Tag Archives: Resident Evil

Resident Evil Characters that Deserve a Comeback

As a fanfiction writer, I love any series that offers a wealth of characters that stories could be built around. In that regard, the Resident Evil video game series is one of the best mediums out there—at least a hundred unique characters have been introduced since the franchise started in 1996. But out of the many personas that have been seen over the years, only a small fraction were deemed worthy of recurring appearances—dozens of characters were only seen on-screen once before fading from the limelight.

Below is my list of fourteen Resident Evil one-shot characters, in no particular order, who could easily return to the series in some form.

1) Billy Coen (first appearance in 2002) – In the first Resident Evil, fans were introduced to the STARS Alpha team, a paramilitary unit who were fighting for their lives within a monster-laden mansion while investigating the disappearance of the secondary Bravo team. Given how popular the game series became in its early years, it was inevitable that a prequel would be produced that focused on the sole survivor of the Bravo team—Rebecca Chambers. She could easily have been paired with one of her doomed teammates for this new adventure, but the game’s developers had other ideas. Enter Billy Coen, an ex-marine wrongfully accused of mass murder and sentenced to death row. He escaped from his prison transport during its ill-fated trip through the woods populated by recently-escaped genetically-engineered creatures. Billy and Rebecca soon crossed paths and were forced to team up to survive the night and discover how the outbreak happened. By the end of their story, Rebecca was convinced of his innocence and helped him fake his death—Billy is never seen or mentioned again after they part ways. While he presumably went into hiding to escape his fate, there are multiple ways in which he could have come back into the over-arcing story. Whether he managed to prove his innocence or assumed a new identity, Billy would have fit in nicely in later entries for the series.

2) Oswell Spencer (first appearance in 2009) – As the mastermind behind the development of illegal viral and genetic research, it’s surprising that Oswell Spencer only appeared on-screen once during the entire run of the Resident Evil franchise. While it’s fitting that he was killed by one of the monsters he helped create—the super-powered villain Albert Wesker—Spencer is a character that deserves more than a one-shot appearance. If Capcom—the production company—ever decides to produce a game that delves into the thirty-years-worth of history prior to the series’ first title, Spencer could easily make a comeback.

3) Sheva Alomar (first appearance in 2009) – Later entries of the Resident Evil series introduced a global military organization called the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance that was founded in response to Umbrella’s illegal research making its way onto the black market. While the B.S.A.A. has headquarters on every major continent, very few of its soldiers have gotten any screen time. One exception is Sheva Alomar, an African operative assigned to assist series veteran Chris Redfield on one of his missions. Sheva has proven a very capable fighter in her own right by simply surviving several run-ins with the super-powered Wesker. Should she return in a future game, she has more than earned the right to stand alongside the veteran soldiers of the series. As an added plus, Sheva is young enough that she could easily come to the forefront should the older B.S.A.A. members either perish or retire.

4) Carlos Oliviera (first appearance in 1999) – Though he was employed by Umbrella Corporation as a security officer when first introduced, Carlos was initially completely in the dark about how shady the company was. His run-in with the first game’s survivor, Jill Valentine, opened his eyes and he easily could have joined the fight to take down the corrupt pharmaceutical company. With the many directions that Carlos’ story arc could have taken, it’s a shame that he never returned in the succeeding entries of the series.

5) Manuela Hidalgo (first appearance in 2009) – Given how rare it is for someone exposed to a genetically-altering virus to maintain their humanity, those that fall under this category could be the subject of some interesting storylines within the franchise. Manuela is one of the lucky few to avoid mutating into a bloodthirsty monster. Her story began when she contracted a fatal illness and her wealthy drug-lord father procured the T-Veronica virus from the black market in a desperate bid to save her. To keep Manuela from mutating, her father kidnapped many young women from the neighboring villages for routine organ transplants. Upon discovering what her father had done, Manuela ran from him and subsequently aided a pair of government-trained operatives in taking him out. Though she remained human, she was taken into custody by the US government since she possessed the unique attribute of making her blood spontaneously combust when exposed to oxygen. In spite of the avenues that could have been explored with her character, she hasn’t been seen since her introductory story.

