Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

No one knows what Capcom will do with the next biochemical Evil.

To say who makes the image of "zombies" deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the IP of "biochemical crisis" is absolutely unyielding. The unforgettable "look back and smile" of gamers more than 20 years ago officially announced the departure of biochemical terror, and "zombies" will be taken from video games more frequently in the future.

Today, the "biochemical Evil" game has reached the eighth generation. In this process of development, players begin to face a variety of enemies in the game, such as mutant giants, bacteria monsters, or legendary creatures such as vampires and werewolves. Only the zombies began to disappear.

The phrase "biohazard" without zombies may sound strange, but it is only part of a series of bold changes, and it turns out that players may not care what the monster is.

In recent years, the players of the biochemical series are undoubtedly happy, remaking and new works basically maintain the annual release frequency alternately, interspersed with various expansion and updates, which is rare for an IP with a history of more than 20 years.

The biochemical Evil 4 remake, which will be released in March 2023, has never stopped the debate among players about the changes in the biochemical series. The stage of debate is not necessarily a forum, maybe a reply to a news report, maybe the comment area of the video, or even a few bullet screens floating by, "which biochemical game is the best, which best represents this IP." like parasites, the more active the biochemical series, the more common the debate becomes.

The reason for the controversy is that the game series "biochemical Evil" has undergone a huge change every few works, which makes the biochemical series have a rare feature in the industry-a series of authentic games. but it can be divided into other parts of the world of style.

As a result, the debate between players is like a debate between various parties in parliament, with clear positions and different reasons.

The first major change in the biochemical series of games from a fixed perspective of the old generation of biochemical games took place in biochemical Evil 4, which was also the last biochemical work of Mikami Shinji, the father of the biochemical crisis. He not only created a phased direction for the biochemical series, but also created a benchmark in the history of biochemical series.

As a 2005 game, biochemical Evil 4 has established an excellent set of templates for the entire series. As soon as the game changes a fixed perspective, it is transformed into a 3D over-the-shoulder perspective, with the addition of action elements such as flying kicks and QTE, so that the upper limit of the operation of the game is greatly improved.

Biochemical Evil 4, which carries forward its over-the-shoulder perspective, can be called a textbook-like dynamic difficulty system. This design ensures that players can clear customs through various means. When you perform badly, the game will brush you with more supplies and lower the number and value of enemies, and when you perform well, your materials will fall less, and your enemies will be more and stronger.

More importantly, the system keeps the whole process secret from players and will not let players know that they are in a floating difficulty, so as to ensure the player's experience.

The above designs have become a benchmark in every subsequent biochemical game, and even the eighth generation of works can be said to directly copy the essence of "biochemical Evil 4" from plot flow to system design. So to this day, you can still see the unstingy praise and appreciation of biochemical Evil 4, and the significance of this work to the industry is self-evident.

The bumper harvest of business and word-of-mouth has rightly inherited this change in the development direction of the biochemical series. after all, there is a successful precedent, and it is often a safe way to continue on the proven path.

But Capcom seems to want to carry forward the name of "Action Master" so that all his works can inherit this gene, and by 2012, "biochemical Evil 6", which has almost completely eliminated the horrors of survival, appeared on the stage.

Biochemical Evil 6 is a wonderful work. On the one hand, it has almost completely abandoned the box declassification and survival horror of the biochemical series, has advanced to the extreme along the track of previous works of the same style, and has the most abundant action system in the whole series. The process and the show are full of action scenes almost every moment, which has become a "Hollywood action blockbuster".

On the other hand, because of its excessive pursuit of action elements, it has received a very bad score and evaluation. It is a failure in the biochemical series and is not recognized by most players in the biochemical series.

The wonderful thing about the lowest score in the biochemical series is that, even with bad reviews, the game still sells more than 8 million sets, whether biochemical players pursue gameplay or "biochemical crisis" in the "real sense." perhaps differences have already emerged by this time.

Of course, the fact that a flood of bad reviews can sell this spectacle does not convince investors what to do with the "biochemical crisis". No one could give a safe answer at the time.

2 clever chefs guide the taste buds of diners, and game makers need to have their own opinions. Perhaps it is such an idea that Capcom still refuses to put down the double-edged sword of "change" and makes another big bet on "change".

