Summary
TheResident Evilfranchise was one of the factors that propelled the early versions of the Playstation to dominate the home console market, and the brand name is still going strong since the earliest games were released in the late 1990s. Not only was it a unique take on the already popular FPS genre, but it blew the whole concept of survival horror wide open, a trend that endures today.
For those who want to experience the same tension and terror on a mobile device, there are plenty of games that also include zombies, a first-person POV, and role-playing elements. Variations on the survival horror theme have also evolved to include other foes such as aliens, Nazis,and mutated monsters.
This game is set 15 years after the originalAlienmovie from 1979,and is intended to followthe same slasher-film, suspense aesthetic, as opposed to later films that were more about action. The main character is Amanda Ripley, Ellen’s daughter, and she must use a mixture of stealth and sabotage to defeat the alien threat.
It’s a great example of survival horror, which makes it a lot like theResident Evilgames. Amanda also must explore, forage, solve puzzles, and search for helpful items and clues as to what happened on the space station Sevastopol, where her mother was last seen.
The mobile version of the first game in this series was released in 2006 in Japan for a certain brand of cell phone, but has been available in Java form in the rest of the world since 2017. LikeResident Evil, it’s a survival horror game first and foremost, but the story and character design are as sophisticated as in many role-playing games.
The protagonist is Harry Mason, and the story follows his search for his lost adopted daughter in the fictional town of Silent Hill. Over the course of some grotesque and terrifying adventures, Henry discovers a secretive cult connected to his daughter’s true origins. The choices he makes along the way can lead to as many as five different endings.
Dead By Daylighthas been available on a variety of mobile platforms to complement its multiplayer design, which is just as important as its asymmetrical survival-horror aesthetic. Five players are involved in every game, with one takingthe role of the Killer. The other four are the Survivors, and must win either by avoiding the bad guy or finding a way to fight against them.
Instead of zombies or monsters, the challenge here is strictly human, with little fantasy or storytelling involved. What gives this game the horror angle is the Killer’s fanatical need to appease a malevolent force, known only as the Entity, by hanging the Survivors they catch on meat hooks.
It wasn’t until 2022 that this popular entry in theResident Evilfranchise became available on the Nintendo Switch, with an iOS version coming out a year later. It’s intended to be the eighth game in the series and follows the story of the recurring character Ethan Winters, who was also inResident Evil 7:Biohazard.In this title, he searches for his daughter in a haunted village infested with bizarre creatures.
This game has the same survivalist and action balance as otherResident Evilgames, and includes puzzles and foraging as well as intense combat and terrifying boss fights. Players can opt for a first or third-person PoV as they explore what looks like a quaint Victorian-era village, which recalls the vintage mansion from the original game from 1997.
The mobile version ofResident Evil 4was first released in Japan in 2008 before it appeared in North America. There are some interesting differences between the basic structure of the two, although details like combat, setting,and characters remainthe same. There’s an updated version that Capcom made specifically for the iPad,Resident Evil 4: iPad Edition, that was released in 2011.
The overall story is less linear and breaks the progression into sections with different names, like Village and Fortress, and includes a more difficult option called Mercenary Mode. Later updates have included more difficulty levels and high scores.
Wolfenstein RPGwas released several yearsafter the original hadcombined the grit of World War 2 combat with an FPS game. It doesn’t have the same dark tone as other games in this infamous series. Instead, it leans more into RPG silliness with some comic relief characters, minigames, and funny monsters, like mutant chickens.
As the title suggests, this is an RPG, so even though the PoV is still first-person, this is now a turn-based game. The pace is much slower than the original. Players are encouraged to explore every nook and cranny to find secret items like books, with the overall focus on the story instead of the setting or combat.
