Regenerators in Resident Evil 4: Unnverving Terror

Today let's ramp up the scare factor a bit by looking at what I consider to be the scariest creature in Resident Evil 4: the Regenerator.  This is truly an unsettling beast, and makes most of the other enemies in the game seem as scary as a Muppet on Sesame Street.  Grab some first-aid sprays, here we go!

The terror has only begun.

A little background on Resident Evil 4: the "zombies" in the game aren't zombies at all.  They are merely humans who are infected with a parasite which takes complete control of the host's nervous system.  The infected humans sacrifice intelligence and freedom of choice in favor of greater strength.  This is similar to the Headcrabs in the Half-Life games, except the parasite is internal as opposed to the skull-biting Headcrab.

While most of the enemies you face in Resident Evil 4 are individuals with a single parasite growing inside them, the Regenerators are infected with multiple parasites.  This infection has caused the human hosts to be grotesquely deformed, while gaining an extreme tolerance to damage.

As you may have guessed from their name, Regenerators have incredible healing abilities.  You can blast off any of their limbs, and after a short period of time they will grow right back.  Shooting off their legs does slow them down a little bit, but make sure to keep your distance because they can and will pounce at you even in this position (it's actually a pretty good jump scare the first time this happens).

A legless Regenerator lunges at protagonist Leon.

As stated earlier, this monster is hideous to look at thanks mostly to its nightmarish face. It stands at an imposing height that only adds to the intimidation factor.  Also, they are completely naked (ugh), showing off their corpse-like gray skin.

You'll know a Regenerator is in a room with you when you hear it breathing.  It makes a distinctive wheezing sound which sounds like an asthma attack from hell.  Believe me when I say you will learn to dread this sound.  Once you have been seen by a Regenerator, it will pursue you relentlessly, albeit somewhat slowly.  Like all good zombie animations, the Regenerator has a severely disturbing gait.  Turning around to see this beast slowly shambling towards you will remind you of your worst nightmares, especially when you factor in the constant wheezes it emits.

If you let it grab you, the Regenerator will pull you in close for some snuggle time.

Regenerators can absorb a staggering amount of ammo before they are taken down, unless you stay calm play it smart.  The best way to kill one is to equip a sniper rifle with a thermal scope, which allows you to see the locations of the various parasites living inside it.  Pick off these parasites one by one and you'll be rewarded with an ammo-conserving kill.  Of course it can be hard to keep your cool when you are being pursued by multiple Regenerators coming from different directions.


That concludes our look at the horror that is the Regenerator.  Did you guys play Resident Evil 4?  If so, how horrified were you when you encountered these monsters?

Today let's ramp up the scare factor a bit by looking at what I consider to be the scariest creature in Resident Evil 4: the Regenerator.  This is truly an unsettling beast, and makes most of the other enemies in the game seem as scary as a Muppet on Sesame Street.  Grab some first-aid sprays, here we go!

The terror has only begun.

A little background on Resident Evil 4: the "zombies" in the game aren't zombies at all.  They are merely humans who are infected with a parasite which takes complete control of the host's nervous system.  The infected humans sacrifice intelligence and freedom of choice in favor of greater strength.  This is similar to the Headcrabs in the Half-Life games, except the parasite is internal as opposed to the skull-biting Headcrab.

While most of the enemies you face in Resident Evil 4 are individuals with a single parasite growing inside them, the Regenerators are infected with multiple parasites.  This infection has caused the human hosts to be grotesquely deformed, while gaining an extreme tolerance to damage.

As you may have guessed from their name, Regenerators have incredible healing abilities.  You can blast off any of their limbs, and after a short period of time they will grow right back.  Shooting off their legs does slow them down a little bit, but make sure to keep your distance because they can and will pounce at you even in this position (it's actually a pretty good jump scare the first time this happens).

A legless Regenerator lunges at protagonist Leon.

As stated earlier, this monster is hideous to look at thanks mostly to its nightmarish face. It stands at an imposing height that only adds to the intimidation factor.  Also, they are completely naked (ugh), showing off their corpse-like gray skin.

You'll know a Regenerator is in a room with you when you hear it breathing.  It makes a distinctive wheezing sound which sounds like an asthma attack from hell.  Believe me when I say you will learn to dread this sound.  Once you have been seen by a Regenerator, it will pursue you relentlessly, albeit somewhat slowly.  Like all good zombie animations, the Regenerator has a severely disturbing gait.  Turning around to see this beast slowly shambling towards you will remind you of your worst nightmares, especially when you factor in the constant wheezes it emits.

If you let it grab you, the Regenerator will pull you in close for some snuggle time.

