Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Feels Like a Bad Cutscene You Can't Skip

Let's be honest, people love Resident Evil for many different reasons. Personally, I would single out the puzzles, atmosphere, and setting. The story has always been secondary for me. After all, Resident Evil is a series filled with relatively simple stories that become tangled together through the lives of different people caught at the center of chaos and tragedy.In the games, we know that once another cutscene ends, we can grab the controller and confidently fight back against whatever zombie or boss comes next. Netflix's Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, however, feels like a bad cutscene you simply cannot skip.

Feels Like a Bad Cutscene You Can't Skip

The series takes place in 2006, between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. Leon S. Kennedy briefly reunites with Claire Redfield. And I do mean briefly, because the creators give their reunion surprisingly little screen time. After a hacking incident at the White House turns into a zombie outbreak, Leon joins the investigation. Meanwhile, Claire is working in Penamstan as a member of the NGO Terra Save, helping refugees when she comes across evidence connected to biological weapon experiments carried out in the country. Eventually, it becomes clear that the two storylines are closely connected.

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Feels Like a Bad Cutscene You Can't Skip

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness could have been a genuinely entertaining zombie story set in the Resident Evil universe. Instead, the creators present it as a gloomy, self-important political thriller filled with tedious exposition and only a handful of genuinely good scenes. Those scenes are handled well. I can easily single out the zombie attack inside the White House or Leon fighting a swarm of infected rat-like B.O.W.s aboard a submarine. Almost everything else feels like wasted screen time, empty conversations, and endless flashbacks.

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Feels Like a Bad Cutscene You Can't Skip

Resident Evil 7 and its direct sequel Resident Evil Village had already breathed new life into the series by the time Infinite Darkness arrived. Yet the creators of the Netflix show somehow managed to take a huge step backward, building the story around increasingly ridiculous conspiracies inside the United States government. Capcom already had plenty of room to move the franchise's story in new directions while still respecting the established canon. Instead, Infinite Darkness mostly asks fans to feel nostalgic about familiar characters from earlier games.Sure, seeing Leon and Claire together again is fun, but that alone is not enough. The characters are presented so lifelessly that at times it is difficult to care about what is happening to them. Add underwhelming CGI and rather stiff animation, and the result becomes even harder to recommend. As a Resident Evil fan, I can safely say that you will not miss much if you skip this one.