‘Resident Evil 2’ Producers Talk Remake and Fan Concerns

In 1998, Capcom released the blockbuster survival horror hit Resident Evil 2 for PlayStation, and it was eventually ported over to most platforms, such as the N64 and the Sega Dreamcast. For its time, Resident Evil 2 made us experience fear unlike any other game. Between the trench coat-wearing Mr. X, the legions of zombies, one massive alligator, and the pipe-wielding William Birkin, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield most certainly had their hands full.

Fast forward to 2015, Capcom unveiled that Resident Evil 2‘s widely anticipated remake was in development. After a long three years, they showed a jaw-dropping trailer and a playable version of the game to bestow upon the fans at E3 2018. If you haven’t seen the trailer, check it out below.

For the playable version of the game that was shown at E3, we saw Leon’s over-the-shoulder perspective. He was armed with a pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other. The hall corridors looked as frightening and dreadful as they ever have. I’ve heard some complaints on social media that the Resident Evil 2 remake will be just another Resident Evil 4 clone. In a recent Game Informer interview, game producers Yoshiaki Hirabayashi and Tsuyoshi Kanda addressed this concern.

Hirabayashi stated, “just because this remake has gone over-the-shoulder doesn’t mean that it also has a shooter focus. This is something we really want to make clear – we want people to separate in their minds what an over-the-shoulder game is and what a shooter is. Resident Evil 2 2019 is over-the-shoulder plus survival horror. Which is actually a kind of an unprecedented combination for the series.”

Kanda also adds that “this game is going to be slower paced, resource management, survival-horror adventure gameplay with backtracking metroidvania exploration puzzle-solving – we’re not really adding shooter gameplay to it at all.” And he goes on to say, “I think if anyone has any concerns that over-the-shoulder is going to make it an action game, then we can tell you ‘No, it feels like Resident Evil 2,’ it’s just that there’s a brand-new perspective.”

It seems that those concerns are put to rest, at least for now.

Fans of the original game will remember the cool zapping feature, which meant that if you started the game as Leon or Claire, his or her actions throughout their part of the game could aide or hamper the second playthrough. It was confirmed that in the remake, they each have their own campaigns that solely focus on their separate stories, but they are related and will run in to each other from time to time.

The Resident Evil 2 remake releases on January 25, 2019 for Xbox One, PS4 and Steam. You can pre-order the game now for bonus costumes and weapons for Leon and Claire. The Deluxe Edition includes a download voucher for two Leon costumes, three Claire costumes, Samurai Edge – Albert Model, and a classic Resident Evil 2 soundtrack swap for $70.