Analysis - Environmental & Collectibles
Environmental & Collectible - Rhodes Hill
The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Centre. Seemingly a private clinic dedicated to helping patients via experimental treatments, it was bought by Gideon when Umbrella fell. For 30 years, the clinic has been operating smoothly and legally, but beneath the lovely exterior and beautifully crafted halls lies a house of horrors that has gone unnoticed for years.
A front for Victor’s experiments with the T-Virus, there is a history here that shows the true evils of humanity in Victor’s quest to achieve the perfect human evolution. Looking at it, it’s not too hard to imagine there are skeletons in his closet of those halls. Beneath the face of a corrupt organisation, it is tough to imagine who isn’t involved with the atrocities being performed. Over the years, we have seen many people who seemed innocent enough, only to learn that they were the real monsters.
In order to maintain itself and avoid scrutiny from the authorities and some of its own staff, Rhodes Hill must have helped some people, but it's unlikely. Judging from the bodies in the basement and the notes saying how many were processed for infected blood, they likely killed hundreds. Rhodes Hill was definitely a front for Victor to conduct his reason, but for himself and not for “The Connections”. Because of Gideon, the Rhodes Hill centre has a dangerous legacy, and the screams of those infected still linger through those halls.
Environmental & Collectible - Tragedy of the Girl
“The Girl” is one of the most terrifying foes we have ever faced in the Resident Evil series. The Tyrant and Nemesis have both given their fair share of scares, but there is something about “The Girls” and how she appears in Grace’s time of vulnerability. The truth behind this horrifying figure is that she is a clone of Grace, as is Emily, although it’s never made apparent until late into the 2nd act. In one of Victor’s many experiments, Marie experienced a hideous mutation that turned her into “The Girl”.
Before the Rhodes Hill staff could dispose of their experiment, she escaped into the dark basement of their operations and made it her home. Occasionally making it’s way into certain areas of the clinic, her presence could be felt as we knew she was lurking from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. At fate would have it, her time to attack wouldn’t be an attack but a rescue of sorts.
When “The Girl” took Emily, when she was helping Grace escape, I feared for her safety, only to find that in her lair, “The Girl” had trapped Emily in a cell, safe from the infected and surrounded by toys. What “The Girl” wanted from Emily was simple: she wanted her friend back. We can see this when we find that she tried to burrow into Emily’s cell because of the massive hole in the ceiling.
Sadly, in an effort to protect Emily and escape, Grace was forced to kill “The Girl” in a final confrontation, which saw her melt before our eyes. While many of us rejoiced as it meant we would no longer have to watch our step in the dark, I felt remorseful for “The Girl”. Born into captivity, experimented on, and forced to undergo vast mutations that turned her into a monster, she still retained her love for her friend. While she may have been driven by primal instincts, “The Girl” is a product of what she was forced to become, thanks to the likes of Victor, who didn’t even see Marie or Emily as people.
The Girl
The Stalker hunting for Grace & Emily
Environmental - Ruins of Raccoon City
Raccoon City, once the home of the Umbrella Corporation, experienced a disaster that continues to shake the world to its core. In 1998, after the T-Virus outbreak and the city was lost, it was bombed to prevent the spread of the infection. Unfortunately, that wasn’t even the truth, and the missile had little to no effect on the infection. When he returns to Raccoon City, Leon finds that the city itself is not as deserted as it is meant to be; instead, the undead and infected have endured there, allowed to rot.
It has been 30 years since Leon was in Raccoon City, and when he steps back into the city, it looks like it was truly left behind. After the outbreak, the Government quarantined it with little desire to reopen it. What is perhaps the most powerful part of Raccoon City for Leon is when he follows his exact route back to the old R.P.D building. Seeing the old building that provided many a player with headaches, which looked like it had barely survived a war, gave me a pit in my stomach, so I can only imagine how it made Leon feel.