6) Jake Muller (first appearance in 2012) – In spite of the broad character roster and potential for romantic pairings, children are a rarity within the series. Only three of the mainstream characters are known to have kids, all of whom were born prior to the first title of the franchise. The most interesting member of the next generation, Jake, wasn’t even introduced until three years after his supervillain father was killed. While it’s unclear if Wesker even knew he had an illegitimate son, Jake had grown up to despise his dad for never being there. What little is known of Jake’s background is that he and his mother were barely getting by; he became a soldier of fortune in a failed attempt to secure proper medical treatment for her when she got sick. Despite being on a path to becoming a bad guy in his own right, Jake turned his life around upon discovering who and what his father was. When last seen, Jake was operating as an independent fighter against bioterrorism free of charge.

7) Excella Gionne (first appearance in 2009) – Every supervillain, no matter how powerful, still must rely on others to carry out their orders and help build an empire. And Wesker found an influential and very loyal follower in Excella, a wealthy ambitious woman in charge of her own pharmaceutical company. Though she was quite intelligent, Excella was still blind to the fact that he was using her for his own gain—she even fancied herself as a suitable romantic partner worthy of his attention. While she was ultimately betrayed and killed by Wesker, there is still room for her to return in a game set earlier in the overall chronology.

8 & 9) Bruce McGivern & Fong Ling (first appearance for both in 2003) – When a former Umbrella employee called Morpheus threatened attacks against the U.S. and China for ransom, each country sent in a single operative to neutralize the situation. In spite of the fact that they were working toward the same goal and could benefit from each other’s help, Fong frequently undermined Bruce to serve her own ends. That all changed when her country gave in to Morpheus’ demands and sold her out. At the end of their story, Fong and Bruce were on their way to becoming a couple. It would have been nice to see them working as a team combating another threat, but they never came back for a second game.

10) Moira Burton (first appearance in 2015) – In a franchise filled with skilled fighters, it’s refreshing to see a character with a strong aversion to firearms. Moira—daughter of STARS\B.S.A.A. veteran Barry Burton—is one such person. As a child, she hurt her sister in an accidental shooting involving one of their dad’s guns. When abducted years later alongside several other employees of the NGO company Terra Save and dropped into a nightmarish scenario, Moira relies heavily on a crowbar or partner Claire Redfield to survive. Though she was forced to overcome her fear of guns to save Claire’s life, Moira still stands out for being a very headstrong character with a foul mouth. It would be nice to see her again in a future title.

11 & 12) Raymond Vester & Jessica Sherawat (first appearance for both in 2012) – The Resident Evil series has its share of two-faced characters, but most who fall under that category at least earned recurring status. Raymond and Jessica—who started out under the employ of the Federal Bioterrorism Commission—are extremely good when it comes to subterfuge. Both of them were exposed as double agents during their story who were seemingly working against each other. However, it was revealed at the end of their story that they were triple agents under Excella Gionne’s employ and had been playing an elaborate charade simply to steal a new virus strain. Though both Raymond and Jessica are guns-for-hire, it would be interesting to see them in action again.

13) Joe Baker (first appearance in 2017) – Like Billy Coen, Joe Baker is an ex-marine but from a completely different walk of life. A Lousiana native, Joe both looks and talks the part of a hillbilly who enjoys life in the swamplands. He first came onto the scene after a virus had consumed his brother Jack and Jack’s family. Joe aims to cure his niece, Zoe, by any means necessary, only he relies primarily on his fists to subdue any bad guys or creatures he sees roaming about the bayou. If Capcom follows the same route with Joe as they have with many other characters, he will likely only have the one appearance in the games. But it would be nice to be proven wrong.

