At some point Capcom is going to remake Resident Evil 5 aka the bestselling Resident Evil game by unit to this day, but doing it well will pose some serious hurdles. Although Resident Evil 5 was well-reviewed and a lot of people relish the co-op, action-heavy gameplay, it veered even further away from the original games than its immediate predecessor Resident Evil 4 did.

In fact, it feels like Resident Evil 5 took everything it could from Resident Evil 4 and somehow made it worse instead of building upon its success. And forgot to be scary to boot – something that was previously fundamental to the series.

The remake of Resident Evil 4 was a glorious feat – managing to take one of the most beloved and influential games of all time and making it even better. The original Resident Evil 4 has aged fairly well, and I was in the same camp as many thinking it didn’t really need a remake. But I was ultimately blown away by the improvements and care put into the remake. Although Resident Evil 4 leans more into action, it has its far share of scary, unnerving moments including most infamously the Regenerators. I can also personally attest to not remembering all the fine details of the original, but I definitely remembered each and every time I was attacked by someone with a chainsaw which still terrifies me in the remake.

I am also enamored with the equally impressive Separate Ways DLC following Ada’s perspective during the storyline of Resident Evil 4. The remake of Separate Ways really beefed up the characterization of both Ada and Luis, adding complexity and pathos to their storylines. Ada’s new voice actress really won me over with Separate Ways, and having more of her character’s perspective really helped me see why she seems so detached and emotionless in the main game.

I think much like Resident Evil 4 and Separate Ways, Resident Evil 5 and its DLC Lost in Nightmares have an excellent opportunity to modernize Resident Evil 5‘s gameplay and add additional complexity to the storyline and characters. It can also recalibrate the balance of action and horror to at least match Resident Evil 4 or Resident Evil 8: Village. Or ideally to capture the vibe of the Revelations games which also feature having a nearly constant companion but use atmosphere and sound design to add plenty of horror.

This is how I would love to see them tweak some things.

How to Remake Resident Evil 5

Put the Horror Back in Survival Action/Adventure

A big obstacle with remaking Resident Evil 5 is making it scary. This game starts with four huge disadvantages in this regard:

1. Chris is an experienced and hardened BSAA member who has already seen a lot of shit to see the least.
2. Much like that boulder-punching bastard, you as a player have been through a lot of shit at this point in the series
3. You have a skilled partner with you at all times which greatly undercuts the isolation
4. It is part of the 4-6 trilogy that focuses far more heavily on action at the expense of survival or creating sustained horror or dread

To offset this, the story should really emphasize that the Majini are different from anything Chris has encountered before in how they can use weapons and coordinate attacks. We don’t need him to be cowering, but just to be a little caught off guard from seeing infected people behave the way Leon described in “the Kennedy report.”

I really loved Resident Evil: Revelations 1 and it managed to make things scary despite having a competent, trained partner during many sequences of the game. So I think it is possible to play up the horror in certain sequences by using psychologically distressing images and creepy sound design. I’m thinking of moments like your first encounter with Rachel after she’s fully transformed in Revelations 1:

It would also be beneficial to split Chris and Sheva up every now and then. And these sequences should really play up the horror as much as possible since it is hard to achieve the sense of isolated horror the series relies on when you have have a constant partner, let alone the fact you are both trained BSAA agents. This would also add replay value for everyone if the sequences introduced new events or areas that could only be accessed when you play as the opposite character.

A lot of the horror could come from showing more of the distress the Plagas infections have caused for the everyday people. Maybe the game could have branching moments where we may or may not be able to rescue uninfected townspeople and villagers depending on how well we play.

Revamp the Solo vs. Co-Op Experiences

Even though I’m a solo gamer girlie, I know this remake would need to be co-op given that is one of the most memorable and beloved aspects of the original game for many fans of this entry. But for those of us who do want to play solo with an AI partner, there would need to be significant improvements to how the partner behaves and assists. Something closer to Luis in the Resident Evil 4 remake which showed massive improvements in how an AI partner can work in conjunction with the player.

Start the Game with Lost in Nightmares

Besides how absolutely psyched this would make all the old school Resident Evil fans, it would serve an important purpose in providing context for newer fans of the series about the relationship between Chris, Jill, and Wesker. It would firmly ground the emotional arc of the game for Chris, and could give us a sense of how a new Resident Evil 1 remake could look and feel with the setting being a near replica of the Spencer Mansion. The game could even start with a voiceover from Chris recounting a summary of the Spencer Mansion incident before the gameplay kicks in.

