It’s been 20 years since the original Resident Evil 2 was released for the PlayStation, and the 2018 version is much more than a remake, according to developers.
“We started the [remake] process because we wanted to give back to the fans,” producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi said via a translator at San Diego Comic-Con.
A Modern Update
While no gameplay was shown, fans got insights into changes to the two leads: Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield.
The most striking changes are the visuals.
For Leon, the designers wanted to emphasize the fact that he’s a rookie as well as give him a modern look. “The original game from 20 years ago is based in reality, but it does have some fantasy elements to it,” Hirabayashi said. “When we bring him to the modern age, he has to fit the world we’re in now.”
The new Leon has more armor, but the shoulder pads were removed. The Raccoon City police badge underwent a number of variations as well, with an ornate design being selected.
Claire underwent an even greater transformation.
The hot pants and high boots just weren’t realistic.
Now, she wears long pants and a jacket with its own ornate detail — an angel with “Made in Heaven” burned into the leather (earlier iterations had a patch angel). “The ultimate definer of her look is the opening sequence when she rides in on the motorcycle,” producer Peter Fabiano said. Pants are a far more protective choice than shorts when riding.
Don’t Get Bitten
Even the zombies have evolved, with a focus on a specific body part: their mouths.
“We did a lot of test shots of what the undead looked like,” Hirabayashi explained. “When we created zombies, we wanted to rally around one idea: it’s an entity that you don’t want to be bitten by.”
“We took special care that these entities would be very dangerous and scary,” he added.
The environments also got an update, with the new game going in a far more photorealistic direction. The developers also made slight changes to the game experience, including the room housing the Goddess statue.
“The Goddess statue is pushed towards the back instead of the front. The desk is something you’ll go back to often — to save on the typewriter — whereas the Goddess is a puzzle so we switched their location. We wanted to change it to make it better for the player experience,” explained Fabiano.
Resident Evil 2 will be released January 25, 2019, and is available for pre-order now.
"Resident Evil 2" Collector's Edition is replica of the game item box. Includes Deluxe Edition w/ variant costumes, Leon figure. #RE2 #SDCC pic.twitter.com/2ZYtBYbTHB
— Lawrence Yee (@lawryee) July 20, 2018