14) Nicholai Ginovaef (first appearance in 1999) – Most of the bigwigs from the Umbrella Corporation have been systemically eliminated over the years since the company went under. But there are several who remain unaccounted for. Nicholai is a corrupt Umbrella officer—and team leader of Carlos’ unit—who managed to escape intact but who has never been seen since. He could easily return as a formidable opponent for the heroes of the franchise, but time will tell.

With such a diverse set of fictional characters—there has to be somewhere around 150 that have been dreamed up in the twenty-plus years the franchise has been around—it’s no wonder that the Resident Evil game series inspires so many fanfiction stories. And maybe someday there will be a game or two that gives some of the “forgotten” characters another chance to stand in the spotlight. The sky’s the limit when it comes to the future stories that the franchise’s development company could come up with. And if some old familiar faces turn up in the process, all the better.

My View on Game to Film Adaptations

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I’m of the opinion that reimagining a video game as a movie is a double-edged sword. I’ve seen this work in some cases, resulting in a nicely fleshed-out film that tells a good story. In other cases, the adaptation is a directionless, over-the-top mess and not worth the money. Granted, I prefer not to pass judgment until I’ve seen a film for myself, but I’ve found video game adaptions to be either hit or miss.

I believe part of the problem is that it’s hard to condense a game that contains hours upon hours of content down to a two to three hour movie. Or Hollywood will try unsuccessfully to build a story from a game that doesn’t really have one, as is the case with Angry Birds.

Below is my list of the video game adaptations that I’ve seen and my opinion of them.

1) Resident Evil live action films – I am a huge fan of the Resident Evil video games, and I was excited when I first heard there would be an adaptation back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, I have been disappointed with the live action movie series as a whole. Too many liberties were taken with the franchise, such as the films revolving around a character named Alice and her struggles against the villainous Dr. Isaacs, neither of whom were present in the games. Of the dozens of iconic monsters in the video games, only five or six actually made it into the film adaptations. Even more frustrating, especially to me as a writer, is the lack of consistency in the movie series even though all six films were directed by the same person – the story in the sixth movie even directly contradicts the plot presented in the second. If you wish to discover what the game series is about, the live action films with Milla Jovovich are not the way to go.

2) Doom – Doom is a film that worked because the game had a simplistic plot that translated well to the silver screen. It’s hard to go wrong with the basic premise of combating creatures coming from a portal to hell that was inadvertently opened at a Mars colony. The film adaptation added an extra layer to this concept by introducing a pair of estranged siblings – a marine and a scientist – who must band together if they hope to survive. Granted, I know the film bombed at the box office, but it is one movie that I thoroughly enjoy and find worthy of a spot in my DVD library.

3) Mortal Kombat – Mortal Kombat is perhaps the best game-to-film adaptation I’ve seen. It is the one and only movie on this list that is the most faithful to its video game counterpart. The first Mortal Kombat film did a fantastic job fleshing out the characters and conflicts in addition to telling a good story. I wish the same were true of the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. But I’ve yet to see another video game adaptation that’s on the same level.

4) Assassin’s Creed – Assassin’s Creed had potential to be a really great film since it had an excellent premise to draw from. Granted, I’ve never played any one of the games as of this point, but I would say that the film suffers from poor direction and lackluster storytelling. While Assassin’s Creed has some good elements, the pacing is too slow and it fails to delve into what motivates each of the central characters. In the hands of a production team with more vision, this movie could easily have been much more compelling.

5) Super Mario Brothers – Super Mario Brothers is a film that I initially liked in spite of its childish plot and over-the-top acting. The movie had some interesting concepts, such as a world where dinosaurs evolved to a human state. And I still get a kick out of hearing Dennis Hopper as the evil King Koopa, to get his men to hunt down the title characters, issue a “Plumber alert” like it’s an everyday occurrence. Super Mario Brothers isn’t necessarily a bad film. It is simply one that would appeal more to kids than adults.

