Resident Evil 2 HD Remake in the Works

Last week, Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi announced via Facebook that he’d begun trying to convince his boss that a Resident Evil 2 HD Remake would be a good idea. Well, he must've done a good job winning his boss over, because Hirabayashi just released a video on the official Resident Evil YouTube channel confirming that the remake had been approved. Hirabayashi thanked Resident Evil fans for their support and passion before revealing a t-shirt revealing the phrase "WE DO IT!" Which, yeah, I guess you do.

Details are scarce on the game, but since Capcom is using the word "Remake" and not "Remaster," I suspect (and hope) we'll see the game rebuilt from the ground up. Since the game is only just now going into production, Hirabayashi notes that it will be "some time" before Capcom announces more details, but that the company will "try to deliver news to you, the fans, directly."

I'm definitely suffering from Remake Fatigue, but I have to admit: Hirabayashi has an infectious excitement for this project, and I'm curious to see how this will turn out. The Resident Evil series has changed dramatically since RE2 released in 1998. Will it be like the Gamecube Resident Evil remake, with the original game's camera angles and gameplay recreated faithfully? Or will we see the third-person, behind-the-back control scheme that Resident Evil 4 introduced? (And if it's the latter, then what sort of level re-designs will be necessary?)

And most importantly of all: Will this remake include Resident Evil 2's groundbreaking Zapping System?

I don't care what negativity shows up here, I am pumped. Love RE2 (along with Nemesis and Code Veronica).

I really hope it's as good as REmake was in its day.

I would buy a t-shirt with "WE DO IT!" - that is all.

Best news in ages. So hyped for this.

So ready for this. Just did a play through of the 64 version. Its still a great game. A full remake would be excellent.

Yay!

Tank controls to stay I hope. Be a completely different game without them.

Am I the only that finds it a bit weird and saddening that one of Capcom's "R&D" divisions is working on a remake?

But I mean, that shirt is pretty nice.

i wonder if it has anything to do with this remake

Sweeeeeet. Pretty pumped for this. REmake is a fantastic improvement over the original, so I'm curious to see how this turns out.

As someone that goes by "President_Evil," I am very excited by this news.

"I never asked for this"

Anything to show that there is interest in classic RE survival horror

Hell yeah they do!

It was my favorite of the bunch, and probably the only one I'd play all the way through again. Thanks for doing it, I guess.

If they're gonna go all the way and remake Resident Evil 2, I will only accept a game in the old style. I don't care if they throw in some concessions for people who can't deal with tank controls or even limited inventory because they're babies, but if they make a third person behind-the-back shooter they've messed up.

That remake of the first game is one of my favorite games and they should apply the same principles of messing with RE2. To call back to your nostalgia talk Austin, I want it to subvert my expectations and create its own identity while still staying true to the core of the original. Also I want pre-rendered backgrounds because I bet those things would look really good on modern hardware.

Would rather see RE4 get the option to use updated controls. I love that game but it's hard to go back to it now due to the controls. I'm sure they'll eventually get around to it but I would rather they prioritize the one that I enjoy the most.

Well, never got to play the original RE2 back when it came out, so I'll look forward to giving the remake a shot when it comes out down the road. That reminds me...I never got to play RE4 either (how shameful of me)....

Hey Austin, 3rd paragraph: "Kobayahsi" instead of "Kobayashi". :) Keep up the good work!

I like REmake, as long as they follow those steps I think this could be really cool. I played RE2 for the trillionth time last year, but heck, I would definitely play it again with that same treatment.

We Do It, mother fuckers!

RE2 is my favorite of the tank control RE games (in other words, the only tank control RE game that I actually like). The way Hideki Kamiya expanded the scale was awesome.

So yeah, I'm on board to throw money at this when it eventually releases on PC. An enduring classic in video game history.

I immediately thought of this Bombcast clip.

