Resident Evil 4: The Game that Changed it All
Resident Evil is one of the most beloved franchises in the gaming industry. Capcom launched the first Resident Evil game in 1996 for the PlayStation. The survival horror game deals with Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, members of the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad, or STARS for short; an elite spec-ops squad inside the Raccoon City Police Department, focused on military, and rescue operations.
The goal of the game is to escape the Spencer Mansion, a place ridden with zombies and other creatures. The place hides a deep secret that will serve as a cornerstone for the whole franchise.
Home, Sweet Home
In 1994, Capcom commissioned Shinji Mikami to make a PlayStation exclusive horror game in the same vein as Sweet Home, a video game directed by his mentor, Tokuro Fujiwara, and made in 1989 for the Family Computer; (Famicom), it was exclusively released in Japan. Fujiwara had previously worked on gems like Ghosts’n Goblins, Ghouls’n Ghosts, Bionic Commando for the arcade, and its port to NES, and produced games like Mega Man 2.
Sweet Home is a Japanese Horror movie that deals with the misfortunes of a small film crew that goes to the old, abandoned mansion of a famous artist, Ichiro Mamiya. Their goal is to find, and restore all of its famous paintings and film a documentary pertaining his art, whilst at the mansion. Things start to go south when one of the members is possessed by the spirit of the artist’s late wife. A series of paranormal events happen, and faithful to the genre, each crew member starts to die in bizarre ways, one by one.
I recommend watching this film if you are in the mood for a campy, late 80s Japanese-style horror movie, with all its tropes included. The movie has a lot of action and practical effects, which adds to the nostalgia factor; it will certainly keep you entertained. The film is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, not to be confused with the master Akira Kurosawa who directed films like Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, etc. The directors are not even related.
Sweet Home as a video game was very successful, and it marked a significant moment in the gaming industry. It cemented the horror-type genre in video games and also with the help of its RPG elements, paved the way for other games like Parasite Eve, Bioshock, and Resident Evil. The game had a connected world in the style of Metroid and Castlevania.
A need for the horror genre
During the mid 90s, videogame consoles were shifting from 2D, 16-bit sprites to 3D, 32-bit polygons. Apart from Nintendo, the industry was also shifting from cartridges to CD as media format. This allowed developers and designers to add audiovisual elements to its games. Cinematics were now fully motioned, with music and audio included. Some opted for live-action scenes, others for 3D renders; it was also common to see a blend of both.
This shift certainly enriched the narrative design and storytelling in video games. It married movies and games, or at least cemented its symbiotic relationship. I remember old folks pointing it out by saying: ‘It looks like a movie!’
Games sharing a lot of narrative and audiovisual elements with movies, created a huge need for cinematic experiences. With 3D and CDs as a standard, it was evident that publishers demanded the production of games that possessed such elements.
One of the most popular movie genres is horror. It is the perfect ‘excuse’ to make a compelling, yet simple plot, add a lot of practical effects, and add suspense and twists. Directors have fun with horror movies; it feels like the whole production process is much more contained than with a huge blockbuster action film.
Having horror games in the 8 and 16-bit era were more linear and lacked a lot of story elements. Sweet Home was one of the first games to enrich its lore by adding scattered notes that the player collected and read about its backstory. That is why it became a staple in the video game industry and horror genre.
Back then, horror games were something more on the vein of ‘gems’ like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Nightmare on Elm Street, and many other LJN productions. I recommend watching ‘The Angry Video Game Nerd’ for further research. It will really help you put into perspective where the industry was, and how video games evolved into something more cinematic when CDs became the standard, and polygons evolved from sprites.
Resident Evil
Tokuro Fujiwara proposed to his mentee, Shinji Mikami to make a game inspired by Sweet Home; Capcom’s license for the Sweet Home franchise had expired, so Tokuro Fujiwara proposed his mentee, to make a game inspired by it. They would grab many of the elements that made Sweet Home unique, like the puzzles, limited inventory, emphasis on survival, and also the infamous opening door loading screens.
Other elements that Resident Evil borrows from Sweet Home are related to narrative, and storytelling, like the aforementioned scattered notes, multiple endings, the setting in a mansion and the use of horror imagery to convey its message.
