Now that Resident Evil 5 has finally been released, issues of racism are being brought back up. The issue came about based on the games setting and objectives. As most Resident Evil fans know, Resident Evil is all about killing zombies. However, this time around, you are a white male running around and killing a location filled with black zombies, people have depicted it as racist. Even N’Gai Croal, an ex-Newsweek editor, was quoted saying “No one black worked on this game”.
I think the whole issue is stupid. They had no intention of making the game racist. It was created in a new location, to try and inspire not only a new crowd, but to bring Resident Evil fans to a new location. The game never puts that the African part of the zombies is the reason for the violent nature, in fact they suggest that it is the zombie part that has instilled this violence.
Is the game racist? Not in my opinion. But that is what it comes down to, people’s opinions. Whether or not they feel it is or isn’t. But I’m not the only one who feels there isn’t an issue, many reviews and ratings groups have said they feel there is not a racism issue. Most likely it will always have controversy attached to it, as there tends to be those who will not let the issue go. But the game is fun, and has received very high reviews. Plus it all comes down to the gamer, because it is their decision on whether to spend their money on it.
