The Resident Evil franchise has changed significantly in the 28 years since its inception. From humble beginnings as a zombie-focused survival horror adventure, the franchise gradually grew to encompass world-spanning action epics filled with countless mutated bioweapons and grotesque super-soldiers. With Resident Evil Village diverging further still—giving players a Gothic-inspired shooter filled with vampires and werewolves—a return to Resident Evil’s roots runs the risk of being underwhelming.
Resident Evil is known for its zombies. While the original trilogy certainly had its fair share of monsters—the terrifying chimera being a particularly standout example—the bulk of the first three games' survival horror threat came from resource management while dealing with hordes of shambling undead. While recent games have chosen to move past the classic Spencer Mansion zombie, the rotting scientist remains one of the Resident Evil franchise's most iconic images.
Despite the franchise's origins, zombies are no longer a fixture of more recent Resident Evil games. Starting with Resident Evil 4, modern Resident Evil games instead tend to focus on intelligent 'infected' and a plethora of twisted, lab-created monsters.
Rumor: Resident Evil 9 Setting Leaked
A reputable Capcom insider spills the beans on Resident Evil 9's setting, which potentially mirrors one of the series' best.
Resident Evil 9 Might Bring the Franchise Back to Its Roots
One of the more persistent Resident Evil 9 rumors is the claim that the franchise is looking to return to its roots, dialing back the focus on more creative BOWs to instead bring the franchise’s classic slow-moving zombies back into the spotlight. Though this rumor has many fans excited, others are wary of the decision. While recent Resident Evil games indicate Capcom still knows how to make a horror-adventure that’s both thrilling and scary, a return to zombie-centric horror could be a step backwards.
Resident Evil 9 Could Still Include Other Monsters
A common complaint with zombie games is the lack of enemy variety. While there are a number of ways around this issue—the power-fantasy of the Dead Rising games, and the emergent gameplay of Days Gone are particularly notable examples—the fact remains that a Resident Evil game focused on zombies will have to do a lot more to stand out from the crowd than previous entries.
One way the franchise could look to stand out is by taking inspiration from the Resident Evil films. While Resident Evil' s live action adaptations vary in quality, one thing they all excel at is including BOWs like the Bloodshot and the Kipepeo while keeping the classic shambling zombies as a constant threat. Using hordes of zombies to keep the player on their toes, Resident Evil 9's main threat could still come from the more creative mutants fans have come to expect from the franchise. In much the same way that Resident Evil 4 and 5 combined Las Plagas and the Uroburos with other, deadlier creatures, danger from more traditional zombies could come from the player not paying attention during fights with Resident Evil 9’s legion of new mutant abominations.
Resident Evil 9’s Zombies Might Not Be So Classic After All
Another way Resident Evil 9 could keep the zombies interesting is by emulating Resident Evil 4 and 5’s approach to infection. Rather than having a single static ‘zombie’ type throughout the entire game, Resident Evil 9's zombies could instead become more deadly as the virus takes hold—slowly mutating into more and more dangerous versions over the course of the story. Even worse, the game’s zombies could eventually reveal themselves to simply be hosts for gestating BOWs—at a critical point in the narrative, deadlier monsters could burst out of the zombies and run amok across the map, making previously safe areas dangerous once again.
Fully living up to the idea of returning to the franchise’s roots, Resident Evil 9 could even iterate on the crimson heads mechanic from 2002’s Resident Evil Remake—where downed zombies, if not burned or decapitated, were liable to reanimate as faster, stronger, deadlier red zombies. Different types of damage could even cause different mutations, and a resource such as gasoline could be used to stop certain downed undead from coming back. This could even add a layer of strategy to the game, with the player making sure to avoid killing zombies in certain ways in order to stop them coming back as particularly deadly monsters.
Though some fans are understandably wary of a return to franchise roots, recent Resident Evil games have shown that Capcom is far from lacking creativity. While there is always the risk that a more zombie-centric Resident Evil game might underwhelm longtime fans, if Resident Evil 9 finds a way to balance the walking dead with the modern games' grotesque bio-monstrosities, it could end up pleasing both modern fans and those looking for a return to more classic Resident Evil gameplay.
Resident Evil Village
- Released
- May 7, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Engine
- RE Engine
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR2, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
- How Long To Beat
- 10 Hours
- Metascore
- 84
