Resident Evil HD Hosts Entirely Polygonal Rooms
In keeping with the 1996 original, Resident Evil’s remake implemented pre-rendered backgrounds to build the Spencer Estate (and its underground “add-on’s”).
But for next year’s second re-release of the acclaimed backtracking simulator, the Remaster Crew assigned to the game is reconstructing entire areas using 3D polygons. The team’s doing this to make full use of the real-time lighting effects in the game. The results, above, are chillingly superb.
Why isn’t the whole remaster getting the polygonal treatment? No, it isn’t budgetary reasons (though that’s not so far-fetched especially when you take into account Capcom’s low risk digital-only distribution plan for the game). Actually, the decision is a creative one: producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi says, in trying to recreate the same vibe as the 2002 original, fully 3D environments might come off as too derivative, “soulless” even.
Hirabayashi may be trekking the right path considering that most fans herald REmake as already the perfect Resident Evil experience. I’ll always be an RE2 kinda guy, myself, but you don’t see me arguing against that. Plus, we already know how disruptive a bad retouching can be, don’t we, survival horror junkies?