Resident Evil 5 draws ever-nearer. And yet, with every step we take towards the game, it only feels like more of its details are cloaked in mystery. In a effort to bring some of the game to life, we sat down with producer, Jun Takeuchi, to pick eat his brain of all things RE5 related. Did we slowly amble towards him for the eventual score? Or did he hit us with a headshot of silence? The end result is a bit of a mix.
Q: This is the first time, GTA aside, that a game has brought a dialog about race into the gaming industry because of the context of the game. How do you find yourselves dealing with the issue?
A: You know, in terms of how we approach it, we chose Africa as a setting for very specific reasons. We’re in the business of making entertainment and not making political messages, so we’re just trying to make an interesting new product. Rather than do anything or approach the issue itself, we just kind of feel that people got the wrong impression from the first trailer. Maybe it was just a little bit of a mix-up, but we hope that with what you see today and in the future, that you will get the right impression--and a better understanding--of the game.
You know, we went to Africa to do research for the game and what we saw there we’re putting down in the game itself… I don’t think [the race issue] is just because it’s a videogame. This kind of problem appears in any form of media: television, books, whatever. It’s very difficult to use Africa as a setting for an entertaining product. But, that’s what we’re going with.,/p>
Q: We saw a lot of cool weapons in the game today, is there a name for that giant hammer that guy was swinging around? Will you be able to wield it in the game?
A: As for the name of the weapon itself or the character [that wields it], we haven’t actually finalized any of the names. So, if you have any ideas, send us an email and that might end up being the final name.
We don’t have any plans for you to be able to be using it yourself. I mean, even with Chris’ buffed up arms… (laughter).
Q: I’m curious about the inventory system… Is RE5 going to have a different approach to the inventory system used in previous games?
A: We are pretty much in the middle of working through that and deciding how that’s going to be used. Actually, today we had the menu system masked so we’re still not entirely sure how that’s going to work ourselves. Today we could switch weapons in real time but we can’t 100% confirm that that’s how the final game will end up.
Q: When you’re bringing a game to the next generation of consoles what sort of changes to the game itself are you making to take advantage of the hardware?
A: The next-gen consoles allow you to do a lot of things with polygons and things like that, but one of the things that the next-gen consoles have allowed us to do that we haven’t done before is in creating bright, outdoor environments. So now we can use all kinds of different filters and improved lighting systems and make those environments much more realistic.
Q: Along those lines… Horror games have utilized dark settings and creepy areas to do the job of creating fear, what kind of approach do you have to take when making horror in daylight?
A: You can’t approach horror in bright areas the same way that you do in dark areas. The whole game isn’t just bright areas--there are many dark areas--and what we are trying to do is create one sense horror in the dark, a more traditional sense of horror. In the bright areas it’s sort of action-based, a different kind of [horror].
Q: Are you keeping the quick-time events during cutscenes in RE5?
A: Yes, we are. And they will also be much more active than they were in the previous game.
Q: From what you showed today, there seems to be a big emphasis on destructible environments. How will that influence the gameplay as the game progresses? Such as finding alternate routes through walls?
A: We may have things like finding new routes by breaking down a wall, but the main way that is going to be used in gameplay is to take away the safe spots for the player. So a player goes into a building and hides behind a wall thinking, “Oh, thank God, I’m safe,” but they’ll actually see the environments get knocked down and eliminate the hiding places. That’ll increase the amount of fear they’ll experience in the game.
Q: We saw a couple new locations in the trailer today: one that looked like ancient ruins and another that was a flooded basin with stilted houses. Are those located in Africa or might Chris be traveling out of the continent in RE5?
A: Chris will not be going out of Africa, but compared to previous games in the RE series, you are going to be able to travel to many locations in Africa and you’ll be able to travel a little bit further than in previous games. At E3 you’re going to see a trailer with many different locations in it.
Q: Any chance of Co-op?
A: (After some glances at the PR person in the room) Right now I don’t have anything to say about that. All I can say is just wait for E3.
There you have it. Looks like there were a few juicy chunks in there. If we can take silence for information, I’d say we have plenty of announcements to look forward to soon at E3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3mSpmLJS3U