6) House of the Dead – I’ve never played any of the House of the Dead games, but I do know they generally have you fighting zombie-esque creatures created by a mad scientist named Dr. Curien. The film took a step back to serve as a prequel to the first game and explain where Dr. Curien acquired the formula to manufacture these monsters. The House of the Dead movie presented an interesting plot in the trailers, which is what drew me to watch it. The ending, however, was anti-climactic and left a lot to be desired. That’s not to say I dislike this film. In my opinion, the fight choreography and some aspects of the cinematography balance out the flaws in the movie.

7) Silent Hill – Silent Hill is another film adaptation that is quite good. It does a fantastic job of matching the spooky atmosphere and nightmarish world presented in the first game. Not so much with the story – some liberties were taken there. The most notable difference between the movie and the first game is the inclusion of the iconic monster, Pyramid-Head, in the film – this particular character features only in the second game in the series and is not quite as threatening as he’s made out to be on the big screen. I would say the biggest failings of Silent Hill and it’s sequel is that there’s too much of an emphasis on acts of violence instead of quiet subtlety.

8) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – I’ve never played the Prince of Persia games and I honestly don’t know how the movie compares to them as a whole. But I really like the film for its fantasy premise and use of a mystical dagger that can allow the holder to go back in time a few minutes to undo life-threatening situations. There are enough twists and turns in the movie to keep it interesting until the end. The only downside I encountered with Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was watching it with a drunk older brother who kept making me pause it so he could rant about the historical inaccuracies.

9) Mass Effect: Paragon Lost – Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is easily the poorest piece of cinema to make it onto this list. It seems to exist only as a way for the game creators to milk some more money for their franchise. Paragon Lost delves into the backstory of James Vega, a supporting character introduced in the third game in the Mass Effect trilogy. Overall, the film is a waste of money, doesn’t contribute anything meaningful to the games, and is poorly animated. My advice – find something better to watch.

10) Final Fantasy: Spirits Within – I know that the Final Fantasy game series started with medieval fantasy games before morphing into contemporary or futuristic adventures. But I don’t know if Spirits Within came before or after this transition. The first animated Final Fantasy film is set in the future and sees humanity struggling to survive against ghost-like monstrous entities set to wipe out the last dredges of mankind. Unfortunately, Spirits Within lacked a solid story and the ending didn’t make a lot of sense. While I got a bit of enjoyment out of it, I definitely would not recommend it.

Honorary mention: Wreck-It Ralph – The only film on the list that wasn’t adapted from a video game, Wreck-It Ralph is still one of the best movies out there for gaming enthusiasts. It is chock-full of characters from popular retro games, such as Q-Bert, Pac-Man, and Sonic the Hedgehog. And it tells a fantastic story centered around three separate fictional games – Fix-It Felix Jr., Sugar Rush, and Hero’s Duty – that exist together within the same arcade. I’m a lover of video games and stories with good plot twists, and Wreck-It Ralph has both. Two thumbs up.

I hope you enjoyed my critique of some of the video game adaptations out there. Do you agree or disagree with my views? Please let me know in the comments below.

Resident Evil: Tangled Web — Evolution of an Idea

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My love of the written word is the one thing that rivals my love of video games. I have been reading and writing as far back as I can remember. While I have yet to get anything published, I have spent years honing my storytelling craft.

The majority of my writing has centered around fanfiction, which began when I wrote an extensive – but mediocre and nonsensical – series of stories based off the Nightmare on Elm Street films. I started these works of fiction just after the fifth movie was released and I made it up to part 21 before it fizzled.

My later stories, based off such mediums as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Transformers: Armada, and a lesser known horror film called Phantasm, improved my writing style by leaps and bounds. While I kept coming up with ideas – all-original stories I formulated or fanfiction based on film or TV franchises – I had neither the time or the motivation to put all those ideas on paper. What’s worse, I fell into a serious dry spell sometime between 2011 and 2014; a Transformers fanfiction piece called Sky Dancer I had been writing failed to get an ending as a result. That particular story is still begging for its last ten chapters.

