My history with Resident Evil games actually goes way back. I've always been kind of a zombie lover, zombie movies being one of my favorite kinds of movies. So I played Resident Evil when it first came out, and I did actually play it all the way through. I really loved that game, though I recall it scaring the shit out of me on a number of occasions. It was a fresh, exciting game and it will always be special to me. Despite that, I fell out of the series. I got through a good portion of Resident Evil 2, but never beat it. After that it was all downhill. I just totally moved away from the series, never thinking about it for a good long time. That is until Resident Evil 4, which has become one of my favorite games of all time. The game got me back into Resident Evil and I loved everything they did with it. Many people have praised things like controls that make sense and the removal of ink ribbons, and I praise all these things too. The zombies are smarter and the setting is more intense, with Umbrella only working behind the scenes. For the most part, people agree that a remaking of a lot of the same, tired Resident Evil clichés was exactly what the series needed.

For the most part.

Now, I realize people are free to like whatever games they choose. I have some beef, however, with the “serious gamer” who has severely stringent scruples and is incredibly hard to please because of this. A group of people who consider themselves hardcore fans will bitch and whine when the slightest change is implemented upon their precious franchise. They look for reasons to hate something they are not familiar with, all for the sake of their image as a serious and dedicated gamer, which is really rather pathetic. Let's face it; Resident Evil 4 has revived Resident Evil. So many people have found reason to return to the series or discover it because of this game. Whether you like it or not, the game's success is fueling the continuation of Resident Evil and encouraging the creators to put hard work into the next installment. It has to be respected for at least that much, since it is helping keep alive a series that so many love. Some may not like the direction its going in now, but they might like the next or another one along the line.

For the most part I think it's just stupid to be elitist about a fucking video game. Wow, I'm so impressed you have standards and morals when it comes to holding a controller and staring at a screen for hours. I've seen people who never even tried it complain about this game, or they tried it for five seconds and decided it was just too different. I will never understand this mindset. It's fine if you've played through a good portion and just didn't enjoy it, but people who deny with every fabric of their being that this cannot be a good game because it is too different are strange. It's stupid to deny yourself of something that you might have a chance of enjoying because there aren't any ink ribbons, or something, and this is just TOO OFFENSIVE for you to handle. Well here's the big shocker; it's inevitable that the series was going to get a make-over sometime or later. As time goes on, the same formula over and over again eventually gets boring and the creators start to lose money. It's just natural they would try something new. So although elitists may cling desperately to the past so that their precious memories of video games may not be tampered with, much like a child clings to a security blanket, life goes on and things change. Get over it. If Resident Evil 4 is really too much for you to handle, you always have the old games sitting on your shelf and can play them any time. While you're at it all we ask is to let us more liberal gamers enjoy a fresh, new world.

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