All those classic style RE games coming from the very first one all the way to Resident Evil 3 and Code Veronica are revered by many and have become the immediate topic that comes around every time there is a conversation about Capcom's survival horror flagship. It is good to reminisce about these games from time to time, but we have to accept that newer generations won't touch any of those games even if their lives depended on it. Because of this, Capcom may be trying to introduce newcomers into the classic Resident Evil experience by giving them something that looks brand new to them. If they manage to hook newcomers into the classic style as they did with us back then, the probabilities of the franchise going back to its roots becomes a lot higher.
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| The cool thing about the zombies in the remake is that they were very intimidating. |
It is said that the Resident Evil remake did not made the sale numbers that Capcom was expecting back in 2002 and that was the main reason why they switched from pure survival horror to a more action oriented style. It is pretty obvious that the game did not performed that well because it was a Game Cube exclusive and unfortunately there weren't many Game Cube consoles out there at the time. Capcom saw it as a decrease in popularity, but the reality about it is that this happened because of the console user base. For a reference example see this comparison below:
Sale figures:
- Resident Evil: (PS ONE): 2.75 m
- Resident Evil Remake (GameCube): 1.35 m
- Resident Evil Code Veronica (Dreamcast/PS2) : 2.54 m
Here we can see how the established PS ONE user base traduced itself into greater sale numbers (for the time) compared with an exclusive title (the remake) and one shared in two platforms that were still young at the time (Code Veronica). Believe me, I am an advocate of game exclusivity, but for some reason, platform exclusivity doesn't work well with Resident Evil.
Because of this market misconception, Capcom got the wrong impression about the whole survival horror genre and decided to stop supporting it. Now with this port they have the chance to recover not only the losses they had back then, but their faith on survival horror games which also raises the possibilities of the next RE game NOT been just about shooting stuff, running and quick time events.
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| Hands down one of the scariest parts in any survival horror game. |
Some gamers say that the series needs a reboot, but that isn't necessarily true. The franchise as it is, has a rich storyline chronology that can still spawn very interesting games. They don't have to move it forward in order to make a new game as they can just explore a whole spectrum of events that were happening at the same time the story of the newer games was. They can use characters like Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers or even Billy Coen to go around the story arc a little and give us very interesting scenarios (see Interesting Scenarios that a New Resident Evil Game Could Have if you need some examples.)
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| Compared to the original, this boss fight was at least twice as tense. |
A Resident Evil port that can capture newcomers, fix the reputation of survival horror within Capcom and keep the series alive as it is, sounds like a pretty good trio of reasons why this surprising re-apparition of an old game can inject some life into the Resident Evil franchise just in the way we want it. Back in the past, Capcom released 2 versions of the original game (normal and director's cut) and they were successful with it so they have a good chance with this one. This is good opportunity here that what may seem dumb for some, but can end up to be a turning point in the series and the beginning of that new, but awesome Resident Evil game we all deserve. If you have never played a classic Resident Evil game before, this is a must buy and if you are an old school gamer don't dismiss this version yet, at least until further details are announced.
Sources:
GearNuke -Resident Evil Sales Figures
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