Inspiration found me midway through 2014, but in a way that proved it can sometimes be a fickle creature. Sometime in August 2014, I joined a writing group called Deadwood Writers, and I started a story based off the Resident Evil game series. I had thought that being a part of this group would get me motivated to finish Sky Dancer, but it is possible I needed a change of pace after obsessing over my long-neglected story for several years.

I never intended to write a Resident Evil story despite being an avid fan of the video games. I didn’t have a plan when the idea for the Prologue came to me. I wrote the rough draft of my opening chapter for Tangled Web pretty quickly. I hadn’t even settled on a name for an original character who would serve as one of the leads and a romantic foil for Claire Redfield. I can’t recall why Elliott was the first name that popped into my head before I wrote it down at the end of the Prologue. I imagined I would change it at a later time. Nevertheless, it stuck.

A cover illustration I put together to go with the story. (photo credits at end)

The premise for Tangled Web was fairly straightforward – Claire had been abducted by Wesker, had been held captive for almost two years, and was having a baby when her brother finally found her. Much of the story is filling in what happened during those two years. But for the first few chapters, I was literally making up the narrative as I went along. This resulted in a few tangents that didn’t really have a place in the story. At one point, I planned for Claire’s cat to somehow mutate into a horrific monster. A friend advised me to keep it simple and get to the abduction scene as quick as possible, but a small part of the mutated feline setup still made its way into the story.

I can’t pinpoint exactly when I started to conceptualize the ending, but I gained more of a focus as I was writing the first act. Once I had figured out the basis of my climax, I had to go back and rewrite several of the early chapters. This led to the addition of a character known as RogueChild, a mysterious figure who sent Claire a vague email “warning” her of the upcoming kidnapping. I didn’t have a clear picture of RogueChild’s role in the story when I wrote the chapter where the character first appeared, let alone who RogueChild would turn out to be. Some of my early and downright ridiculous ideas were that RogueChild could be either Claire’s unborn child or Claire herself come back from the future. At one point, the character’s name was going to be The_Immortal_One instead of RogueChild.

When it came to the chapter where Wesker informs Claire she was exposed to a mutagenic virus, my initial idea was quite different. I had thought about having her be infected with the T-Veronica Virus even though I had seen that premise used in a number of other Resident Evil fanfictions. Inspiration struck again when I watched the anime film, Degeneration, and gave quite a lot of thought to it. It helped that I didn’t see any other works of fanfiction where someone was exposed to the G-Virus and immune to the negative effects. The idea of tackling an idea that had never been explored before was exciting and helped me figure out the exact direction to go with Tangled Web. A great portion of the storyline and the ending was built around this idea.

My next hurdle was hammering out exactly how Wesker would behave toward Claire and Elliott during their captivity. Before I determined the best way to spin it, the scene where Claire finds out she has rapid regeneration abilities played out quite differently:

Wesker stepped around the desk, tracing the surface with one gloved hand as he moved. Claire tensed at his approach. “I never would have dreamed that you, Chris’ little sister, would possess such a rare genome,” he said. “Unfortunately, studies of your DNA can only reveal so much. It doesn’t tell us if you reap any of the benefits of the virus. Specifically, rapid healing.”

Claire jerked spasmodically once Wesker’s words sank in. A protest was on her lips, but Wesker moved too fast. The combat knife that Jessica had been holding was in his hand, and he had Claire’s wrist in a viselike grip before the latter could even process it.

Elliott started to rise from his seat, but Raymond surged forward, forcing Elliott to stay put by pushing down on his shoulders. The blade was drawn swiftly across Claire’s outstretched arm in the same instant, eliciting a scream from her.

When Wesker released his hold on her wrist, Claire withdrew her arm, hot tears escaping her eyes. She pressed her other hand to the gash in an instinctive effort to staunch the blood flow. Elliott echoed the foremost thought on her mind. “You son of a bitch!” Elliott said. Claire looked over at her companion. Even though Raymond had let go of him, he didn’t seem inclined to get up.

