It has been over two months ever since Capcom announcedResident Evil 8, which is the upcoming installment to thelong time survival horror franchise. Apart from the debut trailer that the studio released to announce the game, there is still not much information out there aboutResident Evil 8apart from rumors and speculation that continues to surface online.
Although specific details aboutResident Evil 8are still being kept under wraps, the preview trailer loosely gives players a preview of what the game’s direction is going to be. However, it is no secret that prior to the announcement ofResident Evil 8,Capcom revisited its back catalog and producedremakes ofResident Evil 2and3.Resident Evilfans would know that the franchise has evolved since those two iconic games, and it appears thatResident Evil 8is following the new direction thatResident Evil 7took in 2017. However, here are some things thatResident Evil 8could learn from the remakes ofResident Evil 2and3.
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A Good Enemy AI Goes A Long Way
AlthoughResident Evil 2remake remained mostly faithful to its source material, one good change that it introduced is the vastly superior AI of Mr. X. During the police station sequence of the game, players were amazed and alsoterrified by the way Mr. X hunted them down. Walking too loud or shooting guns to take down zombies would immediately inform Mr. X of the player’s whereabouts, which is why players must be extra careful when running around the police station or using weapons to down enemies.
WhenResident Evil 3remake was announced, players were excited to see what Nemesis is capable of after witnessing the new and improved Mr. X, sinceNemesis is a more superior bioweapon after all. Unfortunately, while Nemesis is more ruthless and hard to kill in the remake, his appearances are all scripted and predictable. There is not even a single sequence in the game where it is just Nemesis hunting down the player similar toResident Evil 2. Of course, the primary reason why Capcom may have decided to design Nemesis encounter that way is that unlike Mr. X, Nemesis is able to run faster than the player, so encounters similar to that inResident Evil 2may prove too difficult for players.
So whatResident Evil 8could learn from this is to introduce an enemy that is somewhat similar to the AI of Mr. X. The enemy design should also be balanced so that the player won’t be too overwhelmed with every encounter with this new enemy. Just imagine how terrifying it would be to have an enemy similar to Mr. X, but this time around,players will be dealing with that in first-person.
The Game Shouldn’t Come With an Online Multiplayer Component
WhenResident Evil 3remake was released, many players noticed that the game is significantly shorter than the remake of its predecessor. Sure, the original game was also shorter than the originalResident Evil 2, but Capcom decided to cut a huge amount of content fromResident Evil 3remake such as the Graveyard, where players would have encountered the giant worm. Although it isn’t clear why Capcom decided to stray away from the source material inResident Evil 3remake, many believe that it is because the game was developed alongside the online asymmetrical multiplayer game,Resident Evil Resistance.
Of course, it is worth noting that someResident Evilgames have also included mini-games alongside its mainResident Eviltitles. However,Resident Evil Resistanceis by no means a mini-game given that Capcom has reportedly devoted half ofResident Evil 3’sdevelopment toResistance. As a consequence, this is likely the reason whyResident Evil 3was cut too short, and althoughResident Evil Resistanceis fun to play with, it resulted toResident Evil 3having lower sales thanResident Evil 2. ForRE8,this means focusing on its single-player over any sort of attache modes.
Retain Survival Horror At Its Core
Lastly, one thing that Capcom was able to implement well in bothResident Evil 2and3remakes is the survival horror aspect. Sure,Resident Evil 3is more on the action side of just like the original game, but the survival horror part is still prominent and it is still undeniably a classicResident Evilgame. But the battle between action and survival horror has plagued theResident Evilfranchise for so many years now.Resident Evil 7is a testament that Capcom has learned its lessongiven that the game favored the classic gameplay that madeResident Evil,wellResident Evil, despite the huge change from the third-person to the first-person style of play.
Based on the new trailer, it appears thatResident Evil 8will be much bigger thanResident Evil 7, given the many locations that are shown in the preview as opposed to only the Baker Residence in the 2017 game. However, it is still difficult to determine the balance between horror and action until more footage is released, but if Capcom is truly committed to makingResident Evil 8a direct sequel to7, then players should expect a bone-chilling horror experience in the upcoming game.
Resident Evil 8is currently in development for the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.
