Well, I finally got around to playing a little bit of Resident Evil (the GC remake). Apart from the controls which feel slugish, it's a very fun and polished game. Thus far I must admit to feeling that Silent Hill is better, but then again I haven't played RE4 which seems to be on everyone's awesome-game list (I actually do have the GC version, but haven't had time to play)! So, what are people's thoughts on Resident Evil as a series? Anyone out prefer one  (RE) or the other (SH)? Other than RE4 are any of the other games worth playing? I do have RE Zero, which I plan on taking it for a spin...  So, how do RE2,3,Veronia measure?

cheers,

-avatar!

edit: Yeah, I have to admit loving "scary" games! Probably my favorite such games are:

Alone in the Dark (as classic as they come, with a cool story, cool narration, and great music!)
Eternal Darkness (definitely, this game deserves a sequel! great in all respects)
The Seventh Guest (game is outdated, but great at the time, and even today the soundtrack still rocks!)

also, I'm looking forward to playing Fatal Frame (whenever I get a 360

I've never played any of the Silent Hill games but I really enjoy Resident Evil 2 a lot. I thought it was better than the original and it was before the original RE formula became stale with later sequels/prequels. If you're playing RE4 for the Wii you might want to pick up RE2 up for the GameCube (you can get it for next to nothing at an EB) since the characters (and one particluar one in-game joke at the end) refer back to RE2. Anyways, the game just feels right and I have a blast even though I know the game inside and out.

Also, RE2's soundtrack is also extremely well done, I can't recommend it enough.

Personally, I love the Silent Hill series more than the Resident Evil series. Although RE4 and the original RE for PSX are the only two games I've beaten to completion myself (I watched a friend beat both scenarios in RE2), I have played all of them in one way or another; I've beat Silent Hill 1-3 many times, and made it halfway through SH4.

Mainly, I like SH more for three reasons: 1) a bottomless inventory, 2) a scarier soundtrack, and 3) the horror is much more cerebral and constant than the jumpy scares of the RE series. I can see the strategy for the item boxes in RE, but they just pissed me off; why have magic boxes that transport all your items around from room to room when you could just make the inventory bigger? I can see how it raises the tension, but I didn't care for it much. I never understood how a rocket launcher and a key took up the same amount of space. At least RE4 fixed that with its inventory system.

Anyway, here are some thoughts on the games from both series:

RE - Classic. At one point or another, this is a must-try, even if it's just to see where the series started. Like Tomb Raider before it, RE was a very groundbreaking title that did something that really hadn't been done before.

RE2 - A much better game than RE, but I found this one to be harder. Like Ashley said, the soundtrack is killer. I made it about halfway through this game on my own, so I have a lot of fondness and nostalgia toward the first half of the soundtrack. The replay value is great, especially since there are two variants of each character's scenario to play through.

RE3 - The split-story aspect was really cool, as were the events where you could choose to right or run from the Nemesis. From what I played, though, there wasn't anything much else new here. RE2 still trumps it.

RE:CVX - I played the PS2 version for an hour or two. Nothing much new here except for a great soundtrack (worlds better than RE3's) and better graphics. I could be way wrong since I never finished it, though.

RE4 - Less scary than other RE titles, but very intense! I have beaten this game five times because it's so awesome. This is the direction the series needs to take for it to stay fresh. Actually having ammo to f--- up Ganados and make heads explode is great.

RE (GCN) - A great re-envisioning of the original game. Beautiful graphics, a reworked soundtrack and some genuinely terrifying moments (especially in the dormitory) make this a solid GCN title and a great addition to the series. Unfortunately, the item system bugged me enough for me to quit playing about 4 hours in.

RE:0 - I found the double character system to be a bit of a pain. I would have rathered the game play as two separate scenarios, like RE/RE2.

SH - The first survival horror game I played and completed on my own. Scared the piss out of me. The first time I made it to the elementary school I had to turn on the lights and turn down the sound on the TV. Nothing had prepared me for the reality shift and total WTF-just-happened aspects of this game. A real, real classic.

SH2 - Talk about a great story! SH2 took what made SH so great and nex-gen'd it. Total mindfuck, totally awesome. This also has the best soundtrack in the series. And... Pyramid Head. Mannequin rape. COME ON.

SH3 - Continuing the story from SH was a great idea, and everything just "fits" perfectly. I'll never forget the very end of the game... man, what an awesome title. Revisiting old locations with a new twist was awesome; the hospital scared the crap outta me!