Mikami was not entirely convinced because he hated being scared or feeling frightened. Ironically enough, he became a staple name and perhaps one of the founding fathers of the video game horror genre by developing amazing franchises like Resident Evil, and The Evil Within.
Tokuro Fujiwara was more excited about producing the Resident Evil project since he saw potential in the PlayStation in terms of graphics and audiovisual narrative elements. He would be able to do things that he could not in Sweet Home, due to the limitations of the Famicom’s Hardware. He was convinced that “horror games would become a genre in themselves.”
After a few expected changes during the design process. The game finally shaped to what it’s now. It was released in 1996 for the PlayStation. Introducing a new intellectual property and being niche like a horror game, set Fujiwara’s expectations quite low, compared to what the game really sold. He was hoping to sell hundreds of thousands of copies on a newly-released console. To his surprise, the game sold millions and became an instant success in the industry.
The game had a fixed angle camera, reminiscent of a movie. Mikami wanted the player to feel like they were playing in a movie. It also allowed developers to pre-render the background or rooms the player was in. The only 3D elements were the player itself, the enemies, and other items in the room. Upcoming sequels, like Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and other franchises like Silent Hill utilized the same camera concept.
Resident Evil 4,
Resident Evil became a staple for the industry during the late 90s with its sequels being released in 1998 and 1999. During the early 2000s, Capcom released a couple of spinoffs for the PlayStation while they were working on their next big main game, Resident Evil 4.
Mikami mentioned that the game was under development as early as 1999. Despite its early start, the game suffered from many revisions and the project was handed to different directors. The process was quite lengthy and had 4 different versions; in the end they all helped to shape what Resident Evil 4 became in its final version.
Resident ‘Devil’
The first version was directed by Hideki Kamiya who directed Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami produced it. Noboru Sugimura, who also worked as a writer on Resident Evil 2, reprised his role for the first version of Resident Evil 4. Kamiya’s proposal was to make a more action-oriented game; incidentally, this concept ended up evolving into Devil May Cry. Mikami thought that this cool action concept was too different from what Resident Evil is in essence. Kamiya and Mikami both also worked on Devil May Cry from its inception, and turned it into a successful franchise.
The story revolved around a man named Tony who basically had super powers. Kamiya thought the character did not look cool and brave enough with a fixed camera angle, so he decided to shift to a third person perspective to make the player feel more immersed
The game uses a lot of gothic elements like statues, buildings, bricks, ornaments. It is curious that the team spent eleven days in the UK and Spain researching this. The latter country served as a location to the game’s final version plot.
‘Fog’ Version
After Devil May Cry was released in August 2001 for the PlayStation 2, the team of Capcom Production Studio 4 resumed work on Resident Evil 4. They needed to re-strategize, and rework the concept. They had a deal with Nintendo to release five exclusive games for the company’s first CD console, the Nintendo GameCube. Everyone had high expectations for the console, and the company’s shift towards optical media. The audiovisual and cinematic potential for Nintendo games was highly anticipated.
The project was directed by Hiroshi Shibata who worked on Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Apparently, this version was half completed. It featured Leon Kennedy infiltrating the main Headquarters of Umbrella Corporation, somewhere in Europe. The elements this version shares with the final game are the fact that Leon becomes infected with the Progenitor Virus, however, unlike the final cut, in the concept Leon gains special powers in his left hand. The concept also featured an unrevealed female companion; in the final game we get Ashley Graham. The Fog version also has some first-person elements.
The Phantom Biohazard, or the ‘Hook Man’ Version
Developed in 2002, this version still used a fixed camera angle, however, the boss battles feature the third-person, over the shoulder perspective. It was announced on E3 2003. It borrows elements from the previous concept like the fact that Leon contracts a disease and has to fight paranormal enemies. The game had a different feel like the fog version. Perhaps it felt closer to Silent Hill than to Resident Evil, which usually deals with zombies and mutant creatures, rather than ghosts and living dolls in a haunted house.
The final version of the game borrows elements like laser sight, quick time events, and the 3rd person, over the shoulder perspective. This version of the game even featured five-minute gameplay trailer which was later added to the Japanese pre-order version of Resident Evil 4.
