Resident Evil 4 that never was. Five lives of Capcom's bestseller
RE 4 was developed long and painfully. Over the years, it has seen several versions, whose creators experimented with enemies, mechanics, and story ideas.
Resident Evil 4 is undoubtedly a milestone in the history of both the Resident Evil series and the survival horror genre. The adventure of Leon S. Kennedy set the direction for his followers to pursue in the coming years. We could argue that without it, the fifth and sixth installments of the series might have turned out entirely differently, and without it, we might never have experienced the games in the Dead Space franchise.
Nevertheless, the devs behind this title didn't immediately know what it should look like. Over the years, the game has had five iterations. Although we know its fifth version, it's worthwhile to explore the history of the other four and check what could have ended up in our hands.
Resident Evil 4, which turned into Devil May Cry
Work on the first version of Resident Evil 4 started in 1998. Although it was first created as Resident Evil 3, this was eventually the name given to the project originally developed as Resident Evil 1.9. The project described here, however, changed in Resident Evil 4, which was developed with PlayStation 2 in mind. Complicated? Well, this is just the beginning of twists and turns.
The first version of Resident Evil 4 was developed under the guidance of Hideki Kamiya, who envisioned a "cool" and "stylish" game focused on action. The main characters were supposed to be brothers, Tony and Paul Redgrave, sons of Oswell E. Spencer, who were intended to gain superhuman abilities from the progenitor virus.
The aforementioned "coolness" and "stylishness" of Resident Evil 4 were supposed to refer, among other things, to the "unlocking" of the camera (which was to follow the protagonist) and the spectacular fight with guns. The entire project was to be infused with a Gothic "sauce," for which the developers traveled to Spain and the United Kingdom to study and document the works of art and architecture representing this style.
What's interesting, during the development of the game, the creators were bothered by a bug that allowed to throw an opponent up and keep him in the air by shooting at him with pistols. The devs chose to transform it into a part of the combat mechanics rather than fix it, as it improved the dynamism and spectacle of the fights.
Although the idea for the fourth Resident appealed to the "father" of the series, Shinji Mikami, he ultimately decided that it deviated too much from the series' assumptions. In the end, he managed to convince the creators to make their venture a fully independent project. Even though they had to rewrite the story and characters, it eventually became clear that the effort was worthwhile. In this way, Dante and the Devil May Cry saga were born.
Resident Evil 4 - Castle, the second incarnation of the fourth RE
After the original Resident Evil 4 was renamed to Devil May Cry, work on the game started again almost from scratch. The protagonist of this game was Leon S. Kennedy, who, following the events of the series' second installment, was set to join the Anti-Umbrella Pursuit and Investigation Team and take part in a raid on Oswald E. Spencer's castle, the headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation.
During the attack, Leon was supposed to be infected with a retrovirus, and the fight against the mutation caused by it (starting from his arm) was supposed to be one of the main themes of the story. He wouldn't be condemned to a solo journey, as along the way he would meet a young woman guarded by her mutated dog.
This version of the game was intended to replace two-dimensional backgrounds with three-dimensional environments, similar to Resident Evil Code: Veronica X. Interestingly, it was originally designed for the GameCube console, and only later planned to be adapted for other platforms. However, this didn't happen, and the main reason why the project was abandoned was the idea for an opponent called Black Fog. We're talking about a kind of cluster of black tentacles, the animation of which was beyond the capabilities of the platforms of the time.
The previously mentioned would-be companion of Leon S. Kennedy received her own game. We're talking about Haunting Ground, released on PlayStation 2 in 2005.
Resident Evil 4 - Hallucination
As a result, the developers at Capcom had no choice but to restart their project for the third time. This time, Leon S. Kennedy was supposed to contract a disease causing him to hallucinate monsters that exist only in his mind. Among them would appear, among others, ghosts or living dolls.
Besides the main character, who was not intended to be altered at this stage, this version of the game also included two other elements that remained until the conclusion of the upheaval related to the fourth Resident Evil. The first one was a laser sight attached to Leon's gun, while the second one was a flashlight held by the protagonist.
In the end, however, this time too, technological limitations stood in the way of the developers. The concept of Leon's hallucinations required creating two versions of the locations he visited, which needed to be loaded into the console's memory at the same time. Although the intended effect was achieved, as a result, there weren't enough resources to fight more than one opponent.
Another issue was the significant deviation from the philosophy of the Resident Evil series, which focused on physical dangers to the protagonists. So finally, it was decided to introduce the necessary changes.
Resident Evil 4 - zombie
We don't know much about the fourth version of Resident Evil 4. The developers behind it tried to create a classic Resident Evil game with Leon S. Kennedy in the lead role. The protagonist was to meet a new type of enemy, referred to as dabamen. And... that would be all when it comes to specifics of this project.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the safe continuation, didn't appeal to Shinji Mikami. As a result, he decided to step in and take the reins of the project, which under his leadership reached its fifth and final iteration.