SH4 - Cool music, some decent potential... and a shitty game. Stay away.

I also have to give a shout out to Eternal Darkness for being an awesome horror game, as well as the (much slower) FATAL FRAME series. I think the first Fatal Frame was the scariest game I have ever played. I was alone in my basement playing in a window-less room at 2 in the morning. Creepy-ass shit, for real.

Wow, RE vs. SH, that is a classic Battle right there.

To put it simply,

Action: RE > SH

Everything else: SH > RE

Now don't get me wrong, cos Action counts for a LOT.
I probably prefer the RE gameplay because it's actual FUN, but SH deserves credit for doing just about everything else, scare-factor, music, design, story, MUCH better.
RE is a title you pick up and play, and replay, whenever you want and have fun, SH is a title you pick up, put down to get some fresh air and wait till the shadows go away, finish and never go back again, because the game will come back TO YOU, when you least expect it.

Heck, let's go down the list:

RE: This is why I bought a PSX in the first place. Absolutely awesome. I don't care if Alone in the Darkness did it first. RE was the first to do it GOOD.

RE2: Take everything that was cool about the original, improve upon it greatly, add a shitload of cool stuff, and you get what is arguably the best Survival Horror EVAHR.
Two different perspectives, each with two different storylines make for great replay value, plus great graphics, great music, great EVERYTHING.
Have to disagree with Zane though. It's much easier than RE1 I think. NO HUNTERS.

RE3: Didn't care very much for this at all. The scenario thing was nice, but it only changed the temporary flow of the game, not the outcome. And having that Asshole running after you the whole time was a bloody goddamn PAIN.

RECV: Played it on DC, it was okay, I actually rather liked the story, but the action was less interesting. Zombie shooting was just a lot less fun somehow.

REGC: WOW! I mean....WOW. Absolutely stunning. THIS is what a remake should be!
If it hadn't been for the EXTREMELY annoying Crimson Heads addition, forcing you to go back and forth with your lighter to burn every zombie you floored, this game would have made it to the top of my list. Now it's just an extremely awesome game with a MAJOR annoying factor.

RE0: Meh. I liked the idea, and it was executed pretty well. The train part is drop-dead gorgeous, but it failed to keep me interested for very long. Cool ending though.

RE4: Pure Visionary Brilliance. I heard Shinji Mikami was actually replaced by GOD himself to produce this game, and I am willing to accept this as fact
It doesn't get much better than this.

SH: Holy shit this game scared the living crap outta me. And it still does EVERY SINGLE time. It's seriously freaky, those sirens bugged me the hell out, and it made me cry like a little girl (with short black hair)
I loved it!

SH2: Best story I've ever come across in any Videogame EVER. One of the very few stories EVER in any kind of media that made me experience sincere heartfelt emotions towards the characters, and it keeps haunting me to this day. Brilliant.

SH3: Fantastic design and presentation. Visually my absolute favorite in the series, some great dark environments with lots of freaky stuff happening JUST outside of view (and plenty in full view as well), great soundtrack, although not as emotional and fitting as SH2, but a dumb story, and Heather's attitude was cute in the beginning but it started to piss me off before long. Some nice references to SH2 though, if you have a savegame on your memory card.

SH4: Godawful. If Capcom managed to sign up God for RE4, Konami had to work with Beelzebub for this one, and I don't mean for the scare-factor. The basic idea of a guy being stuck in his appartment was kinda cool, and decently worked out, but WHY do we get the RE-style magic box!? WHY do we get lots of invincible ghosts THAT COME THROUGH WALLS AND DOORS!? WHY do I have to play the same stages TWICE!? And WHY do I have to be followed by ANOTHER invincible freak for the second time? And WHY do I have to pretect SOMEONE ELSE as well? AND WHY DO THE NURSES BURP!?
Stay away from this one. If you see it in a store somewhere, spit on it.
That's what I do.

And since everyone's mentioning it, Eternal Darkness was cool for the Dementia factor, but not actually that much fun to play IMHO.
The Fatal Frame series rocks, though the first one annoyed me because you're basically runnning through the same environment over and over again. Crimson Butterfly was definitely my favorite, in every category, and the only one that actually SERIOUSLY scared the shit out of me, shouting-out-loud style at one point. Gotta love that.
The third one was decent, but again a bit too much repetition. I'd still like to see a fourth one though. Please Tecmo? Lay off the DOA for a minute?