The ‘Hallucination’ Version, only a concept.
In this version, they scrapped the whole story concept used in the previous versions. In this one, Leon Kennedy infiltrates Spencer Castle trying to find answers. He stumbles upon a hidden laboratory and a young girl wakes up. He is accompanied by a dog developed as a bio-organic weapon, meant to assist Kennedy.
The ‘Hallucination’ version ended up providing the story of the Progenitor Virus covered in Resident Evil’s 5, and also the setting for its DLC ‘Lost Nightmares’ which takes place on the Spencer Estate.
The Final Version
Shibata was replaced as director by Shinji Mikami, who made a return and scratched the current version. He wanted to return to a more predictable version of the game, keeping some of the elements the previous versions had.
The game was first released as a GameCube exclusive in January 2005, however due to the game’s huge success and sales projection, an October release was secured for the PlayStation 2, a console that was having tremendous success in sales. Sony had just released a slim version a year prior. Suffice it to say, the game sold out its pre-order and collector's edition.
The PS2 version included the Ada Wong DLC making it the most complete version of Resident Evil 4 to date. Capcom also states that the game did not fall under the Nintendo exclusivity agreement, hence the port being made.
The game would later be ported to the Nintendo Wii, and Windows PC as well.
A new format is born.
The third person, over-the-shoulder perspective that was implemented in Resident Evil 4 marked the way Capcom would make its sequels and spinoffs until today. It was a decision that could have been controversial at the time. The game felt like a completely different thing.
What characterized Resident Evil as a great horror game was the fixed angle cameras and movie-like feel. Mikami’s decision to shift towards the new perspective proved to be successful. That is how Capcom made Resident Evil 5 or 6.
Resident Evil 5 had a huge shift in narrative and overall feel. It was more action oriented, with bullets and resources being more plentiful than in previous games. This was received with mixed reactions by the fans, its sequel however, featured different episodes, and the Leon Kennedy part of the game returned the game back to its roots.
This small detail later gave birth to Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes. These two opted for the third person perspective but dropped the heavy action-oriented elements Resident Evil 5 and 6 had. They returned to slow-paced mechanics, with very little ammo and resources available.
Both remakes were a huge success for Capcom to the point where they decided to release a Resident Evil 4 remake. This decision was difficult to make, considering the fact that RE4 is considered one of the best games ever made, so, how could you remake something already perfect? It was evident that the game needed a remake to modern consoles, and also introduce it to a new, younger generation of gamers. The success of the previous remakes had definitely encouraged Capcom. These games are so well made that fans fell in love with them at first sight.
Visually the game looks stunning. Capcom is using a revamped version of the RE engine which Devil May Cry also shares. This allowed the company to modernize the gameplay, and add 3D spatial audio to the games.
You can definitely hear the audio if you wear proper headsets. The games are outstanding, so making a sequel of Resident Evil 4 made absolute sense. Capcom is aware of the heritage this game possesses, and the remake definitely respects that. Perhaps the only thing missing are the quick time events.
Otherwise, the game pays true homage to the original game, and it elevates the franchise to a new height. New generation of gamers can dive into the franchise and returning fans get their share of nostalgia quenched. Everyone is a winner: Capcom, loyal fans, and newcomers.
Definitely give this game a try. Resident Evil 4 will continue to keep the franchise relevant, and make it grow even more. Hopefully we will see a remake of the original Resident Evil and its prequel, Resident Evil 0. These are two games that everyone loved, and that I personally enjoyed. They are what got me into the franchise. I don’t know about the 5th iteration or if any of the spinoffs will be getting the same treatment.
Who knows what Capcom is working on next? Keep in mind that Resident Evil 7 and 8 (Village) drifted from the usual cast like Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, et all. Maybe the next game will be a direct sequel of Resident Evil 6 and continues the story where it was left.
All of these awesome games would not have been possible if Resident Evil 4 failed into oblivion. Since then, it has been ported to many devices and has even got the HD treatment, but understandably a remake made sense to Capcom and its fans, considering how it paved the way for a second wave of fans playing on newer hardware.
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