Capcom considers reboot for Resident Evil

It looks like Capcom is taking the criticisms against recent Resident Evil games to heart. According to IGN, Resident Evil: Revelations producer Masachika Kawata has talked about potential changes to the series in light of recent complaints from gamers about the direction that the game has been going. Kawata said, “it’s important for us to have users’ needs in mind when making the games.”

This is mostly because of the criticisms levelled against the franchise’s decision to go the action route rather than sticking to its survival horror roots. While Kawata has admitted that the action/shooter direction for the game is a much more financially viable route to go compared to the series’ traditional survival horror trappings, he went on to say that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

“Survival horror as a genre is never going to be on the same level, financially, as shooters and much more popular, mainstream games. At the same time, I think we need to have confidence to put money behind these projects, and it doesn’t mean we can’t focus on what we need to do as a survival horror game to meet fan’s needs,” said Kawata.

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May need to return to its horror roots

Kawata also talks about a possible reboot for the series: "…I think a lot of what people want now is to have Chris and Jill in a game, or they want it to look like Resident Evil used to look like. That’s what makes the game work for them. We should be able to start from scratch and reboot it. It would still be Resident Evil. We wouldn’t lose the essential nature of what makes it a good game just by changing the characters."

Back in January, Capcom had announced that the 3DS game Resident Evil: Revelations will be getting a release on the PC, Wii U, Xbox 360 and the PS3 in May. The game will be available for download on the PS3 and PC for $49.99 (approx. Rs 2,700) on May 24, with digital versions for the Xbox 360 and the Wii U coming later.

The survival horror game takes players back to the events that took place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, revealing the truth about the T-Abyss virus. Resident Evil Revelations features series favourites Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, plus their respective BSAA partners – Parker Luciani and Jessica Sherawat.

The action begins onboard a supposedly abandoned cruise ship, the “Queen Zenobia”, where horror lurks around every corner before players head for the mainland and the devastated city of Terragrigia. With limited ammo and weapons available, the race is on to survive the horror of Resident Evil Revelations.

According to the press release, Resident Evil: Revelations is set to take advantage of Capcom’s online service – Residentevil.net – with content available to users once the game launches.

Players can pre-register on the service to gain early access to Resident Evil Revelations themed content with further information about online events to be revealed closer to launch.