Resident Evil 4remake remains unconfirmed, but rumors about the game’s existence keep growing day by day. Several days ago, a new piece of evidence sparked the rumors of aResident Evil 4remake when voice actor Nick Apostolides, who provided voice work for Leon Kennedy in theResident Evil 2remake,posted a photo of himself in motion capture gear. Interestingly enough, the photo was captioned with a message saying how good it feels to get back to work.
Of course, the project that Apostolides is working could be for another game, but the actor said that he is not at liberty to share more details about it. Whether or not the remake is happening remains to be seen. However, if theResident Evil 4remake is indeed in development, then Capcom may have a secret weapon that is hidden in plain sight, and that is the design of the village inResident Evil 8, which could play a vital role in how the village in the rumoredResident Evil 4remake will turn out.
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Resident Evil 8’s Village Design
Ever sincethe announcement ofResident Evil 8several months ago, its village setting has found itself at the center of speculation. Some believe that the village inResident Evil 8is the same one that Leon barely escaped inResident Evil 4. Of course, there is no way of knowing if this is true, especially since Capcom is still keeping specific details about the location under wraps. The question now is, how does the village inResident Evil 8affect the rumored development of theResident Evil 4remake?
In the originalResident Evil 4,which was released in 2005, Capcom started to mix action elements intoResident Evil’straditional survival-horror gameplay. AlthoughResident Evil 4still leaned to its roots,it paved the way to the action-orientedResident Evilthat was heavily implemented in the fifth and sixth installments. It’s worth noting that beforeResident Evil 4, most games in the franchise were mostly set in closed environments that gave a claustrophobic vibe that heightened the horror experience. However, with the village’s open environment,Resident Evil 4became a fast-paced action game, and while many elements contributed to this transition, the setting played a major part.
How Capcom Can Use Resident Evil 8’s Village Setting To Improve Resident Evil 4
Now, in previews ofResident Evil 8, it is obvious thatCapcom is once again returning to its survival horror roots. With the new game, Capcom has the opportunity to designResident Evil 8’svillage in a way that captures the claustrophobic feel of the olderResident Eviltitles. The studio could design the village to have a more sinister look, and with a more compact layout, players will feel like they’re stuck inside a maze. Capcom should also return puzzles inResident Evil 8and scatter them all around the village, which will allow players to feel that they are actually playing aResident Evilgame.
Once this is successfully executed, Capcom can learn from fans' feedback, identify which elements worked, and implement all of the best ones in theResident Evil 4remake. Of course, this isn’t to say that Capcom should drastically change the village in the remake. Instead, the studio should follow itsapproach in theResident Evil 2remake, which is to remain faithful to the source material while adding elements and features that enhance the overall experience. At the moment, it’s difficult to predict just how scary the village setting inResident Evil 8will be. However, with more gameplay previews expected to come out in the coming months, it is interesting to see whether Capcom will design the game’s setting to heighten horror, similar to classicResident Evilgames.
Resident Evil 4remake is rumored to be in development.
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