discuss Ico or Shadow of the Colossus at some future date.

6. Adorimbo – Any chance you could elaborate on what you refer to when you say “adolescent fantasy?” The reason I’m curious is because the PS2-GC-XBOX period that encompasses both games you’ve mentioned is often considered by most old school gamers to be the recession of gaming into adolescence, most notably with its mindset of graphics at the expense of gameplay. Whereas the prior decade saw titles like StarCraft, Fallout, Planescape Torment, Chrono Trigger/Cross, etc that excelled in every aspect desirable in a video game, most newer games tend to splinter into subsets. Games like Super Smash Brothers or Unreal Tournament 2004 offer superb gameplay sans artistic concerns while Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are exactly the reverse. (No kudos to Halo or GTA, which achieve neither.) I guess my point is that I’m interested in the viewpoint from the other camp.