A week after rumors of a Resident Evil 1 remake appeared, we suddenly have a lot of details on the supposed remake.
Originally released in 1996 for the PlayStation, Resident Evil 1 was possibly the pivotal franchise in transitioning the arcade game giant Capcom into a console gaming giant. Its tank controls and laborious pace isn’t popular with younger gamers, but it works for the developers’ intent to create an increasingly terrifying horror atmosphere.
Our rumor comes from YouTuber Biohazard Declassified, who claims to have received an email from an insider. We can’t vouch for the veracity of this information, but it is surprisingly detailed. So, either this YouTuber got a close inside peek on a remake deep in development, or someone made it up.
The first choice is to apparently refer to the title in Japan as Biohazard: RE1. This seems to be a necessary evil for Japan, as the Resident Evil brand has now become that recognizable. It isn’t clear if Japan can’t use their Biohazard copyright outside their home country to this day, but it does seem like they can give that copyright up.
It will also be a slower paced game, which puts it in line with the original title. Given how far video game development has come in the past 28 years, so Capcom will put the work in so this isn’t something that only dedicated fans will enjoy.
One surprising choice is to have bullet sponge enemies. Such a choice can make the combat more tense, but it would also hint at other potential choices. For example, does this mean this remake will also use hitscan? Perhaps such a choice would be better for the game’s overall design, but of course, we wouldn’t know for now.
Another interesting choice is the return of Crimson Heads. In the 2002 remake of Resident Evil 1 for the GameCube, any zombie that you have killed can return as a Crimson Head. Crimson Heads are more dangerous and harder to kill than their original forms.
Crimson Heads represented an innovative new challenge in horror game design. Instead of just having to choose whether to fight to the death or run away, players now had to decide if they would stick around to make sure a zombie doesn’t become a Crimson Head. And they can’t do this for literally every zombie they run into.
The final gameplay related teaser is using an over the shoulder, 3rd person camera. I think it will be fair to say that the number of changes alone does justify the existence of this remake, when the 1996 original has been rereleased a few times, and the 2002 remake also exists. At the very least, fans will be curious how it all comes together.
As for the other aspects of the game, this Resident Evil 1 remake will supposedly be the first one to skip the eight generation of consoles. As a result, it will also allegedly have no prerendered backgrounds. All of the game will be loaded in RE engine in real time, with no loading screens.
That’s a lot to take in all at once, but as a final reminder, even if all of this is legitimate, Capcom may still make changes before it finally gets released, so take this all with a grain of salt.
