RESEARCH ON BIOHAZARD 2 final edition (バイオハザード２研究読本)
Released: 1/9/1998
Softcover: 210
Publisher: Micro Design Publishing Inc.
ISBN-10: 4944000774
ISBN-13: 9784944000777
Released: 1/9/1998
Softcover: 210
Publisher: Micro Design Publishing Inc.
ISBN-10: 4944000774
ISBN-13: 9784944000777
ZOMBIE (p.012-013)
Length about 165-185cm
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
May stray bodies rest in peace
“Memento mori” (Remember you too shall die). This was a prayer frequently recited in medieval Europe. In an era when entire cities were wiped out by the Black Death (plague), people who found temporary peace still feared death and earnestly repeated these words, lest they forget the unjust wrath of God.
And now, in the present day. Another city's about to be swallowed up by a contagion. Its name: Raccoon City. It was an ordinary small city, unremarkable save for a pharmaceutical company's research facility in the outskirts. What happened? The residents themselves could no longer answer that question. Creatures infected by the T-Virus that struck Raccoon City first experience a decline in intelligence. Then they feel itching on their skin, their corneas cloud over, and their epidermis peels away. Their appetite intensifies and eventually they lose their sense of reason and become violent. Now, as living corpses unable to even die, are they perhaps fortunate to be free from the tormenting fear of death?
UMBRELLA, A MERCHANT OF DEATH
Umbrella's an international pharmaceutical company with a laboratory in the outskirts of Raccoon City. However, behind the "umbrella" protecting people from various diseases was the face of a merchant of death selling biological weapons. Umbrella researchers, willing to work within God's domain to bring about new life, have developed a variety of mutants. Among them is a virus developed for the purpose of promoting the metabolic capacity of living organisms, with the ability to cause the Zombie phenomenon in infected people as a side-effect. That is the T-Virus. That violence was once demonstrated locally at an Umbrella research facility in the outskirts, proving its tremendous effects with the disaster in Raccoon City which was rendered a ghost town.
INSPECTING ZOMBIFICATION DUE TO THE T-VIRUS
The T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City has had various consequences. Perhaps the worst of these was T-Virus infection escalating the aggression of citizens (so-called Zombies). Compared to the Zombie incident that occurred in the mansion in isolated mountains, it's speculated the T-Virus would've spread over almost the entire city and many human lives were embroiled in the biohazard. However, Zombies of old people and children don't appear. The reason should be obvious. Other than the fixed character Marvin, black Zombies don't appear either, but it could be the conservative Raccoon City has few black people, like the out-of-the-way places often depicted in S. King's novels.
Returning to the story of the biohazard that struck Raccoon City along with anecdotes from the worker diaries found in the previous game's mansion, as well as the report of journalist Ben Bertolucci who appears in Leon's edition, zombification by the T-Virus seems to pass through the following steps.
First, when infected with the T-Virus one can feel tired, like the initial symptoms of various other diseases. The carrier seems to think they have caught a cold. However, at this stage the T-Virus has begun invading cell tissue. The next subjective symptom, itching of the skin, is associated with the T-Virus elevating metabolism and appears to be a sensation associated with shedding the old epidermis. By the time the whole body's skin is exposed, the T-Virus invades the brain and intelligence declines. A good example would be the mansion worker's diary similar to the last part of "Flowers for Algernon." This may be the result of invading the human neocortex, a brain organ responsible for emotions and intelligence. If the brain's invaded further, entire cerebral components will cease to function and reasoning will be lost, unnecessarily elevating metabolism and solely aggravating appetite, making the Zombies attack nearby prey and people. You could probably say it's all shown in the shocking ending segment of the worker's diary in the previous game, "Itchy, tasty..." At this stage, subcutaneous fat begins to rot and becomes the source of Zombie-specific odors. In addition, movement's slowed and all functions cease (for example, pain sensation) other than the autonomic nervous system that controls the activity of internal organs. The above's the time-frame of zombification for T-Virus carriers. That these are merely mid-term symptoms is described in the section on the Licker.
Note: "Flowers for Algernon": Daniel Keyes' classic science fiction novel. Through the diary of a mentally challenged young man who temporarily gains genius-level intelligence through surgery, it depicts his gradual return to his original state. Many readers were moved by the final section where his writing style progressively regresses to a child-like state.
Female Zombie
Before infection, she must've been confident in her figure. Yet, livor mortis already appears on the skin she once proudly exposed.
Police Zombie
Flesh torn down to the bone. Yet he shows no sign of pain. Even the deep wound in his neck's starting to heal thanks to the T-Virus' regenerative power.
A Zombie devouring a S.T.A.R.S. member. It all began here. (From “BIO HAZARD”)
Police Zombies with hands dangling limply forward. Classic Romero zombie style.
Cannibalism (eating human flesh) also originates from Romero's Night of the Living Dead.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF ZOMBIES
Thinking about it this way, the equation of T-Virus carriers = Zombies = Living Dead (moving corpse) may be somewhat misleading. This is because T-Virus carriers can be interpreted as patients whose skin has rotted due to the viral infection, leaving them unconscious, rather than corpses that've risen after decay. While Zombies are often associated with the image of "rotting corpses that attack people," several distinct definitions actually exist. First are the voodoo zombies, the origin of the concept. Here, zombies carry the nuance of "bodies lacking souls", beings temporarily rendered in a state of suspended animation by a sorcerer, then stripped of their souls and controlled. Next come the zombies born from early 20th-century American popular culture (films and pulp magazines). This image of "rotten corpses controlled by evil sorcerers" was imported directly into Japan, establishing the zombie's status as the lowest-tier undead creature in RPGs that persists to this day. Then, drawing inspiration from these traditional images but creating an entirely different concept, came the zombies portrayed by George A. Romero in films like Night of the Living Dead and Zombie. In these films, "infection" and "cannibalism" were incorporated as zombie attributes. The zombies in the BIOHAZARD series fundamentally follow the Romero zombie lineage, but in the sense that they provide a rationale for zombie behavior patterns, they may be considered a step forward from the previous zombie framework.
