Since 1998, Resident Evil 2 has stood amongst the annuls of gaming history as a benchmark in the survival horror genre, perhaps even surpassing the original game – and since the first game received its own remake on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2002, fans of the franchise have long awaited a similar remake for Resident Evil 2. Despite the likes of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles being the closest we got to an official remake, Capcom have never committed themselves to the task.
Enter Rod Lima, a fan who took it upon himself to build his own remake of the classic survival horror title with Unreal Engine 3.
Utilising the same fixed camera angles which made the original so endearing, Lima has crafted what will likely be the closest experience we'll get to a true remake of Resident Evil 2. Assets from existing titles were used to help create the world, such as the 3D environments deprived from the Raccoon City segments of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, while other elements such as the in-game menu and item selection screens were created by Lima himself.
While it is unlikely that this remake will see a public release, Lima stated in an interview with Eurogamer that one of the key reasons he built the remake was to teach himself on using Unreal Engine 3,
"It's an education project neither Capcom or Epic Games approves/knows it."
Despite Capcom having subjected Resident Evil 2 to a number of ports, including the Gamecube and PC, there have to date been no plans to develop a remake. However, Capcom recently released a HD remastering of the 2002 Gamecube remake of Resident Evil.