Resident Evil Remake Remastered Edition? This could get interesting.

It seems that Capcom has decided to go back to the Resident Evil franchise roots quite literally. With the announcement of a remastered version of the GameCube Resident Evil remake, came a wave of flaming and frustration especially coming long time fans that feel that Capcom has cheated them again. Everybody agrees that the Resident Evil remake is one of the best things that Capcom has ever done, but many think that bringing it to this generation as an HD port is kind of dumb considering how old the game is. The outcry that is coming from some sectors of the gaming community is understandable to a point, but I think that most people are missing the point about what Capcom may be intending to do with this port and how it could favor us fans in the long run.

It teaches newer generations to appreciate the classic Resident Evil experience.

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.

The cool thing about the zombies in the remake is that they were very intimidating.

It can fix Capcom's impression about the survival horror genre.

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.

Hands down one of the scariest parts in any survival horror game.

It keeps the series alive.

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.)

Compared to the original, this boss fight was at least twice as tense.

Wrapping it up

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

Interesting scenarios that a new Resident Evil could have.

In the past month, a little bit of nostalgia brought in a Resident Evil marathon with it and after playing some of the games and watching the CGI films, a question came to mind. Assuming that Capcom survives their current ordeal and actually release a new Resident Evil game... What new scenarios could they try? They have mentioned that Resident Evil Revelations and The Last of Us would serve as inspiration for them to bring the franchise back to its survival horror roots, so an action-oriented "final struggle/anything goes" scenario would not fit into that line of thinking. Playing these games and watching the animated movies have shown that they have tried almost any common scenario that a "Bio Hazard" story can develop into, but there are still some of them that would make the franchise look fresh again without the need of a reboot. Let's see some of the crazy ideas that came out of this (get prepared to read, because this is a long one) so let your imagination roll and continue.

In order to get away from the Dead Island's "paradise beach" theme, something like this should work.

The island that was too late to be saved

This scenario would happen some months after Raccoon City has been wiped off the map. The setting would be a fictional artificially made island that was created by some billionaire in order to make his own independent nation. The island would have a significant population and it would include all kinds of services and residential areas, sort of like a small contemporary country state (no futuristic stuff). The problem begins when the billionaire's nephew manages to escape Raccoon City before the bombing, after stealing a defective canister containing the virus. With no other place to go, the nephew goes back to his uncle, but not before getting infected, turning into a zombie and starting an outbreak on the island. The Billionaire, knowing that his nation is in peril, asks the U.S government for help (along with a great amount of money). U.S authorities see this an an opportunity to test an experimental anti-virus/vaccine so they send the protagonist (which is a CDC agent) along with a small team to the island in order to try the anti-virus and attempt to save as much people as possible.

The protagonist arrives on the island by boat and starts administering the anti virus to the survivors as he believes that the island could still be saved, but it doesn't work on most people because of unknown reasons and the outbreak continues to spread. The situation gets even worse when the protagonist boat is stolen by scared people trying to escape the island and get blown off to pieces by the billionaire's personal militia as he snaps and orders a lock up on the island. Now you have to survive not only the infected people, animals and plants, but a crazy man who blames you for what happened.  This would be a back to basics story, focusing on survival and how people's lives are shattered by the outbreak, it could also have twist or a complication happening halfway through the game just to spice things up a little. The player could also be able to try to give anti-virus shots to those infected that haven't turned into zombies as the island is explored, that way receiving weapons, items or information for your troubles.

Remember this movie? That should give your sort of an idea.

Hidden primal horrors

This one happens at the time of Resident Evil 5. On this scenario one of the characters of the series that has not appeared that much in the previous games, will have become a renegade, now working for a drug cartel as life seems to have lost its meaning to him/her (Maybe one of the STARS members we thought to be dead and is alive somehow). The protagonist is sent to the Amazon along with a partner to retrieve a drug shipment that was lost in the area because of a previous botched operation.

The problem begins when they find out that they are not alone in the jungle. Other than the obvious dangers that lurk in the foliage, they find themselves chased by local authorities who somehow became aware of their presence and tried to lure them into a trap. As they run and lose them his/her partner is shot and dies, but the protagonist manages to wound some of the soldiers and makes way to an abandoned native village that seems a little too modern and organized.  Here the protagonist finds the village spreads into a series of abandoned and ran down facilities that seem to have been used by Umbrella in the past and are scattered through the jungle. After exploring for a while the protagonist gets face to face with one of the soldiers, but the soldier asks for them to join forces instead of arresting him because all his remaining partners have been killed by some unknown force. Now the two of them have to look for some way to survive as the sun sets and the night begins.

This one could feature a whole new set of enemies, maybe enemies infected by a failed early version of the T/G-virus and because of the jungle setting, there can be a whole other variety of dangers that can be exploited alongside the normal enemies in the game. The cool thing here would be to keep the player moving back and forth between the several facilities with the use of clever puzzles and different types of hazards so they can become afraid of going outdoors for too long.

This image sort of explains the concept, at least on its advanced stages.

What to do when the place itself is the enemy

This one is really a long shot, but it makes sense if you keep an open mind. Here the protagonist can be a totally new one and it the scenario would be in the same time as Resident Evil 6. On this one, the protagonist is a secret service agent that gets locked in an emergency bunker facility with several VIPs and staff after a false alarm. The thing is that one of those VIPs is working for a terrorist group and he/she releases a deadly unknown B.O.W bomb that basically turns the whole place in to a mutated being, with tissue and mutations everywhere as if it were the insides of a living creature merged with the already existing structure.

Little by little the mutation keeps getting bigger and enveloping everything it its path, while infecting people and spawning its own aberrations. The protagonist then must find a way out of the giant mutating structure while protecting the VIPs. On this scenario the player would have to literally protect the VIPs while making progress as any people lost or rescued in the end may change the ending. At some points the player will have to make split second decisions that can mean life of death for the VIPs. It would also be cool if the VIPs would have some degree of A.I that is enough for them to act on their own, so they some times can, follow you, ignore you, have problems with you, be useful, get infected, find items, tell you secrets etc, all depending on how you play and interact with them. All of this with the added detail that one of them is the terrorist and you don't know who.

Wrapping it up

There you go folks, 3 crazy ideas about possible scenarios that the Resident Evil franchise could take on the new game (if it happens). Note that this is entirely based on personal opinion and creative thinking, so if you have your own crazy Resident Evil scenarios go ahead and share them on the comments section, who knows what kind of other crazy ideas we can come up with.