Resident Evil 2 Remake Is Officially in Development

It's time to throw a G-Virus-themed party, because Capcom is officially developing a remake of Resident Evil 2.

Capcom has given in to the millions of fans asking for a remake of Resident Evil 2. Just as Square Enix finally caved to everyone asking for a Final Fantasy VII remake, we'll get to revisit the Raccoon City Police Department in all its remade glory. Capcom has been teasing the idea of a remake for quite some time on its official Facebook page, hyping the game as it was being pitched to the big wigs at the company. Capcom didn't reveal anything else other than the official announcement of the remake happening. Nevertheless, I'm still quite glad to hear it.

While the first Resident Evil took place in a zombie and monster-filled mansion used as a front for a bio-organic weapons lab, Resident Evil 2 took place in Raccoon City. Here, we saw the aftermath of the original game where the zombie outbreak spread to the mansion's nearby town. You got to play as Claire Redfield, the sister of the first game's protagonist who has since disappeared after the events of the first title. Claire entered town as the outbreak had already begun, and she encountered the game's other playable protagonist, Leon Kennedy, a Raccoon City police officer who just arrived in town on his first day on the job. After exploring the RCPD precinct, the duo find an underground lab, where an even deadlier Umbrella virus was in development.

Since Capcom has its hands full with the Resident Evil 0 HD remaster, this remake is going to take some time. There's a big difference between taking the GameCube's two Resident Evil games from 2002 and giving them a fresh coat of paint than completely remaking Resident Evil 2 from the ground-up. I have a feeling we won't see RE2 launch until 2017 at the earliest. With Shinji Mikami gone from Capcom (his absence coincides with the overall drop in scares and enjoyment that the past few Resident Evil titles had), I just hope Capcom is able to maintain the perfect balance of creepiness, awesomeness, badassery and atmosphere that Resident Evil 2 had.

The HD remaster of Resident Evil 0 will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2016.

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