First, I'll say I'm not Resident Evil nutter, I have, however, enjoyed RE, RE2 and RE3 long ago and I'm currently playing though REmake whenever I can be bothered. As an onlooker with mild interest in the franchise I'm just a bit bewildered as to the opinions of the direction the RE series has taken since RE4.
It seems strange that a game series so rooted in slow-paced survival horror and puzzle solving could take such a dramatic turn into the third-person shooter genre and still manage to keep it's fans happy. I have heard opinions of people who prefered RE when it was still survival horror, but I also know of a lot more people who are avid fans of the series and loved RE4 as well.

I haven't played RE4, but from what I hear it's a superb game. That aside I still don't see how the series could change that much yet complaints from alienated fans are scarce. With most game sequels you'll find both positive and negative opinions from fans on the same page or in the same thread... yet with RE4, it seems that if there are fans of the series who didn't like it, they've been completely overshadowed by the fans who liked it.

Anyway, I guess my main question is mainly to long standing RE fans as well as survival horror fans: are you happy that RE has taken it's new direction, and whatever your answer, would you like it to go back to it's survival horror roots?

RE4 still has survival horror elements in it. Your above post gives me the impression that you feel the series has gone to a Halo based action shooter and it hasn't. If you shoot the wrong guys head off you die cause giant tentacles come out and decapitate you.

Plus the fat guy with the chainsaw is always good for a scare among other things.
Not only that but I find AI that hides and resets bear traps behind you, moves ladders etc to be exceptionally creepy.

While the name of the genre doesn't exactly suggest it, I always understood survival horror to have more puzzle-based gameplay. The prime examples, Resident Evil, Silent Hill etc. have focus on puzzles.

While I could complain about the shift to more "arcadey" gameplay, moving away from ammo conservation and avoiding confrontations, RE4 did fix the one thing I absolutely hated about the previous games- fixed camera angles. Now, some will say that it heightened the suspense and introduced atmosphere- but all it did for me was heighten my aggravation and introduce blindly running into obstacles or creatures that my character would have seen coming easily, as would I had I been able to view things from his/her perspective.

But I would like to see more of a "four zombies and seven rounds in my gun" situation again, as opposed to the "Spanish ghoulie shooting gallery" into which I unloaded many shotgun shells and other lead-based kinetic-energy ammunition. I found it kind of ridiculous that I could stand on top of a shack and hack at Ganados who would just mindlessly climb up the ladder one at a time. I always wanted the ability to use my surroundings- and the "holding territory" gameplay was pretty sweet- but sometimes it just got ridiculous.

And if only I had the ability to sidestep while aiming... that would rock, yes.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

We'll not really anyway. I liked RE4, it was a great game. But i want zombies, and bio-mutants and a tangable feel of the all powerful Umbrella corp. always breathing down my neck. I want them, and i want them now...as in new and now. I am aware that i could just play RE 0-3 + Outbreak 1+2 and Code Veronica.

(caveat: I cut my survival horror teeth playing System Shock 2)

To me, the survival horror genre has always been defined by one element: dwindling resources.

Puzzles are the primary element of point-and-click adventure games. Survival horror is about being low enough on health and/or ammo that even a relatively simple fight can be nerve-wracking because you don't know if you'll have enough resources to make it through.

RE4 definitely includes that element. It's the Umbrella Chronicles infinite ammo thing that strays from the formula.

The series peaked with RE2; everything after that was beating the same old dead horse, until RE4. For all the talk about it being more of an action game than survival horror, RE4 had the same controls as the previous games, all they really changed was the perspective. Which was a good thing.

Now my issue is that RE5 is not being made by Mikami, which makes you wonder how 'canon' it will be; i.e. we have already seen something like 2-3 'origins of the virus' in previous games (just check the story FAQs on gamefaqs) so what more junk could they possibly tack onto this chimera of a story?

if by 'new direction' you mean the fast lane out of sucksville and in to awesomenessland.

then, yes, i do like the new direction.

