The Art of Weapon Balance

Weapon balancing is a very important element to the first person shooter genre, to the point where it can either make or break a game. Despite this, many games seem to fail in this category, Some shooters typically offer just a couple weapons that dominate the entire arsenal, while the rest fall under them in terms of overall effectiveness. This is a really bad thing because it promotes mindless gameplay. Instead of forcing players to constantly think and adapt to each situation as they come by, the match often comes down to picking up one strong weapon and then easily blasting everyone away with no significant strategy or effort required. Where's the intellect in that? It's just brainless. With a game such as this, there's pretty much no strategy at all when it comes to choosing the right gun for the job.

Weapon balance is important because it brings a tactical element to the table. With a balanced arsenal, each weapon has its own unique set of pros and cons, as well as a certain situation where it dominates. This encourages players to use every weapon in the sandbox, rather than the whole game being centered on just a few. This design philosophy makes for an experience in which players have to constantly be on there toes 24/7. You have to use your mind at all times while playing the game, because if you aren't using the right weapon at the right time, your enemy will have a significant advantage over you. Another important part of weapon balance is to give each weapon a decently sized skill gap. If a weapon doesn't require much skill, this means you don't really have to try all that hard to score some kills once you have this weapon in your hands. There shouldn't be an easy way out like that, you should ALWAYS have to use skill to succeed, no matter what.

This is in stark contrast to something like Halo, where one weapon is always obviously better than another. Don't get me wrong, I like Halo, but this is a still a pretty major flaw when it comes to weapon design. You don't really have to think all that hard when choosing a gun in this game. With Halo, it pretty much just comes down to Rockets > Sniper > Shotgun > BR > AR. While this may be somewhat different for noobs (BR/Sniper does require some precision aiming), in a decently competitive match with intermediate to high level players, this is pretty much how the game goes.

I would much rather play a game with more strategic complexity, where every weapon is just as good as another in their own specific situation. The only reasonable exceptions to these rules should be starter weapons. They need to be a little weak because the player should be encouraged to move around the map and collect more weapons instead of just playing passively the entire damn time. Of course, there also needs to be a fine balance. A player should at least be able to defend himself a little bit, so the game isn't just a cheap mess of spawn kills. However, something like Rocket Launcher vs Battle Rifle in Halo is way too huge of a gap. If you have a BR and you encounter someone else with Rockets, you're pretty much fucked and there's NOTHING you can do about it, and that's bad.

I know I keep bringing up Halo, but this one of the best examples I can find in terms of how mindless a game can be when the weapons aren't properly balanced. Some fanboys try to argue that "If a weapon isn't overpowered, no one will fight for it." Bullshit. In Quake 3 Arena, for instance, none of the weapons are overpowered yet you always see people fighting for them on the map. It happens all the damn time. This is because in a game like this, each weapon dominates in their own situation. If you don't go around collecting each of the weapons, when a certain situation arises you may be at a severe disadvantage, simply because you don't have the right gun for the job. Players are highly encouraged to get every weapon on the map so they'll be properly equipped for each situation that arises. This right here proves that something on the map doesn't have to be overpowered for players to fight over it. Something can be perfectly balanced AND highly valuable at the same exact time, so the aforementioned fanboy argument is completely invalid.

To summarize this entry: A balanced arsenal is good because it requires players to adapt to situations and continuously strategize. An unbalanced arsenal is bad because it encourages mindless blasting and makes for an overall lack of strategy when it comes to choosing the right gun for the job.

To end off, here is a list of what I find to be the basic rules of weapon balance:

1. Every weapon has to be significantly useful in a certain situation.
2. Every on-map weapon has to be overall equally effective as the others.
3. Every weapon must require a decent amount of skill.
4. You should at least be able to defend yourself with your starting weapon, until you find a better gun that is. It should be somewhat weaker than the others, but not too drastically.

DOOM Review

Remember all the way back to the early 90s. There was one game that helped define the good side of the FPS genre. It may have not been the first shooter ever made (that honor goes to Wolfenstein 3D), but it's definitely one that initially popularized the FPS genre. This is probably one of (if not) the most revolutionary titles in the entire gaming industry. This is DOOM, and here is my review.

