Next week, the 22nd of March, 2016, marks the 20th anniversary of Capcom's flagship survival horror franchise Biohazard/Resident Evil. To kick things off in honor of the games' 20th year, and I can't believe everything's gone 20 this year, time to jot down the most memorable moments in Biohazard history from Arklay Mountains to Langshiang. Be advised that you have to play the rest of the games before reading this list because...well, you get the idea.
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| Biohazard 20th Anniversary |
1) At the start of the very first Biohazard (Resident Evil) game, there is a sequence where the STARS Alpha Team landed on a mysterious place to find the remains of the Bravo Team, only to find out that they were chased by those monsters. One of the Alpha Team members was eaten and the remaining members fled until they've reached the mansion, which served as the start of the series. Whichever scenario you're on, be it Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, you are welcomed to the survival horror and what's not to complete the beginning without...the zombie at the other room.
2) Chris or Jill learned that STARS Alpha Team leader Albert Wesker set them up just so he can steal information from the organization known as Umbrella. Underneath of the conspiracy lies a prototype of Umbrella's powerful bio-organic weapon codenamed Tyrant. Wesker ordered the Tyrant to kill Chris or Jill but he was presumably killed by the Tyrant, prompting the player to defeat it. However, in the right circumstances like if you were aiming for a good ending, the Tyrant re-emerged at the final part of the story where you used the flare to call in the helicopter to get you rescued. After multiple hits later, Brad Vickers, who piloted the helicopter, dropped a rocket launcher for you to use it against the Tyrant. Once you try to shoot the final boss down, here goes the finishing sequence where the BOW gets blown into pieces.
3) The start of Resident Evil/Biohazard 2 sees one of the protagonists; a young female named Claire Redfield who is searching for her brother Chris, and a rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy, who started his first day as a police officer, landed on a zombie-stricken Raccoon City. They really don't know what is happening in this place when they arrived and they have to fight their way to find the only safe place in this zombie-plagued town...which is none other than the Raccoon Police Department. Just when they thought when they're safe in...the nightmare's just getting started.
4) In the Leon scenario of RE2, Leon's first encounter with a mysterious woman named Ada Wong began with a sudden gunshot at the car park when she thought he's one of the zombies. Ada's looking for a man named Ben, who knows what's going in Raccoon City, somewhere in the prison cells. After learning the truth, Leon and Ada have to get through the sewers and work their way out to survive. In the Claire scenario, Claire saw a little girl running scared through the corridors of RPD and she have to find her before the little girl gets endangered by zombies. The little girl is named Sherry Birkin and she's the daughter of the Umbrella scientists. With her life endangered, Claire and Sherry will have to stick together to find their way out. Whichever scenario you were on, players are learning the truth with the sudden encounter with Anette Birkin and how the outbreak occurred.
5) As Leon and Ada or Claire and Sherry are going down through the secret underground laboratory, something strange is going on and one of the protagonists are going out to check it out...only to find out they were attacked by a mutated William Birkin, the scientist who was injected by the G-Virus. It was one helluva boss fight as most of the ammunition saved need to be sacrificed to bring him down. After that dreadful boss fight, they made it in the underground laboratory. For Leon, he had to find a medicine to treat Ada's wounds. For Claire, she had to find the vaccine to save Sherry, who was infected by the virus.
6) The escape from the laboratory is one of the most gruelling moments in the story of RE2 and whichever scenarios you're on, how the story ends is different. In Scenario A, players have to defeat the heavily mutated G-Birkin for the last time before the lab self-destructs. In Scenario B, and obviously one of the most memorable ones, players have to defeat a powerful mutant and with the help of the Resident Evil favorite, the rocket launcher, that should do the trick. Just as we thought they made it out alive, here in Scenario B, the "real" final boss emerges in the form of the horrid final mutation of G-Birkin. It takes some heavy firepower to defeat this vile tentacled monster and witness the good ending of RE2.
6) Leon, Claire, Ada, and Sherry weren't the only ones who've escaped Raccoon City. In fact, there was another survivor in this tale and in the special scenario that can be unlocked after finishing Scenario B (with either Leon or Claire), players will play as an Umbrella agent, codenamed HUNK. As HUNK, who recently retrieved the G-Virus sample during his onslaught against William Birkin, players will have to reach the RPD's rooftop in the fastest time.
7) September 28, 1998. Two months after the mansion incident, former STARS member Jill Valentine is trapped in the zombie-stricken Raccoon City and this is where Jill's "Last Escape" begins as she has to survive her way out from this inescapable death trap. During the start of her "Last Escape", she encounters Brad Vickers at the bar, who was attacked by the zombie. Brad warned that there's someone powerful enough to take out STARS members and upon Jill's arrival to the Raccoon Police Department, she witnessed Brad's death and the first appearance of a powerful mutant known as Nemesis. (The monster who keeps on saying STARS) You have two choices; fight or flee. Make your choice.
