A reader argues that Resident Evil 9 should prioritize cooperative play, and that remaking Resident Evil 5 would be a significant error.
There’s a lot of speculation and investigation within video game fandom, where everyone wants to uncover the next big revelation and prove they alone know everything that’s happening but, really, you don’t need insider information to figure out most secrets. Want to know what unannounced game is coming up next? That’s simple, just consider what recently sold well.
The Resident Evil 4 remake did very well and it was critically very successful so there’s no doubt: more is on the way. Actually, you don’t even need to make that small logical leap, a Capcom director has already stated they want to do more. But which one? That’s the real question.
The issue is that they’ve now used up all their classic titles, especially after stating they won’t do Code: Veronica. Your only choices are Resident Evil 1, which has already been remade once; Resident Evil Zero, which isn’t that great; Resident Evil 6, which is terrible; and Resident Evil 5, which is… challenging.
Regardless of your opinion on how Africa was depicted in Resident Evil 5, the reality is it was a public relations disaster the first time around and Capcom should consider themselves very fortunate they made it through that without harm. It’s not for me to say whether it’s racist or not but what I can say is that it wasn’t a very good game. It wasn’t as poor as Resident Evil 6 (few things are) but both games were a big step down from Resident Evil 4.
When series creator Shinji Mikami left Capcom, it created a significant void, that wasn’t properly filled until Resident Evil 7 over a decade later. Resident Evil 5 attempted to imitate 4 but everything it imitated ended up being worse, in terms of the action, the puzzles, the set pieces, the pacing… everything was the same but not as good.
What made the game enjoyable was the cooperative play, which I thought was fantastic. It’s not very enjoyable on your own but I played it with my friend at university and we loved every moment, despite quietly knowing the game itself would never have seemed as good if it was only standard single-player.
You’d have to redesign Resident Evil 5 from top to bottom to both make it a good game and to ensure no one is offended by it, and it’s simply not worth the effort. Especially as you then end up remaking all the games except 6, which will seem very peculiar. (I’m sure they’ll get around to another Resident Evil 1 remake eventually, maybe next gen or in VR.)
However, I suggest that the focus of Resident Evil 9 should be cooperative play. It was the best aspect of 5 but Capcom went so overboard with it in 6 that they abandoned the concept of cooperative play in a main game (they did it again in the Revelations series and it was really good there).
So, I recommend that Resident Evil 9 have two-player cooperative play, somewhat like Resident Evil 5, but that it focus on having better set pieces and pacing, and figure out how to make it scarier – because having someone else along with you naturally makes that more challenging. My suggestion would be making it so your partner can be infected and then they have to eat your brains instead of helping you, but I’m sure Capcom can come up with something better.
The next remake could be one of the spin-offs, like Outbreak or Revelations 2, or even the Game Boy Color game Resident Evil Gaiden turned into a 3D adventure. Another option would be to remake Dino Crisis. Whatever happens next, it should involve co-op, but not necessarily Resident Evil 5 again.
By reader Crosscut
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