It’s been a crazy few days for the Resident Evil franchise, not only because of the launch of the Resident Evil 3 remake – which was an event in and of itself – but also because we’ve seen multiple leaks and rumours about multiple upcoming Resident Evil projects. One of those is Resident Evil 8, which we’ve heard a lot more details of than we have about the alleged Resident Evil 4 remake. While it is always best not too put too much stock in rumours until such time official announcements are made, information on Resident Evil 8 has been coming in from multiple reliable sources- and though there’s a chance that some (or maybe even all) of them turn out to be inaccurate – as is the case with any rumour – there’s also a good chance that many of them are true. In this feature, we’re going to talk about the fifteen most interesting rumours about Resident Evil 8 we’ve come across in recent days that might just be true.
NAME
For a while now, leaks have been suggesting that Capcom are going to go with a “clever” name for Resident Evil 8, and the most recent round of leaks has details just how they’re going to do that. RE8, apparently, is going to have a subtitle, and the game will be called Resident Evil: Village. How’s that clever, though? Well, the rumours state that the first four letters in the subtitle are going to be highlighted as the roman numeral VIII, similar to what Capcom did with the last three letters of Resident Evil 7, highlighting them to make up the roman numeral VII. Given RE8’s alleged setting, that subtitle does make plenty of sense. Which brings us to our next point…
SETTING
Leaks have suggested that Resident Evil 8 is going to be set in a snowy rural mountainous environment in wester Europe. Various villagers will show up as NPCs, and will supposedly be suffering from some sort of a disease that’s making them go mad. Yes, that sounds a lot like Resident Evil 4, and the similarities don’t end there- because supposedly, players will be going from the village into a castle-like environment as well. There are a lot of other similarities that we’ll be talking about in a bit.
FIRST PERSON
One of the biggest questions that gets asked about any new Resident Evil game these days is- what will the perspective be? Both first and third person are equally viable options, while fixed cameras are something that fans often call for (but will probably never get). Resident Evil 8, unlike the remakes, is going to be first person again, as per the leaks, in keeping with what Resident Evil 7 introduced. And apparently, that’s not the only thing that’s coming back…
PROTAGONIST
Ethan Winters, the protagonist of Resident Evil 7, is apparently going to come back in the same capacity in RE8. Unlike his dry, bland personality in RE7, rumours have suggested that in the next game, he’s going to be much more of a character- more witty and sarcastic, apparently, with a very Ash Williams-like bent to him. If you’re worried that none of the old guard will be in the game though, don’t be.
CHRIS REDFIELD RETURNS
Chris Redfield appeared in Resident Evil 7 for a split second right at the end (in addition to being the protagonist of the Not a Hero DLC), but if rumours are to be believed, he’s going to have a much bigger role in RE8. Additionally, it also looks like Capcom are taking criticisms for his visual design to heart, and are redesigning him to bring him closer to his burly, muscular look from previous games.
FLASHBACKS
Chris Redfield, apparently, is going to be a very different person from the man we’ve become used to seeing over the years. The leaks say that he’s not going to be very “heroic”, with one scene in particular showing him breaking into the home of Ethan and Mia Winters (who now have a child) in a flashback, and even taking a shot at one of them. Resident Evil has toyed with the idea of an unhinged Chris in the past, but it might be taking that even further with RE8.
WOLF-TYPE ENEMIES
This is a detail that has been mentioned in almost every single RE8 leak. Apparently, there’s going to be a new enemy type that looks a lot like wolf-like creatures, or beast-men, or something along those lines, who attack players with massive claws. Another enemy that has been described is a gorilla-like beast man equipped with chains and a staff.
WITCH
Resident Evil, in spite of being a horror franchise, hardly every veers into explicitly supernatural territory, but it seems like it’s going to do that with RE8. Another major enemy that has come up more than a few times in all the leaks is a witch that haunts and pursues Ethan, and is apparently the leader of the aforementioned beast-men. The witch is impossible to kill, and allegedly has a chilling laugh, though if you shoot at it, she dissolves into a swarm of bugs (which is sort of reminiscent of RE7’s bug-loving Marguerite Baker).
ARMOURED ZOMBIES
With all this talk of wolves, witches, and beast-men, you might be wondering where the bread and butter of Resident Evil is- but zombies are indeed going to be returning, according to the leaks… just not the way you think. It seems RE8 is going to have zombies clad in armour, who will attack you with weapons such as swords. Again, that’s reminiscent of Resident Evil 4, which saw massive armoured enemies taking swipes at Leon in the castle section (though they weren’t zombies, of course).
HALLUCINATIONS
The occult and other supernatural elements are supposedly going to be major elements in Resident Evil 8, and that is going to be evident in hallucinations appearing as an in-game mechanic as well. Similar to Resident Evil 3.5 (what was originally going to be RE4 but was scrapped in development). These hallucinations will supposedly make it hard for players to figure out what is real and what isn’t, and who to trust. Hallucinations, it seems, can also trigger flashbacks, and the previously mentioned flashback with Chris and the Winters family might be one of them.
INVENTORY
Inventory management is, of course, a crucial part of Resident Evil, and it seems this is another area where RE8 might be taking cues from RE4. The leaks say that though this part of the game in particular hasn’t been finalized, Capcom are considering including an inventory management system similar to what was seen in Resident Evil 4, which was essentially a Tetris-style puzzle box in and of itself.
VR
Being completely playable in VR was perhaps one of the best things about Resident Evil 7 and something that greatly heightened the game’s horror, and it seems that’s going to be the case with RE8 as well. According to rumours, the game will once again feature PSVR support, which makes a ton of sense, not least because this game is supposedly going to be first person once again.
STARTED DEVELOPMENT AS REVELATIONS 3
Alongside the many, many gameplay details that have emerged about RE8 in recent weeks, there have also been a few leaks about its development. When the game started development – and for a long time afterward – it was apparently being developed as Resident Evil Revelations 3. Reception for the game based on internal testing and testing by Resident Evil Ambassadors was unusually strong though, and following that – and because Capcom didn’t want too much of a gap between RE7 and RE8 – Revelations 3 got turned into Resident Evil 8.
EARLY 2021 LAUNCH
Since Resident Evil Revelations 2 in 2015, Capcom have been releasing a new Resident Evil game almost every single year, with 2018 being the only year that didn’t see an RE game getting launched. Even 2016 had Umbrella Corps (though that’s best left forgotten). And Capcom are apparently going to continue with their annual release plan for their series, because according to the leaks, Resident Evil 8 is planned for an early 2021 launch. The leaks have also said that the game is going to be revealed very soon- it was supposedly originally planned for E3 2020 before the show was cancelled. Though of course, given how uncertain everything is these days thanks to the pandemic, there’s no knowing whether Capcom are going to be able to stick to their original reveal and launch timelines.
CROSS-GEN
As you may have guessed, the rumours have pegged Resident Evil 8 as a cross-gen release. If the game does indeed come out in 2021, releasing as a cross-gen title would make a lot of sense, especially from a third party title.