8) After Jill fires up the clock tower to call in a rescue helicopter, she thought she was saved until a rocket fire destroyed the chopper. It was Nemesis who shot down the helicopter and gets worse, Nemesis poisoned Jill with its powerful tentacles. With Jill poisoned, she have to fend off Nemesis by any means necessary. After fending off Nemesis, Jill was fainted and recovered by Corporal Carlos Oliveira. With Jill infected, Carlos had to venture out to the nearest hospital in search of the vaccine while surviving against zombies and BOWs alike...as well as learning the truth that one of his colleagues betrayed them.
9) Upon picking up the portable radar receiver, the countdown to escape Raccoon City has just begun and she has a few minutes left to escape before the missile touched down Raccoon City. At the near end of her "last escape", Jill encounters Nemesis' final mutation form and with little time left, she has to push through three batteries to activate the rail cannon and if you can lure Nemesis to the rail cannon, it will zap down Nemesis once and for all. Just as we thought Nemesis is down, it's still kicking and you have a choice; leave this place or kill Nemesis once and for all. How the story ends comes in two ways; have Jill and Carlos escaped Raccoon City or have the two picked up by a mysterious ally to save them both. Question now is...who's piloting the chopper to save both Jill and Carlos? Some say...it could be Barry Burton or is he? Anyway, if you finished RE3 in Hard difficulty, you'll get an epilogue. There are eight epilogues in total, discovering what happened to Jill, Chris, Barry, Leon, Claire, Ada, Sherry, and Agent HUNK in the aftermath of Raccoon City.
10) Desperate to get the Gold Lugers from Steve's hands, Claire found some sub-machine guns, only to find out that they're empty and the ammunition is somewhere until a mutant attacked Claire and Steve took it out. With the two exchanged arms, Steve got his hands to something cooler than the Gold Lugers he obtained from the Ashford mansion. With all set, Steve tries out his new and powerful submachine guns while helping Claire out to escape the compound. However, things took a rather turn of events when a big zombie attacked Claire and the zombie that attacked Claire is really Steve's father. Upon killing his dad, Steve learned the truth about why him and his father were imprisoned in Rockfort Prison.
11) Another shocking turn of events in the story of "Code: Veronica" is Alfred being Alexia. When Claire discovers that Alfred is talking to someone who is his supposedly died Alexia, Claire ventured through Alexia's room to investigate and that meant finding a secret path to the attic, which is nothing but filled with childish stuff. Going down, Claire encountered Alexia who is going to kill her until Steve popped up to stop Alexia, sending her to a secret room that lured them to Alfred's room. The only things they've spotted are Alexia's dress and...a wig. Yes. A wig. One thing that worries the players; how did Alfred managed to dress as his deceased sister? Try playing The Darkside Chronicles and find out for yourself. Anyway, as a result, Alfred triggered a self-destruct sequence and the two have to find a cargo plane to escape Rockfort Island. Just as they thought they're freed from Alfred's clutches, the cargo plane stuck into auto-pilot and it's heading to a secret base somewhere in Antarctica and if things get any worse, the Tyrant has attacked Claire and that meant she have to stop it by opening the cargo ramp to shook it off.
12) Claire Redfield, who couldn't move on from the death of Steve after his Veronica virus mutation, left the codes to her brother Chris to initiate the self-destruct sequence in order to open all locks. This is where the climax kicks in as Chris rushes to input the code and trigger the self-destruct sequence. With the code set, Claire and Chris are ready to leave the secret base until the mutated Alexia get in their way and after Chris saved Claire from the mutated Alexia, the Veronica virus mutated Alexia into its final mutated form and Chris have to inflict damage to Alexia before the Linear Launcher is fully charged and use it to end Alexia once and for all.
13) After Leon defeated Krauser while racing against time to save Ashley Graham from Osmund Saddler's plot for world domination, Leon has to fend against the angry mob of Ganados, even with a little help from a helicopter backup. As he managed to fend off the Ganados, Leon made it to the lab to save Ashley until Saddler appears to get in his way. Luckily though, Ada appears to buy him some time. While Ada fends Saddler off, Leon and Ashley managed to rid off the Plaga inside them by using a special machine to zap it off. They've escaped the lab until they faced off Saddler for the final time. Leon have to inflict enough damage to Saddler until Ada founds a special rocket launcher for Leon to use it against Saddler. With Saddler slayed, Leon retrieves the virus sample until he hands it over to Ada and in return, Ada lends Leon the keys to the jetski, prompting him and Ashley to escape from the island.
14) Chris and Sheva continues to pursue against Wesker and Excella at a cargo ship carrying the Uroboros virus to initiate a terrorist attack worldwide. Having managed to fight their way through the cargo ship, the two encountered Excella, who was betrayed by Wesker, mutated by the Uroboros. Having managed to escape the wrath of the Uroboros, Chris and Sheva are rummaging around the ship over the Bridge Keycard and with this keycard, they can gain access to a satellite-tracking weapon, capable of defeating the giant monster.
