It has been over two months ever since Capcom announced Resident Evil 8, which is the upcoming installment to the long 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 about Resident Evil 8 apart from rumors and speculation that continues to surface online.
Although specific details about Resident Evil 8 are 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 of Resident Evil 8, Capcom revisited its back catalog and produced remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3. Resident Evil fans would know that the franchise has evolved since those two iconic games, and it appears that Resident Evil 8 is following the new direction that Resident Evil 7 took in 2017. However, here are some things that Resident Evil 8 could learn from the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3.
A Good Enemy AI Goes A Long Way
Although Resident Evil 2 remake 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 also terrified 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.
When Resident Evil 3 remake was announced, players were excited to see what Nemesis is capable of after witnessing the new and improved Mr. X, since Nemesis 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 to Resident 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 in Resident Evil 2 may prove too difficult for players.
So what Resident Evil 8 could 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
When Resident Evil 3 remake 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 original Resident Evil 2, but Capcom decided to cut a huge amount of content from Resident Evil 3 remake 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 in Resident Evil 3 remake, 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 some Resident Evil games have also included mini-games alongside its main Resident Evil titles. However, Resident Evil Resistance is by no means a mini-game given that Capcom has reportedly devoted half of Resident Evil 3’s development to Resistance. As a consequence, this is likely the reason why Resident Evil 3 was cut too short, and although Resident Evil Resistance is fun to play with, it resulted to Resident Evil 3 having lower sales than Resident Evil 2. For RE8, 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 both Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes is the survival horror aspect. Sure, Resident Evil 3 is 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 classic Resident Evil game. But the battle between action and survival horror has plagued the Resident Evil franchise for so many years now. Resident Evil 7 is a testament that Capcom has learned its lesson given that the game favored the classic gameplay that made Resident Evil, well Resident Evil, despite the huge change from the third-person to the first-person style of play.
Based on the new trailer, it appears that Resident Evil 8 will be much bigger than Resident 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 making Resident Evil 8 a direct sequel to 7, then players should expect a bone-chilling horror experience in the upcoming game.
Resident Evil 8 is currently in development for the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.
