Capcomformally revealedProject Resistance, the new 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayerResident Evilgame, just a few days back to coincide with Tokyo Game Show, and as you may have expected, many fans aren’t too pleased. The game’s formal reveal trailer that showed off the first initial gameplay wasmet with complaints from many fanswho were frustrated that Capcom is now opting to work on this title rather than moving directly on toResident Evil 8or a remake ofResident Evil 3– both of which could very well, and likely are, in development still.
On one hand, I understand where many fans are coming from. Capcom, and theResident Evilfranchise specifically, has been on such an upward trajectory recently that the series has entered a renaissance period. As such, it makes sense that a lot of fans would like to see this hot streak continue with another “proper” entry. WhileResident Evilhas dabbled with multiplayer in the past with iterations likeOutbreakandOperation Raccoon City, these games have never been the most popular or well-received. The advent of a new game of this type makes it seem like Capcom might be returning to where they were about a decade ago, which wasn’t a great place.
However, Capcom has been anything but old Capcom in recent years. In fact, I’d go as far to say I think they’ve been the best third-party publisher in the entire video game industry over the past two or three years, at least from a quality standpoint. Since 2017 alone we’ve receivedResident Evil VII,Resident Evil 2,Monster Hunter World(and itsIceborneexpansion),Devil May Cry V, andMega Man 11. Heck, we’ve even seen the company show continued interest in properties likeDragon’s Dogmaby bringing the game to new platforms like the Switch.
To me, Capcom has done enough in the past couple of years to earn my trust at this point. I’d be lying if I said I too wasn’t afraid that they might return to the days where they were releasing stinkers likeResident Evil 6and the aforementionedOperation Raccoon City, but this version of the publisher we’ve seen over the past few years has shown that they’ve learned from those missteps. Quality has been the one thing that has continued to permeate through all of Capcom’s highest-profile games of the past few years and I’m at a point where I’m now giving them the benefit of the doubt.
I also have to stress how crazy it is to think that we already need to be expecting a game likeResident Evil 3remake so soon afterResident Evil 2. In case you need a reminder,RE2just launched only six months ago. Do you really think Capcom is going to immediately have readyRE3that quickly, let alone reveal it publicly? While I know there have been somerumors that have claimedRE3remake is set to arrive in 2020, we have yet to know that will truly be the case just yet. I’ll keep crossing my fingers that it turns out to be true, but I’m also not getting my hopes up just yet, especially considering those same “insiders” never really leaked details aboutProject Resistancebeforehand.
Furthermore, if you really believe that the internal development team working onProject Resistanceis the exact same one that would create a game likeResident Evil 8orRE3, then you’re wrong. It’s very likely that Capcom put together a specialized team with developers who had a background in multiplayer games to work onProject Resistance. It’s not as if the publisher approached the team who finished work onResident Evil 2earlier this year and said, “Well gang, great work on that remake, but now we need you to create this multiplayer game for us.” There are definitely multipleREteams internally at Capcom and I guarantee you bothResident Evil 8andRE3are at theveryleast in pre-production. We’ll still surely get both of those titles in time and they’ll each hopefully be awesome.
I know this whole article feels like I’m just trying to unabashedly defend Capcom, which I guess I am doing to a degree, but that’s not the point. The point is that publishers often need to diversify the games they put out regularly in order to meet different needs. As Capcom’s producerMatt Walker said on Twitter recentlyto defendProject Resistance, “If we just continue to offer up the same thing over and over again, people will gradually lose interest with what we’re making.Project Resistanceoffers up a really interesting way to do that.” At its core, that’s whatProject Resistanceis looking to be: a different take on the survival horror seen inResident Evil, just transposed into a multiplayer setting.
So willProject Resistancebe good? I have no idea. I haven’t played it yet, although I do think it looks like it could be enjoyable. I’m definitely down to run around as Mr. X and punch people in the face. Whether it ends up in the pantheon of fantasticResident Evilgames remains to be seen, but I’m at least willing to give it a shot and see what Capcom is trying to do here. And if it sucks, trust me, I’ll be voicing that as much myself once it’s out. The last thing I want is to see this franchise go down the toilet once again.
Project Resistanceis set to have a closed beta early in October on both PS4 and Xbox One. If you want to sign-up to participate, you canhead over to Capcom’s websiteright now and do so.
