BEFORE I became The Technivore, I used to be Leon Croft.
If you are a gamer, I am sure you immediately get the reference.
That was a long, long time ago, back when gaming, believe or not, was still a small subculture, and I was one of the few local writers who wrote about games. Remember “GamesMaster,” “Loading,” “GameOver,” and “GameX” (“GameTime”)?
It was a tribute to two of my favorite characters and their games, which would eventually help shape the industry.
Lara Croft and the original Tomb Raider (1996) is considered as one of the greatest video games ever made, serving as a template for many 3D action-adventure games that would follow. Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy and “Resident Evil” introduced gamers to what would be known as the survival horror genre, inspiring countless spinoffs from games, books, comics, toys, movies, TV shows, etc.
Unlike the Tomb Raider franchise which was last given a reboot in 2013, the Resident Evil (RE) universe continues to evolve with the developers trying different approaches with the later titles.
The RE games defined the survival horror genre we have today, with its creepy atmosphere, jump scares and heart-pounding suspense as you take on the hordes of the undead (or infected) and try to survive, while managing your limited inventory of items (such as, health, ammo, weapons and other key items).
But no other Resident Evil game has gotten so much hype and anticipation than the upcoming “reimagination” of “Resident Evil 2.”
Resident Evil 2 first hit the original PlayStation in 1998 and has already been rereleased or ported six times, with additional features like the Extreme Battle Mode, support for analogue controllers and slight graphical enhancements.
But this is the very first reimagination of the game. Yes, it’s the “familiar” Resident Evil 2 game you probably played when you were a kid, but it would be wrong to say that it’s just a graphic upgrade or a remastered version of the original.
A few weeks ago, our friends from Datablitz invited us over to their office to meet with the Capcom reps and chat with Resident Evil 2 producer Tsuyoshi Kanda, who showed us several gameplay videos and shared some interesting updates as the game nears its release date this January.
Before our interview, Mr. Kanda started with a demo of both Leon and Claire’s campaigns to highlight different gameplay mechanics.
First was how you can dismember zombies by targeting a specific body part. Instead of just firing a shot, you can aim for the leg to immobilize a zombie or knock it down with a well-timed shotgun blast to the chest. This opens up new ways on how to take on the zombies and plan your strategy to conserve precious ammo. RE is known for its limited resources and your decision to engage or escape can could mean life or a painfully messy death.
Shooting at zombies sounds quite exciting, but Kanda pointed out that RE2 remains true to the original, relying more on exploration and heavy on the puzzle elements. Oh, and don’t bother trying to remember the locations of the keys and some items because they’ve been changed it quite a bit.
You start off by choosing between two difficulty levels. The standard difficulty has no restrictions to how many times you can save; on hard difficulty, however, you need to find an ink-ribbon first before you could save your progress on the typewriters. And, yes, the “save” music returns as well to let you know that you can breathe a quick little sigh of relief (even if its for just a few seconds).
Another cool gameplay mechanic Kanda showed us is how players can use items such as wooden boards to board up windows and prevent more zombies from getting inside the precinct. Leon and Claire will also be able to use sub-weapons such as knives and grenades; in this game, grenades are among the most powerful weapons, though they’re in very limited quantities. You can use knives to get out of sticky situations, but know that each knife has a limited amount of uses before breaking.
In the Claire demos, Kanda showed us the encounter with Sherry, the William Birkin fight, as well as the Licker gameplay. Lickers are among the toughest enemies in the game—they’re fast, deal lots of damage and it takes a lot of bullets to put them down. But Kanda showed us that they do have a weakness of sort: Lickers are blind. This means you can sneak past them by walking very slowly. This makes for some really intense moments as one wrong move will alert them of your presence. In his demo, Kanda did get past the Lickers, but not without suffering some crucial hits that forced him to use his herbs to heal Claire.
REIMAGINING A CLASSIC
RE fans might have had their constant fill of T-Virus induced action the last few years with RE5 and RE6, but there are still those who have been clamoring for a trip back to the place where it all began—Raccoon City.
For Capcom, it seemed like the perfect time to finally grant their wishes and revisit the genre-defining classic. Resident Evil 2 was developed from scratch utilizing Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine.
