Here’s How Resident Evil 2 Utilizes Tech to Create ‘Overwhelming Realism’

Capcom’s annual report, which it releases for analysts and shareholders, highlighted a few titles to convey why they’ll be successful in the market. Among them was Resident Evil 2. Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda broke down the game’s appeal as a “nostalgic and new” title.

We launched into development of [Resident Evil 2] with our minds set on satisfying the players’ expectations, and utilizing the best tools at our disposal to recreate the game anew.

Actually, around that time, many of us were working on Resident Evil 7 biohazard (hereinafter “7”). Survival horror game fans have more than one need. 7 attempted to provide the ultimate horror experience with an overwhelming sense of immersion using VR. RE 2 aims for horror and entertainment, a game that is both scary and exciting. Each pursues a different way to enjoy the game. I think the diversity of this series, while always centered on horror, is very appealing.

Kanda further explained the rationale behind the team’s design choices and how they utilized technology to bring Resident Evil 2 into 2019.

Sight and Sound: Depicting Horror by Appealing to the Senses with Overwhelming Realism

With this title, it was important to respect the original while making the newly rebuilt RE 2 enjoyable. To this end, in addition to the story, game system and visuals, we focused on the audio.

In terms of the story, we followed the original while creating an even stronger sense of drama. For the game system, to maximize the fear of being eaten by zombies, we employed an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, enabling the user to see both the character they are playing and the attacking zombie.

For the visuals, we used our proprietary RE ENGINE to create a photorealistic world of horror that could be mistaken for live action.

In terms of audio, we used Capcom’s dynamic mixing stage, a newly built 3D audio booth in our R&D building with 7.1.4 channel Dolby Atmos. This enables changes in sound in real-time using binaural technology, enabling realistic audio that makes players feel as if they are actually there. Zombie moans can be heard to the right and left, in front and behind, affecting not only the sense of sight but of sound to make users experience a greater feeling of horror.

Going forward, we will leverage the marketing expertise we’ve accumulated thus far to promote the game in major regions ahead of launch, primarily at major events, in areas such as North America, Europe, Japan and Asia, as well as in the rapidly growing South American market. I hope everyone is looking forward to the rebirth of RE 2, which is both nostalgic and new.

Resident Evil 2 is set to release on January 25, 2019, on the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and the PC. The Deluxe Edition includes a reversible cover, DLC costumes, and the ability to swap in the retro soundtrack.

[Source: Dualshockers and Capcom Annual Report]