Editorials
Limited Resources: Six Underrated ‘Resident Evil’ Clones That Time Forgot
Genericization is what happens when a trademarked brand name becomes so ubiquitous that folks start using the name as an umbrella term for all similar products within its niche. From “Aspirin” to “Ziploc” bags, this process is usually only achieved once a company has completely cornered a market, with some brand names often outlasting the companies that created them.
In the world of videogames, we see this a lot in terms of defining new genres. While the industry tends to eventually settle on a brand-neutral standard, many critics initially resort to comparing games to the most popular example of their genre, coining terms like “Souls-like” and “Doom-clone” to describe gameplay. And long before “Survival Horror” had been popularized as a genre descriptor, most gamers referred to resource-management-oriented horror titles as “Resident Evil Clones.”
Survival Horror games would eventually escape the confines of the Spencer Mansion, but many of those original “Clones” were incredibly fun to play despite their derivative design. That’s why it’s a shame that so many of them were forgotten in the ever-expanding sea of new releases. With that in mind, we’ve decided to shine a light on six underrated Resident Evil Clones that time forgot, in an effort to rescue them from obscurity.
While we’ll only be featuring lesser-known titles on this list (that means no Dino Crisis or Silent Hill), don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite Resident Evil Clones if you think we missed an important one.
Now, onto the list…
6. Extermination (2001)
While we’d see an officially licensed (and surprisingly fun) The Thing game a year later, Deep Space’s Extermination was the closest you could get to a John Carpenter-inspired Survival Horror experience back in 2001. Taking place in the (then) near-future of 2005, the game puts players in the shoes of Sgt. Dennis Riley, an isolated Marine investigating a distress call from an Antarctic research facility. Naturally, a sci-fi horror experience ensues as mutated creatures attempt to kill and infect our protagonist.
While the game’s highly customizable main weapon and chilling atmosphere are cool enough, the real anxiety-inducing highlight of Extermination is its infection system, with Riley constantly being on the verge of turning into one of the monsters that pursue him.
Curiously, the game was localized separately in Europe and North America, which led to some significant differences in dialogue and character design between both versions (though I’m partial to the less Hollywood-y PAL region take on the game).
5. The X-Files: Resist or Serve (2004)
Advertised as a collection of “lost” episodes from the show’s seventh season and written by television maestro Thomas Schnauz – while also featuring voice acting from the original cast – Resist or Serve was a surprisingly high-profile release despite its licensed origins. Featuring a trio of cases introduced by the classic X-Files intro sequence, this decidedly retro experience is a nostalgic treat for Survival Horror fans.
Sure, the fixed camera angles and limited resources were already dated back in 2004, but these slightly frustrating elements have since become part of the game’s period-accurate charms. After all, nothing says “90s” like having Agent Fox Mulder run away from a zombie because you used up all of your pistol ammo a couple of rooms ago.
Just make sure you play this one on a CRT television to get the full experience.
4. Nocturne (1999)
If you’re struggling with supernatural horrors during the Prohibition Era, who you gonna call? Spookhouse, that’s who! A secretive government organization set up by Teddy Roosevelt, Spookhouse is Nocturne’s equivalent to Hellboy’s BRPD, sending out agents to deal with paranormal threats that regular authorities aren’t equipped to handle.
While the game suffers from some janky combat mechanics and uneven difficulty as you take control of “The Stranger” on a series of eerie missions, the story and atmosphere make this strange little title a supernatural journey worth taking. You’ve certainly seen werewolves and zombies in other games, but definitely not while you’re in the middle of sabotaging an Al Capone operation.
And if you enjoy this one, I’d recommend seeking out the game’s pseudo-sequel in the form of the Blair Witch tie-in game BW Volume I: Rustin Parr, which sees Spookhouse agent Doc Holliday investigating a series of child murders in 1940s Burkittsville.
3. Deep Fear (1998)
This may be the most illusive game on this list, but the Sega Saturn’s Deep Fear remains one of the most intense survival experiences that the genre has to offer. Trapping players in an underwater research facility, the game follows ex-Navy SEAL John Mayor as he attempts to unravel the secrets of the facility while defending himself from mutated creatures and attempting not to die from asphyxiation.
Instead of bullets and ink ribbons, the real limited resource here is air, with Mayor being forced to constantly manage oxygen levels as he progresses through the game in a nerve-inducing mechanic that I’d love to see recreated in a modern horror title.
2. Cold Fear (2005)
Often referred to by its online nickname “Resident Evil 4 except it’s on a boat this time,” Darkwork’s Cold Fear is a thoroughly entertaining third-person-shooter that expertly recaptures the RE4 magic better than any of Capcom’s official sequels. Following Coast Guard Tom Hansen as he rushes to the aid of a Russian whaling vessel and finds the ship infested with zombies, the game sees players solving puzzles and shooting familiar parasites out of undead foes.
It may not be most original setup, but Cold Fear has a lot more up its sleeve than you might initially notice, featuring innovative character animations and a kick-ass soundtrack – all combined with a gameplay loop that smooths out a lot of Resident Evil’s excesses. Plus, the game is readily available on Steam for a reasonable price.
1. Obscure (2005)
Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty is one of my favorite High School flicks, so it’s no surprise that Hydravision Entertainment’s Obscure takes the number one spot here, with the game basically serving as an unlicensed riff on the 1998 movie. Taking place in the conveniently maze-like Leafmore High, the game sees a group of five teenagers attempt to unravel the mystery behind a series of plant-like monster attacks once they become trapped within the school overnight.
While the main gameplay loop doesn’t really improve on the Resident Evil formula, it’s the couch co-op and permadeath elements that make Obscure stand out from other RE clones. The unique setting and killer 2000s soundtrack also make it a compelling time capsule for a simpler time in the horror genre.
And if you like this one, the college-set sequel is also quite fun, though it streamlines much of the experience into a more action-packed title.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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