The Female Zombie makes her debut this time. Even as her strength wanes, she presses toward the protagonist, trying to eat people.
Length about 165-185cm
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
May stray bodies rest in peace
“Memento mori” (Remember you too shall die). This was a prayer frequently recited in medieval Europe. In an era when entire cities were wiped out by the Black Death (plague), people who found temporary peace still feared death and earnestly repeated these words, lest they forget the unjust wrath of God.
And now, in the present day. Another city's about to be swallowed up by a contagion. Its name: Raccoon City. It was an ordinary small city, unremarkable save for a pharmaceutical company's research facility in the outskirts. What happened? The residents themselves could no longer answer that question. Creatures infected by the T-Virus that struck Raccoon City first experience a decline in intelligence. Then they feel itching on their skin, their corneas cloud over, and their epidermis peels away. Their appetite intensifies and eventually they lose their sense of reason and become violent. Now, as living corpses unable to even die, are they perhaps fortunate to be free from the tormenting fear of death?
UMBRELLA, A MERCHANT OF DEATH
Umbrella's an international pharmaceutical company with a laboratory in the outskirts of Raccoon City. However, behind the "umbrella" protecting people from various diseases was the face of a merchant of death selling biological weapons. Umbrella researchers, willing to work within God's domain to bring about new life, have developed a variety of mutants. Among them is a virus developed for the purpose of promoting the metabolic capacity of living organisms, with the ability to cause the Zombie phenomenon in infected people as a side-effect. That is the T-Virus. That violence was once demonstrated locally at an Umbrella research facility in the outskirts, proving its tremendous effects with the disaster in Raccoon City which was rendered a ghost town.
INSPECTING ZOMBIFICATION DUE TO THE T-VIRUS
The T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City has had various consequences. Perhaps the worst of these was T-Virus infection escalating the aggression of citizens (so-called Zombies). Compared to the Zombie incident that occurred in the mansion in isolated mountains, it's speculated the T-Virus would've spread over almost the entire city and many human lives were embroiled in the biohazard. However, Zombies of old people and children don't appear. The reason should be obvious. Other than the fixed character Marvin, black Zombies don't appear either, but it could be the conservative Raccoon City has few black people, like the out-of-the-way places often depicted in S. King's novels.
Returning to the story of the biohazard that struck Raccoon City along with anecdotes from the worker diaries found in the previous game's mansion, as well as the report of journalist Ben Bertolucci who appears in Leon's edition, zombification by the T-Virus seems to pass through the following steps.
First, when infected with the T-Virus one can feel tired, like the initial symptoms of various other diseases. The carrier seems to think they have caught a cold. However, at this stage the T-Virus has begun invading cell tissue. The next subjective symptom, itching of the skin, is associated with the T-Virus elevating metabolism and appears to be a sensation associated with shedding the old epidermis. By the time the whole body's skin is exposed, the T-Virus invades the brain and intelligence declines. A good example would be the mansion worker's diary similar to the last part of "Flowers for Algernon." This may be the result of invading the human neocortex, a brain organ responsible for emotions and intelligence. If the brain's invaded further, entire cerebral components will cease to function and reasoning will be lost, unnecessarily elevating metabolism and solely aggravating appetite, making the Zombies attack nearby prey and people. You could probably say it's all shown in the shocking ending segment of the worker's diary in the previous game, "Itchy, tasty..." At this stage, subcutaneous fat begins to rot and becomes the source of Zombie-specific odors. In addition, movement's slowed and all functions cease (for example, pain sensation) other than the autonomic nervous system that controls the activity of internal organs. The above's the time-frame of zombification for T-Virus carriers. That these are merely mid-term symptoms is described in the section on the Licker.
Note: "Flowers for Algernon": Daniel Keyes' classic science fiction novel. Through the diary of a mentally challenged young man who temporarily gains genius-level intelligence through surgery, it depicts his gradual return to his original state. Many readers were moved by the final section where his writing style progressively regresses to a child-like state.
Female Zombie
Before infection, she must've been confident in her figure. Yet, livor mortis already appears on the skin she once proudly exposed.
Police Zombie
Flesh torn down to the bone. Yet he shows no sign of pain. Even the deep wound in his neck's starting to heal thanks to the T-Virus' regenerative power.
A Zombie devouring a S.T.A.R.S. member. It all began here. (From “BIO HAZARD”)
Police Zombies with hands dangling limply forward. Classic Romero zombie style.
Cannibalism (eating human flesh) also originates from Romero's Night of the Living Dead.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF ZOMBIES
Thinking about it this way, the equation of T-Virus carriers = Zombies = Living Dead (moving corpse) may be somewhat misleading. This is because T-Virus carriers can be interpreted as patients whose skin has rotted due to the viral infection, leaving them unconscious, rather than corpses that've risen after decay. While Zombies are often associated with the image of "rotting corpses that attack people," several distinct definitions actually exist. First are the voodoo zombies, the origin of the concept. Here, zombies carry the nuance of "bodies lacking souls", beings temporarily rendered in a state of suspended animation by a sorcerer, then stripped of their souls and controlled. Next come the zombies born from early 20th-century American popular culture (films and pulp magazines). This image of "rotten corpses controlled by evil sorcerers" was imported directly into Japan, establishing the zombie's status as the lowest-tier undead creature in RPGs that persists to this day. Then, drawing inspiration from these traditional images but creating an entirely different concept, came the zombies portrayed by George A. Romero in films like Night of the Living Dead and Zombie. In these films, "infection" and "cannibalism" were incorporated as zombie attributes. The zombies in the BIOHAZARD series fundamentally follow the Romero zombie lineage, but in the sense that they provide a rationale for zombie behavior patterns, they may be considered a step forward from the previous zombie framework.
