Gamers have been crying out for a remake of horror classic Resident Evil 2 since the remake of the original game proved to be a huge success, and now we’ve got more details on the upcoming release.
Over the weekend a whole slew of new information was released at San Diego Comic Con, including snippets of gameplay and concept art, which you can view in full here.
The game’s producer, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, blessed fans with a presentation at SDCC, and he discussed the direction the team have headed in.
As you probably know by now, this isn’t going to be a straight port of the game, as we’re expecting some changes to characters and gameplay.
Hirabayashi and his panel confirmed that the characters of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield have been tweaked, with Leon’s “youthfulness” emphasised to make sure he “fits the new world.”
Claire seems to have undergone a physical transformation too, as she’s “ditch[ed] the hot pants” in favour of a “biker/ninja” aesthetic.
Zombies have also had a revamp, and apparently some have been modelled on members of the development team!
There’s also been some discussion about camera angles in the game, with Hirabayashi saying: “Looking at the series history so far as a sort of options on the table for what we could’ve done for a new game: we have the classic fixed camera, a third person camera, and even a first person camera with Resident Evil 7.
“So all of those are the sort of things we could’ve considered and they all have their pros and cons, none is a sort of clear winner for any particular game. But our concept was these up close and personal claustrophobic encounters with more terrifying than ever zombies, and I wanted to see the ‘biter’ and the ‘bitee’ on screen at the same time
“With a first person camera, you see the zombie but not yourself; and with a fixed camera you see both but it’s more zoomed out and not as intense. For me the over the shoulder camera gives you that intense struggle between both the character and the enemy.”
The lucky people at TrustedReviews even got a hands-on experience with the game, and declared: “I, along with every other Resi fan, have waited the best part of 20 years for a remake of Resident Evil 2, and I don’t think any of us could have expected something this good.”
According to the official PlayStation blog, the game “is not just a remake – it’s a complete redesign of Resident Evil 2, including the iconic Raccoon City Police Department and the surrounding Raccoon City.”
The new Resident Evil 2 will be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on January 25th, 2019.