Whether walking through the infested streets of Raccoon City, the claustrophobic walls of the Spencer Mansion, or the skeletal forests of Spain, there was always the knowledge of one room, one area that provided respite and safety from the undead hordes that endlessly stalked you: the save room.
This was the room that no enemy could ever enter, the one place where you could catch your breath and process everything that you had gone through. It was the pure definition of safety.
Or was it? You see, that feeling was nothing more than a cold-hearted lie that we fed ourselves because we hated facing the idea that safety is an illusion.
Let’s be real with ourselves, shall we? Fighting through hordes of vicious zombies and B.O.W.s was taxing, it was terrifying, and it was a strain on our nerves. Whenever we cleared an area, it wasn’t so much a sense of relief that we felt but rather a sense of, “How much ammo did I just spend because I’m pretty sure I’m going to need every single last bullet for what’s coming next.”
So, the only other place where we didn’t have to worry about foes or ammo was the save room. But even that was a lie and the music itself told us this. It wasn’t comforting nor was it gentle. It was eerie, it was creepy, and the only thing that gave it a sense of security was the slight ethereal beauty it held compared to the rest of the game’s music.
In Resident Evil 1‘s save room music, there were piercing whistles that sounded almost like the distant howls of some creature. In Resident Evil 2 – which has my favorite soundtrack – the piano pattern has a staggered, uneven flow while the deeper notes were jammed down with anger and intensity. Resident Evil 3 was downright unsettling and eerie the whole way through and Resident Evil 4 is a throng of discombobulated pads, some reaching near distortion peaks.
What I’m saying is that, at the end of the day, you ultimately had to leave the save room and you knew it. It wasn’t a safe haven so much as a pitstop as you continued on your journey of facing one horror after another. And like any good pitstop it doesn’t let you rest but rather rejuvenates you and gets you ready for more.
