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You Were Almost a Jill Sandwich!

BarryBurton
The motion clips from the opening of Resident Evil were nothing compared to the in game graphics!

Don’t you just love it when games give you little gem moments? Once in a while there comes a character in a game that makes as much of an impression as the game itself, and when they do, they have to be treasured!

14 years ago a star was born. Devoted husband, caring father and lean, mean, weapon loving machine Barry Burton will be more commonly known to the majority of game players as ‘that guy who got trapped in the mansion with Chris, Jill and Wesker’ from Resident Evil 1. To me, he is a gaming hero!

Having played more as a cameo than side kick to Jill’s campaign in the first of the Resident Evil series, he was the guy you could rely on when your chips were down to kick in a door, be blackmailed by your double crossing evil boss or hand over a lock pick to ‘you the master of unlocking‘! These guys from S.T.A.R.S are multitalented!

Granted, the legend that is Barry was created more in memory of his cheesy one liners than over his skill in a zombie battlefield, but can you really argue with a man with a .44 Magnum in his pocket?… No. Neither could I, but let’s face it many a character have accidentally captured the hearts of people; imagine Star Wars without Yoda! That’s right – Barry Burton is as big as Yoda; well, he is in my world anyway!

bb2
“Jill… don’t.. open.. that door!” It’s a well known fact that Barry Burton trained at the William Shatner School of Acting!

Not only did his memorable appearance in the first game pave the way for a reappearance in Resident Evil 3, but he also had a far more driving force in the Game Boy Colour spin off title Resident Evil Gaiden! After all that action his presence in the history of Capcom was deemed so great that his memory was brought to life in fellow zombie title Dead Rising, with the local bakery of Willamette Mall aptly named Jill’s Sandwiches. Awesome!

Today, my recent gush for Mr Burton has been spurred on by the newly available downloadable content for Resident Evil 5. Don’t get me wrong, any additional gameplay to one of my ultimate game series is welcome, but in this instance I’m doubley happy. Not only is there now an additional level for the main story but the insanely addictive Mercenaries has yet another incarnation featuring two new players; recent villainess Excella and you’ve guessed it – good old Barry!

You think my Colt Anaconda is bad ass, wait 'till you see my grenade launcher!
You think my Colt Anaconda is bad ass, wait 'till you see my grenade launcher!

If that wasn’t enough his signature move is called ‘The Barry Sandwich’! Can it really get any better than this? Other than resurrecting the deliciously evil Umbrella Corporation and injecting some much needed horror back into the series (please people at Capcom, play Dead Space if you want to know where this series should be going!), then I really don’t think it can, for now at least! Keep your Wesker’s, Redfield’s and Valentines’s, give me a bit of Barry Burton any day! Let the countdown begin!

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11 responses to “You Were Almost a Jill Sandwich!”

  1. DelTorroElSorrow avatar
    DelTorroElSorrow

    I can’t say I agree with the Dead Space comment but this blog is golden.

    Barry Burton forever.

  2. chobe avatar
    chobe

    Barry Burton is bad ass. He wasn’t in Resi 3 though was he?

    Have to say I totally disagree with the Dead Space comment as well.

  3. Walter avatar
    Walter

    Zombies in space, it’s the natural progression for this series!

  4. Simon avatar
    Simon

    I remember Barry.

    Those cutscenes from the original MADE that game. We should bring back live action cut scenes.

    I don’t remember him in RE3 though, but then I struggle with Resident Evil plot points tbh.

    I traded in RE5 ages ago, so I won’t be getting the DLC, cool as it looks. That’s what they get for bringing out the DLC a year after the game is released. Bandits.

  5. Danny avatar
    Danny

    “Pure Barry Burton”

  6. Loz avatar
    Loz

    Yeah! Feel the Barry Burton love in this room! I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the series though, in terms of my Dead Space comparison. It’s not so much for the story or style of play, but for the fact that genuinely eerie feelings and scares can still be achieved in more recent games. It’s definately lost that horror feel that made the first resident evil game so amazing, and Id love to see it back!

    Also barry burton did have a cameo in resi 3! He’s the guy that gets jill and carlos out before racoon city go boooooom! 😀

  7. Simon avatar
    Simon

    I think with Resident Evil 5 they made a conscious decision at some point during development to focus on frenetic cooperative action, at the opportunity cost of well-directed and developed chills.

