14 DAY TRIAL // Realism is a very big part of most games. Trying to recreate a real world environment and characters is often a pretty hard task. Especially with things such as clothes, objects or foreign languages. That's why Capcom, the developer behind the upcoming Resident Evil 5 title, wanted to make it as real as possible in order for their game to gain everybody's interest, no matter the market, be it the local Japanese one, or the international one.
Here's what Jun Takeuchi, one of the main designers of the game had to say, “For the Resident Evil series we even went as far as to consult a firearms specialist to really capture the authenticity of the weapons from the game. The footwear and gloves the main character wears are all based on real items. We contacted the makers of those items to find out all the little details that go into making them, that way players don't have a sense of the game being completely divorced from reality. And that's how we were able to realistically recreate the proper specs for the items used in the game. When you look at the trailer, you see the main character's clothing and all the fibers that comprise it. We really paid attention to the details. We made it so that the fabric of his shirt actually gives the illusion of breathing like its real-life counterpart; it is also decidedly different from the heavier material that hangs down below it”.
It definitely sounds like they really had a tough job ahead of them, trying to depict every aspect of the game as realistically as possible. He even said that they sent a team to Africa in order to study the languages spoken there. “Our staff actually went to Africa and spent two weeks there researching the native languages and customs to the greatest extent possible. Japanese people tend to think of Africa as a homogenous society, but in fact, there are many ethnicities that make up the complexion of the continent.”
I guess no sacrifice is enough in order to make a great game. Resident Evil 5 is the newest title in the RE franchise, and promises to be a true sequel to the original RE game. It is slated for a March 2009 debut, and will be available for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.