Regenerators can absorb a staggering amount of ammo before they are taken down, unless you stay calm play it smart.  The best way to kill one is to equip a sniper rifle with a thermal scope, which allows you to see the locations of the various parasites living inside it.  Pick off these parasites one by one and you'll be rewarded with an ammo-conserving kill.  Of course it can be hard to keep your cool when you are being pursued by multiple Regenerators coming from different directions.


That concludes our look at the horror that is the Regenerator.  Did you guys play Resident Evil 4?  If so, how horrified were you when you encountered these monsters?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Annoying Sidekicks That Make You Want to Go Solo

Sometimes, even the mightiest of game characters need someone or something to provide assistance.  When done properly, a sidekick for the main character can be a valuable asset, providing hints or new abilities that wouldn't be available otherwise.  Sometimes a good sidekick can be there mainly to provide observations that help to pull you into the story, such as in the Halo games when Cortana provides the Master Chief with updates about the Covenant's whereabouts and current actions.

However, there are game developers out there who want to ruin our fun by providing annoying and sometimes worthless sidekicks that rarely do more than get on our nerves.  Here are some of the offending characters that you may have had the misfortune of putting up with.

Ashley from Resident Evil 4

Leon help! Help me! Leon!! Help!

The low point of Resident Evil 4 is when you rescue Ashley, because from then on the game pretty much becomes one giant escort mission.  Ashley has absolutely no way to defend herself, which results in her constantly crying for you to help her.  This is a huge inconvenience while you are trying to defend yourself from hordes of almost-zombie villagers.  Worse still, she has her own life bar, so if you decide to let her fend for herself you'll be greeted with plenty of game over screens.  I suspect that only Ico is a game that involves more hand holding than this Resident Evil game.

Roman from Grand Theft Auto IV

Cousin! Let us go bowling, again.

Ok so technically Roman isn't your sidekick in GTA IV, but you end up driving him around the city so much that he might as well be.  Roman is the cousin of the main character Niko, and enjoys spending time with him, which means that he often gives Niko a call and asks that they hang out.  This wouldn't be a problem if the phone calls were few and far between, but no, it seems like every five minutes you are receiving a call from Roman to go bowling, play darts, or hit up the strip clubs.  And you always have to drive over to pick up Roman within a time limit, or else he feels that you snubbed him, and your friendship rating nosedives.  There's nothing more annoying than having to drive all the way across Liberty City to pick this guy up and take him to a bar for the 100th time in the game.

Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This is probably the most annoying character in all the Zelda games, a fairy who won't shut up.  Navi is your constant companion throughout the entire game, and can be very helpful by telling you the weaknesses of enemies, and hinting at which area you should visit next in order to make progress in the storyline.  However, when she wants you to advance further in the game, she constantly lets you know about it, driving both you and Link insane with cries of "Hey! Hey! Listen!!"  As all Zelda fans can tell you, it's a very unpleasant experience to have a fairy screaming in your ear every couple of minutes while you are trying to travel Hyrule field to complete side-quests.

Sometimes, even the mightiest of game characters need someone or something to provide assistance.  When done properly, a sidekick for the main character can be a valuable asset, providing hints or new abilities that wouldn't be available otherwise.  Sometimes a good sidekick can be there mainly to provide observations that help to pull you into the story, such as in the Halo games when Cortana provides the Master Chief with updates about the Covenant's whereabouts and current actions.

However, there are game developers out there who want to ruin our fun by providing annoying and sometimes worthless sidekicks that rarely do more than get on our nerves.  Here are some of the offending characters that you may have had the misfortune of putting up with.

Ashley from Resident Evil 4

Leon help! Help me! Leon!! Help!

The low point of Resident Evil 4 is when you rescue Ashley, because from then on the game pretty much becomes one giant escort mission.  Ashley has absolutely no way to defend herself, which results in her constantly crying for you to help her.  This is a huge inconvenience while you are trying to defend yourself from hordes of almost-zombie villagers.  Worse still, she has her own life bar, so if you decide to let her fend for herself you'll be greeted with plenty of game over screens.  I suspect that only Ico is a game that involves more hand holding than this Resident Evil game.

Roman from Grand Theft Auto IV

Cousin! Let us go bowling, again.

Ok so technically Roman isn't your sidekick in GTA IV, but you end up driving him around the city so much that he might as well be.  Roman is the cousin of the main character Niko, and enjoys spending time with him, which means that he often gives Niko a call and asks that they hang out.  This wouldn't be a problem if the phone calls were few and far between, but no, it seems like every five minutes you are receiving a call from Roman to go bowling, play darts, or hit up the strip clubs.  And you always have to drive over to pick up Roman within a time limit, or else he feels that you snubbed him, and your friendship rating nosedives.  There's nothing more annoying than having to drive all the way across Liberty City to pick this guy up and take him to a bar for the 100th time in the game.

Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This is probably the most annoying character in all the Zelda games, a fairy who won't shut up.  Navi is your constant companion throughout the entire game, and can be very helpful by telling you the weaknesses of enemies, and hinting at which area you should visit next in order to make progress in the storyline.  However, when she wants you to advance further in the game, she constantly lets you know about it, driving both you and Link insane with cries of "Hey! Hey! Listen!!"  As all Zelda fans can tell you, it's a very unpleasant experience to have a fairy screaming in your ear every couple of minutes while you are trying to travel Hyrule field to complete side-quests.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Historically Bad Voice Acting in Games

We've all played a game or two in our lives that has made us either cringe or bust out laughing (or both) upon reaching a cutscene.  I don't know about you, but when I'm watching a cutscene, I like to feel at least some immersion in the game world.   Even if it's a comical world such as in the Sonic Adventure games, the voice actors should at least give us the impression that they are trying to do their jobs.  But alas, in too many cases we have received some of the most cringe-worthy voice acting in gaming history.




Now that is some uninspiring voice acting!  And since we are on the topic of awkward, monotone-ish voiceovers, you know that I'm going to bring up Capcom.  The Resident Evil games are notorious for providing bland, uninspired, and as a result hilarious voice acting (Jill sandwich anyone?).



Were the actors even trying? How could Capcom let this pass inspection knowing that laughing at cutscenes in a survival horror is a sure way to break the mood?  To their credit, recent Resident Evil games have improved their voiceovers, although it appears that the character of Albert Wesker will always remain over the top, as he should be!

Now, to finish off this small roundup of bad voice acting, we have to go somewhere that is absolutely painful to even think of.  Games whose mere mention makes Nintendo fans scream in rage and anguish before clutching their copies of A Link to the Past for comfort.  The games I speak of are....The CD-i Zelda Games!

Judging by this pose and hairstyle, I don't even want to know what he has to say.

Besides the fact that the gameplay in these CD-i versions of Zelda has no redeeming features, the cutscenes are jaw-dropping bad.  I can't even express the horror of these cutscenes.  The most obvious blasphemy to Nintendo fans (besides the fact that these games were made) is that the developers gave the famously silent Link a speaking role, and to add insult to injury, Link and all the other characters were voiced by amateur actors who obviously had no freaking idea what they were doing!



Seeing as we've hit rock bottom with the CD-i Zelda cutscenes, this is as good a time as any to wrap up this segment of Historically Bad Voice Acting in Games.

If you know of more cringe-worthy cutscenes that you would like featured in this blog, feel free to drop an email to: strangegaming86@yahoo.com

We've all played a game or two in our lives that has made us either cringe or bust out laughing (or both) upon reaching a cutscene.  I don't know about you, but when I'm watching a cutscene, I like to feel at least some immersion in the game world.   Even if it's a comical world such as in the Sonic Adventure games, the voice actors should at least give us the impression that they are trying to do their jobs.  But alas, in too many cases we have received some of the most cringe-worthy voice acting in gaming history.




Now that is some uninspiring voice acting!  And since we are on the topic of awkward, monotone-ish voiceovers, you know that I'm going to bring up Capcom.  The Resident Evil games are notorious for providing bland, uninspired, and as a result hilarious voice acting (Jill sandwich anyone?).



Were the actors even trying? How could Capcom let this pass inspection knowing that laughing at cutscenes in a survival horror is a sure way to break the mood?  To their credit, recent Resident Evil games have improved their voiceovers, although it appears that the character of Albert Wesker will always remain over the top, as he should be!

Now, to finish off this small roundup of bad voice acting, we have to go somewhere that is absolutely painful to even think of.  Games whose mere mention makes Nintendo fans scream in rage and anguish before clutching their copies of A Link to the Past for comfort.  The games I speak of are....The CD-i Zelda Games!

Judging by this pose and hairstyle, I don't even want to know what he has to say.

Besides the fact that the gameplay in these CD-i versions of Zelda has no redeeming features, the cutscenes are jaw-dropping bad.  I can't even express the horror of these cutscenes.  The most obvious blasphemy to Nintendo fans (besides the fact that these games were made) is that the developers gave the famously silent Link a speaking role, and to add insult to injury, Link and all the other characters were voiced by amateur actors who obviously had no freaking idea what they were doing!



Seeing as we've hit rock bottom with the CD-i Zelda cutscenes, this is as good a time as any to wrap up this segment of Historically Bad Voice Acting in Games.

If you know of more cringe-worthy cutscenes that you would like featured in this blog, feel free to drop an email to: strangegaming86@yahoo.com

reade more... Résuméabuiyad