During its creation, the developers at Capcom gave the original Resident Evil fixed camera angles. This was actually a workaround at the time. Creator Shinji Mikami said later that he didn't want fixed camera angles; it was just a fix to get the game out. Yet, this workaround gave birth to one of the defining features of classic survival horror. Nowadays, fixed camera angles and tank controls are an intentionally stylized choice, implemented to bring audiences back to the golden days of survival horror.
One of the greatest examples of this style of horror game today is the recently released indie title, Signalis. Signalis wears its love for classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill proudly on its sleeve, and fans of classic survival horror will definitely want to give it a try. The developers at Rose-Engine have perfectly captured the feelings created in the classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill games in more ways than just similar camera angles.
10 Optional Tank Controls
If fixed camera angles are one hand of the mechanical feel of retro survival horror, then tank controls are the other. Many players are turned away by tank controls thanks to their clunky, hard-to-learn feel. Those raised on classic Resident Evil will feel right at home with tank controls though. Luckily, Signalis handles tank controls perfectly for every type of player.
As soon as the game is booted up, players are brought to the settings menu. Here, players will see an option to turn tank controls on or off. By default, they're turned off, but diehard classic survival horror purists will be glad to see that they can switch the tank controls on before even playing the game.
9 Limited Inventory Space
Signalis takes place into a frightening dystopian future, where people are controlled by oppressive governments. Using this logic, the writers gave lore-friendly reasoning to limited inventory space in the game.
People in the world of Signalis are only allowed to carry six items on their person at any time when working. They could be subjected to random searches and possibly punished for carrying more. So naturally, even when the world is ending around them, the player's character still follows this government-imposed rule.
8 Resource Management
One thing that incentivized multiple playthroughs of old Resident Evil games was finding optimal routes. How could the player go through the Arklay Mansion using the least amount of ammo in the least amount of time? First playthroughs often had players hoarding ammo for potential boss fights while keeping many enemies in between alive. Some players liked to get rid of every monster, then figure out ways to beat the harder enemies without resources.
Signalis handles this resource management perfectly. The first playthrough of the game feels just like an original playthrough of Resident Evil, as players never know what's going to be around the next corner. One huge improvement the development team made with Signalis is heavily hinting to players when boss fights were about to happen, instead of throwing the player into a boss unexpectedly like classic Resident Evil sometimes would.
7 Weapon Variety
For older games, classic Resident Evil titles had impressive weapon variety. Players could often choose between using standard handguns, close-ranged shotguns, powerful magnums, and devastating grenade launchers with multiple ammo types. Likewise, Signalis gives players a big arsenal to choose from.
Whether it's a burst-fire machine gun or a flare gun, there are plenty of ways for players to fight the horrors that are presented to them. Not every weapon is easily obtained either. Some weapons can only be found through completing puzzles or exploring, which feels just like classic Resident Evil.
6 Item Inspection/Combination
Resident Evil didn't always give the player clear hints on how to progress or use items. When players were stuck, it paid off to open their inventory and hit the inspect button on key items. Sometimes, items could be interacted with in the menu to reveal new items or hints at solving a puzzle.
In Signalis, players can inspect items more closely in their inventory screens, and can combine certain items to complete puzzles or make better versions of items. Fans of classic Resident Evil will feel right at home when they open the menu in Signalis and may often default to item inspection when they're stuck.
5 Corpse Burning
The concept of burning zombie bodies was introduced in the 2002 remake of Resident Evil. In that game, players had limited resources for burning the corpses of defeated zombies. Zombies left unburned would randomly resurrect upon reentering the room into the powerful Crimson Head enemy. Crimson Heads were faster, stronger, and more dangerous than regular zombies. To avoid spawning them, players could burn the corpses of defeated regular zombies.
Signalis gives players the option to use thermite flares on the corpses of downed foes. Unlike Resident Evil Remake though, these enemies don't return as stronger foes. They simply come back to life over and over. This means that players will either have to dodge the foes they don't burn, or continually waste ammo on them as they backtrack through sections of the map. This feature harkens back to Resident Evil Remake and never feels cumbersome in its implementation.
4 Files
Much of the story of Signalis is told through files that the player finds in-game. Files range from lore to puzzle-solving material in the game, and their use and prevalence in the game feel just like classic Resident Evil.
It will be important for players to remember their files and explore the world for more files should they desire to learn more about the story of the game. Once a file has been found, players can access it in their menu at any time to review it.
3 Classic Save Rooms
Save rooms have become a fundamental part of Resident Evil's identity. Fans are often eager to see how a new game's save room music compares to older titles, and so on. Signalis provides players with classic save rooms, complete with a unique save room theme and item boxes, just like Resident Evil.
Instead of saving on a typewriter though, players will save using a red-screened computer. The save animation turns the entire screen bright red before showing the save files, like Silent Hill 2. Signalis does a great job making these save rooms feel traditional. Whether it's Signalis, Resident Evil, or Silent Hill, there's no better feeling in the game than stumbling upon a save room after being chased by monsters at low health.
2 On-The-Nose Writing
Though Signalis is a lot more serious in tone than many classic Resident Evil titles, the game still throws in some cheesy lines here and there. The writing is fantastic, and the story is somber and thought-provoking, but it wouldn't be a love letter to classic survival horror without a few cheesy lines here and there.
Amidst all the horror and death of Signalis, players will still run across characters stating things like, "Something doesn't feel right about this place" after surviving the attacks of countless undead cyborgs. This on-the-nose writing helps cement the game's retro feel, and will be heavily appreciated by fans of classic Resident Evil.
1 Puzzles, Lots of Puzzles
If there was one feature that glued the scattered traits and ideas of survival horror games together, it was puzzles. Both Resident Evil and Silent Hill were filled with puzzles and riddles. Often, the puzzles in Resident Evil had absolutely no reason to exist in the lore of the world, but players didn't care because these puzzles helped define survival horror in the late 90s and early 2000s. Though new Resident Evil titles have distanced themselves from puzzles, classic Resident Evil used them liberally.
Signalis has plenty of puzzles and riddles for players to parse through. Some are quite difficult and require players to carefully analyze their files. Nothing makes the game feel like a classic survival horror title more than the rampant puzzles. The development team did a great job capturing the balance of retro survival horror between action and puzzle-solving, and any fan of classic Resident Evil will love the puzzles in the game.
Signalis was released on October 27th, and is available for Switch, Playstation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X & S, Xbox One, and PC.