Since then, the series has, more or less, ditched the survival horror aspect in favour of action - and it went down with fans like a lead balloon.
Resident Evil 7, however, has stopped the rot, going for an almost complete reinvention, and it has paid off significant dividends.
Gone is the third-person perspective and the absurd monsters and scenarios that plagued the previous versions. In their place are a terrifying first-person perspective, and a well-thought-out survival horror experience.
The game takes obvious clues from the cult classic and smash hit PT demo that came out a few years ago, made by Hideo Kojima. What made that popular was the focus on unsettling the player and creating a sense of atmosphere, something Resident Evil 7 finally nails.
You play as Ethan, a guy with almost no discernable backstory or characteristics, who receives a message from his missing girlfriend, Mia, and sets off to rural Louisiana to save her.
You stumble upon the mansion where she is and it doesn't take very long to realise all is not well in the situation.
Resident Evil games are not renowned for depth of story so I will let this one slide.
What follows is a fight for survival against the owners of the mansion, among other things.
This game nails the balance between making you feel completely underprepared for a situation and making you feel as though you have a chance.
Games where you are armed to the teeth remove any sort of tension, and games where you can't fight back seem a little unfair to me. Resident Evil 7 sits somewhere in between.
What also makes Resident Evil 7 work is that, while being a distinct shift in feel for the franchise, it still retains the iconic parts of the series.
You heal yourself with plants, which you can combine with other items to make upgraded items. You have an extremely limited inventory system that forces you to make tough decisions.
The puzzles are still obscure, but not obscure enough to be frustrating. In short, it feels like a Resident Evil game.
Perhaps the best part of the game is that it is actually scary. If you play on PS4, it's fully playable in PSVR. I haven't experienced it, but I imagine it is truly terrifying. It would be the kind of experience that would make VR worthwhile. Even playing it normally, it's pretty unsettling.
I'm pleased Capcom has revived the corpse of Resident Evil, because there's barely any high-profile horror games making a splash in mainstream gaming these days, and there should be.
Resident Evil 7 is hopefully the start of big things to come.
-By Simon Bishop
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
For: PS4, Xbox One, PC
From: Capcom
Rating: (R18) ★★★★