The Female Zombie makes her debut this time. Even as her strength wanes, she presses toward the protagonist, trying to eat people.
LICKER (p.015-017)
Length about 2m
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
Metamorphosis into Bizarre Creatures
The baptism of the T-Virus would've been showered on every living thing in Raccoon City. Infected people stop being able to think for the time being. They wander around in search of the flesh and blood of the living, driven by their bloated appetites.
However, this stage is merely a mid-term symptom of T-Virus infection. The T-Virus, which was created to produce bioweapons, can't help but transform carriers into different forms, even if it was spread irregularly. The huge brain that had been part of our identity as Homo sapiens is now exposed, defenseless and bare. With its vision degraded, the Licker relies on its hearing to analyze information, and is sensitive to the sound of human footsteps and gunshots. It has shed the sadness and pity of a Zombie along with its rotting skin and acquired new muscle tissue, sharp claws, and a whip-like tongue. One must wonder what we'll think when we face this being that could be called the end point of a biohazard.
The Licker's characterized by its long tongue, huge claws, and exposed brain. It has been transformed into a mutant far removed from the original.
The Zombies that were in the deepest part of "1". Their symptoms have progressed, perhaps because they were infected earlier. (From "BIO HAZARD")
A MYSTERIOUS MONSTER, THE LICKER
A mysterious creature suddenly appears at the police station in Raccoon City, which is in a state of emergency due to a Zombie outbreak and on the brink of war. The creature, named "Licker" by a police officer for its impressively long tongue, is so agile it has slaughtered several armed police officers who were desperately trying to defend themselves, with its huge sharp claws. In place of losing its eyesight, the creature's hearing has been sharpened, and when it hears human footsteps, it stabs them with its spear-shaped tongue and even twists their jugulars with its abnormally developed muscles. Now that the Licker's roosting in the police station, the hero, who was supposed to have escaped the Zombie attack in the city, isn't allowed to rest in peace.
LICKER'S ATTACK PATTERNS
The Licker, like the American comic book Spider-Man, stalks ceilings and walls, waiting for its victims to walk by. When it hears the sound of footsteps or gunfire, it rolls onto its back and goes into an attack position, tensing its entire body. When they hear a sound again, they start attacking in the direction they heard it, but if you don't do anything, its tension loosens. From the looks of it, it seems to have lost its sense of smell. They attack by stabbing with their long tongues, clawing with their feet, and jumping across the ground with their claws. Each attack does a lot of damage, but the attack cycles tend to be prolonged, which is probably a result of its blindness. In the deepest section of Umbrella's lab, an enhanced form of the Licker appears, with sickle-shaped hands and a discolored body surface.
LICKER FORMATION
In conclusion, the Licker's the final form of a T-Virus infected person, having undergone the Zombie process and transformed into a completely different form from a human. It's apparent all of its skin from the time it became a Zombie has peeled off as a result of an effect of the T-Virus, and new muscle tissue has been visibly formed. The skull, which is supposed to protect the brain, has been eroded by the virus during the transformation process, leaving the brain exposed. Now that visual information, the most important part of the brain's ability to analyze, is no longer available, could it be it's no longer useful for the Licker?
Compared to the Zombie state, which undergoes drastic changes, the Licker's condition is somewhat more stable, and its sense of pain seems to have recovered somewhat, but its internal brain functions appear to have been devastated by distorted transformation induced by the T-Virus. However, it seems not all Zombies are capable of transforming into a Licker. From here on we can only speculate, but the Zombie period, when appetites are ramped up, is the time when metabolism is at its highest, and body tissues are being rebuilt in accordance with the action of the T-Virus that produces bioweapons. It's thought only those who are able to obtain a large amount of energy to metabolize will be able to survive and become a Licker. In that event, the Licker was created after a gruesome competition for survival.
Though the Licker has keen hearing, it doesn't react to the silent shots of a crossbow.
A Chimera with a scythe-like right hand. Its crawling motion on the ground resembles that of the Licker. (From BIO HAZARD)
Zombies appearing in the research facility of "2". Possibly due to the T-Virus permeating the area, they have more health.
An enhanced version of the Licker. Both hands are scythe-like.
These may be due to hazardous substances leaking from the research facility affecting regular Lickers.
LICKER'S GENEALOGY
With its highly unique design, it's difficult to find a model for the Licker from novels and movies. However, there are monsters that appear in the previous "BIO HAZARD" game that hint at the Licker, both stylistically and in terms of setting. The first and most important is the "Chimera" monster that appears in Umbrella's research facility at the end of the game. It's an enemy which hangs from the ceiling and jumps down to attack the player, and when shot, it releases a large amount of maggots. As its name implies, the Chimera's a cross between a fly and a human (perhaps inspired by the movie "The Fly" with a fly-man), but as you can see from the pictures, its form and motions are quite similar to those of the Licker. Its right hand is shaped like a sickle for example, and it could be said the genetic roots of the enhanced Licker may be found in this area. Although it looks somewhat like a modified human, it might be interesting to look at it from the line of Chimera->The Fly.
In addition, in the American cult horror film "Fiend Without A Face" ('58), there are bare brains with spinal cords trailing behind them like tails. In Japan, there's also a yokai called Akaname (recall it sticking to a ceiling in Shigeru Mizuki's painting) which licks bath dirt at night with its long tongue, but there's likely no connection between the two.
The other monster that can be considered a hint is one directly related to the Licker, a Zombie that's been infected with a virus and on the verge of becoming a Licker. In both the previous game and this one, the Zombies that appear in the back of the lab with their skin all peeled off, the so-called "Sneaky Zombies," may fall into this category.
