It was a breakout hit in an emerging genre that would become known as 'survival horror' games. Released in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation, the original Resident Evil put players in the role of Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, two special forces agents trapped in a giant mansion infested with zombies, monsters and elaborate booby traps. 'If you close your eyes while watching a scary movie, you can avoid the parts that frighten you, but if you close your eyes while playing a horror video game nothing happens – the scary part just sits there waiting for you.' 'Games are not a passive form of media,' says Peter Counter, a horror culture writer and founder of the blog Everything Is Scary. 'Even the scariest horror film can't compare to a well-orchestrated horror game, because as the instigator of the events, you literally can't look away,' says Toronto-based game developer Benjamin Rivers. It also exemplifies why video games are such a fitting vehicle for this genre. It's the perfect setup for someone or something to slither behind you as you peer into the dark corners of the estate. The aura of suspense and dread is amped up by the use of first-person camera, limiting your view to whatever Ethan can see in front of him. If you were a character in a horror movie, would you walk through this door? In Resident Evil 7 you're faced with choices like this on a regular basis.

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