Resident Evil 2 was revealed to be getting the remake treatment back in 2015; after the announcement, however, we got little to no news regarding the project until this year's E3—when we finally got to see the game in action—and it looked simply amazing.
It sure has been a long time for fans of the
Resident Evil series—especially for fans of the series who have been clamouring for the series to go back to its survival horror roots, and were very vocal about the fact that
Resident Evil games no longer felt like
Resident Evil games.
Well, it turns out that Capcom did listen to fans of the series, which is exactly one of, if not, the main reasons why the company decided to remake
Resident Evil 2—often considered to be the best game in the series in a tie with
Resident Evil 4; both starring Leon. S. kennedy as one of the main playable characters.
Today, Capcom producer Tsuyoshi Kanda has shared some new information on the official PlayStation Blog; revealing that their motivation behind the company wanting to remake
Resident Evil 2 comes from the fans who asked for the game to be re-imagined on current gen consoles.
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Resident Evil 2 has always been a series favourite for many and we heard our fans loud and clear when they voiced their desire to see it remade/re-imagined on modern platforms. Big thanks to all the Resident Evil fans from around the world, as you really helped us show why this title had to be made. So we’ll be doing our best to give you an experience you’ll never forget – a completely re-imagined Resident Evil 2 that takes the 1998 original to a new level".
Like previously mentioned, the
Resident Evil 2 remake was announced back in 2015 and, at the time, it was already in development prior to the announcement. It sure has been a long time since the announcement, and Kanda reveals that one of the reasons why development has taken so long is mainly because they didn't want so make a remake that didn't offer players something new.
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The title took a long time to produce for many reasons, because as you can imagine, popping open the hood and making any changes to someone’s favourite title can be tricky. The end result was that we wouldn’t just ‘remake’ it, but create an all new version of the game that embellishes further on the story, provides deeper gameplay, looks absolutely amazing and stays true to its terrifying survival horror roots".
One thing that fans were quick to notice when Resident Evil 2 was revealed during this year's E3 was how good the game looked. Sure, games these days look great when it comes to photo-realistic graphics, but Resident Evil 2 looked particularly great; especially when handling light sources and shadows. Kanda explains that this is thanks to their new RE Engine, first introduced in the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 7.
"Since the PS1 original released in 1998, technology has evolved in a major way, but we’re also fortunate enough to have our own new game engine to take Resident Evil 2 to the next level. It’s being created on Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine which was also used for Resident Evil 7 biohazard, so players can look forward to terrifyingly photorealistic visuals, immersive sound via binaural recording technology, 4K resolution and HDR support on PlayStation 4 Pro, and much, much more".
Kanda finally reveals, specifically, why the Resident Evil 2 remake took this long to be revealed, as the game had been in development since 2015. The reason is simple: they simply didn't want to make the same game with updated graphics; wanting to offer both veteran players as well as newcomers a brand-new experience.
"As for what’s been updated in the new game – simply said, we want Resident Evil 2 to be a fresh experience for both series veterans and newcomers alike. Certainly not an exhaustive list, but we’ve done things like adding the new over-the-shoulder perspective, changing up the puzzles, and modifying certain encounter moments. Because, let’s face it. If you already know there’s a Licker coming around the corner, that’s just no fun in a survival horror game, is it?".
Resident Evil 2 will be coming out in January of 2019 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, finally giving players what they had been asking Capcom to do for so long; bringing the Resident Evil series back to its survival horror roots that many fans of the franchise thought they'd never see making a comeback. It's been quite a long time for all of us, but it looks like all the wait has definitely paid off.
The genre-defining masterpiece Resident Evil 2 returns, completely re-built from the ground up for a deeper narrative experience. Using Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, Resident Evil 2 offers a fresh take on the classic survival horror saga with breathtakingly realistic visuals, heart-poundingly immersive audio, a new over-the-shoulder camera, and modernized controls on top of gameplay modes from the original game.
Resident Evil 2 will be available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the 25th of January 2019.