Presentation

Engine-wise, Doom is a step up from Wolfenstein 3D in just about every single conceivable aspect. Wolfenstein's engine is overly simplistic to the point where it just ruins the game. The game consisted of various block mazes without any support for diagnol walls or stairs, and the ceilings and floors were just plain colors. Doom's engine, on the other hand, supports angled walls, ceiling/floor textures, a level of verticality, and decent lighting effects via bright map, and although this may seem like basic stuff by today's standards, back in 1993 this was one of the most graphically advanced games of its time. Sure, technically it may have not been "true 3D", as characters and items are represented by 2D sprites, and the game lacks the ability for the player to look up or down, but remember this was way back in the day when we still had Microsoft DOS and Super Nintendo.

I really do enjoy the game's visuals when it comes down to the environments. It uses various, vivid colors while still being able to maintain a semi-haunted feel. The military bases look very "alien", as in something you wouldn't find on Earth, which actually does make a lot a sense when you consider the fact that the bases you explore are actually located on the two moons of Mars. The demon areas look very, well, demonic, for lack of a better word. Many demon areas feel very ancient and temple-like, which is a stark contrast to the military bases often outfitted with advanced technology and toxic waste canals. Most areas are able to easily stand out from one another with only a couple exceptions, meaning that when you get lost, it's usually your fault rather than it being typically due to repetitive layout and graphic design. which was the case with Wolf3D. Levels feel very vacant and empty despite the countless enemy hordes that you encounter, giving you a feeling of isolation. Seeing as you're one man army stranded in the depths of hell, it seems to work pretty well.

The game has a kickass soundtrack that really complements the fast-paced action. Background themes are heavily composed of electric guitar riffs, taking influence from various heavy metal bands like Metallica. Unlike many shooters these says where the music is completely forgettable, these tracks have very catchy melodies. The music department is an area where this game truly shines. It's actually one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time, believe it or not. Ialso like some of the game's sound effects. All of the weapons have bone-crunching sound effects that bring chills down your spine. Each of the enemies also have pretty distinct sounds when it comes to spotting you and attacking, although for some reason they all share the same exact roars when damaged, but that's just a minor nitpick of mine. 

Story

The story of Doom is pretty much nonexistent, save for some text in the manual. The Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) has been experimenting with teleportation on two of Mars' moons: Phobos and Deimos. The project goes horribly wrong and they accidentally open a portal to Hell. The Hellspawn invade and slaughter everyone there, now you're all that's left between them and Earth. Honestly I wish the game had a bit more narrative, but really that's just one of my nitpicks.

Gameplay

Doom is a fast-paced, up close and personal shooter with top-notch gunplay. Strafing is essential for dodging enemy projectiles, and cover is necessary for avoiding hitscan attacks. The game doesn't have sprint in the "conventional" sense as we know it today, because in Doom, you're able to move insanely fast while being super accurate at the same time. It doesn't have regenerating health either, meaning you really have to memorize the map and manage your resources for survival. The game heavily encourages map movement, because you simply aren't able to regen health by hiding in cover for eight seconds. The game doesn't really have any reloads either, and it's a good thing because it means there's really nothing to interrupt the flow of combat. All in all it's very fast-paced, high adrenaline gunplay that doesn't hold your hand.

Level design is semi-open and pretty non-linear when you compare it to the mindless, on-rail military shooters like COD. It's all very labyrinth-like. The game really emphasizes exploration, memory, and critical thinking in the majority of its levels. It's all designed with a pretty good sense of mystery, wonder, and intrigue. You're most likely going to be confused by some of the level layouts at first, but soon enough you'll be able to put the pieces together and you'll find yourself quite satisfied upon finding the level exit. Believe me, this game has some of the most intriguing level designs that I know of.

The main objective of each level is fairly simple: slaughter everything in sight and find the exit switch. Usually to reach the exit switch, you'll often need to collect various keycards that serve to open locked doors. Sometimes this results in occasional backtracking here and there (good backtracking mind you, as it always results in you reaching a whole new area). Personally I like to see more varied objectives in FPS, rather than it being the same thing every level, but seeing how this was one of the earliest first person shooters, it's highly forgivable, and despite the lack of variety in objectives, the game always manages to stay very, very fresh, and be very, very fun, so in all fairness, this is nothing more than a personal nitpick. The top-notch level design, as described above, is what keeps the game from going stale.

Weapons

Doom's arsenal may seem sort of lackluster and standard at first glance, but in all reality, the game has essentially defined many well-known staples of the genre. Overall, it's very centered on close quarters combat, yet also manages to be pretty diverse at the same time.