Back in 2013, at Sony's PS4 conference, Capcom demonstrated a medieval magic-style game with bold battle scenes, scene destruction, and so on, and then came out with a new engine codenamed Panta Rhei. Although the development of the engine was eventually stopped, Capcom had already sent a signal to embrace innovation in technology.

However, there was no news of the demo game called "Deep Pit". At E3 three years later, a VR demonstration of the horror game attracted the attention of players all over the world, demonstrating the depression and suffocation of the game, and even the audience was scared to shout directly. Just as people speculated that this might be a brand new horror game, the ending LOGO presented an unexpected answer, followed by applause and cheers. Five years later, biochemical Evil 7 was finally announced.

In 2017, biochemical Evil 7 was born as scheduled, and the biochemical series of where to go ushered in another change in the annals of history.

Although the Panta Rhei engine has stopped production in recent years, its flesh and blood has forged Capcom's magic weapon in the next generation-the RE engine, and its powerful and simple summary is that the RE engine can not only achieve the leapfrog evolution of the game screen, but also make the game have an excellent optimization.

Reach for the Moon, touch is impossible to rely on the full support of the RE engine, "biochemical Evil 7" uses the first-person perspective, after all, when delicate modeling, scary performance is no longer a technical problem, using "your own eyes" to feel fear and replace yourself as the person in the game is indeed far more effective than the third-person perspective.

Unlike previous battles in various open scenes, the process of "biochemical Evil 7" basically takes place in a relatively closed environment, such as the initial residence, you may see a design like "haunted house" in many horror games. The dark corner of the corridor is a "surprise", and a strange noise behind the door tempts you to open it curiously and fearfully. These scenes may be old-fashioned, but very effective, so that the game scene performance does not need much fanfare, often only a little excitement, can combine curiosity and imagination, so that players are always in a state of fear.

But not surprisingly, this work caused a lot of controversy when it first went on sale, like throwing a boulder into the lake.

Some players think that this kind of attempt and evolution is worthy of recognition, and many players say that "this is not a 'biochemical crisis' at all, but a replica of 'escape'."

The enemies in the game have nothing to do with zombies at all, and the most unacceptable thing for biochemical players is that the connection between "biochemical Evil 7" and the previous work is so weak that as a series of authentic stories, it seems to be telling an untold story. In the first seven game works of the series, the theme of the game is mostly the righteous actions of the skilled protagonists against chemical and biological weapons, especially the sixth-generation works, which use four story lines crisscross and parallel, and several popular characters appear at the same time. It's like filming the Avengers.

The number of controllable characters in "Biohazard 6" is the largest in history, while the protagonist of "Biohazard 7" is an unheard of ordinary person, and the theme of the story is to find a missing wife, and players can't resonate with their experiences.

Seven or eight generations of the protagonist of the game, Ethan. In fact, Winters, when you put aside your doubts and enter the game, you will find that although the book does not look like a "biochemical hazard" at all, it has such a "biochemical hazard" feeling to play.

The backpack capacity of the protagonist in the old biochemical game is extremely limited, and there is always a trade-off between materials and mission props, so players always need to plan the use of materials reasonably to avoid enemies who do not need to fight.

The absolutely safe house in the game is also a feature. With relaxing music, there are filing points and lockers that can hold objects infinitely. The essence of the game is that under the framework of the decryption of the box court, players move resources and task props back and forth from each safe house to and from each safe house, which is like a logical problem to find the optimal solution, and the player's choice of solution determines whether the game experience is smooth or not.

Almost all of the above content, which has been abandoned after the fourth generation, has returned to "biochemical Evil 7", which reproduces almost all the features of the old biochemical game. but it minimizes the connection between the plot, the way of play and the previous work, which is like a complete farewell to the previous work.

Decryption 3 that can make old players smile. In fact, there are not only biochemical series hovering in "change and return". Another well-known IP "Assassin Creed" has benefited from introducing the RPG mechanism into the game, and the mythological trilogy since then has made RPG play a big part without exception.

However, a few months ago, Ubisoft released the Assassin's Creed: illusion, and said it would abandon the heavy RPG game architecture and return to the original assassination game. But what players really want can only be determined by the commercial performance after the release.