The RE Engine, first introduced in “Resident Evil 7,” features photorealistic textures for character models (Leon, Claire and company look different but better) and detailed environments making Raccoon City even more terrifying. Again you’ll see familiar landmarks, locations, and the precinct looks eerily familiar giving those who played the original a sense of déjà vu.
As mentioned, there are a lot of significant changes in the gameplay, and thankfully the clunky tank controls are gone, replaced by the over-the-shoulder third person view of “Resident Evil 4.” This change modernizes the combat and exploration mechanics of the game. No more turning in circles and spinning in place. Oh, and it’s also worth mentioning that the voice acting now is also superb compared to the original RE2.
Kanda stressed that this is more of a reimagination than just a remake of RE2. He said they rearranged events from the original game’s plotline and added new story elements. Expect fully animated cutscenes with new lines of dialogue for various moments in the game’s story. The zombie encounters and jump scares have also been redone to keep the game unpredictable even for those who have memorized the original.
But more than the graphics, the accuracy of the locations, and the gameplay, Kanda said the biggest challenge for them was how to make longtime RE fans happy—to create a game with the classic “feel” that would bring back fond memories of when they first played the game, while incorporating new elements and making it “fun” to welcome more new players.
That is why they are bringing back alternate costumes and the extra modes including the Hunk and Tofu scenarios. I received a lot of questions about Tofu and a few days ago I saw screenshots of the Tofu character and just like everything else, he has been impressively remade to be more photorealistically tofu-like and looks more like a block of real bean curd than ever before. It also appears that he’s now a full-fledged member of the team as he is wearing a STARS-issued hat.
Tofu appeared in the original “Resident Evil 2” in a scenario, named “The Tofu Survivor,” and was the most challenging mode of all—as if being a walking block of bean curd wasn’t a dead giveaway, you only have a knife and a few herbs to try and survive the zombie plague. The Tofu scenario is very tough to unlock so hopefully he gets a much better ending this time.
“Resident Evil 2” will be released for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and will be available at all Datablitz branches on January 25.
KINGDOM HEARTS III PS4 PRO
SONY has a big treat for fans of “Kingdom Hearts,” as the limited-edition Kingdom Hearts III PlayStation 4 Pro will be available in the Philippines on January 29. The limited-edition console will include an especially designed PS4Pro with a 1TB HDD, wireless controller and the Blu-ray Disc version of the game. The console features a black lace design set on the top cover that is decorated with familiar Kingdom Hearts iconography, such as the heart shape, crown and the Keyblade weapon, and embellished with silver foil and a custom drawn emblem pattern. The Dualshock4 wireless controller that comes with the bundle has a shining black background, while the touchpad design matches the console’s seamlessly. The regal details and the contrasting materials of the console and the controller exude elegance, making the custom designed edition a uniquely styled commodity that accentuates the Kingdom Hearts theme.
Set in a vast array of Disney worlds, the Kingdom Hearts series expands its universe in Kingdom Hearts III by introducing Disney-Pixar worlds and new Disney worlds.
SMART SUBS GET A CHANCE TO WIN P25M
IN celebration of 25 years in the business, Smart announced its Amazing 25 promo (www.smart.com.ph/amazing25) to share this milestone with its loyal subscribers.
The wireless communications provider is giving away P25-million cash tax-free as well as smartphones, MVP Rewards credits worth P2,500, and 25GB worth of free mobile data so you can enjoy your favorite apps, videos, games and music.
To join, Smart, TNT, and Sun subscribers need to first complete the one-time registration: dial *121#, choose AMAZING 25 on the menu and follow the steps to confirm your sign up. Once registered, you can start earning and accumulating raffle entries for a shot at winning amazing prizes.
All prepaid subscribers can earn raffle entries with every registration to select prepaid promos via retailers or text registration. As a bonus, subscribers using *121# to register to prepaid promos can earn more entries.
For postpaid subscribers, you need to have active accounts that do not have outstanding balances to earn raffle entries. Just make sure you pay your bills in full and on time. Every P1,000 worth of payment is equivalent to 100 entries. Postpaid customers who purchase select add-ons from Smart and Sun can also earn additional raffle entries.