Resident Evil
Considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the survival horror genre, Resident Evil paved the way for many legendary series we play today. While the various monsters and campy B-movie storyline helped make initial playthroughs of this title extremely memorable, it was the combat that helped solidify its importance. Players were given a variety of different weapons including a shotgun, pistol, and a rocket launcher. However, unlike the over the shoulder mechanics, we are accustomed to now, the camera was locked at fixed points in each section.
This created a unique sense of tension that made aiming rather tricky even for the slower moving zombies. Even though a fixed aiming system could be viewed as frustrating, it allowed the combat to always have higher stakes that players would need to consider. There’s a finite amount of ammo in Resident Evil, so missing any shots could easily mean death. Resident Evil forced players to manage their resources carefully, which was something that horror hadn’t really asked players to do before. It’s this balance between knowing when to run or fight that helped sell every horrific moment this title had to offer.
