Whenever a discussion about horror gaming crops up, especially during Halloween, it's nigh on impossible to not at least touch upon the Resident Evil series. With the first entry from 1996 considered to be one of the games that defined the survival horror genre, its mere mention will get fans chatting about their favorite titles in the franchise. The series made a big impact and is still going strong today. One thing that's notable about the games, especially the most recent installments, is the sheer amount of punishment it doles out to the player.
Many may gloss over some of the minor injuries that occur in a Resident Evil game, but one medical doctor has given their thoughts and professional analysis on some of the most brutal ones. Jordan Wagner, also known as Doctor ER on YouTube, recently uploaded a video in which they talk about some of the goriest moments that happen in some of the later games, concluding how possible such an injury would be in real life and how accurate the injury looks in-game.
Dr. Wagner pays particular attention to Ethan Winters from Resident Evil 7 and Village and the kind of maiming that befalls him during the events of the two newer titles. With clips of Ethan being pinned to the wall with a screwdriver, having his hand cleanly cut off and then stapled back on, Wagner explains how this might translate to the real world. For example, they discuss how using staples to re-attach a limb is actually possible. However, things like nerve endings also need to be reattached, which the games don't show.
It's a pretty interesting video that gives medical insight about whether or not what the protagonists in Resident Evil games experience is realistic or just over-the-top gore. Video game injuries are becoming more realistic these days, but the manner of healing hasn't necessarily followed suit. For example, in Resident Evil 7 and 8, Winters often splashes a chemical on his wounds in order to heal, and in Far Cry the player actually removes bullets from their body.
Capcom's flagship horror series is certainly no stranger to doling out the pain. With a lot of violent and scary games in the Resident Evil franchise, there's all manner of ways that Ethan, or whichever character is at the center of the plot, can succumb to a bloody end or be attacked in a gruesome manner. It's par for the course in horror, and it's interesting to see that some of the more outlandish injuries are not too ridiculous from a medical standpoint, though the manner of healing might be.