In the beginning, you start with two weapons: your bare fists as well as a shitty pistol. I'm gonna say it right now, the fists are pointless. Never use them. They deal the same low damage as the pistol and are quite obviously more limited when it comes to range. Even when you wish to conserve ammo, still don't use them. Your enemies will quickly mow you down with bullets, fireballs, and superior melee, and you simply won't have the chance to deal much damage. You even get a Chainsaw later on that hits 4x as fast, essentially replacing the fists as your goto melee weapon. Plain and simple, the fists suck. The Pistol really isn't all that great either with piss-poor damage and piss-poor firing speed, but it's still passable for taking down a couple lower-class enemies here and there, and it won't be long until you get your hands on a superior weapon.

The Shotgun is your general purpose weapon in the game, and you come across it very early on. It fires a tight horizontal spread of seven hitscan pellets, and packs a punch at closer ranges. This is quite possibly my favorite shotgun in video game history. Despite being weaker at longer ranges, it's still extremely useful at any distance, and can even serve as an improvised sniper rifle. It's main downside, however, comes in the form of a slow rate of fire, so it's important to use cover well and maintain the element of surprise while using this weapon. Throughout the lost Phobos moon base and the depths of Hell itself, this trusty boomstick is your best friend, and ultimate key to survival. Compared to other weapons, it has a distinct "shoot, sidestep, shoot" pattern, you don't have to worry about maintaining your accuracy while dodging, rather you shoot and strafe separately.

Next you get the Chaingun, which serves as the game's primary automatic weapon. It has less consistent accuracy than the Shotgun but it has a fast rate of fire with a wide spread. While the Shotgun is good for slaughtering foes one at a time or taking down a smaller group of enemies, the Chaingun is meant for those situations where an entire army is after you. While using this weapon, it's fairly important to fire in short bursts to conserve your ammo count, because this weapon burns through ammo FAST, and because of its extreme usefulness, you never really want to find yourself wasting bullets.

The Rocket Launcher is (quite obviously) an explosive projectile weapon. Very useful for taking down upper-class enemies, due to its high stopping power. With this weapon, you're going to want to lead ahead of your targets because the rockets move painfully slow. It's blast radius is relatively small for this type of weapon, so it's not really good for taking down several nooks at once, but the weapon has high damage capabilities on direct hit, which overall makes it a very useful weapon. The "reload time" (the delay between shots) is just around half a second, not fast enough to the point where it's overpowered, nor slow enough to the point where it's useless. Overall a very good weapon that you shouldn't pass up.

The Plasma Rifle (aka the Plasma Gun) is the first of two directed energy weapons you'll be using throughout the game. It's pretty powerful, is fully automatic, and has a high chance of stunning enemies. It's good against anything, really, from small groups of lower-class enemies and large demon armies to upper-class foes and even bosses. It's a very useful projectile weapon at mid range with only two downsides: the slower projectile speed and the cooldown animation that occurs after letting go of the trigger. It's really lackluster at long range despite its pinpoint accuracy, mostly due to its slow projectile speed, but despite these downsides, it's probably my favorite weapon to use, even slightly more so than the Shotgun. That stunning ability proves to be very useful. In multiplayer the weapon tends to be really good for area denial purposes due to its larger projectiles.

Last on our list is the BFG9000, also known as the Big Fucking Gun, or the Bio Force Gun if you ever watched the shitty movie adaptation. It has to charge up for around .8 seconds before firing, but man is this weapon so fucking beast. It generates a slow moving ball of green plasma that will explode on impact, able to clear out an entire room in one giant blast. After the initial explosion, there will be a series of invisible shockwaves generated from the point of impact, finishing off whatever's left standing. This is one powerful weapon, but always keep in mind that ammunition is rare. You want to make every shot count. Only use the weapon when you need it most, or you can just do what I do: save it for the boss battles.

All in all Doom's arsenal has heavily influenced the genre as a whole, popularizing many staples of FPS, such as shotguns, chainguns, rocket launchers, and energy weapons. For the most part, each of Doom's weapons are all equally awesome in their own special way.

Enemies

There are two different breeds of enemies that you'll encounter on this quest: your fellow soldiers that are possessed by Satan, and the evil hellspawn that wish to eat your soul. The enemy soldiers are individually weak but use hitscan bullets that are incredibly hard to dodge, thus requiring you to use cover effectively. The hellspawn are individually more powerful and use damaging melee attacks as well as plasma fireballs that can be dodged with good enough reflex. Enemy soldiers will drop ammo upon death, while the hellspawn do not.

