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Classic Resident Evil "Clones"


 
 
Shinji Mikami's franchise, Resident Evil, has been running for nearly 3 decades now and it seems it’s not stopping anytime soon. The recent remakes have only fueled the community for more and Capcom has answered their prayers by dropping a couple of teasers and gameplay footages of the upcoming entry, Resident Evil 8: Village.

However,  I took my time to do my usual research and I discovered several similar games to the classic Resident Evil trilogy. Note that a handful of these games are mediocre or seriously bad, but on the other hand, some are worth every second of your time. I hope this list will help you find something great to play during October.


The Ring: Terror's Realm
 
The Ring: Terror's Realm, simply known as Ringu in Japan, is what you get when you mix Gantz, Ergo Proxy and classic Resident Evil together. At least, that is how I felt the first time I managed to play the game. The game was developed and published by Asmik Ace Entertainment back in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast.
 
The story is pretty shonen-like. It begins when the heroine, Meg, discovers that her beloved boyfriend died mysteriously. Rumors stated that it was caused by an infectious disease that turns people into the undead. One day, when was snooping through her boyfriend's laptop, Meg got sucked inside a program that was on the laptop. The program, RING, is a dark alternate world where she finds herself wearing a black suit and armed with a pistol. After she escapes this dreadful world, a sudden call informs her that she will die in 7 days. Her duty will be to rescue herself and unravel the mystery of this program.
 
The Ring's gameplay is similar to a plethora of video games, including, Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. Most of the levels in the game are dark. I guess the developers' aim was to surprise the player with jump scares, but that doesn't always work. Just like classic Resident Evil games, the game has tank controls which may feel outdated to some who are accustomed to modern controls. Overall, the game is not the best, but it's not the worst either. While it borrows couple of ideas from well-known survival horror games, it remains a hidden gem that may please those who enjoy obscure games.
 
Deep Fear 
 
Deep Fear is a survival horror developed by Sega AM7 and published by Sega back in 1998 for the Sega Saturn. It was the first Saturn game to release in Europe.

Surprisingly, not so many talk about this one. Maybe because it was released on a console such as the Sega Saturn? Maybe because survival horror wasn’t a big thing at the time? Nobody knows, but this is another Resident Evil-like game, only it takes place in the depths of the sea.

The story pushes you deep into the obscure sea as you encounter the most terrifying mutated monsters you have ever seen. Your mission, as John Mayor, is to save everyone from mutating into a horrifying monstrosity. To do that you must find the monkey who holds the key. Pretty funny, right? (Now whoever the hell came up with this story needs a raise).
 
Deep Fear’s gameplay is pretty identical to old school Resident Evil games. Many journalists labeled this one as a RE rip-off from the get-go. After all, that’s noticeable at first glance, but once you sit down to play it, you’ll realize how the setting of the game plays a significant role. Deep Fear introduced various mechanics that Capcom’s juggernaut missed at the time. For example, players can shoot while moving. In addition to this, players can use items in real-time instead of pressing the start button every time. Lastly, Deep Fear’s challenging mechanic of falling oxygen levels adds to the horrific struggle as a whole. If you're looking for something similar to Cold Fear, I think this one may please you.


Hard Edge 

This isn't a survival horror game, but since it has tank controls I wanted to include it on this article. Hard Edge, known as T.R.A.G: Tactical Rescue Assault Group in North America, is an action adventure game developed and published by Sunsoft back in 1998 for the original PlayStation.

The Togusa building has been taken by terrorists, and it's the TRAG team's job to infiltrate and take it back from the hands of these terrorist scum. Along the way they will rescue Prof. Kevin Howard, a very important scientist who is being held hostage by the terrorists.

The gameplay is pretty similar to Resident Evil, but there's no survival horror nor any jump scares. You will be controlling several characters who use melee and hand to hand fighting attacks. In my opinion, it's pretty similar to a game on the PS2 called Crimson Tears.


Countdown Vampires 

Countdown Vampires, known in Japan as Kauntodaun Vanpaiâzu, is a survival horror developed by K2 LLC. The company is known for games such as Tenchu Z, Valhala Knights, and Samurai Shodown SEN. The aforementioned was published by Bandai back in 1999 for the original PlayStation.

The story puts you in the shoes of  Detective Keith J Snyder as he tries to escape a casino filled with zombies. In doing so, he will also be entrusted with saving the lives of as many people as he can.

The gameplay is often criticized for being a lot similar to early Resident Evil series, to the extent where journalists and gamers labeled it as nothing but a mere '' clone ''. However, just like the situation with Deep Fear, the latter has introduced additional stuff like the dart gun used to sedate enemies and holy water to restore vampires to their human form instead of simply finishing them off. In addition, the game includes real-time menu screen without being obliged to jump to the main menu. Lastly, just like Resident Evil 4, the money you earn in the game will enable you to buy food and drink which will recover your health.

I think many have slept on this one due to the poor visuals, and the outdated controls. The story is somewhat intriguing and worth the shot in my opinion.
 
 
Mystic Nights
  
Mystic Nights is a Korean exclusive survival horror game which was released on the PS2 back in 2005 by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by N-Log Soft. Luckily, this game was translated by fans and a patch can be easily found online.