Overhaul the Start of the Main Game and Introduction to Kijuju

Smarter storytelling at the start of the game would greatly enrich the story and create more horror and tension. My dream version of the start of the main game would initially have Chris flying into an airport in a real neighboring country of the fictitious Kijuju so he starts in a more urban environment. Chris meets Sheva at the airport who escorts him to what she describes as an isolated, rural village in a neighboring country. We are able to hear and see Sheva using her language skills and familiarity with the region to interact with local police and get an outsider with arms capable of punching boulders through different legal checkpoints seamlessly – thus showing more of the reason Sheva is tapped as Chris’s partner and building up her character.

The initial walkthrough of the village could have a better buildup to the horror as well. In the original, all the villagers are already infected when Chris and Sheva arrive but they haven’t been ordered to attack them yet, so just keep giving them hostile looks.

It also makes no sense that Chris and Sheva don’t realize something is amiss when they witness a group of men kicking and beating a writhing sack in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Yes we learn after the fact these villagers are all infected, but without that context Chris and Sheva’s lack of a reaction is strange.

Instead, I think the remake would be even better if we start by seeing uninfected villagers going about their day in a crowded market area or strip. They either ignore or react normally to Chris and Sheva.

We then slowly begin to navigate increasingly sparse side streets and areas where some people seem more hostile towards them – staring as they go past and saying things to one another which Sheva interprets for Chris as being put off by them (clear outsiders) being there. There would still be a mix of uninfected villagers looking nervous around the infected Majini. Maybe we see a young girl crying and storming away from a dad who looks too emotionless. Things that are a little tense but still not a tipoff of the infection to the main characters.

The street could get increasingly narrow and claustrophobic, with the buildings creating enough shade to make it feel much darker than the bright, populated area. Rather than seeing something blatantly giving away that something is incredibly wrong (like people beating someone trapped in a burlap sack in broad daylight!), maybe they just hear the sound of someone getting beaten and Sheva observes that something is definitely not right here.

Then before getting their weapons, Chris and Sheva would encounter one of the BSAA Alpha team members getting publicly executed and get chased throughout unfamiliar streets by hostile Majini before briefly barricading themselves in a building where they would encounter Reynard and get equipped with weapons. Having no weapons initially would also be an easy way to create tension and fear when you are playing as a trained soldier who has been in similar situations before.

We Can Do Better with the Setting

Zombies are essentially dehumanized human beings, and the various virus outbreaks throughout the Resident Evil series have led to Spanish zombies, Chinese zombies, and even the occasional Zombie Redneck Torture Family to boot. Setting the game in a fictional region of Africa really added to the global scale of the franchise and allowed a chance to explore a completely different type of environment. I really like that it is so unique, similar to the uniqueness of the former Soviet Union island setting in Revelations 2.

But in the midst of all the goofy comic book villains, Indiana Jones set pieces, and bolder punching that dominates a lot of Resident Evil 5‘s story, it feels like the game sometimes loses sight of the underlying tragedy and horror. Bringing some pathos to the forefront in key moments the way the added files and haunting closing credits of Resident Evil 4 remake did for the small Spanish village or Jack Baker begging Ethan to save his family did for the Baker family in Resident Evil 7 would go a long way to creating a more grounded and impactful version of Resident Evil 5. Even the Resident Evil 2 remake reinforces this by showing the despair Umbrella has wrought by introducing us to Kendo’s daughter in a heartbreaking scene.

I personally think there is a way to balance having this game set in Africa because of its importance to Resident Evil’s lore while avoiding some of the pointless tropes and lazy storytelling. For example, in an early scene we see a random blonde white woman getting attacked and forcefully infected by the Majini in order to introduce the Cephalo stage of the Type 2 Plaga. I understand there’s an obscure backstory you can dig up where she is the girlfriend of a British quarry worker. But it is strange to say the least that the one random “damsel in distress” we encounter in a rural & predominantly Black village is a white woman. Why wouldn’t it just be one of the other villagers instead? I think it makes sense to reimagine this scene since it is duplicating the same story beat we saw earlier with the Majini forcibly infecting a fellow villager in front of us. Instead, the game could use it as an opportunity to really ramp up the horror in the story. Maybe we could go through the quarry area, and she could burst through a door already infected. Or maybe we see her fleeing the Manjini in a few spots but she’s too far away for us to get to. But when we do finally catch up to her, she is doing a good ole Blair Witch corner stare only to slowly turn and face us ala the “Turning Around Zombie” from the original game.

There’s also the inclusion of the Ndipaya people. In an extensive section of the game, we combat infected members of a fictitious remote Indigenous tribe dressed in traditional garb.

