Summary
In a surprising twist, Capcom might not be remakingResident Evil 5next as many fans assumed it would, continuing on from Resident Evil 4 as it did from 3 and 2. That’s according to reputable survival horror leaker Dusk Golem,who claims Resident Evil 0 is up next.
My colleague Jade King wrote two years ago about howResident Evil 5 might be too racist for a remake, and that Capcom would need to completely redefine its approach.
It’s an interesting prospect, especially as Dusk Golem claims that it will be a “big reimagining” of the original. RE0 hasn’t aged well, standing as one of the most frustrating entries in the series, and there are a couple of major reasons for that which could finally be remidied. The first is its needlessly punishing inventory management system that completely forgoes item boxes in favour of… dropping items. There’s alotof backtracking.
Taking place concurrently with the original game, you also play as two distinct characters, STARS Bravo member Rebecca Chambers and escaped convict Billy Coen. It might sound like a novel idea to set it apart from other games in the series, as you can jump between the two on the fly, moving through areas together as you complete intricate puzzles. But in reality, it’s a co-op game without the co-op. It’s bizarre.
A remake offers a unique opportunity for Capcom to take the foundations of Resident Evil 0 and use them to test the waters for a return to true co-op, something we haven’t seen since before the series’ soft reboot in 7: Biohazard.
Resident Evil 0 Already Feels Designed For Two Players
The best way to describe Resident Evil 0 is that it’s like playing a co-op game where you’re always paired with a bot. They have dodgy AI, always getting in the way, and you end up feeling inextricably lonely as you solve two-player puzzles by yourself with one character constantly standing around doing bugger all.
Capcom wouldn’t actually embrace co-op until seven years later in 2009 with the aforementioned Resident Evil 5, which immediately became the series standard going forward with RE6 and the two Revelations spin-offs. The series was embracing multiplayer wholeheartedly, but when Capcom went back to basics with 7, it left nearly everything behind, multiplayer included.
I can’t imagine 7 as a co-op game, but it’s a shame that even the Revelations series appears to have been left to gather dust.
There was a lot wrong with this era of Resident Evil. Horror was thrown out the window in favour of cringy B-movie shlock and walking stereotypes, as Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Leon Kennedy became caricatures of themselves with as much depth as cardboard cutouts.
It was a stark departure from the more atmospheric, George Romero-inspired horror of the originals, losing so much of the series’ core appeal. Even today, it lingers like a bad smell inthe god-awful CGI movies. But multiplayer was never the problem.
Resident Evil’s Worst Games Are Still Great Co-Op Experiences
The saving grace of Resident Evil 5 was its co-op. To this day, it’s one of the best multiplayer experiences out there and is still brought up for that very reason. It could’ve easily fallen to the wayside as a forgettable entry only remembered for its outlandish cutscenes, completely eclipsed under the monumental shadow ofResident Evil 4. Multiplayer gave it an edge.
Resident Evil 0 didn’t have that special something to make it stand out, so it’s rarely talked about with any reverence by fans — Code Veronica supersedes it as the popular pseudo-main entry. RE0 is just an okay, forgettable, and mostly frustrating game, something that diehard fans of the series play for completionist’s sake alone. Its one gimmick is its worst feature, nothing to write home about. Yet that gimmick could be what finally saves it.
Perhaps we’ll see the two-character idea scrapped altogether in favour of a more traditional approach, like picking between Chris and Jill, or Leon and Claire. Or maybe we’ll jump between two characters for different parts of the story, like Jill and Carlos in Resident Evil 3.
It’s certainly feasible given the last few games, but that feels like the safe, boring route. Resident Evil 0 could — and should — be Capcom dipping its toes back into co-op, revitalising a part of the series it left behind years ago. It could pave the way forward for Resident Evil 5 and 6 to undergo similar reimaginings, and perhaps even lead to the return of Revelations. Resident Evil 0 is the perfect foundation to bring back a part of the series that has been sorely missing for years, and to do anything else would be a completely wasted opportunity.
