Years where we don’t get any new Resident Evil releases whatsoever tend to be fairly rare, and periods of consecutive years of the sort rarer still. The latter is, of course, what we find ourselves in now, with the entirety of 2024 having passed without a new Resident Evil release, and 2025 threatening to do the same, especially with Monster Hunter Wilds billed as Capcom’s big new game for the year. But thankfully, series fans continue to have plenty to look forward to nonetheless.
That’s not just because the inevitable Resident Evil 9 is obviously in the works – with Capcom also having confirmed that the project is being led by Koshi Nakanishi, the director of Resident Evil 7 – but because that’s seemingly far from the extent of it. Prominent Capcom leaker Dusk Golem claimed close to a year ago that there were as many as five new Resident Evil titles that were simultaneously in development at the time, later going on to claim that that also included two more remakes in the form of Resident Evil Zero and Code Veronica. Capcom itself has also confirmed that more Resident Evil remakes are indeed on the way, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid an iota of attention to how successful RE remakes have been for the company by pretty much every metric- even if RE Zero and Code Veronica might not be everyone’s most expected remake picks.
Even so, we can speak at length about why those two picks for remakes make a lot of sense, and why series fans have reason to be excited about them. And we have, in fact. But particularly where Resident Evil Zero is concerned, that excitement is perhaps somewhat tempered by caution. The original RE Zero remains to this day one of Resident Evil’s black sheep, so to speak, which, combined with factors related to the alleged remake’s development, do give rise to some interesting questions.
What factors, exactly? Well, allegedly, the Resident Evil Zero isn’t an internal production. As per the aforementioned Dusk Golem, the project is being led by external teams K2 and M-Two, both of whom have had plenty of experience with the RE franchise. The two provided development support for 2023’s Resident Evil 4 remake, in addition to leading development on its Separate Ways DLC, and also leading development on 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake. And that last bit might be what might raise some eyebrows.
The Resident Evil 3 remake is obviously not without its redeeming qualities, and viewed on its own merits, it does have its fair share of strengths, standing as a well-crafted, polished action horror game. Arguments about its inability to properly capture the heights of the original RE3 and reimagine it as successfully as other Resident Evil remakes have done with their own source material are not without merit either though, and for those who want all of their Resident Evil remakes to be at the level of quality of something like Resident Evil 2 or Resident Evil 4 might be concerned about whether the Zero remake is going to be able to do that.
Unlike the original RE3, the original Resident Evil Zero is also a much more flawed game. From its narrative choices to the way it handled inventory management (what with the complete lack of item boxes), there was a lot that dragged that experience down, which means any remake is going to have to step around and even improve some notable deficiencies. That M2 and K-Two can lead a project that noticeably diverges from its source material isn’t in doubt, thanks to the RE3, but the ability of the two teams to do so in satisfactory fashion is what some might call into question.
As far as Code Veronica is concerned, with the internal Capcom dev team that worked on the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes allegedly leading development on the project, confidence will be high that the game will be able to hit a similar level of quality- and given the original game’s status as a mainline numbered entry in all but name, it’s easy to understand why it is receiving that kind of attention. But really, the Resident Evil Zero remake should ideally be targeting a similar level of quality. And no, that’s not just because “all games should be masterpieces, duh.”
No, the Resident Evil Zero remake presents an exciting opportunity for Capcom to uplift and enhance a game that was never able to live up to its potential in its original form. A remake of a top-notch game being equally excellent is all well and good, and obviously expected- but many will argue that it’s the more flawed games that are better served with high quality remakes so that they’re allowed to flourish live bever before, rather than merely flourishing again. And Resident Evil Zero is definitely one such game.
In fact, assuming that M2 and K-Two are actually leading the project the way it has been claimed, their propensity to deviate from the source material, the way they did with Resident Evil 3, might be exactly what this particular project needs. From the characterization of Billy Coen to how it handled item boxes to how the partner system and character swapping worked and more, there’s a lot about the original Resident Evil Zero that sounds intriguing on paper, but just wasn’t executed in that original vision for the game well enough by any stretch. With enough changes and proper execution, those are ideas that can add to a game in meaningful ways (one would hope), and a remake presents the perfect opportunity to do just that.
The original Resident Evil remake stands to this day as a blueprint for video game reimaginings, while subsequent series outings have also managed to touch those same heights, with Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 both also having won over millions of fans. And though our hope is that with Resident Evil Zero, the development team will be taking an approach similar to that of the RE3 remake – one that is open to making significant changes to the gameplay and story as and when needed, in service of a better overall experience – as far as the end results are concerned, we’re obviously hoping for results that’ll be closer to the other three times that Capcom has released remade versions of Resident Evil titles.
That Zero was even chosen is obviously quite encouraging for plenty of fans as it is. Capcom could have easily picked the more action-packed Resident Evil 5, or even the way more popular RE1 for a second remake, but in choosing Zero, the company decided to pick something that would be more horror-driven, even if it is decidedly less popular than most mainline entries among series fans. Clearly then, it’s not afraid to make bold choices. Whether it’ll be able to back those bold choices with the right level of quality if, of course, the big question on everyone’s mind now.
Resident Evil’s past track record with remakes would suggest that fans have every reason to be excited about what a reimagined Resident Evil Zero will look like. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the game will be able to shine much brighter on its second time in the spotlight.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