Gameplay wise I believe that the series is great. I'm just disappointed to know RE5 will not be coming out on the Wii for the obvious reasons because the Wiimote made RE4 more of a luxury to play, giving us a flexible aiming system rather than a stiff lasersight fuckup.
Presentation wise, no. RE1 was a little inexperienced and RE2 learnt from the mistakes in RE1. I believe that only the RE1 remake and RE2 were decent, whilst the rest of the series fell into the hands of unimaginitive gits that only cared about cashing in, making the rest of the games seem like the remnants of its past suffering from alzheimer's. The storyline in RE4 can be criticised during every single cutscene, be it the wrong choice of voice actor for Leon, the fact that the plot is just as laughable as any of the other spin-offs Capcom made before somehow getting worse and plunging into storyline hell just as you rescue Ashley, or the fact that we get introduced to characters that take the piss to the point of disbelief.
It's not just Capcom, though. Sega did the same thing with the HOTD series and pretty much every single series it ever had. I think part of the problem with Capcom is that they follow the right tracks, but rather than making something at least plausible they go out of their way to cut corners and release whatever they may. RE4 had a lot of potential and it was doing rather well despite the fact it tripped up every now and then, but it made a fatal mistake the instant you were introduced to Ashley and the tactless, threatless Saddler manages to squeeze his evil intentions into a measley paragraph.
There will be a lot more to say about the series when 5 is released, but if it trips up much more then looking at the series will be 'colourful' to say the least. It's been stumbling all over the place and if only the franchise hadn't got stuck up its own arse we might have had a solid series. But, hey, that's the games industry for you.

Well, I'm glad that after 5 or 6 spinoffs and countless re-releases they finally figured out that maybe it was time to review one of the most hated control schemes of all time. While Leon often still moves with all the grace of a dead, legless horse, at least you can now see what he's looking and aiming at. This made the shooting part of the game a lot more fun. However, I think they went a bit overboard with this part. The survival bit of the survival horror is all but gone in most of the game, since it's usually more profitable to kill everything in an area and then loot it than run away and save your ammo. It has become much more of a zombie shooting gallery game than survival horror IMO. It's definitely fun, but it doesn't scare me as much any longer, now that I know I have a case full of guns that can kill anything I encounter. There were a few exceptions, such as holding that house with the Spanish guy and the first time you encounter chainsaw guy, but they were few and far between. I wasn't a huge fan of the "press X now or reload" moments either.
On the plus side, a continue function was much needed in a game this (occasionally) hard. And once again, the game was tons of fun all the way through, I just don't think it's survival horror anymore. I blame those light-gun shooter RE games.

I am surprised how many people say that the RE series has puzzles.

OT: I liked RE, RE2 and RE4. RE3 was basically RE2, only shorter. While I did like RE4 as a game, I still think the action-oriented gameplay is not as good as the survival oriented of RE1. Then again, I am more of a SH fan.

RE4 is my least favourite game in the series (not including Outbreak, which I consider an embarrassment), but I still enjoyed it immensely. I'd never really had the problem with the controls and the camera that a lot of people seemed to, so to me RE4 was like a dumbed down version of the old games. It still had the same stupid crest puzzles and absurd plot, but it tended to lack suspense and was rarely frightening. The overabundance of ammo and health was a bad move.

I love the Resi 4 makeover, and what's more, it's here to stay. So all those people who pine for robot-turn and fixed camera angles hiding zombies out of view....TOUGH!

Its hard to say, I originally fell in love with the formula of the first Resident Evil but its clear it couldn't go in that direction forever and the main reason Resident Evil 4 was made so different is because the programmers and design team behind Resident Evil had stated very openly they were getting tired of making the same game in different environments. What was once a revolutionary game had now become just another cookie cutter title, it must have been tiring when you consider how many Resident Evil games have been made.

If I ever had any problem with Resident Evil 4, its that it never really tried to emphasise the horror aspect of the games, although to be honest, the game cover made it quite clear it was intended to be different from the others saying "forget Survival Horror, this is Survival Action" so I can only blame myself there. Luckily it seems like Resident Evil 5 is looking to get the best of both worlds and personally I cant wait.

There are some parts that are Survival Action and Survival Horror. For one, the house you barricade yourself in, shooting the zombies clawing through the walls, and then they start coming down the stairs...

I like this topic. I just got hold of RE 1 & 2 for my pc. Having trouble getting them to work well, but we'll see.

On to the main topic, in many ways I admire RE4's direction. It reinvented itself after lots of rehash like games (zero) that made it feel as if the series was subdueing on itself. It was very cinematic, intense and I can see why many love it. It worked.

