Capcom should definitely remake Resident Evil 5 while they’re at it.
Capcom have been on an incredible streak with their Resident Evil remakes, taking Resident Evil 2, 3, and now 4 to the point that people like me who never finished the original RE4 can now blast through its remake, blasting Las Plagas infected left and right. But whoever made the decision to add those pesky Type C enemies should definitely throw them out; the fewer spiders in my Resident Evil game, please!
Capcom are on a roll, so why should they stop with 4? Why not remake Resident Evil 5 too? There’s clearly an audience for their brand of AAA action-horror, so why not give us more of what works so well? Moreover, Resident Evil 5 feels like something from the PS3/Xbox 360 era with its almost relentless use of “grey, bronze and brown” colour scheme which looks like someone accidentally dropped mutant elements into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare levels. Remaking Resident Evil 5 would be worth just for its visual overhaul alone;
That being said, Capcom doesn’t need to rush into a Resident Evil 5 Remake just yet; they already have several projects underway in that regard. Resident Evil Village and its DLC episode Shadow Of Rose leave the franchise wide open-ended as to where it could go next, so it would be nice to explore its future sooner rather than later. Playing around with nostalgia is great fun but there’s only so far you can go in that regard.
Meanwhile, Resident Evil fans may be feeling disconcerted at the thought of remakeing any other Resident Evil game other than Code: Veronica – which is understandable. A beloved side story in RE franchise, Resident Evil Code: Veronica and its updated version Code: Veronica X developed Claire and Chris Redfield’s relationship while also reintroducing legendary big bad Albert Wesker back into the fold.
Given how Resident Evil 5’s plot revolves around Chris and Wesker’s blood feud, remaking Code Veronica or finding a way to incorporate its elements into Resident Evil 5’s remake would be an excellent idea. Not only would this add more depth and context to the original Resident Evil 5, but it would give fans who are only discovering Resident Evil through these recent remakes something to latch onto.
But Resident Evil 5 deserves a remake because it adds something that the past few haven’t: co-op gameplay and graphics. Working together with your friend while taking down B.O.Ws is one of the reasons why Resident Evil 5 has gained such a following within the community; with Capcom’s RE Engine remakes offering superior upgrades to gameplay and visuals, Resident Evil 5 feels like an enormous improvement from what was already available.
Truth be told, it appears Capcom is already prepping for a Resident Evil 5 remake already, even without considering how the original RE4’s story teases that next instalment. There’s an incredible chapter in RE4 (2023) where Leon teams up with Luis to take down hundreds of Ganados in a mineshaft; Leon follows along like Sheva would when playing Chris in Resident Evil 5. He even follows along on melee combos just like Sheva would! It was truly incredible.
Though a remake of Resident Evil 5 sounds great, it will be much harder than other Capcom remakes to pull off. For one thing, the map design felt much more linear than other Resident Evil games; you never stay put for long; rather, earlier installments prioritized exploration over all else. Retrofitting such an experience into one where backtracking and exploration are encouraged could prove challenging but achievable.
What could prove more challenging is the optics of whiter-than-white Captain America stand-in Chris Redfield gunning down villagers in Africa. When Resident Evil 5 first released, critics saw its depiction of infected villagers as savages even before their infection; many saw this depiction as kind of racist; even its developers were apparently shocked by such an interpretation.