There are two types of enemy soldiers: the Zombieman, and the Zombie Sergeant (I like to call him Sarge). The Zombiemen use weak rifles that fire pistol shots for some odd reason, and are the basic footsoldier you'll often be fighting throughout the game. It only takes a few pistol shots each to kill them. The Sergeants use a weaker variant of your Shotgun that fires three pellets rather than seven, and although they have the same exact low health as the Zombiemen, they're way more dangerous because they can quickly shave a load off your health. Always take the Sergeant(s) down first in any combat scenario, because their ranged attacks can't be dodged like fireballs.

The Hellspawn are way more varied overall. The first type you encounter is the Imp. They're somewhat tougher than human soldiers but not by much, and can still be slayed with a single shotgun blast to the face. Demons are the second kind you encounter. They have tougher armor and superior speed compared to the Imps, but can't send out fireballs like the latter. They are restricted to merely charging forward and eating the player's flesh. There is also the Spectre, which is simply a second variant of the Demon that utilizes partial invisibility. The Cacodemon is perhaps one of the more memorable enemies in Doom, owing to its unique appearance and round shape. It constantly flies around while launching fireballs at a moderate speed, and can take approximately six shotgun blasts to the face, with over twice the durability of a Demon. The Lost Souls are these flaming little skulls that wander around and will charge the player upon first sight, but are very, very weak and serve as nothing but a minor annoyance.

Doom also has bosses, including the Cyberdemon, the Spider Mastermind, and the Barons of Hell (who may also appear individually as mini-bosses). The Cyberdemon is encountered at the end of Episode 2, and uses an arm-mounted rocket launcher that deals massive damage upon direct hit. The best weapon to use against him (aside from the BFG) is the Plasma Rifle due to its high damage and stun, but in all honesty it's way more fun to use the Rocket Launcher because it turns the fight into an intense duel, rather than a one-sided engagement. The Spiderdemon uses hitscan Chainguns with explosive ammo, and honestly if you don't have the BFG by now, you're fucked. The Barons of Hell are encountered multiple times throughout the game, and although they're definitely weaker than the big two, they still pose a significant threat if you lack the Plasma Rifle or BFG9000.

The enemy selection in Doom is overall very memorable and diverse. The AI may be lacking of course, but the sheer numbers is enough to make you shiver. 

Multiplayer

Doom's multiplayer natively supports up to 4-player LAN in an all-out Deathmatch, as well as cooperative play. This is limited to the point where most gamers may want to stray away, but fear not my friend. There exists Zandronum, one of the many sourceports that can be played with Doom. This multiplayer modification serves to increase the player count and bring additional game modes to the table, such as Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing, Terminator (aka Halo's Juggernaut), and the works. By default the game does use damage randomizers, but there are server commands and mods that can be used to be disable them, for those who prefer more competitive gameplay.

The kill times in multiplayer seem to drag on a bit TOO long. While long kill times are essential for a good multiplayer FPS because it requires direct combat and prolonged accuracy, it's so long to the point where battles don't ever end and it just becomes stale. Maps are typically small and asymmetric, and coupled with the fast movement speed, I'd recommend this game for some smaller scale free for all matches with your buddies, for around 4 to 8 players.

Conclusion
In my opinion, Doom is one of the best first person shooters of all time, hands down. Fast paced close quarters combat, open-ended level design, highly versatile weapons, varied enemy classes, what's not to like? I only have but a few nitpicks: the lack of narrative, the lack of varied objectives, and the arsenal could've been just a BIT more distinct, but again, these are only nitpicks. The game is just AWESOME, and you should play it. Doom is a game that helped revolutionize the entire industry, and it's legacy is one that'll never be forgotten.

Rating: 9.7/10

DOOM 4 Weapon Idea

I feel that Doom 4 could definitely give us a couple new weapons for us to slaughter the demon horde with. I just came up with one particular concept for a new weapon that would easily fit into Doom 4's arsenal. I call it the Shredder (and no, not the one from Turok 2). It would function as a stylish replacement for the Chainsaw, being a handy melee weapon with a vertically rotating razor blade, allowing you to saw opponents.

Now how would this would differ from the normal chainsaw, you might be asking yourself. The weapon would have an alternate fire that would launch the blade out, slicing enemies that stand in its ways. Upon making contact with a wall, it would create a fairly small explosion on impact, and then split into two fragments, with each fragment splitting into two more upon hitting another wall, and finally each of those splitting again upon hitting yet another wall. After all of this occurs, the eight pieces would then disintegrate upon their next impact with any surface. It would be good for clearing out rooms filled with lesser enemies, and it would also lead to extreme chaos in multiplayer.