Length about 2m
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
Metamorphosis into Bizarre Creatures
The baptism of the T-Virus would've been showered on every living thing in Raccoon City. Infected people stop being able to think for the time being. They wander around in search of the flesh and blood of the living, driven by their bloated appetites.
However, this stage is merely a mid-term symptom of T-Virus infection. The T-Virus, which was created to produce bioweapons, can't help but transform carriers into different forms, even if it was spread irregularly. The huge brain that had been part of our identity as Homo sapiens is now exposed, defenseless and bare. With its vision degraded, the Licker relies on its hearing to analyze information, and is sensitive to the sound of human footsteps and gunshots. It has shed the sadness and pity of a Zombie along with its rotting skin and acquired new muscle tissue, sharp claws, and a whip-like tongue. One must wonder what we'll think when we face this being that could be called the end point of a biohazard.
The Licker's characterized by its long tongue, huge claws, and exposed brain. It has been transformed into a mutant far removed from the original.
The Zombies that were in the deepest part of "1". Their symptoms have progressed, perhaps because they were infected earlier. (From "BIO HAZARD")
A MYSTERIOUS MONSTER, THE LICKER
A mysterious creature suddenly appears at the police station in Raccoon City, which is in a state of emergency due to a Zombie outbreak and on the brink of war. The creature, named "Licker" by a police officer for its impressively long tongue, is so agile it has slaughtered several armed police officers who were desperately trying to defend themselves, with its huge sharp claws. In place of losing its eyesight, the creature's hearing has been sharpened, and when it hears human footsteps, it stabs them with its spear-shaped tongue and even twists their jugulars with its abnormally developed muscles. Now that the Licker's roosting in the police station, the hero, who was supposed to have escaped the Zombie attack in the city, isn't allowed to rest in peace.
LICKER'S ATTACK PATTERNS
The Licker, like the American comic book Spider-Man, stalks ceilings and walls, waiting for its victims to walk by. When it hears the sound of footsteps or gunfire, it rolls onto its back and goes into an attack position, tensing its entire body. When they hear a sound again, they start attacking in the direction they heard it, but if you don't do anything, its tension loosens. From the looks of it, it seems to have lost its sense of smell. They attack by stabbing with their long tongues, clawing with their feet, and jumping across the ground with their claws. Each attack does a lot of damage, but the attack cycles tend to be prolonged, which is probably a result of its blindness. In the deepest section of Umbrella's lab, an enhanced form of the Licker appears, with sickle-shaped hands and a discolored body surface.
LICKER FORMATION
In conclusion, the Licker's the final form of a T-Virus infected person, having undergone the Zombie process and transformed into a completely different form from a human. It's apparent all of its skin from the time it became a Zombie has peeled off as a result of an effect of the T-Virus, and new muscle tissue has been visibly formed. The skull, which is supposed to protect the brain, has been eroded by the virus during the transformation process, leaving the brain exposed. Now that visual information, the most important part of the brain's ability to analyze, is no longer available, could it be it's no longer useful for the Licker?
Compared to the Zombie state, which undergoes drastic changes, the Licker's condition is somewhat more stable, and its sense of pain seems to have recovered somewhat, but its internal brain functions appear to have been devastated by distorted transformation induced by the T-Virus. However, it seems not all Zombies are capable of transforming into a Licker. From here on we can only speculate, but the Zombie period, when appetites are ramped up, is the time when metabolism is at its highest, and body tissues are being rebuilt in accordance with the action of the T-Virus that produces bioweapons. It's thought only those who are able to obtain a large amount of energy to metabolize will be able to survive and become a Licker. In that event, the Licker was created after a gruesome competition for survival.
Though the Licker has keen hearing, it doesn't react to the silent shots of a crossbow.
A Chimera with a scythe-like right hand. Its crawling motion on the ground resembles that of the Licker. (From BIO HAZARD)
Zombies appearing in the research facility of "2". Possibly due to the T-Virus permeating the area, they have more health.
An enhanced version of the Licker. Both hands are scythe-like.
These may be due to hazardous substances leaking from the research facility affecting regular Lickers.
LICKER'S GENEALOGY
With its highly unique design, it's difficult to find a model for the Licker from novels and movies. However, there are monsters that appear in the previous "BIO HAZARD" game that hint at the Licker, both stylistically and in terms of setting. The first and most important is the "Chimera" monster that appears in Umbrella's research facility at the end of the game. It's an enemy which hangs from the ceiling and jumps down to attack the player, and when shot, it releases a large amount of maggots. As its name implies, the Chimera's a cross between a fly and a human (perhaps inspired by the movie "The Fly" with a fly-man), but as you can see from the pictures, its form and motions are quite similar to those of the Licker. Its right hand is shaped like a sickle for example, and it could be said the genetic roots of the enhanced Licker may be found in this area. Although it looks somewhat like a modified human, it might be interesting to look at it from the line of Chimera->The Fly.
In addition, in the American cult horror film "Fiend Without A Face" ('58), there are bare brains with spinal cords trailing behind them like tails. In Japan, there's also a yokai called Akaname (recall it sticking to a ceiling in Shigeru Mizuki's painting) which licks bath dirt at night with its long tongue, but there's likely no connection between the two.
The other monster that can be considered a hint is one directly related to the Licker, a Zombie that's been infected with a virus and on the verge of becoming a Licker. In both the previous game and this one, the Zombies that appear in the back of the lab with their skin all peeled off, the so-called "Sneaky Zombies," may fall into this category.
TYRANT (p.020-021)
Length Unknown
Main habitat Unknown
The tempestuous dominator descends to earth!