For me, the only SH is SH2 and the only RE is RE4.  The rest, ... blah.

Personally, Resident Evil takes it.  Why?  Because it does a better job of merging gameplay with its storylines.  Ultimately, the best Resident Evil games provide a more intensive and immersive experience.  Sure, the storylines are B-movie stuff, but that's intentional.  While I do enjoy the attempts of the Silent Hill games to give you a more psychological kind of horror story, the gameplay never really seems to become an integral part of the experience.  Also, I feel like Silent Hill lost a certain edge after the original game.  I really enjoyed the crazy atmosphere of the first game and the second game went for a more focused, melodramatic approach.  The third game I only played for a few hours but it felt less polished than its predacessors somehow.  I might be wrong, but I'd have to play it further to know for sure.

Anyways:

Resident Evil - Not what I'd consider a true classic (a true classic is ageless), but a classic nonetheless.  A game that set the stage for things to come.

Resident Evil 2 - Possibly the pinnacle of the series and one of the greatest games of all time.  The dual scenario setup was genius, the action intense, and the sheer sense of variety and solid design in every area has yet to be surpassed in the series.

Resident Evil 3 - One of my least favorite games in the series.  A disappointing wannabe rehash of RE2.  Obviously a decent game considering what it takes from but not a true sequel.

Resident Evil CV - An excellent entry in the series.  It has probably the best soundtrack and maybe the best story of the games.  Plus it has the Tyrant fight on the plane, which is one of the most memorable boss encounters for me.

REmake - Right up there with RE2.  If only all remakes could be like this.  The environments in the game are pretty much mind-blowing.  The redone Aqua Ring says it all.  They turned a minor and forgettable area of the original into one of the most memorable areas of any game.

Resident Evil Zero - I agree with Zane on this one.  The character swapping didn't work for me and the game just didn't engage me.  Dropping items anywhere didn't work too well either.

Resident Evil 4 - A good game but not what I'd call the best of the series.  Gameplay-wise, it's very good, but I thought the story and creatures were lacking.  It lacked the intrigue of the older games and just doesn't feel like RE without the zombies.  Crazed villagers just aren't that creepy.  More Regenerator-type stuff and less MGS would've been better.

Silent Hill - An unforgettable experience.  Not as excellent all-around as RE2 but the sheer madness of it all makes it a favorite for me.  It has an almost sandbox kind of quality that I like and the music is downright disturbing and unlike anything I'd heard in a game before.

Silent Hill 2 - A good game with a well-crafted story.  I know I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed it less than the original.  The music was good but less scary.  The game also had a linearity to it that hurt the enjoyment factor for me.

I haven't played much of Silent Hill 3 but the music seems to have become even more focused on guitar riffs than industrial/dark ambient, going further in the direction that SH2 went.  Unlike SH2 however, I felt very iffy about it in the earlygoing, as I disliked the opening dream sequence.  I'll have to rent the game again or buy it.

Silent Hill 4 I haven't played at all, and based on what I've heard about it, I'm not missing much.

Other horror favorites:

Eternal Darkness - Probably has the best told story of any horror title I've played.  The great music and variety in other aspects doesn't hurt either.

System Shock 2 - Those damn spiders make me cringe, but seriously, this one is a gem.  The atmosphere is unlike any other and the method of storytelling is unique.

Parasite Eve - It has some disturbing parts and I found it a memorable experience.  Great soundtrack and I could swear that some parts of the game inspired Vagrant Story.

A nod to Blue Velvet, no doubt.

In defense of SH4, that was the second SH game I played (the first was SH1, which annoyed and frightened me at the same time). I TOTALLY dug SH4.  One of a couple of games at the time that got me into playing video games again (yay productivity).

I quite enjoyed SH4 too and think it has a lot to offer. The huge problem with the game, as Amazingu pointed out, is having to play through stages twice. That's just a terribly cheap way of extending gameplay. But what's in those stages really worked for me (okay, with the possible exception of the burping nurses which were utterly ridiculous). I loved the feel of the game, love how it tied into the others, thought the ghosts were a great addition and thought the story had much more to offer me than the Buffy story of SH3 (best looking SH but, for me, the lack of characters, awful linear plot and saturation of enemies killed it).