After you launch the razor blade out, another one will be loaded into the weapon after a brief delay. If you press the primary fire again before another blade is loaded into your weapon, you will be able to detonate the launched out razor blade during it's flight, dealing some light splash damage and immediately splitting it into eight.

Halo 5 Spartan Abilities

Halo 5 will feature "Spartan Abilities", which are default abilities that can be accessed by all players. Despite my ranting earlier, I decided to look more deeply into gameplay footage so I can make a proper analysis, rather than blindly hating the game for Sprint/ADS without even looking at how the different features are implemented. Below I will discuss my first impressions on each of the Spartan Abilities.

Thruster Pack
Serving as a quick boost of speed in any direction, the Thruster Pack seems to work great. I never once thought it would be a bad idea to implement this as a default ability, as it enhances strafing and also allows players to dodge incoming projectiles (rather than being helpless if a rocket is coming their way).

Ground Pound
At first I detested against players being able to one-shot-kill off spawn, but this move has quite some delay to it, meaning it might not be as overpowered as one would initially think. Players actually have a good amount of time to dodge incoming ground pounds. Not only this, but apparently it takes quite a bit of accuracy to line up your ground pounds, although I'll have to play it for myself before I'm able to confirm or deny this. The attack also deals some light splash damage, presumably in a shockwave effect.

Clamber
This ability lets you climb up ledges, and I'm not a fan of it for a couple reasons. My main gripe is that it takes away the emphasis on crouch-jumping. Anyone who's ever played a well-crafted ninja map knows what I'm talking about when it comes to the elite skill of crouch jumping. Of course I am exaggerating quite a bit, but regardless, crouch jumping is way more skillful compared to automated climbing. Whereas crouch jumping requires good timing as well as a nice place to jump from, clambering is simply a matter of getting close to a ledge and allowing the game to do the work for you. As I mentioned before, this ability can make the game feel a bit automated at times, which is my second problem with this.

Sprint
Sprinting is back, and while it may be somewhat more balanced than previous iterations in the series, it's still quite game-breaking at the same time. All players now have unlimited sprint, but cannot recharge energy shields while doing so. Although I appreciate the fact that players aren't able to cheat death as easily as they could in Halo 4, I feel that it still allows them to significantly delay it, simply because if you happen to be running away, your pursuers can't keep up with you AND shoot you at the same time, rather they have to choose between one or the other. It often results in many cat-and-mouse chases, destroying the game's flow completely. It's like a chase scene from a Kung Fu movie, but on a strict budget and getting in the way of the action, rather than enhancing it. I would've liked to see it removed as Thruster Pack seems like a nice replacement.

Slide
Whenever you reach the terminal velocity of a sprint, you're able to go into a slide via the crouch button. This makes you a smaller target, and can allow to quickly close the gap with enemies for a stylish shotgun kill. However, I feel this ability is redundant and should've been combined with the Thruster Pack, considering that both can be used for the same exact function with little to no difference.

Charge
As long as it's not 1sk or comes with too much knockback, I'm fine with it, although I'd like to see it combined with Thruster Pack: initiated by meleeing during a thrust, which in turn grants extra knockback to your punch, but not enough to be considered overpowered.

Smart Scope
The last but not least. Smart Scope, also known as ADS, is the most controversial new player ability in the game. However, I change my mind on this one after watching around 20 minutes of gameplay footage. It seems to be implemented like it was in Brutal Doom, rather than the shitty modern military shooters we all seem to identify this feature with. Here it essentially acts as a reskinned zoom, with no accuracy penalty to hip firing, no movement penalty to aiming, and it also comes with descope, which is good as it balances longer range combat and is not random like flinch was in Halo 4. Any weapon has the ability to Smart Scope, although some do it better than others (for instance, zooming with a BR is better than zooming with the AR). With the AR it seems to function just like the zoom in Quake 3, which is totally fine in my eyes. Overall it doesn't seem to change gameplay at all, only being an aesthetic difference to the traditional zooming from past installments. My only problem are the way the sights look themselves, especially on the BR/SMG, although this is a minor graphical complaint and as such does not really matter all that much.

