Resident Evil finally rediscovered its mojo back in 2017.
After a string of disappointing and otherwise middling releases, Capcom, deciding a drastic change was in order, went back to the drawing board for the series’ seventh mainline installment. With a massively increased emphasis on survival horror and trimming of all the baggage carried with its disappointing predecessor, Resident Evil 7 quickly became a fan favourite for its experimental yet familiar gameplay, kickstarting a hot streak of success that would continue two years later with the remake of a classic.
Share the same name, characters and story with the original it may, but Resident Evil 2‘s reimagining is a considerably different beast when it comes to scare factor. Besides incredible lighting effects and sound design, the Umbrella Corporation’s vile creations are genuinely scary, even down to the standard foot soldier that’s the simple zombie. So intense is the whole affair, in fact, that creator of the original, Hideki Kamiya, found himself wishing for some DLC to make the whole affair less terrifying.
Speaking to Destructoid, Kamiya, when asked what he thought of the remake (itself directed by a personal friend and former co-worker) he said, “After it was released, I was like ‘Holy Shit, this is really scary!” adding, “The next time I see him [director of the remake] I’m going to ask ‘Can you make some DLC that’s a little less scary, with maybe some cute zombies or something like that? (laughs)” High praise from Kamiya, then, but he’s not alone in considering the modern remake of his work a frightening experience. Some fans have even gone to such extreme lengths as to entirely remove certain parts of the game with mods in order to keep their underwear dry.
Can Capcom achieve the same level of success with the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake? We’ll find out for sure come release day on April 3rd.