Resident Evil 8 is rumored to be in development over at Capcom. The long-awaited remake of Resident Evil 2 has proven to be a huge success of Capcom, both in terms of sales and reviews. The game is firmly rooted in the franchise’s survival horror roots, just like previous title Resident Evil VII: Biohazard. The series had taken a long detour into action and co-op in the years prior to part seven, but it seems survival horror is definitely making a comeback.
The original Resident Evil 2 famously shifted direction during development, with one version of the game - dubbed Resident Evil 1.5 - being scrapped completely. This would become a recurring theme during development on the mainline series, with Resident Evil 4 going through four separate ideas before arriving at the final product. The original concept was such a departure it eventually evolved in Devil May Cry instead, but another was labeled the Hook Man version. This take saw Leon become infected by a virus that triggered hallucinations and caused nightmarish figures like living dolls and a killer armed with a hook to chase after him.
This version of Resident Evil 4 was scrapped due to technical limitations of the GameCube. In light of the success of Resident Evil 2 and the resurgence of the series, a Twitter account called Evil VR (via Twisted Voxel) reports Capcom is already at work on Resident Evil 8. The account also claims the game will borrow a number of concepts from the Hook Man version, including hallucinations and the titular creature himself.
Evil VR also states Capcom won’t launch the game before the rumored remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
Since this information is coming from an unverified source it should be treated with a hefty dose of salt, but the account has been close to the mark on other rumors, such as the release date of the one-shot Resident Evil 2 demo. The Hook Man version of Resident Evil 4 wasn’t possible at the time, because the concept required that Leon could slip into a hallucination at any moment, requiring two possible versions of every environment. This would have been hard on the GameCube, and while it was briefly considered having the Hook Man as the only enemy in order to save it, it was eventually thrown out. The idea has a lot of potential, however, so it would be nice to see it return.
While Capcom stated a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis would be dependent on the success of the second game’s remake, reports suggest it’s already well into development. It sounds like Resident Evil 8 will continue the storyline set up in Biohazard, but fused with the gameplay style of Resident Evil 2. For now, it sounds like Nemesis will definitely be the next installment in the series.
More: What It Will Take For Capcom To Remake Resident Evil 3
Source: Evil VR (via Twisted Voxel)