It all started in an old mansion in the Arklay Mountains. There, the pharmaceutical company Umbrella secretly developed bioweapons. A bioweapon called "Tyrant" went out of control. It was destroyed by the Raccoon Police Department's special mission unit. However, few are aware the incident wasn't a contingency, but in fact a trap set up upon the police's special mission unit.
The Tyrant was originally created by remodeling a tough prisoner at the genetic level using the T-Virus, but its physique was so huge it was difficult to handle. "T" is a bioweapon that has been improved and miniaturized by making use of the combat data collected in this incident. Although it ostensibly wears a coat for the purpose of information disruption by disguising it as a human, this option's actually a constraint, and once removed, it'll gain tremendous strength. T is dropped by a helicopter at the police station. The target in sight to this murder machine's attacks is you.
BIRTH OF THE TYRANT
The letter "T" is the initial letter of the word "tyrant." Its etymology's close to the dinosaur "Tyrannosaurus." Given such a name, T's a bioweapon, a further modified and miniaturized Tyrant which was the final boss enemy of the previous game. The Tyrant was originally administered the T-Virus afer performing remodeling surgery on a strong male prisoner with a high metabolic capacity, but according to Umbrella-made documentation, it also says the new T-Type bioweapon "T-103" has an improved recovery ability and is capable of acting on given commands. With its target appearing to be obtaining the G-Virus, it's a creepy presence repeatedly standing in the protagonists' way as they advance to the deep recesses of Umbrella's lab.
TYRANT WITHIN THE GAME
During the beginning of the 2nd scenario, an FMV scene is played where a mysterious man in a coat's dropped by a helicopter. This man's actually a Tyrant camouflaged as a human. From a distance he resembles the title character from the Phantom of the Opera. However, the Tyrant's the complete opposite of other creatures created from the T-Virus such as Zombies and Lickers, who see the player only as prey to feed on in their presence, while the Tyrant will chase the player to the point of breaking a wall. Moreover, it has an incredible recovery ability originating from the T-Virus that allows it to resurrect itself several times until it finally reaches the end of its life-support function, in which it removes its defensive power limiter coat and challenges the player to a final showdown.
Publicity material of the new T-Type weapon. Was the live combat data recorded during the Mansion Incident put to its best use?
Tyrant inside its pod about to awaken (from BIO HAZARD)
Tyrant in a coat. He resembles a bald man wearing a military-like moss green coat. However, he's actually the T-103, a B.O.W. developed by Umbrella.
Tyrant after the transformation - After the removal of its limiter. Its claws can slice through floors and it's durable enough to withstand scattered fire.
ANALYZING THE T-VIRUS
Humans who become monsters due to the T-Virus usually become Lickers after the Zombie period. But although the Tyrant's created with the same T-Virus, it's completely different from Zombies and Lickers. The reason for this is said to be Umbrella taking advantage of their scientific capabilities and abundant funding. A T-Virus carrier appears to be a Tyrant when the T-Virus is administered to a healthy human, who's placed in a pod and treated appropriately. The pod harboring the Tyrant may contain a solution that promotes the proper growth of T-Virus infected cells.
The first encounter with the Tyrant. In the overseas version, its name's "Mr. X".
The Tyrant endlessly pursues the player. Sometimes it'll be create a hole in a wall.
After appearing on a monitor, the Tyrant confronts the player.
The Tyrant pursues the hero while covered in flames. This image overlaps with the film "The Terminator."
Length Unknown
Main habitat Unknown
The tempestuous dominator descends to earth!
It all started in an old mansion in the Arklay Mountains. There, the pharmaceutical company Umbrella secretly developed bioweapons. A bioweapon called "Tyrant" went out of control. It was destroyed by the Raccoon Police Department's special mission unit. However, few are aware the incident wasn't a contingency, but in fact a trap set up upon the police's special mission unit.
The Tyrant was originally created by remodeling a tough prisoner at the genetic level using the T-Virus, but its physique was so huge it was difficult to handle. "T" is a bioweapon that has been improved and miniaturized by making use of the combat data collected in this incident. Although it ostensibly wears a coat for the purpose of information disruption by disguising it as a human, this option's actually a constraint, and once removed, it'll gain tremendous strength. T is dropped by a helicopter at the police station. The target in sight to this murder machine's attacks is you.
BIRTH OF THE TYRANT
The letter "T" is the initial letter of the word "tyrant." Its etymology's close to the dinosaur "Tyrannosaurus." Given such a name, T's a bioweapon, a further modified and miniaturized Tyrant which was the final boss enemy of the previous game. The Tyrant was originally administered the T-Virus afer performing remodeling surgery on a strong male prisoner with a high metabolic capacity, but according to Umbrella-made documentation, it also says the new T-Type bioweapon "T-103" has an improved recovery ability and is capable of acting on given commands. With its target appearing to be obtaining the G-Virus, it's a creepy presence repeatedly standing in the protagonists' way as they advance to the deep recesses of Umbrella's lab.
TYRANT WITHIN THE GAME
During the beginning of the 2nd scenario, an FMV scene is played where a mysterious man in a coat's dropped by a helicopter. This man's actually a Tyrant camouflaged as a human. From a distance he resembles the title character from the Phantom of the Opera. However, the Tyrant's the complete opposite of other creatures created from the T-Virus such as Zombies and Lickers, who see the player only as prey to feed on in their presence, while the Tyrant will chase the player to the point of breaking a wall. Moreover, it has an incredible recovery ability originating from the T-Virus that allows it to resurrect itself several times until it finally reaches the end of its life-support function, in which it removes its defensive power limiter coat and challenges the player to a final showdown.
Publicity material of the new T-Type weapon. Was the live combat data recorded during the Mansion Incident put to its best use?
Tyrant inside its pod about to awaken (from BIO HAZARD)
Tyrant in a coat. He resembles a bald man wearing a military-like moss green coat. However, he's actually the T-103, a B.O.W. developed by Umbrella.