Wesker passed the knife back to Jessica, who promptly sheathed it. He paid Elliott no heed, his gaze remaining on Claire. “My apologies for causing you harm, Miss Redfield,” Wesker said. If his voice hadn’t lacked inflection, she might have considered forgiving him. “But it was necessary. When you feel ready, allow us to see.”

Claire didn’t move her hand. “Go to hell,” she growled before she could stop herself.

Wesker’s hands half-curled into fists. “Do not test me, Miss Redfield. Your friend’s life depends on it.”

Claire closed her eyes. It took everything she had to calm herself. She slowly uncovered her wound, but couldn’t bring herself to look. The blood on her arm and hand was already feeling sticky and made her nauseous. The smug smile on Wesker’s face intensified the ill feeling.

Excella looked pleased as well. “Not even a scratch,” she said. “You are definitely going to be one of our best investments, dear.”

The above scene as initially written didn’t sit well with me. After several days, I determined that Claire would surely be broken if subjected to two years of this kind of torment. And Wesker’s actions contradicted something he stated in an earlier chapter. The revised scene set a far different tone for the story and was one I was much happier with:

Claire jerked spasmodically once Wesker’s words sank in. When she saw Jessica holding the knife out toward Wesker, Claire shook her head in a panic. “No!”

Elliott started to rise from his seat, but Raymond surged forward, forcing Elliott to stay put by pushing down on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Wesker cocked his head to one side, looking amused by his captives’ reactions. Though Wesker took the knife, he gave no indication that he would use it. “I thought you would know by now that I always keep my word, Miss Redfield. I stated in our initial meeting that I had no intention of physically harming you.” He rotated the knife so that the hilt was facing her. “I leave the choice in your hands. Just know that if you attempt to attack me or my colleagues, there will be serious consequences.” Wesker’s eyes flicked towards Elliott during this last statement to exemplify who would suffer the consequences.

Claire hesitantly took the knife. “And if I don’t heal immediately?” she asked.

“Then I shall see to it you get the necessary medical attention,” Wesker said smoothly.

Claire paused, wondering at the wisdom of playing with fire. “Will I still be useful to you, if this doesn’t go the way you hope?”

Wesker shifted his stance, looking almost bored. She had to wonder if he was being agreeable only to get her to comply. “I will consider sending you and Mr. Gregory back home if you lack any regenerative capabilities.”

Claire watched him in silence for several seconds before casting her gaze downward. She didn’t like the way he worded it, but even a slim chance was better than nothing.

“Claire, don’t,” Elliott said. She looked over at him briefly. Raymond’s grip on Elliott’s shoulders must have tightened; a wince crossed Elliott’s face.

“I have to,” she answered. Claire positioned the blade next to her forearm, her breath coming out in rapid puffs to prepare herself. Before she could lose her nerve, she drew the knife swiftly across her skin. The anticipation didn’t stop her from hissing in pain; seeing her blood welling from the gash made her nauseous. Don’t heal, she thought. Please don’t heal.

Against her will, the wound knitted itself together within seconds. Claire looked away, feeling sick when she realized Wesker was offering her a disinfectant wipe. “To wash away the blood,” he said as an explanation. The smug smile on his face intensified her ill feeling.

Excella looked pleased as well. “Not even a scratch,” she said. “You are definitely going to be one of our best investments, dear.”

As I continued to surge forward with Tangled Web, I began brainstorming the last eight to ten chapters. I eventually had the ending planned down to the last detail, save for one. The aspect that caused me trouble was related to how Wesker would be defeated at the end. I needed him to venture into the caves below his facility, but I couldn’t think of any logical reason why he would go there. Especially if his intent was to take Claire’s newborn child. I can’t go into detail without spoiling the climax of Tangled Web, but I came up with one wicked plot twist in October 2016 that would make the setup work.

If there is one thing I love about fiction stories, it is being surprised by something that you don’t see coming. Plot twists are my favorite thing to incorporate in my own writing. I have at least four or five in store for the final chapters of Tangled Web, all of which have been subtly hinted at throughout the narrative.

