Here’s a secret about me: I’ve read Versus Books’The Completely Unauthorized Resident Evil 2 Perfect Guideat least 100 times over the course of my life. I can barely stand to playResident Evil 2anymore, but I still love reading about it. The version of the game that exists in my memory is a lot better than the game that Capcom actually made. It’s this imaginary version of the game that the strategy guide triggers in my brain.
Here’s another secret about me: I wasn’t too crazy aboutResident Evil 5. For a variety of reasons, it just didn’t meet my expectations. It’s a great game, but it’s not the follow-up toResident Evil 4that I wanted.
Why am I telling you so many secrets about myself? Well, it’s partly because I’m totally interesting, but it’s mostly becauseThe Art of Resident Evil 5is where my love ofResident Evilstrategy guides and my disappointment withResident Evil 5combine. This book lets me reliveResident Evil 5in a way that’s actuallybetterthan the realResident Evil 5. It also gives me a glimpse at the game thatResident Evil 5could have been, whichalsohappens to be better thanResident Evil 5. It’s like getting two imaginary games in one.
IfThe Art of Resident Evil 5andResident Evil 5were both drowning in shark-infested waters, and I could only save one, I think you know which one I’d choose.
The Art of Resident Evil 5Writers: Capcom and UdonPublisher: UdonReleased: August 25, 2010MSRP: $39.99
This is a big book — 205 pages long, to be exact. It consists of polygon-based renders of in-game characters, a lot of hand-drawn artwork, loads of comments from the game’s artists, a couple of interviews, and even a few photographs. Most of the renders won’t be new to fans of the game, but thankfully, they’re greatly outnumbered by hand-drawn stuff. Capcom may not produce as many hand-drawn-looking games as they used to, but their behind-the-scenes 2D artists are as talented as ever. Character design, creature design, background design, storyboards — it’s all hand-drawn, it’s all real, and it’s all spectacular.
In most of Udon’s “The Art of [insert game]” books, there’s a section in the back that details unused designs. That’s always my favorite section, because that’s where most of the new stuff hides. Not so with this book. The new material is all over the place. Almost every character and creature has at least one unused design. Other than the Gatling gun Manjini and few of the other more straightforward enemies, everyone has an alternate look. Most of the time, they looked even better. Chris’s arms werealmostnormal-sized. Sheva and Excella were even hotter. The Executioner had a knife through his head (which is not explained). There were seven different types of Lickers. The list goes on and on. I want to describe it all to you, but this paragraph is already way too long. Suffice it to say, the book is packed withResident Evilideas that you’ve never seen before. There is enough new content here to fill a whole newResident Evil game, maybe two.
So why was all this awesome stuff cut out? That’s explained in the multiple interviews with the game’s designers and producers. There, we hear firsthand howResident Evil 5transformed from a more traditional single-player survival horror experience to the co-op-focused action/horror hybrid that was released at retail. You can sense that an enormous amount of passion and creativity was poured into the game, but that it was met with equal amounts of pressure to both please series fans and pay off at the mainstream gaming market. It also sounds like the game’s producers caught a case of Hollywood fever. There’s a section in the back showing the fully costumed motion capture actors. It looks like they’re filming aResident Evilmovie, potentially a good one. It’s both cool and depressing at the same time.
Right before that section, there are 26 pages of other material that was totally scrapped from the game. There are storyboards for a completely different storyline, background designs for areas that never made it to the game, gameplay concepts left unfulfilled, and tons of unused enemies. In these 26 pages, you may see a totally new game, a game that in many ways resembles a fantasy I once had about aResident Evil 5remake. Traditional Romero-style zombies; infested American-looking cities; multiple NPCs to save (or see slaughtered); bizarre, genuinely scary new creatures; and even theResident Evilsuper-boss, the Tyrant; they were all supposed to be a part ofResident Evil 5at one point. It’s hard to imagine how the game would have been worse off for their inclusion.
The art that that went into theResident Evil 5that Capcom released, and the art that went into the game that theyalmostmade, have one major thing in common: it’s all awesome. The craftsmanship here is exceptional. Any budding artist that dreams of working on a triple-A game needs to buy this book. You will learn from it. From backgrounds to costume design to creature design to storyboards to 3D models and textures, it doesn’t get much better than this.
The only downside here is that none of the design work from theResident Evil 5DLC made it into the book. It would have been cool to see the creature from “Lost in Nightmares,” or Barry Burton, make a guest appearance in these pages. Maybe we’ll get an addendum sometime down the line that will meet that need.
It doesn’t feel totally fair to hold that complaint against Udon.The Art of Resident Evil 5delivers. I can’t imagine a more complete and compelling look into the process behind the creation of this monumental blockbuster title. The best part is, the book makes me likeResident Evil 5more,andit shows me how much better the game could have been. The only downside to it all is that my predictions (and expectations) forResident Evil Revelationsare now even more overblown than they were before. Will the game have a Tyrant, a huge arena battle featuring multiple El Gigantes and vunerable NPCs, and devilish hallucinogenic-gas-producing octopus-headed maniacs? If even a few of these unused concepts in this book make it into that game, it could result in a newResident Evilclassic. The game can’t come soon enough.
I think I’ll read this book another 50 times while I wait.
Score: 9.5 ––Superb(9s are a hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won’t cause massive damage to what is a supreme title.)