Tyrant after the transformation - After the removal of its limiter. Its claws can slice through floors and it's durable enough to withstand scattered fire.
ANALYZING THE T-VIRUS
Humans who become monsters due to the T-Virus usually become Lickers after the Zombie period. But although the Tyrant's created with the same T-Virus, it's completely different from Zombies and Lickers. The reason for this is said to be Umbrella taking advantage of their scientific capabilities and abundant funding. A T-Virus carrier appears to be a Tyrant when the T-Virus is administered to a healthy human, who's placed in a pod and treated appropriately. The pod harboring the Tyrant may contain a solution that promotes the proper growth of T-Virus infected cells.
The first encounter with the Tyrant. In the overseas version, its name's "Mr. X".
The Tyrant endlessly pursues the player. Sometimes it'll be create a hole in a wall.
After appearing on a monitor, the Tyrant confronts the player.
The Tyrant pursues the hero while covered in flames. This image overlaps with the film "The Terminator."
G-VIRUS (p.024-025)
Length Unknown
Main habitat Unknown
Embodiment of Strength
G. The seventh letter of the alphabet. The Creator warned man against committing seven deadly sins. Was developing it a "guilt" (crime) for humans?
Only able to be seen with an electron microscope, these microscopic particles have the tremendous power to cause mutation from the root of an infected organism at the gene level.
The melancholy of G-Virus developer William Birkin was that he couldn't see the perfect result with his own eyes. That being the case, rather. His cells attacked by the G-Virus finished transforming the magnificent scientist into a mutant form which has lost his personality. G's transformation over several stages appears to be a process in which the researcher, who was attempting to create the most powerful creature, has been released from the shackles of reason and pursues power itself. No one knows where the torrent of power will go.
INTRUDING UPON GOD'S DOMAIN
The dreadful artificial virus unto which an infected creature undergoes a complete change at the genetic level. The codename's "G." It tampers with a creature's DNA and promotes further evolution, and it's reported to also have the power to revive the dead. It's power beyond common knowledge. The Umbrella Corporation which developed it waited expectantly for this virus' completion. However, approaching the Creator's domain may have been too heavy a burden for a human. When G-Virus developer William Birkin refused to deliver it, and when a special team within Umbrella came to seize the virus, he appeared to act rashly and took the G-Virus into his own body. William, who became a G-Organism, isn't a person anymore. Although he has powerful physical strength, extraordinary healing ability and vitality that could be considered immortal, William's sense of self's completely lost. It seems the invasion of the G-Virus in his cells progresses gradually from a portion of his arm, and his form changes every moment.
G ADULT ORGANISM
An imperfect clone of G. It discharges embryos from its mouth.
A mutant born when a G creature implants a human with an embryo. It's a pseudo-clone of G, lacking either intelligence or reproductive ability.
G's appearance changes dramatically. The flesh on the face at the time of its human form moves to the left breast, while an eye opens up on the right arm.
G's fifth form, reduced to a mere lump of flesh due to maximizing energy efficiency.
G'S TRANSFORMATION PATTERNS
G shows five forms (not including G Young Organism in the G pattern) but its appearance changes between individual forms to become more powerful. First we'll look at the 1st form. It seems this eyeball incidentally also has eyesight and functions to enlarge the field of vision as an organ of the G-Organism. When only the left-hand side's seen, G's only visibly like a Zombie state, but what stands out are the right arm in which the effects of the G-Virus have already appeared, along with the eyeball which appeared on the right shoulder.
Now, although G still maintains a human likeness so far, when it shifts to the 2nd form, the skin and scalp of the face completely move to the left breast due to the sudden rapid growth of its physique (cf. photograph). The right arm completely becomes a monster-like part with huge claws sticking out. In addition, you can notice a second left arm's starting to form under the face. Moreover, an upsurge of the skin's visible in the left upper portion where it appears G-Cells aren't multiplying so much, but this seems to be a fourth eyeball. The 3rd form's a perfect form you could call the point of a humanoid G-Organism reaching its apex. Both original arms totally stretch like wings, while the second arm seen in the second form has finished developing. The scraps of clothing which were proof it was once human have fallen off, and in the end, most traces of the skin on the face have almost vanished. Isn't this probably even a form which suited William's genetic design? Since G metamorphoses into a 4th form due to constant damage caused to its 3rd form, perhaps it's a reaction to strained recovery from damage, or rapid evolution, then gradually reverts to a beast deviating from the human course. When it turns into the 5th form, it's almost a sea slug shape. The arms also morph into tentacles while the limbs of undigested Zombies and Lickers are visible on the surface of its body. It could be called the miserable end result of power going out of control.
INSPECTING THE G-VIRUS
Thus far G has undergone transformations behind the scenes, but it has the power to create different types of cells unexpectedly by promoting the intense division of somatic cells--- a phenomenal effect of the G-Virus. To begin with, blueprints exist within our unique species that developed on a scale said to be over many hundred million years of life. Therefore, special individuals are less likely to be produced in the natural state. However, examples of heredity programs being distorted can often be seen in the past, especially when they occur due to powerful external factors such as endocrine disruptor chemicals or biological and chemical weapons (so-called BC weapons). If you take such examples into account, the G-Virus transcends existing concepts in terms of causing new parts to form post-natally, but it's not an unbelievable story.