    Dead Space delivered some consistent chills, but for me it was perhaps at the cost of varied combat and environments. I also didn’t think it was a patch on the early Resi games or Silent Hill for that matter. The scares were too cheap too often in Dead Space. It played a little too much like Doom 3, to my mind.

    Resident Evil 4 nailed both the action and the subtle chills. But it was last-gen. Personally, I’m still waiting for the definitive survival horror experience of this generation.

  8. chobe avatar
    chobe

    I agree with Simon about Dead Space; it had atmosphere but the repitition and the tension/scares all seemed to be short term, quick fix stuff. Resident Evil, for me, has always been about:

    a) The adventure, in a lot of ways it resembles older game styles – pick this up, put it down somewhere else, combine it, that kind of stuff. There’s a gratification to be had in the early resi games when you find all the doors that can be unlocked by a key and it frees up an inventory space, daft as it sounds.

    b) The tension that is brought about by sometimes severe (depending on difficulty) ammo and health shortage, coupled with what’s basically control limitations in the movement and camera.

    Now the second half of b) is obviously an odd thing to be nostalgic for, and I fully understand why it wouldn’t wash with gamers now but I still miss it.

    Resident Evil 4 lost a lot of this charm but brought enough awesome actiony fun to the table for it to not matter. Resident Evil 5 seemed a bit soulless to me.

    Silent Hill 2 is the only game I’ve ever played that has a palpable sense of sickness about it, actual eerieness and creepiness that makes you think about the nastier side of human nature and isolation. Most other horror games I have played do not even reach this level, including resi games. With FPS games, it’s generally about short scares and unfortunately, making it so bloody dark you can’t see frig all.

  9. Loz avatar
    Loz

    Very true points guys, i think Simon is right with the fact that the next gen consoles have yet to make a true survival horror that matches up to games gone by. Its definately a fine line, and as proven with many titles that have tried, getting the balance right can make or break a game. I do love the silent hill series, unfortunately theyve not really tried to update the series like capcom have with resident evil, fingers crossed any follow on titles will take silent hill a step further.

    I dont know, it really is a tricky one when you try and put your finger on how it can work. Maybe we’re all too numb to thrills and chills after all these years of zombie apocalypses and cult worshipping towns!

  10. chobe avatar
    chobe

    Well to be honest, I’ve never really found games all that scary, I was one of those kids that got exposed to some grim but mostly humorous violent films during my crucial development stages in the 90s so I’m fairly tough to scare. I think like I said though I got a different satisfaction from survival horror than others might have.

    Also, I vaguely remember Barry’s cameo in RE3 now; a quick google suggests that it only occurred in particular endings which is probably why i didn’t remember it despite having clocked RE3 about 3 times.

  11. DelTorroElSorrow avatar
    DelTorroElSorrow

    In complete utter honesty and truth Dead Space failed to even make me jump. Maybe I’ve played too much survival horror but I could’ve pointed out to you every body that would jump up later on. It was so obvious and lacking in subtlety. I found it incredibly boring, even the zero gravity sections failed entirely to empress me. Also the fact that it’s YET ANOTHER piece of media that mistakes gore for a horror element. Gore can be helpful in setting up a scare but only when used as such. The pathetically contrived gore in Dead Space(woman slitting her own throat for no reason for 1 example) did a great job of making me hate it. Resident Evil/Silent Hill was scary without having to even have enemies for a lot of the time. The fear was always of what MIGHT be round the next corner, not the hulking monstrosity walking toward you down a corridor. The fear in resident evil 2 when you walk into the room with absolutely no lights on. There’s nothing in the room but a little girl but it still manages to be a scary room until the lights go on. That’s all down to atmosphere, the fact that the game has thrown surprises at you so often, probably largely thanks to the pre-rendered/fixed camera nature of that game.

    The most terrifying enemy will always be the one you cannot see. I remember in the first Unreal(not even a horror game) a moment when you flick a switch and you get blocked in to the corridor, as the lights slowly die out 1 by 1. The last light fails and a few seconds you hear a lew pitched, predatory growl. Then the lights flash back on again and you are faced with a Skaarj warrior standing inches away from your face.

    Amazing, and all with the power of NOT knowing what COULD be out there.

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