Resident Evilhas been one of Capcom’s most successful franchises. It has seen several evolutions, from the fixed-camera perspective of the original trilogy to the over-the-shoulder, more action-focusedResident Evil 4, then to the recent first-personResident Evil 7, which brought the franchise back to its horror roots.
One of the more infamous elements the franchise has seen, though, are quick time events. These were everywhere for a time, requiring tight reflexes to press or mash buttons at a moment’s notice. Otherwise, one could consider themselves zombie food.Some of these worked well, and others are remembered for the wrong reasons. Here are some of the more infamous variations.
TheResident Evilfranchise would come to the Nintendo Wii in the form ofResident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, a rail shooter highlighting pivotal moments in the Resident Evil franchise. Among these are S.T.A.R.S. agent Rebecca Chambers' and escaped death row inmate Billy Coen’sboss battlewith the resurrected scientist, Dr. Marcus, who merged with leaches infected with the T–Virus and transformed into a hideous monster.
The final skirmish with him involves corralling the monster into an area of sunlight to weaken it. While this fight is not terrible, it is tedious. The game doesn’t always pick up the prompted motion gesture. If one misses the quick time prompts before Marcus attacks, then it will knock Chambers and Coen back, moving further away from the sunlight, creating a repetitive cycle of push and pull.
Resident Evil 4has Leon Kennedy running from a multitude of hazards. In one segment, Leon finds himself inaGothic castleowned by Ramon Salazar. A nearby tower houses a giant statue of Salazar’s likeness, which soon chases Leon.
The event plays out in spectacular fashion, with debris falling everywhere. Leon has to furiously mash buttons to outrun the statue and dodge out of the way of falling columns. The Salazar statue would return to theResident Evil 4remake, except this time, instead of chasing after Leon, it breathes fire.
Resident Evil 6isone of the most divisiveentries in the franchise, being divided into several campaigns that were more about over-the-top spectacle than anything else. One way in which the game jumped the shark was by including a literal zombie shark boss fight, more specifically, the Brzak.
While this is not the first shark to be in aResident Evilgame, it is one of the most ridiculous. It drags Leon and his partner Helena under the water, requiring Leon to respond to button prompts to stay alive. The fact that they can fight off the shark while in the depths and hold their breath at the same time makes them seem superhuman.
TheResident Evil 4remake is a new interpretation of the classic title, that leans more heavily into gritty horror. One character that makes a return is Doctor Salvatore, whose chainsaw buzz instantly terrified players when they first heard it in the original game. This time, Leon Kennedy has a new tool to deal with him: his knife.
The knife was handy in the original, considering it could be used to break open crates and slash foes if ammo was tight. In this scenario, though, it is unusually strong. Here, Leon can block Salvatore’s chainsaw with a well-timed button press. This knife must be made of some unusually tough material if it can bear the weight of Doctor Salvator’s imposing figure and the chainsaw’s gyrating teeth.It is still breakable, however.
Resident Evil 4saw that Leon S. Kennedy hasno shortage of enemies to fight, including an old ally of his: Jack Krauser, who kidnapped the President’s daughter, Ashley, for cult leader Saddler. Their first encounter in the game is a one-one-one knife fight that left some fans disappointed.
The knife fight is essentially one long cutscene with intermittent button prompts. This makes for a tense confrontation, as one slip-up could mean death. However, it would mean repeating segments of dialogue that Leon has likely already heard, which results in a highly frustrating experience.
TheResident Evilfranchise was never exactly “realistic,” especially considering it has been focused on zombies created by an evil corporation. After the successful reinvention that isResident Evil 4, the franchise started fully embracing the ridiculousness of its premise inResident Evil 5.
This includes the final boss fight of protagonists Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar againsta mutated Weskerin the mouth of an active volcano. When a boulder gets in the way, the chiseled Chris punches it out of his path. The fact that he has the physique to do that, even with his oversized muscles, is preposterous in a more realistic setting. Capcom even references this absurd quick time event later on duringResident Evil: Village.
