Written By: Alex Shaw

Part 3 of the Resident Evil musings.

Think of the worst acting in a video game ever. The worst written lines and the shoddiest delivery of said dialogue. You’re probably thinking of the original Resident Evil, or if not, it’s in your top three.

There was something so iconic, so amusing and so likable about dialogue like… "Jill, here’s a lock-pick; it might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you. / Well I’m sorry, but he’s probably… / I found this weapon. It’s really powerful, especially against living things. / and of course; Don’t COME!" It was forgivable. After all, speech in console games was relatively new, as was trying to present a cinematic experience. The game limped through on B-Movie sensibilities like a redlining hero in desperate need of an F. Aid Spray and we accepted every cheesy minute. Then Resident Evil two came out and it was the same, then three, Veronica, the remake, and Zero and very little had changed. As with everything else the quality of the delivery got a little better by the time 4 rolled around, but now with the fifth installment, thirteen years later the world of games has changed and this is still a sheepish B-Movie. Games like Heavenly Sword, The Darkness and Half Life 2 have proven that nuanced, subtle performances are more than possible in an action game, so why are we still looking at gruff beefcakes and their chirpy female sidekicks chewing through line after line of trite cliches, with little to no emotion or truth in their performance?

Cinema itself has changed. Resident Evil 4 is an evolution of the series much like 1995′s GoldenEye made James Bond smarter, harder and sharper. It’s been years since Pierce Brosnan first twinkled those eyes on our screen, and now we have the quantum-leap progression of Casino Royale as the benchmark for gritty, realistic and excellently measured spy thrillers, and the steely gaze of Daniel Craig. By contrast GoldenEye looks a bit creaky and sleazy, though still solid. Resident Evil 5 is the Tomorrow Never Dies we’ve been delivered, when we need Casino Royale. Also the game is based on action now, not horror, so the writers have years of Bruckheimer films to look to as the basis of their characterisation and themes. But the action movie has changed too. We have had Bourne, Nolan’s Batman and The Matrix and the sharper writing attached to those films to show us that dialogue doesn’t need to be a leaden series of setups for the big explosions, and central characters can be flawed, interesting and dark. Team America: World Police was designed as a parody of the very films RE emulates. Every daft line delivered with painful sincerety. The landscape of cinema that Capcom originally explored and transposed to the gaming scene has changed, along with the performance of their competitors. To progress, they must go back to the drawing board and look at what they could be delivering in terms of a cinematic experience. Just pray they don’t look to Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil films as a yardstick of excellence.