15) Chris and Sheva finally pursued Wesker and trying to foil Wesker's attempt for total world domination with the Uroboros. In the first half, players have to shut off the lights to confuse him off while finding a rocket launcher. Of course, while Wesker tries to disrupt the rocket fire, players have little time to shoot the rocket and when they did, they have to rush through Wesker to inject him in order to neutralize the virus...although the injection made him angrier. At the latter half after the bomber crash landed on a volcano, Wesker's heavily mutated with the Uroboros virus and it's up to the two to kill him once and for all. After successfully killed Wesker, Chris and Sheva were rescued by Jill and Josh Stone. However, Wesker strikes back and the duo are armed with the rocket launcher (these guys never forget the explosive favorite after all) to finish Wesker off. The threat is finally over...or was it?
16) The final episode of Resident Evil/Biohazard Revelations, The Queen is Dead, sees Chris and Jill ventured to the sunken ship Queen Dido from the ruins of Terragrigia to hunt down the leader of the terrorist organization Veltro, Jack Norman. The duo learned that Norman was betrayed by his ally, the FBC Commissioner Morgan Lansdale, and with the evidence obtained, Norman consumed the T-Abyss virus, causing his demonic mutation that our heroes must eliminate him. It was one heck of a final boss battle and after the fall of the Veltro leader, Jill exposed that Morgan conspired with Veltro for the Terragrigia Panic a year ago.
17) Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper made it to the Quad Tower in Langshiang, China, having managed to shake off the heavily mutated Derek Simmons, who masterminded the attack on Tall Oaks as well as the President of the United States. With Simmons hot on their trail while being interferred by Ada Wong, the duo have no choice but to survive their way to the top, and when Ada's in danger, Leon rushes in to save her. It's the "ties that bind" each other and with Ada awakened, the long-time opposites are working together to defeat Simmons. After Ada dropped Simmons off to the flames, Ada left to dispose traces of her caused by her doppleganger Carla Radames. As for Leon and Helena, they're still pursued by Simmons and they have to fight their way to Ada's helicopter to escape the Quad Tower. Later on, with Simmons still causing misery for the two, they've picked up a rocket launcher and send Simmons to his grave. With Simmons finally gone, Leon picked up something from Ada's helicopter: evidence that Simmons masterminded the attack, enough to prove Leon and Helena's innocence.
18) Having survived through Neo-Umbrella's secret underwater facility hidden beneath the Chinese waters, Chris Redfield and Piers Nivans meet up with Jake Muller and Sherry Birkin. Jake learns the truth that Chris killed his father, Albert Wesker, but the betrayal is interrupted by the swarm of Neo Umbrella J'avos attacking our heroes at the elevator and the four of them must fend off until the pairs gone through separate ways. Chris and Piers face off against the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, codenamed Haos. To stop Haos, a major sacrifice has been made and Piers, who lost his right arm during a fight with this BOW, injected hinself with the C-Virus, causing his right arm to mutate into a powerful weapon. With his mutated arm, Piers can unleash a powerful charge attack at the cost of his health but he can regenerate while aiming with his arm. After they defeated Haos, the duo are fighting their way to the escape pod. Sadly, only one of them will face death and Piers, becoming unstable with the C-virus, pushed Chris through the escape pod and left him. Piers sacrificed his life to stop Haos.
19) As for Jake and Sherry, they're facing a fiery hot battle against the Ustanak, a BOW that has kept pursuing our favorite RE6 duo the whole time, for one last time. There is no holding back this time as Jake and Sherry will use by any means necessary to stop Ustanak, even if Jake's going to finish it off with his bare hands...literally! With Ustanak fell onto the lava, the duo managed to get through the lift, a fast lift that will get them to the surface. However, the mighty Ustanak is still pursuing to its last breath until Jake and Sherry shot its exposed organ to oblivion with a single revolver shot altogether.
20) Barry Burton faces off with the Overseer in the form of a heavily mutated Alex and while she has strong hatred against the little girl named Natalia, Barry tries to use by any means necessary to finish that She-Wesker off. Alex tries to kill Natalia off but out of nowhere, Barry's daughter Moira appeared to stop her and he thought she died during her escape with Claire Redfield. With Barry, Moira, and Natalia escaping the island, Alex still pursues them until Claire Redfield shot her with a sniper rifle. With Barry Burton tries to hold Alex off on land, Claire provides him cover by air, delivering the coup'de grace against the Overseer. Later on, Barry called in Claire to use a rocket launcher against Alex and that does take care of it. With the threat finally over, Barry finally reconciles with his daughter.
...and these are the greatest moments in Biohazard/Resident Evil history. Here's for more twenty years of terrifying players with the never-ending fear that the Biohazard/Resident Evil games deliver and so is the iconic legends that shaped the storyline for years to come.
