Resident Evil 2‘s remake will differ from the PS1 original in multiple aspects.

Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the game’s producer, told Rely on Horror that the over-the-shoulder camera angle will show the struggle between our characters and the enemies more than in the first-person perspective (Resident Evil 7) or in the fixed camera angles (the original Resident Evil trilogy on PS1), and that these angles wouldn’t be as effective as the RE4-5-6 approach: „Looking at the series history so far as a sort of options on the table for what we could’ve done for a new game: we have the classic fixed camera, a third person camera, and even a first person camera with Resident Evil 7. So all of those are the sort of things we could’ve considered, and they all have their pros and cons, none is a sort of clear winner for any particular game.

But our concept was these up close, and claustrophobic personal encounters with more terrifying than ever zombies, and I wanted to see the ‘biter’ and the ‘bitee’ on screen at the same time [Laughs]. With a first-person camera, you see the zombie but not yourself; and with a fixed camera you see both, but it’s more zoomed out and not as intense. For me, the over the shoulder camera gives you that intense struggle between both the character and the enemy.”

Tsuyoshi Kanda, the other producer, added that the angle change meant some of the iconic enemies (Mr X, William Birkin, Licker) had to be overhauled as well: „Yes, we had to reconsider the space that the characters are in with the new camera angles. Taking the Licker, for example, you first meet it in the ‘Licker corridor’, and while the CG movie plays it’s on the ceiling, then when it goes back to gameplay, the Licker immediately drops down to the floor so you can aim down and shoot it.

With that sort of camera the Licker can’t jump around from different angles, but with the new, over the shoulder perspective the Licker can move around a 3D environment and introduce 360-degree action. So the Licker will be much more able to utilise the entire space around you because you can see the entire corridor from any angle. It allows for much more elaborate and interesting enemy AI and behaviour.”

Hirabayashi added that Leon’s and Claire’s both campaigns would be included but in a simplified way: „One of the great things about the original was this sort of two character system where you could get a different perspective on events. Either as Leon the rookie cop, or Claire as a student—the ‘zapping’ system as it was known where there were A parts and B parts to each character. We still want to replicate that feeling of seeing two sides to the same story through both character’s perspective in their way. So for that reason we have a Leon campaign and a Claire campaign, they’re separate, and you can choose which one you want to play first.

We did simplify it a bit and make it more elegant by eliminating the A/B distinction and meshing together what happens to the character’s A and B scenarios into one story. I think players today, they want these deep/intense experiences with the story, and by stretching it across four scenarios, the story gets spread a little thin and create a sense of repetition by going through the game multiple times to see everything. So for that reason, we went with two campaigns that still show all the events of each character’s story rather than have it all split up.”

Resident Evil 2 Remake will simplify, modernise, and change – will it be a good change? We’ll find out on January 25 when the game launches on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Source: WCCFTech