Resident Evil Locations We Hope to See Get a Face Lift in the Re Engine
The Mansion And Beyond
As a lifetime fan of the Resident Evil series, I was stoked to see that Resident Evil 2 Remake is finally a reality-even at a nearly $900 price tag for a deluxe edition. Finally the franchise that fell from grace a little after games moved to more of an action shooter after trying to keep up with the market trends, finally found its way back to its origins in Resident Evil 7. While 7's story wasn't long enough for most players, the addition of numerous DLC's made up for the short ten hours or so of game play- short by today's 40+ hour run-time of some games on PlayStation and Xbox.
What 7 communicated in its game play was not only the newest horror in bio weaponry, but the graphical improvements from early games to 7 using the Re Engine, made for Resident Evil 7.
The southern United States never looked scarier.
While some claimed that the pristine graphics were a little too well done for a game that had its origins in blocky characters made of colorful pixels, what 7 brought to the animation was nothing short of movie quality- even if the redesign of Chris Redfield was as over the top as that time he punched a boulder into a volcano.
While Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 0 look amazing in their rehashes over the years, nothing will shine as brightly as the remake of Resident Evil 2 in all its bloody glory making we wonder what other locations could use a face lift now that RE has the capability with its engine built for later games.
With the ability to move Resident Evil 2 from blocky pixel characters to something downright bloody disgusting in its animation, the Re Engine could bring so much to other remakes in the series.
Testing Limits In The Bayou
Resident Evil 7 took my breath away frame by frame through Ethan's mission in the bayou to save his estranged wife that went missing several years before. Finding her location on The Baker estate, a plantation with two decaying houses on the property and several side locations leading to the mines- everything about 7 looked believable as a rotting farmhouse.
With the creation of the Re Engine, what already looked superb in previous remakes of older games, Resident Evil 2 in its preview looks amazing leading me to think of the other locations that could come to life with the help of the Re Engine.
While Resident Evil has already crossed the globe through installments in Africa, Spain, and remote islands through Code Veronica, The Umbrella Corps, what was missing from those experiences was the graphics and game play mechanics that were now capable in 7.
While all the older games still have replay value, even if you have to reteach yourself tank controls to play- the lack of realistic visuals didn't hurt the story any, but made you use a lot of imagination to believe what the places COULD look like.
I can't wait to see the police station again in 2 and hopefully more of Raccoon City if a remake for 3 gets off the ground with the Re Engine.
Resident Evil 2 and 3 took place in roughly the same time frame, but the campaign of Claire, Leon, Jill, and Ada, don't overlap in the two games as Jill is running from the Nemesis, and the others are dealing with Mr X and the survivors of at the police station.
A New Raccoon City
With only a glimpse of Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2 Remake, few landmarks of the town are subject. While Jill's campaign in 3 runs roughly the same time frame, Leon Kennedy who's first day on the job includes helping Claire save the civilians still at the police station after the zombie invasion, Jill sees much more of the town in her flight from the Nemesis.
The biggest backdrop for Leon will be the Raccoon City Police Station, with its new overhaul looking bloody and believable as any place could in the universe with puzzles that unlock areas.
With the Re Engine, new mechanics make it possible for updated puzzles- somewhat like in Resident Evil Remake, but from the preview looking more like the puzzles created for 7 in the tools that are needed.
Seeing this new side of the city we love only calls for Jill's portion of the game in 3.
Jill's adventure in Resident Evil 3 is iconic and needs its own turn on the Re Engine to bring Raccoon City to its afterlife as zombies have over taken what is left of the Midwestern town before it is nuked.
Resident Evil Notable Locations
Where many can argue the story in 4-6 got a little crazy as Resident Evil took a turn as more of a shooter than a horror game- the locations in the RE universe were as diverse as the characters in them.
Once Resident Evil broke free of the Midwest in 0-3, there was no more of the city that once inhabited oh so many blood lusting zombies.
RE 4 followed Leon this time in Europe chasing down the daughter of the President who had gone missing. While there was somethings about 4 that changed the way Resident Evil came to be played-especially the over the shoulder camera we will be seeing in the narrow halls of 2 Remake, the beauty of the European countryside would be something through the lens of the RE engine.
While many people love 4 it was the beginning of a more combat driven type of Resident Evil which grew worse between 5-6 which took the game to more of a co-op. But even the beautiful yet impossible world to play in 5 as a solo campaign through Africa would look stunning with the Re Engine.
In Code Veronica, Rockfort Island which Claire fights to get away from after she is kidnapped had many lovely locations even with the BOW's and zombies looking to crunch the younger Redfield's lovely face. This island hell could look amazing with the touch of the RE Engine.
While most of the Resident Evil Revelations games split time between two characters in the same locations at different times, what we have become to know as the signature looks of characters like Jill, Chris, and Claire could only be improved upon with a splash of realism.
Who doesn't want to be lost at sea when the animation looks so convincing?
If Capcom will go on to make anymore remakes for the franchise after 2 is yet to be announced, but the franchise after its return to its creepy origins in 7 has brought along new fans to the franchise as well as fans that remember playing the first games in a darkened basement in the 90's. I still feel the chill up my spine as I sat up and played all night, exploring the depths of Raccoon City.
This is the time for Capcom to breath life again into a best selling zombie franchise by bring at least a remake for the third game in the original series as a remastered trifecta.