Grave Gamer News & Views — tango gameworks

The Father of Survival Horror’s Last Opus

Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil (and, inadvertently, me as well because of that fact), has reached his final directorial effort, and lucky us, it’s a gruesomely gorgeous survival horror title that minces the nerve flaring intensity of yesteryear with tomorrow’s skin-crawling visual detail.

The Evil Within (Psychobreakin Japan'cause psychotics give...

Look Inside The Evil Within… Within These New Screens

So, people have been asking me, “Hey, The Red Herb, what do you think about Resident Evil’s creator doing up another horror game?”

And I reply, “You know, we’ll see how it goes.  It’s got a lot of promise but you’ve got to factor in that an untested development team is working on it.  We’ll play it by ear for now, but it looks pretty interesting.”

It’s important to play the neutral ground as a journalist.  I personally know about three internet writers living on the streets this very moment because the words “Duke Nukem Forever” and “Game of the Year” wound up in the same sentence before its release.  It also helps that I become a pathological liar whenever someone directly asks me a question.

But, of course, my internal dialogue is more along the lines of, “SHINJI MOTHERFUCKIN’ MIKAMI IS DIRECTING IT.  Asking me if I’m excited for The Evil Within is like asking me if I’d be somewhat pleased with a set of winning lottery numbers, marrying an amalgamation of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Emma Stone, and a lifetime supply of Oreo Cakesters.”

“Oh, hey, the creator of your favorite video game series ever is returning to survival horror with a next-gen game that looks just like your favorite video game series ever.  Any thoughts?”

Shinji Mikami is Dragonborn

Pictured: Resident Evil’s creator Shinji Mikami chilling with the Dovahkiin statue at his company’s office.

Mikami is apparently a pretty big fan of Bethesda’s Skyrim.  “It’s a fantastic game. Just amazing. To have such a huge open world and so much freedom is wonderful, and the gameplay too is so varied,” says Shinji.  “It’s so time-consuming - but that’s a great thing. If I was still a student I’d be all over it.”

Now that Mikami’s new studio, Tango Gameworks, is apart of the ZeniMax corporate fold (which includes Bethesda and their epic fantasy works), the game designer can’t help but ponder on an open-world game of his own.  “It would be a game that mixes the best of the old kind of games with this relatively new open-world concept,” he muses while also admitting the hypothetical project would have to work within the boundaries of limited staffing (“We don’t have hundreds of staff, so I’d keep it simple”).

Tango Gameworks is currently headlong into development on a new survival horror title codenamed Zwei.  Last we heard, Shinji wanted Zwei to be his last directorial gig.  I guess that all hinges on whether or not wide, open expanses of virtual fields draws him back in.

The Man Behind Resident Evil is Returning to Survival Horror

Japan’s own game designing tycoon, Shinji Mikami, wants to revisit old stomping grounds before riding off into the sunset reportedly.  Being president of his own game development studio is a taxing feat paired with the prospect of directorial duties, so after years of masterminding video games – including something I’ve never heard of called Biohazard – Mikami feels he’s reached his last game.  And, fates be praised, it’s a survival horror title.

Tentatively referred to as Zwei, Mikami’s own Tango Gameworks is helping to usher the director’s final vision with Bethesda set to publish it.  Zwei is very early in its development, so all I can leave you with is Shinji’s promise that – knowing this is his sendoff – he will channel a career’s worth of experience into this game.

Poor guy.  Somebody should have told him the survival horror market is too small for all that effort.