I get that very remote Indigenous groups of people exist in the world. The game does have some optional files you can find which detail the ancient history of the Ndipaya and how they were the first to realize the immense power contained in the Stairway to the Sun flowers. They are also responsible for the impressive ancient engineering and architecture that protect the flowers from the outside world. The Ndipaya are eventually manipulated and deceived by greedy corporations, and used as human experiments for the Progenitor virus. A file we find in the game called Village Youth’s Diary elaborates that the Ndipaya villagers you encounter are dressed up in traditional festival gear and acting in ways they usually wouldn’t be acting:

“A man who said he was the foreman of the oil plant came to visit us today. He said he wants to inoculate everyone living near the oil field against some kind of disease. In my parents’ generation, they tricked our people and stole the land to turn it into their oil field. They must feel guilty about that because they are always trying to help out village now...”

And later:

“Outside I saw a man who looked strange. He was naked and had a weapon. His entire body was covered in war paint. It wasn’t even a festival day...what is happening to the people of my village!?The men are all dressed like our ancestors and fighting each other.“

–Village Youth’s Diary file in Resident Evil 5

Presuming Capcom wants to retain the Ndipaya chapters, I think a remake could pull a trick out of Village‘s bag and feature some Ndipaya villagers who haven’t been infected. What if we actually met some of the women and children from the village who could reinforce the horrors of what happened to the men there? The backstory also makes note their ancient king would consume the Stairway to the Sun flowers. It would be interesting if the men guarding the ancient ruins were having hallucinations of being commanded by the ancient king. Maybe one has taken on the role of king and acts as a minor boss.

There is a lot of discourse around this game and if the imagery it uses is racist. The Resident Evil Wiki provides a concise summary here: Resident Evil 5 Racism Controversy. It is worth noting the original critique of this game from 2008 came from game critic and journalist N’Gai Croal and was focused on aspects of the game’s initial trailer. Unfortunately I can’t find his follow up analysis after playing the finished game, but the criticism did lead to him meeting with the main producer of the game to discuss his critiques and play some of the actual game together.

From there, specific critiques of the imagery and particular plot points were often met with the suspiciously overzealous fans insisting that Resident Evil 5 is NOT AT ALL racist. Most of these critiques are incredibly frustrating because they never engage with the actual arguments that were made about the game. Instead of discussing the particular imagery being brought up, the NOT AT ALL racist crowd emphatically argues it isn’t racist to have Black zombies in Africa. This is usually followed up with “after all, no one complained when there were Spanish zombies in Resident Evil 4 or Chinese zombies in Resident Evil 6.” The problem is, that is not the argument anyone who has critiqued the game is making. The critiques I’ve read boil down to a lot of little choices I’ve already discussed (the initial interactions in the village, the out-of-nowhere white damsel in distress, the primitive tribal men) adding up.

Here are some varied commentaries on the topic roughly in chronological order of when they were posted. I’m making a point to include some of the less bad faith arguments against the game’s imagery being problematic as well:

• Associated Press, “Actors on ‘Resident Evil 5’: ‘It Isn’t Racist’“
• Seth Schiesel for the New York Times, “There’s No Time to Rest Until the Last Zombie in Africa Is Toast“
• Associated Press Review via Fox News, “Review: ‘Resident Evil 5’ Solid but Unsettling“
• Dan Whitehead for Eurogamer, “Down with the sickness. Chapters 1 to 3 dissected“
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Final Thoughts on RE5” and “The Last Word On RE5–No Seriously“
• Conflicting Views, “Black Gamers need to stop defending RE5”
• Very Very Gaming, “Racism in AAA games: Resident Evil 5 (PS3)“
• Vice ‘Resident Evil 3’ Might Be Mediocre, But ‘RE 5’ Reminds Us It Could Be Worse
  • Waypoint Radio Episode 303: The Rob’s Kitchen Index (discussion of Resident Evil 5 starts around the 52:25 timestamp)
• Jade King via The Gamer, “Resident Evil 5 Is Too Racist For A Remake“
• Matt Purslow via IGN, “The Resident Evil Game That Can’t Be Remade” (it is worth noting this particular article from 2024 really spurred a lot of backlash – some of it from far-right content creators. I am focusing on good faith criticisms I could find because I’m not going to give platform to people with anti-trans and misogynistic content in general).
• HeresKai, “IGN Needs to STOP“
• Stoney Tha Great “Is Resident Evil 5 too racist for a Remake?” and “Resident Evil is NOT racist“
• joonmoonss “We ain’t ever getting a RE5 remake”
• JoshSTATiX, “When the wrong person of color say Resident Evil 5 is racist“
  

I don’t think the predominantly Japanese developers intentionally set out to do anything malicious, and I am aware a lot of this commentary including my own is coming from an American perspective. Heck, it is often a fascinating funhouse mirror to see how the American characters come across in these Japanese games, with the protagonists in Resident Evil 5 and 6 taking on an unintentionally funny Team America: World Police vibe.