I doubt this will be a proper remake, the RE1 remake and Zero already existed before being improved into HD, at most i expect to see improvements to character models, higher resolutions if they can get the backgrounds to scale well or re-render them, and maybe gameplay tweaks.
But the low poly character models interacted with things in ways which made sense at the time, to give them a huge upgrade would mean new animations, so we might stay with lower poly counts.
Edit: I just realised i sound negative, i love all re-releases.

This isn't a surprise. I believe they're planning on making HD Remakes for all the early RE games. Nemesis and Code Veronica will be next. A Nemesis remake would be epic.

Super excited, with some reservations of who knows how it will turn out, but if it is anything like the remake of the first then I'm way in. YAAAAAAY!

I love RE2 some much.

Nice to see this happening after years and years and years of asking for it.

Finally we'll get to see Tofu man in HD!

Seeing what they did with Resident Evil 1, I'm convinced that they can make a quality remake of Resident Evil 2. I never played the game myself, so i would totally be interested in this.

Any one wanna buy my PAL N64 copy?

First Final Fantasy VII and now this... what a time to be alive.

There's really no reason to create brand new games/properties. Between the HD era and VR, developers can just remake titles to suit the newest standards and voila! Profits.

I really liked RE2, but if you are going trough to trouble of "remaking" it, why just not do a completely new game? Oh, I know - a lucrative combination of nostalgia and gullible consumers who can't let the go of their childhood.

There are a few things I really hope for this:

• tank controls
• classic camera angles
• plays off expectations

What made REmake so great was that it added a few new areas, puzzles, and enemies alongside the core game we knew. Encountering your first crimsonhead was scary. Changing up the magnum sidequest, changing what keys open which doors, and adding new locations like Lisa Trevor's shack made the game feel fresh again. I would hope the devs use REmake as philosophical blueprint for a RE2 remake. If they had to make a major change, I'd be ok with them taking out ink ribbons. Give me a "D" rank for saving 50 times on my first run, that's fine, but don't limit me to 24 the entire game.

I hope it's RE2, just scaled up and made to work on modern PCs. I don't want a remake of a game I already played. Make new games, not old ones. Re-releasing old games as is in working condition on modern hardware is also fine.

Also, unpopular opinion, but I recently have been playing RE4 and I think it's terrible so the less of that the better.

I want it to play like re4 I played re2 back in the day and loved it.But for me personally I can't stand doing item hunting anymore.But I also hated RE6 to me RE4 had the perfect mix between good action and just enough puzzles to break it up.

Yeah, I suppose I'm happy for the diehard series fans, but I can't get excited about old games coming out again, even if they shake them up in all the right ways.

Great more remakes. le Sigh

Man, as long as they don't flub this major league, I'm very excited. Everyone here who isn't down has at least one game they'd be excited to see come back to glory. Different strokes.

This is the only game that ever made me yell in shock.

wait, there's battlefield 1942

This is the best idea I have ever heard.

I don't know why, but I think I'd want to revisit RE2 moreso than the first game. Here's hoping the remake-making goes well!

That's good news, I've never played RE2. Still, they haven't even announced RE7 yet. What's up with that? Were they so burned after RE6 they are afraid to do another one ever again? I know, pull a Microsoft and skip RE7 and go straight to Resident Evil VIII. The roman numerals help distance the game even further from RE6.

@mortuss_zero: i totally understand why you're excited.

But personally, I don't really want any of my favorite old games to be remade. I like them for what they are, and their limitations are part of what define them. Besides - I'd always rather those resources be going to something new and exciting.

Yeah, hopefully they'll rebuild the game, rather than just slap a shiny coat of paint on it. RE2 is probably my favorite in the series. Can't wait to get my hands on this.

@homelessbird: Yeah, me too. I'd like new and exciting games, but with Capcom it seems like we're headed for Nostalgia City for the time being, so I'm going to let down the ragtop so my hair can blow.

Every remake Capcom does of it's old stuff brings us one step closer to a HD remaster of Killer7. I need to keep telling myself this.

Awesome.