THE MAD SCIENTIST'S OBSESSION
Ultimately, this biohazard stemmed from William's obsession with his research. While we've already noted the mad scientist motif appearing in the novel "Frankenstein," there's another novel that evokes William's reckless actions and the transformation of humans into beasts. It's H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau," written about 100 years ago. This work was even adapted into a film titled "D.N.A." in 1996. The title originates from the island where the mad genius scientist, Dr. Moreau, reigns over beasts whose intelligence he enhanced by his own hands. However, the precarious balance maintained by Dr. Moreau's presence collapses after his death, with the beast-men reverting to mere animals. While often interpreted as a critique of civilization, the work also speaks to distrust of excessive rationalism and the everyday anxiety that human nature might be beastly (almost echoing modern horror). William, a descendant of Frankenstein and Moreau, became obsessed with reason. As a result, he became enslaved, both physically and mentally, by the G-Virus he developed, ultimately choosing the path of descent into beastliness. In the sense of a scientist who sacrificed himself to his research, William=G could be described as a mad scientist who was both noble and fragile.
Length Unknown
Main habitat Unknown
Embodiment of Strength
G. The seventh letter of the alphabet. The Creator warned man against committing seven deadly sins. Was developing it a "guilt" (crime) for humans?
Only able to be seen with an electron microscope, these microscopic particles have the tremendous power to cause mutation from the root of an infected organism at the gene level.
The melancholy of G-Virus developer William Birkin was that he couldn't see the perfect result with his own eyes. That being the case, rather. His cells attacked by the G-Virus finished transforming the magnificent scientist into a mutant form which has lost his personality. G's transformation over several stages appears to be a process in which the researcher, who was attempting to create the most powerful creature, has been released from the shackles of reason and pursues power itself. No one knows where the torrent of power will go.
INTRUDING UPON GOD'S DOMAIN
The dreadful artificial virus unto which an infected creature undergoes a complete change at the genetic level. The codename's "G." It tampers with a creature's DNA and promotes further evolution, and it's reported to also have the power to revive the dead. It's power beyond common knowledge. The Umbrella Corporation which developed it waited expectantly for this virus' completion. However, approaching the Creator's domain may have been too heavy a burden for a human. When G-Virus developer William Birkin refused to deliver it, and when a special team within Umbrella came to seize the virus, he appeared to act rashly and took the G-Virus into his own body. William, who became a G-Organism, isn't a person anymore. Although he has powerful physical strength, extraordinary healing ability and vitality that could be considered immortal, William's sense of self's completely lost. It seems the invasion of the G-Virus in his cells progresses gradually from a portion of his arm, and his form changes every moment.
G ADULT ORGANISM
An imperfect clone of G. It discharges embryos from its mouth.
A mutant born when a G creature implants a human with an embryo. It's a pseudo-clone of G, lacking either intelligence or reproductive ability.
G's appearance changes dramatically. The flesh on the face at the time of its human form moves to the left breast, while an eye opens up on the right arm.
G's fifth form, reduced to a mere lump of flesh due to maximizing energy efficiency.
G'S TRANSFORMATION PATTERNS
G shows five forms (not including G Young Organism in the G pattern) but its appearance changes between individual forms to become more powerful. First we'll look at the 1st form. It seems this eyeball incidentally also has eyesight and functions to enlarge the field of vision as an organ of the G-Organism. When only the left-hand side's seen, G's only visibly like a Zombie state, but what stands out are the right arm in which the effects of the G-Virus have already appeared, along with the eyeball which appeared on the right shoulder.
Now, although G still maintains a human likeness so far, when it shifts to the 2nd form, the skin and scalp of the face completely move to the left breast due to the sudden rapid growth of its physique (cf. photograph). The right arm completely becomes a monster-like part with huge claws sticking out. In addition, you can notice a second left arm's starting to form under the face. Moreover, an upsurge of the skin's visible in the left upper portion where it appears G-Cells aren't multiplying so much, but this seems to be a fourth eyeball. The 3rd form's a perfect form you could call the point of a humanoid G-Organism reaching its apex. Both original arms totally stretch like wings, while the second arm seen in the second form has finished developing. The scraps of clothing which were proof it was once human have fallen off, and in the end, most traces of the skin on the face have almost vanished. Isn't this probably even a form which suited William's genetic design? Since G metamorphoses into a 4th form due to constant damage caused to its 3rd form, perhaps it's a reaction to strained recovery from damage, or rapid evolution, then gradually reverts to a beast deviating from the human course. When it turns into the 5th form, it's almost a sea slug shape. The arms also morph into tentacles while the limbs of undigested Zombies and Lickers are visible on the surface of its body. It could be called the miserable end result of power going out of control.
INSPECTING THE G-VIRUS
Thus far G has undergone transformations behind the scenes, but it has the power to create different types of cells unexpectedly by promoting the intense division of somatic cells--- a phenomenal effect of the G-Virus. To begin with, blueprints exist within our unique species that developed on a scale said to be over many hundred million years of life. Therefore, special individuals are less likely to be produced in the natural state. However, examples of heredity programs being distorted can often be seen in the past, especially when they occur due to powerful external factors such as endocrine disruptor chemicals or biological and chemical weapons (so-called BC weapons). If you take such examples into account, the G-Virus transcends existing concepts in terms of causing new parts to form post-natally, but it's not an unbelievable story.
THE MAD SCIENTIST'S OBSESSION
Ultimately, this biohazard stemmed from William's obsession with his research. While we've already noted the mad scientist motif appearing in the novel "Frankenstein," there's another novel that evokes William's reckless actions and the transformation of humans into beasts. It's H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau," written about 100 years ago. This work was even adapted into a film titled "D.N.A." in 1996. The title originates from the island where the mad genius scientist, Dr. Moreau, reigns over beasts whose intelligence he enhanced by his own hands. However, the precarious balance maintained by Dr. Moreau's presence collapses after his death, with the beast-men reverting to mere animals. While often interpreted as a critique of civilization, the work also speaks to distrust of excessive rationalism and the everyday anxiety that human nature might be beastly (almost echoing modern horror). William, a descendant of Frankenstein and Moreau, became obsessed with reason. As a result, he became enslaved, both physically and mentally, by the G-Virus he developed, ultimately choosing the path of descent into beastliness. In the sense of a scientist who sacrificed himself to his research, William=G could be described as a mad scientist who was both noble and fragile.