But this game does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in a world where stereotypes have been created and used to dehumanize people based on the color of their skin in order to justify horrific, sinful behaviors like colonialism, slavery, and lynchings. So seeing rural Africans depicted as bloodthirsty savages when that is precisely one of those core stereotypes is going to stir some feelings that seeing rural Spanish villagers depicted as bloodthirsty savages does not.

And I truly think media representation does have an impact on how we see the world. The way Resident Evil 5 feels a little iffy obviously isn’t as serious as an unarmed Black person being murdered by someone sworn to serve and protect them. But despite the fact most of us have not actually met a trans woman, there’s a reason so many people have been primed to have an image of trans women as “psychotic men in dresses”. It is from seeds sown by classic movies like Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs and Dressed to Kill that are eventually planted and nurtured by anti-trans organizations and individuals. Likewise, depicting Black people as intellectually inferior violent savages has a long history in America used to support generational slavery, Jim Crow laws, over policing, and mass incarceration. Obviously, some problematic imagery in Resident Evil 5 is not the make or break here. And like many people, I love those movies and this game. It is okay to enjoy things that have problematic elements or repercussions. But it is really obtuse to pretend not to understand why some of this imagery strikes some people as problematic and playing into a historical precedent of using tropes for evil.

When this game gets remade, it doesn’t need to be heavy-handed in addressing these critiques. We don’t need Chris Redfield to turn to the camera and say, “the real monster was colonialism the whole time” while shaking his head in disgust. But Capcom can and should look to make a richer game that takes its implications a bit more seriously while still being a bundle of addictive, outlandish fun just like the Resident Evil 4 remake did for its predecessor. I think there are a lot of places where just adding a bit more background context or tweaking some plot points will go a very long way in improving the game’s narrative. Even better to include a more diverse and empowered development team who could add some perspective to addressing some of the narrative and setting issues in the original.

Resident Evil 5 is a fascinating example of something with some overtly problematic images overshadowing some pretty progressive messaging. It is akin in my mind to a movie like Sleepaway Camp which despite being a sleazy slasher also inadvertently argues why it is so horrific to not allow people to live as their actual gender.

You don’t even have to look too carefully to see Resident Evil 5 is a pretty scathing critique of white colonization and the exploitation of African people and resources. The game’s narrative is deeply critical of colonization, making numerous references to the evil capitalist corporation TRICELL displacing and deceiving the people in Kijuju in order to exploit their land and its resources. I think if the remake can do just enough tweaking to let people bask in the nostalgia that makes these remakes so lovely while also addressing some of these critiques, it has the chance to excel.

Introduce Various Merchants

Resident Evil 5 psyches us out by seemingly introducing Reynard as the new Merchant figure before he gets murdered and we are left with chapter breaks where we can buy weapons, upgrades, and equipment from a faceless and nameless store. Boring. Instead, the game could have Reynard mention that Chris and Sheva will encounter contacts throughout the region that can provide them with weapons and goods at a price. That way, the merchants could vary in appearance and tone – maybe some more serious and others could be more comic relief.

Stop the Madness

I recently replayed this game to make sure I could see for myself what the weak spots were. Admittedly, I am not a great player and I was playing solo. But I hated the final chapter and had to repeat it a ridiculous amount of times before being able to progress. In general, I found Resident Evil 5 to be more of a slog compared to many others in the series. So I think modernizing this game and really honing the different difficulty levels and difficulty adjustment could do wonders for the gameplay. I’m seriously getting mad just thinking about that damn cargo bay and the Reapers again.

Stop the Metallic Green Madness

Why does everything in Resident Evil 5 look metallic and green? I know this is a small pet peeve in the scheme of things, but I am dying to see this thing remade with modern graphics. Here is a ENB mod that removes some of these filtering issues to show what I mean:

Resident Evil 5 May End Up Being The Best Remake

All the Resident Evil remakes to date for better or for worse are remaking incredible games. That is why most (with the exception of Resident Evil 3) are revered for updating something so many of us love and enjoy for a modern gameplay experience.

Now I know I’m one of the Resident Evil fans that is a bit resentful of the more action-focused route Resident Evil 5 and 6 took. I realize Resident Evil 5 was highly reviewed and is a nostalgic game for many players (especially those who had friends to play with *sniff*). But it is also a divisive game to some of the old school fans like myself who missed the “if the suspense doesn’t kill you, something else will” vibes of the original trilogy.

I think a remake of Resident Evil 5 in particular will be a tightrope for the developers to walk. But if they do it right, this will blow the original out of the water the same way many people feel the 2001 Resident Evil 1 remake did for the original. If Bloober could do it against all odds with the Silent Hill 2 remake and earn an apology form letter, you can do it Capcom.