Raccoon City was a tragedy that should never have happened, but even with the pain the outbreak caused, it would have been even worse if Umbrella had never been outed. If Umbrella were left unchecked, they would have continued creating bio-weapons that would make The Tyrant & Nemesis pale in comparison.
Collectible - The R.P.D
Walking around the burned hallways in a building that is on it’s last leg’s we see memento’s of the past that only prove to make us feel bad for the people we couldn’t save. If it wasn’t for a Fellow officer, Marvin Branagh, saving Leon’s life, he wouldn’t have our witty & Lethal Bio-weapon killer. When we meet Marvin, He Is At Death’s Door, Dying From A Zombie Bite And Obviously In No Mood To Mess About, as time is short. The last time we saw him, he turned, and Leon was forced to put him down.
You wouldn’t know it after meeting the man, but he actually knew how to have a good time and didn’t take himself too seriously. In Resident Evil 2, Leon’s new desk was locked as a little initiation. Funny enough, this was also Marvin’s idea, as he wanted to make a good impression of a fun environment. In Requiem, we also see that he wanted to throw a big bash for Leon, and wanted to make sure Leon was welcomed and wouldn’t get teased by the other veteran officer’s.
Marvin was a good man and as it seems a good officer who knew how to move forward in a situation. It’s a Pity we couldn’t save or even avenge him but his death would only be the start of a more personal tragedy that if Leon is Inquisitive enough would find on his way to save Grace.
Environmental & Collectible - Meryl Branagh
Marvin Branagh, Who Set The Oath For Leon to escape from Raccoon City and become the man he is now. Leon thinks about Raccoon City And Marvin Every Day. How Could He Forget The Day That Changed His Life And The Man Who Saved Him? Finding the notes around Marvin’s desk show’s us what kind of man he was, a friendly & welcoming man. When Marvin died, I Was Greatly Saddened But As We Had A Goal To Escape, but as we had a goal to escape, we couldn’t dwell on him much longer.
What I didn’t expect to find is understand exactly just how much Marvin lost. Near the eastern area of the city, where Leon’s trek into the city begins we find a note of a little girl who managed to sneak back into the Raccoon City quarantine to find her daddy. her name was Meryl, and she got a lot closer to finding him than you would think. On the way she met a cop, she met a cop, like her father, and he helped her to the R.P.D.
When she got to the R.P.D. she banged on the door and of course her dad answered. Sending her away. It took a second to Understand, But There Was Only 1 man left inside the R.P.D. anymore, That Wasn’t A Zombie, and it was Marvin. At the center of this disaster, Marvin must have felt at ease knowing his wife and daughter must have escaped and that he could die at peace. hearing his daughter came all the way to find him must have been a but punch. It’s beautiful that his daughter came for him, but being bitten, he couldn’t risk harming his daughter so he had no choice, to send her away.
Resident Evil Doesn’t Always Have A Happy Ending, and We Should Have Known that Meryl would not have a happy Ending. When Leon finds out who he thinks he is, he can’t believe it and it made me want to find out what happened to her. Nothing good, of course. She managed to survive a little while but didn’t get very far from the R.P.D. but we didn’t find much. In an alley near Kendo’s shop, all we found were her shoes, a blank note, and a keychain given to her by Marvin. No child who loves her father that much and whose father loves her would have left that gift behind, and the fact she did does not bode well.
Maybe she escaped. Maybe she managed to get away in all of the chaos and found a way out of the city. Raccoon City actually had a surprising Amount Of Survivors, Alyssa Ashcroft being one of them. Children are Resourceful, They’re Creative, and being the daughter of a cop, she might have been able to defend herself. There is hope, if only a fool’s hope. Knowing Capcom and their penchant for tragic stories through letters, little Meryl most likely didn’t get far. It’s sad to reduce Meryl to a statistic but her’s is another name on the longlist of people who lost their lives, all because Umbrella thought they could play God. It didn’t turn out well for them in the end, thankfully.
