For those that don’t know yet, CAPCOM is working on a 1 vs 4 Online Survival Horror Game called Resident Evil Resistance, a.k.a Project Resistance. Kellen Haney (Associate Manager, Social Media & Community for Capcom USA) issued a press release yesterday on PlayStation Blog giving us some details on the two new Masterminds that players will be able to play as, Alex Wesker and and Ozwell Spencer.
Alex Wesker hails from Resident Evil Revelations 2, not to be confused with the infamous Albert Wesker. According to Haney, Alex enjoys torturing victims with psychological horrors and experiments. When asked the motive for including such a character as one of the masterminds, Peter Fabiano (Producer for Resident Evil Resistance and Resident Evil 3), explained:
“Considering the way Alex is portrayed in-lore and in Resident Evil Revelations 2, it only made sense to include her as a Mastermind. She was the first character we thought of when coming up with Masterminds. In fact, in Revelations 2, she conducted her own experiments where she taunted her subjects over loudspeakers in a similar vein to the Masterminds in Resistance, making her a perfect fit.”
So for those of you who like to manipulate through an indirect approach, Alex Wesker would be perfect for you. Probably the strangest decision was to create a monster for Alex that is plant-based (well, ok, considering that it is Resident Evil, maybe it isn’t that strange). Fabiano explained to PlayStation Blog exactly why they went that way:
“You’ve got a few plant-based enemies in the Resident Evil series. Plant 42, Ivy, and the Huge Plant from the Outbreak games, for example. Yateveo doesn’t take direct influence from any of them – or maybe it indirectly does from all of them – but we thought it would be interesting to have a Mastermind use a creature that’s fixed in one spot. This could add a layer of strategy to how Masterminds could play.”
CAPCOM have decided to have some fun with Resistance, since it isn’t really believed to be part of the ‘Canon’ lore of the series. Enter Ozwell E. Spencer, one of Umbrella’s founders. He uses a more direct approach than Alex, but doesn’t have a bioweapon as such. Lurking in the shadows, he uses Umbrella technology and cameras to strike fear into the hearts of survivors.
“Ozwell has been a shadowy antagonist throughout most of the Resident Evil series, so we thought it would be fun to bring the father of all bioweapons and Umbrella itself to the forefront. We didn’t really see him before Resident Evil 5, and this gave us a chance to have some fun and make him a playable character – even if he’s only playable via the Mastermind’s cameras.”
You can read the full article on PlayStation Blog. Here are some of my own thoughts. The only other 1 vs 4 Survival Horror game I have played was Friday the 13th. Although this was mildly enjoyable, while also quite frustrating, I am rather looking forward to Resistance. While still being a huge Silent Hill fan over RE (being a Silent Hill author myself), RE has always delivered a powerful punch when it comes to the Survival Horror genre, steeped in dark lore and mystical, terrifying creatures. And from what I have read so far about Project Resistance, I am eager to torture some survivors myself.
Resident Evil Resistance will be launched with Resident Evil 3 when it comes to PlayStation 4 on April 3, 2020.