However, I didn't enjoy the 4th offering. It seemed to take the self indulgent Metal Gear Solid hero root to the nth degree and, well, I don't really think it's at all 'Resident Evil'. What has this got to do with a number of police officers investigating an old house?

I'd have been more forgiving if they renamed the title and main character and made it a completely different franchise. That way Capcom could also be tooted for making great, original titles also.

Yes. For one reason: NO DOOR ANIMATIONS!

I'm not kidding, those broke the other games for me.

Me: Hmmm, let me check out this tiny little bedroom on the train, there may be something cool in it.
Door: Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek (times 10000 for every door, ladder, and staircase in the game).
Me: I hope the game creators get bot-flys.

Now, it's just a quick push, kick, or shot-gun round, and I'm on my way!

qbert4ever:
Yes. For one reason: NO DOOR ANIMATIONS!

I'm not kidding, those broke the other games for me.

I thought the door animation was brilliant.
"Oh shit, I'm out of ammo, I hope there's some behind this door!"
*opens and prays that whatever is behind that door is not going to kill me*

AboveUp:
I thought the door animation was brilliant.
"Oh shit, I'm out of ammo, I hope there's some behind this door!"
*opens and prays that whatever is behind that door is not going to kill me*

You can have something scary be through a door without having to go through a long cut-scene and fade-to-black. There's a difference between suspence, and pain in the ass.

I don't know, maybe I wouldn't have hated it so much if it was only the doors, and not the ladders and staircases as well. Or if they were more spread out instead of one door every five feet. When half the game consists of looking at an animation of a hand, and then a black screen, that's when I turn the game off and pop in something I can actually play.

Oh please, Nobody gets scared of anything anymore, you would half to be a fool to be a big baby.

Courage and bravery will dominate.

I personally was of the opinion that Resident Evil was meant to be a satire of the genre rather than an actual horror game. Every iota of the thing was patently ridiculous, from the so-called "plot" stitched together from horror movie clichés telegraphed so badly they might as well have been snail-mailed, to the slow-moving corpses that only pose any threat whatsoever because of the abysmal play control keeping you from being able to tell your character to run properly.

Sylocat:
I personally was of the opinion that Resident Evil was meant to be a satire of the genre rather than an actual horror game. Every iota of the thing was patently ridiculous, from the so-called "plot" stitched together from horror movie clichés telegraphed so badly they might as well have been snail-mailed, to the slow-moving corpses that only pose any threat whatsoever because of the abysmal play control keeping you from being able to tell your character to run properly.

Oh I humbly agree. Not sure about the first, but the second I got as a kind of in-joke/ homage to all OTT Zombie films of the past.

Because of that, I always found it quite ironic when I heard they were making a Resident Evil film. Essentially a film based on a game paying homage to a genre of film.

It's not the only Japanese game I've noticed to do that. I'm sure we've all noticed the numerous references Metal Gear Solid has made to countless action films of the past?

My thinking, is that without a drastic makeover the series would have just started running dry. Re-releasing games only works for a little while... if theres no move forward to make somthing new, people are just going to stop caring. Not gunna lie though i miss staight up zombies...

So short answer: Change is a good thing bros and broettes...

I loved Resi 4, the first game in the series that I really loved. But for the people talking about Survival horror not being scary, you should all go and play the Project Zero series and then tell me that no horror game frightens you.

I didn't like RE4. We go from slow moving zombies and bioweapons set in ruined cities or cramped mansions to what. Fast moving spanish peasents who are really no different to "living" enemies. You have a freaking gun vendor ffs. Low on ammo? Who cares, just crack out your wallet and go visit him cause god knows you cant just try to avoid enemies like back in the other games.
Also didn't like the camera angle. Your freaking chars head takes up half the screen and makes it damn impossible to see enemies running up to you.
Its basically become less scary through storyline and more scary through piss poor decisions.

I'm a Resident Evil junkie and a mostly belligerent and tolerant gamer, so if I buy a Resident Evil game, I'll prolly like it. I liked RE4 and I'm hoping RE5 can bring some interesting new things to the series. Also, on the slow-door opening animations where a zombie is behind, I always find it thrilling. You have to always be on your toes in a Resident Evil game because you never know what they're going to throw at you. That's what it brings to the table.