Though I have a clear vision of how the story plays out, I still have a good amount of deleted material for it – ranging from bits of dialogue that didn’t work to entire scenes that got cut. I have been saving the deleted material in a separate file, which is currently thirty pages. My plan is to share it with fans of the story once Tangled Web is completed.

I have also attempted to write a companion story to Tangled Web called Razor’s Edge, though I never made it past four chapters on that one. It would have addressed the same two years, but largely through the perspective of Claire’s older brother, Chris. Ironically, I have a detailed summary for how Razor’s Edge would have gone, but I couldn’t find time to work on both stories simultaneously. I haven’t decided whether I will continue writing the companion story or scrap it altogether.

I have one other thing planned. I would like to make Tangled Web the first book in a trilogy. I have some ideas on where to go with the potential sequels. There might even be a chance for Wesker and Claire to become an item. Even if the additional stories never pan out, I will still be happy with what I’ve written. Tangled Web has definitely been a challenge for me between writing a complex character like Wesker and having Claire and Elliott build a believable romance while being held prisoner. Even though one member of my writing group feels that I’m wasting my time writing fanfiction, I’m glad I was able to pull off this type of story.

photo credits:

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Irn3SpXXXXbCXFXXq6xXFXXXf/8-10-Month-hot-selling-font-b-Silicone-b-font-Fake-font-b-Pregnant-b-font.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aLunebGZhs4/hqdefault.jpg

https://t00.deviantart.net/9IiC3FV_m2i_U_nqDcywpt6Hh6Y=/fit-in/700×350/filters:fixed_height(100,100):origin()/pre00/fd03/th/pre/i/2015/247/2/b/re5_midnight_albert_wesker_by_captain_albertwesker-d47qypg.jpg

https://pre00.deviantart.net/1085/th/pre/f/2013/282/5/a/albert_wesker_and_jill_by_wolfshadow14081990-d6ptx87.jpg

http://nerdreactor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Wesker.jpg

https://www.colourbox.com/preview/2580450-with-web-clipping-mask.jpg

My Top Ten Favorite YouTube Gamers

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Have you ever wanted to play a certain video game but didn’t have the time or motivation to go for it? I know I have. I found an answer to this dilemma with YouTube. I started out by watching videos of entire games that I believed I would never play myself. Gradually, I discovered enough likeable personalities, game vloggers, and highly creative YouTubers to compile a list. I’d like to share with you my top ten favorite YouTube gamers.

10) RadBrad – RadBrad has the distinction of being one of the first gamers I discovered on YouTube, though I can’t recall what was the first game of which I saw him do a playthrough. I thought him to be funny enough that I kept tuning back in to hear his commentary on a number of video games. The one thing that keeps him from getting a higher spot on this list is that he doesn’t always finish the games he starts. I suspect he makes a living playing video games based on how many videos he uploads on a weekly basis. But I also imagine he doesn’t have enough time to see all these games through to the end.

9) Cloud8745 – When I took a video game design course in college, a classmate told me about one of the most sadistic games ever made – I Wanna Be the Guy – where just about every object in the game is designed to kill you. Curiosity led me to look up the game online, which in turn led me to the YouTube videos of Cloud8745. His unique commentary or rants on some of the game’s scenarios made me an instant fan of his. Sadly, he has difficulty maintaining his own YouTube channel. Many of the videos showcasing his gaming antics have been made available by fans of his.

8) Yeti112 – He is a YouTuber who has the distinction of making animated parodies of video games, particularly the Resident Evil series. I’m not entirely sure how or when I stumbled across a video showcasing Yeti112’s work, but I found it highly entertaining and clever. I especially love his ‘Resident Evil Stories’ series for their running gags and humorous situations. While he doesn’t upload new videos that often, his work is unique enough that I get a kick out of it.

7) Jordan Underneath – I stumbled across Jordan Underneath due to our shared love of the Resident Evil series. I was drawn to his honest critiques of the games and the monsters therein. He can be counted on to give it to you straight instead of ranting or being preachy. While I’ve enjoyed his videos pertaining to games he’s played, he has recently turned to making dark or surreal artistic videos instead. I know he suffers from depression; though some of his recent videos have gotten me concerned about him, I’m glad to see he’s still going strong.