Summary
Thruster Pack = Good
Ground Pound = Good
Clamber = Shit
Sprint = Shit
Slide = Good (but Redundant)
Charge = Good (but Redundant)
Smart Scope = Good

Overall = 5/7 (Meaning about 70% of these abilities are alright)

Super Castlevania IV = Overrated

Super Castlevania is a really exceptional game, however, sometimes I feel that it's kind of overrated compared to its predecessors (excluding Simon's Quest, that game was shit). With Castlevania IV, many fans look at things such as the improved air control, as well the ability to swing your whip in any direction, as the game's selling points. However, I disagree entirely and it really takes some of the fun out of the experience.

Castlevania, at it's core, is a game that was all about patience, timing, and planning. You weren't allowed to change direction in mid-air, simply because the game encouraged players to be patient and wait for the right time to jump. Whenever you died during a platforming section, it was often because you messed up on your timing. It wasn't the games fault that you fell into a bottomless pit, it was your fault for jumping too early or too late. While there's definitely some cheapness in the game (player knockback being extremely aggravating to me), the control wasn't necessarily bad. It was restricted for a reason, and that's because the game was all about timing. If you weren't patiently, you were penalized for it. Super Castlevania IV takes this entire aspect out of the game.

Not to mention that the sub-weapons are underpowered as fuck. You can use the whip for just about any situation because of its increased length, and the ability to swing in multiple directions. In the previous Castlevanias, the whip was designed to be less useful, which was for a good reason. This encouraged players to use their sub-weapons for situations that the whip isn't good for. And the funny thing is, in Super Castlevania IV there were certain parts of the game where they expected you to use a specific sub-weapon to clear the area, but the whip was so immensely overpowered that you have no need for the sub-weapons in the first place. All you ever had to do in that entire game was just spam the whip 24/7. Where's the strategy in that?

If they were going to put so much emphasis on the whip, the game should've been better designed around it. They had those grappling sections where you had to use the whip in order to swing from place to place, but aside from that, there were no other obstacles that allowed for cool, unique ways to use the whip. I would've liked to be able to lasso a small enemy with the whip and throw it as a projectile (like Super Mario Bros 2, but a bit more badass). What about being able to ride on ziplines? That would've been cool. How about a spin jump attack that uses the whip, sort of like Zero's double jump from the Mega Man X series? I feel that there were some serious missed opportunities.

Noob's Guide to Strafejumping

Strafejumping is probably the first skill I learned while playing the Quake series, because it comes at no self damage, and in actuality it's not all that hard to do.

Simply hold the forward key as well the left or right strafe key, all while continuously jumping. Now during these jumps, you must move the mouse toward the direction of the strafe key that is being used, which is essential for gaining maximum the speed and acceleration. It's also really good to alternate between the two strafe keys for every jump, this is yet another technique that will allow you to utilize the full power of strafejumping. Just be careful not to bump into any walls, or else friction will take into effect, thus slowing you down immensely.

Once you've mastered the basis of this technique in Quake 3, now it's time to move onto circlejumping, which is often used to begin a set of strafejumps. It's useful to gain a sudden burst of speed that, when combined with strafejumping, allows you to unleash your inner speed demon. Firstly, turn your character 90 degrees away from the direction you plan to move in. You then hold forward and either the left or right strafe key (depending on the direction you wish to take), while turning your character to face ahead. From that instant, begin your strafe jumping and you are all set. The 90 degree turn is essential for maximizing your starting acceleration.

Tutorial video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOffE5_k2f0

Resident Evil and Survival Horror

Resident Evil is an example of an awesome game that essentially gave birth to its own genre, which we know today as Survival Horror. The stiff, clunky controls, the claustrophobic map design, and the individual strength of zombies were three core elements that made this game a classic. You were not a powerhouse by any means, you were a weak, frail human being in the midst of a dreaded zombie apocalypse.

My problem with modern Resident Evil is the sheer fact that it isn't Resident Evil. It's no more about avoiding confrontation and desperately trying to hold on for dear life, now it's just a generic action game with third person shooter mechanics. Now you can easily take on an entire zombie horde at a time, unlike classic Resident Evil where just two average zombie could prove to be a significant threat. Modern Resident Evil needs to buff the zombies, make the environments tighter and more claustrophobic, bring back the slower pace, and make ammunition less common, all so the series can be brought back to its roots as a survival horror game. 

One thing that has to go is zombies using guns. This isn't Gears of War. I don't mind Tyrants using heavy weaponry, but don't ever give a fully automatic assault rifle to the average zombie. It works for the Flood in Halo, but not for zombies in Resident Evil.