Whether the original assassination game can beat the RPG game and return to biochemical Evil 7, we now know that the sales volume of this book is the first in the series-and its influence outside the core fan circle is beyond the imagination of the series players.

Take myself as an example. A few years ago, my childhood friend and I were walking down the street during the Spring Festival and inadvertently hummed a "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" ("biochemical Evil 7" theme song). Surprisingly, the friend next to me immediately shouted the word "biochemical Evil". Why did a person who had never come into contact with the "biochemical Evil" series become so sensitive at this moment? he explained that his favorite anchor had been playing the game recently. And I was also very interested, and even asked me where to download the game.

It's not interesting to see others scared. This is the first biochemical game he came into contact with. He skipped the contradictory mood of the old players and directly embraced the cutting-edge works of this series, and the reason for giving high praise was very simple. Just because he thinks this horror game is very interesting.

Go to the complex for simplicity, return to the origin. Biochemical Evil 7 not only makes itself attractive with excellent technical skills, the most important reason is that it dares to give up the dazzling biochemical elements and puts the simplest content in front of players-declassification and fear.

Do not let the precipitation of the past become a threshold. Today, the "biochemical crisis" series is very rich in worldview settings, ranging from biochemical viruses with different characteristics to a series of protagonists' struggle history with behind-the-scenes companies, with so much content that they can be compiled into a thick book. The accumulation of IP content is important, but it also means that new players are more and more expensive to learn.

For players, biochemical Evil 7 does not directly inculcate the vast world outlook into the players, but hides the deep-seated settings to the last minute. The less they know, the more curious and uneasy the players will be. The more you can simply immerse yourself in fear. For designers, a new worldview and stage can also free them from their shackles, so instead of trying to continue the previous story, focus more on how to make players afraid of screaming.

Capcom has opened a new door for a new generation of players, even if it adds to the controversy that there is no answer. Perhaps a more interesting way to put it is that when he saw the quarreling players, Capcom did not choose to calm down, but brought in another group of people to join the quarrel, making more people quarrel together.

4 when my friends around me successfully joined the series because of "biochemical Evil 7", I couldn't wait to introduce other classic biochemical works to them. In order to prevent them from "standing me up" and even buying games for them out of their own pocket, I asked my friends every day to find out where they were playing, whether there were any hurdles, and whether they needed my advice. But a week later, all my friends said that they really couldn't play, and the result was exactly what I expected.

The problem that the older generation of biochemical games have to face is that they have lagged far behind in the design and picture of the system, and even the progress of a classic such as "biochemical Evil 4" was built at that time. It is difficult to meet the tastes of the new generation of players, just like the exhibits in the history museum, which are regarded as the treasures of the times, but they are a thing of the past.

There may be no doubt about the excellence of "biochemical Evil 4" in the player's memory, but if people are allowed to experience it again, if they do not modify it with the help of some folk MOD, they will probably be tortured to gnash their teeth by the poor operating mechanism.

So remaking games are definitely good news for modern players. If a veteran IP with a history of 25 years can still keep a steady stream of vitality, maybe we should not stick to "what is the" biochemical crisis ", but should think about" what is the "biochemical crisis" that can be accepted by more players.

So even if "biochemical Evil: village" chooses to repeat the nearly perfect homework of "biochemical Evil 4", it still decides to make some changes, such as the game by dividing the whole world into four regions with very different styles. Integrate a variety of game experiences together in order to maintain a constant sense of freshness.

Once again, it scares countless players, which may be the trick that the IP can still guarantee the steady production of the work without boring the players.

However, I am afraid that no one will jump to conclusions about what the next work of the biochemical series will be like. Capcom has drastically changed the content of the original game in the reproduction of Bio-2 and Bio-3. However, in a recent exclusive interview with the magazine, the producer of "biochemical Evil 4" said that the reproduction would retain the basic framework of the original, and the island barrier that had caused controversy in the second half of the process. The internal capacity will even be "a little more" than the original.

No one knows whether it will be more like the original or a new "biochemical crisis". "restless Innovation" has become the label of this series in the new generation.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: game Research Society (ID:yysaag), author: Leon45

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.