6) Dartigan – What makes Dartigan a unique YouTuber is that his videos consist primarily of him nitpicking the newest or most popular video games on the market. Granted, I’ve seen other YouTubers who do the same thing, but I find Dartigan’s nitpicks more well thought out and humorous than most. I routinely tune in to his channel to see whatever new game he’s scrutinizing. One of my favorite video games to hear him pick apart would be Final Fantasy XIII. I haven’t played this game myself, but it’s not necessary to understand most of the nitpicks.

5) Proton Jon & Superjeenius – If there’s one thing I love about watching gameplay videos on YouTube, it would be listening to the commentary of the player – the more humorous, the better. Watching Proton Jon’s and Superjeenius’ playthrough of Resident Evil 5 is guaranteed to get me rolling on the floor laughing. Whether it’s hearing Jon make a random reference to football – which a drinking game could easily be built around — or Superjeenius’ irrational fear of computer-generated spiders, I can always count on their videos to brighten my mood whenever I’m having a bad day. For anyone who doesn’t want to see their run-through of the entire game, I would recommend checking out their top 20 best moments. The one downside – this is the only co-op game I’ve seen them partner up on. They play off each other so well that I wouldn’t mind seeing them team up for another video game.

4) ZackScottGames – He is another active gamer whose commentary I enjoy, but I’m not sure which game led me to discover his channel. I find ZackScottGames to be very personable and he has a laugh that I find infectious. Though he gravitates more toward kid-oriented video games, he does occasionally work in a horror game. My personal favorite videos are his highlights of Resident Evil: Revelations or Don’t Starve. I also love that he ends each of his videos by introducing his two cats – one of which sadly passed away recently. If you are looking for a fun YouTuber who can be counted on to provide a good laugh, he is definitely one to check out.

3) Jazzman1226 – I don’t know if Jazzman1226 is a gamer per se, but he or she is a master of putting together musical tributes to video games or movies. I love how this particular YouTuber edits together clips from the various Resident Evil games to match a particular song of his or her choosing. Of all the fan-made music videos I’ve added to my personal YouTube playlist, the majority were created by Jazzman1226 (but shout-out to the runner-up, MrAlbertWesker0). I look forward to whatever new tributes Jazzman1226 has in store, especially if they are on par with my particular faves of “Super Psycho Love,” “Something I Need,” “The Silence,” and “Unknown Soldier.”

2) Tipster – A prolific game vlogger I discovered just a month ago, Tipster earned a spot near the top of the list for the hot-off-the-presses news he provides about the gaming industry. He is definitely a YouTuber worth checking out whether he’s relaying info about a new game console in the works or sharing his opinion of newly announced video games. I don’t know of very many vloggers who are as active and comprehensive.

1) Radtv5150 (with Audemas) – As with the other game commentators who made the list, Radtv5150 is one to check out for a good laugh – especially when he does a co-op game with his buddy, Audemas. What sets Rad’s videos apart from the rest is that he easily freaks out – in ways I find downright hysterical — when faced with video game creatures ranging from crocodiles to mutated monstrosities. And Audemas will sometimes instigate a situation that gets his gaming partner, or both of them, killed. What’s better is that Rad isn’t the best when it comes to aiming. In his playthrough of Resident Evil 4, he even manages to miss a very large target with a rocket launcher.

The majority of unique personalities on this list can still provide a source of entertainment even if you’re not a gamer. Whether you’d prefer exploring the creative artistry of Yeti112, Jordan Underneath, and Jazzman1226 or laughing at the comedy stylings of Proton Jon, Superjeenius, ZackScottGames, and Radtv5150, I would highly recommend checking out one or more of these channels. I hope you found something on my list that appeals to you.

Resident Evil: Vendetta – Movie Review

Deadwood Writers Voices

Exploring writing with & for writers and readers.