My problem with horror games is that there seems to be some unwritten requirement that they have absolutely horrendous play control.  As such, I think both the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series should be filed in the "great idea, terrible execution" bin.  However, if I have to pick one series over the other, I pick Resident Evil simply because Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games ever made, possibly because it has little to nothing in common with previous Resident Evil games.

As for the oft mentioned Eternal Darkness, it was the first NGC game I bought that I really enjoyed (sorry, I could never get into Smash Bros.), but I don't think it stands the test of time.  Having to replay each dungeon three times with very slight changes gets old.

And that about sums up my thoughts on both series'. I've never understood how people were able to get over the control style of horror games. I certainly haven't.

Hmmm, to be fair, the play control was fairly "bad" relatively speaking, but once you get used to it it's really not so terrible. I found it to be less an issue in SH because you have more room to move around, hence avoid enemies. Anyway, I guess it depends what you're looking for, but these games are so much fun that I don't really mind the somewhat annoying control (for the most part

cheers,

-avatar!

I agree, but that's more of a replay value issue rather than an issue of the game being less playable or compelling to some outdated bit of design.

Besides, you don't have to play it three times with the same file.  Only if you want to see the extra ending part.  Plus doing so gets you the level select thing in which you can play whatever chapter and toggle invincibility.  I looked at it as a bonus.  Most people will play the game once under the god of their choosing and that's it.  I'd suggest that those people play against Ulyaoth (blue) for the best impression of the game.  The green one (Xelotath) is alright with her madness and the red (Chatturga) is absolutely boring with his stupidity.

I actually enjoyed playing through it thrice, because it was so awesome! Other than the graphics, everything about the game is as good today as it was the day it came out... the music is superb, the voice acting is great, the story is wonderful, the gameplay is tight! I really can't find much flaw in this game, although you could argue it was a bit on the easy side, and a "hard mode" would have been nice. Other than that, this is one of the best games Nintendo ever published! I want a sequel

cheers,

-avatar!

"...languishing, festering somewhere in his hidden tomb, plotting"

I think you misunderstood me.  I wasn't referring to replaying the whole game with different colors.  I was referring to how one play through of the game essentially forces you to play the same three dungeons three times each with some minor variations.

I see.  So you're talking about the areas that are revisted in the timeline, like the jungle ruin and the chapel, right?  I thought that worked brilliantly for the storytelling.  Being able to revisit a place under different circumstances and finding new areas deeper within helped add to the sense that all of these different people were working towards uncovering the decades-long evil plot.

Personally, the only gripe I have with the game is not so much the easiness as how the easiness makes it more difficult to experience the sanity effects.  You pretty much have to let your sanity meter drop intentionally in order to see all the cool effects.  Otherwise I think it's a great game and standout title in the genre.

Totally agreed.  I really enjoyed getting to see how the different locales looked and felt in each time period.

As for RE vs. SH, I like them both, but for different reasons.  Silent Hill is by far the best in the ACTUALLY SCARY department, with its weird and creepy screw-with-your-mind stuff.  RE, on the other hand, is a great audience game, since the story is less complicated and the scares are more... jumpy... ones (I can't think of how I want to phrase that... hopefully you get what I mean).

Well, I just figured that after four years in development they could come up with a little variety, but I guess not.

Avatar, I also remember 7th Guest!  It came with a very old (perhaps the first!) computer my family bought, alongside Megarace.  Really scary game... I was scared to even put it in the disc drive!  I still remember that bone-chilling introduction about "Stauf's mansion"....

You mean this?

http://www.videosift.com/video/The-7th- … troduction

-avatar!

Wow... I never realised that the narrator was so difficult to understand!

"*mumble* Stauf... *mumble* ... doll *mumble* ... dying!"

Still scary though *shudders*

Heh, could just be that it's over youtube...
Speaking of scary, I just saw the movie 1408, and it's scary how much a waste of time that movie really is! Ugh, I can't believe it got good reviews! Stay away from it. Why are decent horror movies so hard to make?

Oh wow, man. I'm glad you posted that... I was planning on seeing that movie this week! I read the short story and it wasn't bad, so I was hoping the movie would be decent, too. Ah, well. Thanks for the heads up.