The story is generic by all means. You fight against a horde of endless vampires and zombies-like creatures in the goal of escaping from a ruined military research institute

When it comes to the gameplay, Mystic Nights doesn't offer anything new. However, if you're a fan of multiplayer games where players have to support each other while being aware of the betrayer in their ranks then you might take a liking to this gam. It's kind of similar to Among Us if you ask me.
 
 
Extermination 
 
Who would have thought that the person behind Ghosts 'n Goblins would come up with a survival horror game. When Tokuro Fujiwara left Capcom back in 1996, he established two companies: Whoopee Camp and Deep Space. Unfortunately,  the developer has only developed 2 games throughout its 2 years course before it went bankrupt. Both of these games were published by Sony Interactive Entertainment back in 2003.

The story of Extermination puts you in the shoes of a Dennis Riley, a marine special soldier sent to Antarctica to stop  the outbreak of a contagious virus mutating people into horrific creatures. I think the former developers from Resident Evil who already worked on this game tried to stay away from following a plot that involves zombies or vampires. Instead, their focus was on a virus similar to bacteria and microbes capable of transforming people into unearthly being. Possibly an inspiration from Parasite Eve?

While the gameplay is pretty much similar to Classic Resident Evil, the game introduced a couple of neat mechanics. For example, unlike the old RE entries where getting bite by zombies isn't a problem, in Extermination, there's an infection rate. When the rate hits 100%, Dennis becomes infected by the virus, and his maximum health not only reduces to 60% , but also depletes. To stop that, players have to find vaccines which will stop the spread of the virus inside his body. The game is pretty challenging and when it comes to ammunition, there's a limited supply to find laying around. This will nudge the player to avoid unnecessary enemies that cause no significant harm. Luckily, you will find yourself stumbling across a few instances of unlimited ammo, but they're extremely rare to find. In addition, weapons are also customizable and can be filled with gadgets such as zoom scope, flashlight, radar, and parts that can alter your weapon to something else.

In my opinion, it's unfair to call this a Resident Evil Clone, but rather a spiritual successor to the franchise in my book. You may wonder '' but you are contradicting yourself '' well, I'm not. This game is always labeled as a clone, or rip-off. Hence, why I wanted to correct this misconception.
 
 
Parasite Eve II 

The first Parasite Eve was a work of art, it was a masterpiece that combined two genres into one piece. A perfect blend of JRPG and survival horror that still holds up to this day. But with Parasite Eve 2 things have changed. The second game focused a lot on action sequences rather than what the first game provided. That doesn't mean it's a bad game, in fact, it's not. However, Resident Evil elements are obvious on this one. Surprisingly, the third game took another approach which heavily focused on third person shooting. That sudden change did not please a lot of fans after seeing it.

The plot once again puts you in the shoes of Aya Brea as she becomes involved with an outbreak once again, and her job is to stop it.

The gameplay diverges from its predecessor as the game's approach is more typical of other traditional survival horror games despite retaining some role-playing mechanics which take place in real-time and are less restrictive. Surprisingly, the second game is actually directed by Kenichi Iwao, the one who directed the original Resident Evil back in 1996. As a matter of fact, it was him who came up with the ''Clay virus '' which is known as Progenitor.


Banned Memories: Yamanashi 

Banned Memories: Yamanashi is a survival horror developed by Noah Pauw back in 2016. The game takes you back to the old PS1-style graphics with a fixed camera angle and tank controls pretty  similar to the likes of Silent Hill and classic Resident Evil games.

The plot revolves around Hideo who has been brought back to Yamanashi Academy after a long period. His mission is to unveil the mystery of the Academy. His journey won't be easy as its filled with nothing but nightmares and fear.

The gameplay is pretty much similar to the games I have mentioned above. The game can be downloaded from Gamejolt website and it's free to play on PC. The aim of the game was to bring back the glory of the 90's into our modern screens.
 
 
Curse:  The Eye of Isis 

Note, this game is not about ISIS, you won't be fighting infested ISIS soldiers or something like that. Curse: The Eye of Isis is a survival horror game developed by a British studio Asylum Entertainment and published by DreamCatcher Interactive for the Xbox, PS2 and PC back in 2004.

You take on the role of both archeologists, Victoria Sutton and Darien Dane, who have to fight various creatures and entities, and stop the spread of the mysterious fog that has overtaken several areas in the museum of natural history in 1890.

The gameplay is similar to a number of survival horror games such as Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, and The Thing and it shares the same kind of atmosphere, fixed camera angles, and the setting. Personally, I think it borrows some elements from Call of Cthulhu as well.

Thank you for reading!
What do you think of this list? What other classic Resident Evil games you think I have missed? Let us know below!

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. I don't think The Suffering is similar to Resident Evil in any way. Many players have compared it to Silent Hill, but personally, I believe it was its own thing.

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    2. Well, you can say that, but I personally don't think it's a clone as it's made by the same director. If it's the case, then The Evil Within is a Resident Evil clone as well.

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  2. Replies
    1. The Ring : 2000
      Deep Fear: 1998
      Hard Edge: 1998
      Countdown Vampires: 1999
      Mystic Nights: 2005
      Extermination: 2003
      Parasite Eve: 1999
      Banned Memories: Yamanshi:: 2016
      Eye: Curse of Isis: 2004

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  3. Bring,the,old,evel,games,👁like,them

    ReplyDelete
  4. Should add Kabus 22 to the list

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed, I forgot to include it. But thankfully ,this raised great activity in the comment section 😅

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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