The recent revelation of Resident Evil's Rachel has commenter LordFlash questioning the direction Capcom is taking its popular survival horror franchise in. Share his worries in today's Speak Up on Kotaku.
Has anyone seen that Resident Evil Revelations trailer introducing a minor character, Rachel? (Editor's Note: See the trailer here.)
Massive spoiler alert: Rachel appears to be nothing but a pair of walking tits.
Is it me or is Capcom getting lazier with its creation of minor characters in its Resident Evil franchise? I got absolutely no sense of Rachel's character, only discovering that she has a pert ass, a fine pair of norks and an impractical haircut.
I think the fact that her hair covers roughly three quarters of her face speaks volumes about Capcom's intentions for her purpose in the game: namely the presentation of some tittie-action to the audience.
You can't even see her eyes, further suggesting that she's not meant to be engaging or interesting as a character, merely a light distraction.
I think it's pretty laughable that in a game that's supposed to feature horror as a core dynamic, a new character has the vast majority of her face hidden. The face. You know? That little area that expresses emotion? The area that registers reactions to things that might be considered terrifying or, at the very least, a little bit spooky?
Perhaps Capcom have given up entirely on trying scaring its audience. Perhaps they have finally decided to give up the ghost (if you'll excuse the pun) and drop the "horror" element of their survival horror games entirely.
More action, more tits, less characterisation, less tension.
More guns, more girls, less effort, less atmosphere.
I'm simply hoping that this trend can be reversed and Capcom will pull something impressive out of the bag for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. If not, perhaps it won't be too long before we see Jill Valentine leaping across burning cars, barely covered by the tattered remnants of her skimpy bikini, mowing down zombies with a gatling gun.
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.