Since my last post in this thread, I've made three full playthroughs of ED, one with each alignment, and it didn't get old for me. The game reminds me a lot of an older, very replayable old-school type of game. There isn't much deviation or any open-ended parts of the game, but I found that comforting. It was like going down a checklist and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it (rune, codex, spell scroll, cool weapon - check, check, check, check). After five years, I finally saw the "true" ending, and... well, yeah. Really great stuff.

I also have to give the soundtrack some props; it's not often that a pseudo-horror-but-not-really soundtrack doesn't sacrifice song structure and progression for creepy ambience, but ED's OST does it right. This disc is full of memorable songs that have fitting mood and bring back great memories of the game. After three consecutive playthroughs, I'm going to have to say that ED is one of my favorite GCN games, as well as one of my all time favorite horror(esque) games.

Agreed with Zane about Eternal Darkness on all counts!

Man, what is it about the way that game works the laser, though?  It makes more noise in the Cube or the Wii than anything else I've ever put in!

Dude, seriously! When the story segments were playing all I could hear was the wizapping from my Wii while it was almost breaking out in hives trying to read the disc. Maybe it was having trouble keeping up with the awesome.

Both series have had hit-or-miss installments.

That said, RE never came close to being "scary" for me. As far as the creep factor goes, I'd actually rate Fatal Frame as being way higher than RE. I haven't played Kuon or Obscure or any of those other horror games (time constraints). While RE4's gameplay was nicely done, I still feel as if it was only the series' way of playing catch-up from the past installments' tank controls.

Silent Hill started on a great note and simply got worse with each sequel. It seemed like a classic case of "Wow, this IS popular... let's start pumping money into it and making half-baked sequels!" The movie only served to seal that deal. I'm actually not looking forward to Origins or V that much at all.

But when it comes down to it, the first 2 SHs rubbed me alot better than any of the REs.

I'm bumping this old thread to give respect where respect is due, and that is for Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

While I dug older RE games and give them the props they reserve, I didn't actually finish any of the pre-RE4 games other than the first RE. I picked up RE:UC last week, and I'm really, really enjoying it. The co-op is a lot of fun, the game is tense, the music rules (hell yeah, GHM!), and most importantly (for me, at least), the game is Resident Evil simplified in a nice little package. All of the things I did not like about the series - low ammo, item boxes, small inventory, constantly running from enemies, constant "door opening" load times - are gone, and have been replaced with an on-rails experience that provides plenty of thrills and a ton of baddies to shoot up.

Experiencing parts of the REMake without running out of bullets or going through obtuse camera angle changes was very refreshing. I highly recommend this game to light-gun fans that want a bit of spook in their shooters. I've played through some of the levels upwards of 6 times now, and I'm still not bored. Oh, and three cheers for playing as Wesker.

I miss old-school Resident Evil because of most the things that you did not like about the series.  I enjoyed having to conserve ammo and manage my inventory.  Those things distinguished Resident Evil from plain-vanilla action adventure.

Sorry, I just can't give respect to a game that tried to kill my Wii.

Seriously though, I never did get very far in the game.  The difficulty was a bit much for me, and I guess I was expecting more of a blazing fast on-rails experience.

Since yours it the one and only case I've ever heard of such a thing, I'm quite certain it's user error!

-avatar!

"User error"??  Why, you little......

*hurls a bolt of static electricity at your ungrounded Vaio*

Or just a console error. If this was a reported issue with the game, I'm sure that someone else would have heard of this problem - I've done searches on the net and haven't found anything tying RE:UC to your console issues. Maybe Wesker had something to do with it; he usually does.

RE used to be top shelf for horror, but since then, many challengers have come for the throne. My opinion? It's hard to top Fatal Frame as  my favorite series . . .

I hear Siren is good.

Man, RE4 is really great. Code Veronica used to be my favorite traditional RE game, but I tried going back to it after I did RE4, and I *just couldn't* do it. It's almost painful to go back.

I only played the recent Siren remake, but it was only okay I thought. Haven't played the original or its sequel, but I hear 2 is pretty good.

I totally share your love for Fatal Frame though! That series has been rapidly climbing its way up my list of favorites as well, and the recent Wii game is absolutely excellent (apart from the SLOW SLOW characters)
God knows it's been giving me more fun and scares than recent Silent Hill games...

I just beat RE:UC to the credits (finally) and found out that while GHM composed the music and SFX, Nobuyoshi Sano was the sound director! Also, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was in the credits for the game as having a role in compiling the voice actors. How cool is that?!