G-TYPE IV
A Spiral Ladder to Forbidden Sanctuary
An endless chain of double helices. A long, long strand composed of just four base combinations. Mankind got hold of the key to the forbidden garden and named it deoxyribonucleic acid. Once analyzed, the creation of life would be at our command. It seemed as if it'd carry us to a unique, supreme height. Like the ladder that led Jacob to heaven in Genesis. But something's wrong. How far had we already climbed those steps before we realized it? The signs were already manifesting in various forms. But we couldn't turn back.
If we look to the parallel world, countless mutants writhe there. Their cerebral cortexes scorched, muscle fibers warped, dripping foul-smelling mucus. Only mutated cells proliferate unchecked, breaking free from central control and descending into beasts. They're not mere fiction. As our existence rests upon the precarious balance held by countless "ifs." The terror breathing closest to us now. That is BIOHAZARD.
A Spiral Ladder to Forbidden Sanctuary
An endless chain of double helices. A long, long strand composed of just four base combinations. Mankind got hold of the key to the forbidden garden and named it deoxyribonucleic acid. Once analyzed, the creation of life would be at our command. It seemed as if it'd carry us to a unique, supreme height. Like the ladder that led Jacob to heaven in Genesis. But something's wrong. How far had we already climbed those steps before we realized it? The signs were already manifesting in various forms. But we couldn't turn back.
If we look to the parallel world, countless mutants writhe there. Their cerebral cortexes scorched, muscle fibers warped, dripping foul-smelling mucus. Only mutated cells proliferate unchecked, breaking free from central control and descending into beasts. They're not mere fiction. As our existence rests upon the precarious balance held by countless "ifs." The terror breathing closest to us now. That is BIOHAZARD.
MARVIN
Length about 165-180cm
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
Tragedy of a Walking Dead
His eyes glazed over as if covered in a white film, staring vacantly as he rose unsteadily, driven by newly awakened instincts. We knew him a little in life. His name was Marvin. He was the friendly senior officer at the police station who, despite the state of emergency, was preparing a welcome party for a new recruit who'd inexplicably chosen to transfer to Raccoon City, a place plagued by bizarre crimes.
In the unreleased version of BIOHAZARD 2, the so-called "1.5", he was originally treated as a quasi-main character. Had Marvin survived, might we have witnessed lighthearted banter between senior and junior partners, like in the movies?
Now that Leon's main partner has shifted to the Chinese-American Ada, he's become a symbol of the tragedy inherent to the BIO series: ordinary humans transformed into Zombies.
Length about 165-180cm
Main habitat The whole area of Raccoon City
Tragedy of a Walking Dead
His eyes glazed over as if covered in a white film, staring vacantly as he rose unsteadily, driven by newly awakened instincts. We knew him a little in life. His name was Marvin. He was the friendly senior officer at the police station who, despite the state of emergency, was preparing a welcome party for a new recruit who'd inexplicably chosen to transfer to Raccoon City, a place plagued by bizarre crimes.
In the unreleased version of BIOHAZARD 2, the so-called "1.5", he was originally treated as a quasi-main character. Had Marvin survived, might we have witnessed lighthearted banter between senior and junior partners, like in the movies?
Now that Leon's main partner has shifted to the Chinese-American Ada, he's become a symbol of the tragedy inherent to the BIO series: ordinary humans transformed into Zombies.
THE OTHER FOES
IVY (p.030-031)
Length about 2.5m
Main habitat Laboratory
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Plants contain chlorophyll, produce nutrients via photosynthesis, and lack the ability to move. However, carnivorous plants are often considered monster motifs due to their aggressiveness in catching insects and other small animals to digest them and form part of their nutrients.
From the start, carnivorous plants are plants that have no classification in the subject of botany because they function by supplementing deficient nitrogen and phosphorus, which are lacking in the soil of their habitats, by feeding on insects. There are various forms of insect traps in nature, but they're mainly divided between three types: pitall, trap and sticky types.
IN-GAME SETTINGS
The giant plant "Plant 42" appeared as a mid-boss in the previous game's "dormitory." While this plant was huge enough to take root in an entire building, "Ivy" is a self-moving plant created through breeding based on the research results at the Umbrella Arklay Laboratory. Many appear in the final stage at the Umbrella lab. It's slow-moving and weak to fire, but its long reach makes it difficult to slip by, making it a troublesome foe. The name Ivy, issued because it freely controls two ivies to catch its prey, is a lovely name that could initially be given to a woman, but could it be pronounced differently as 'evil'?
In addition, "Poison Ivy" is a monster that fully exploits the adaptability of plant life. In the lab's first half, "P-e Gas" (perhaps a modified version of the herbicide "V-JOLT" that was made when beating the previous "Plant 42") is sprayed to weaken the monsters that appear in the lab. It appears converted only when replaying. In this Ivy subspecies, the parts corresponding to the head and tips of the hands turn red, and the absorbed poison gas is spat as green poison. There's no doubt it's tough.
Plant 42 sprawling across a large room resembling a hall. (From BIO HAZARD)
Inside the mansion, there were also plants attacking with whip-like vines. (From BIO HAZARD)
IVY
Plant 42's a new species of plant, based on carnivorous plants, that was infected by the T-Virus and grew to enormous size. Analyzing it, humans artificially created the Ivy, officially named "Plant 43".
POISON IVY
Combining the adaptability of plants thriving in rocky mountains, tundra, and even deserts with Ivy's modified, resilient cellular structure, it seems capable of controlling poison. By decomposing gas internally, it exhales a green breath with poison properties.
Its vine-like tentacles likely extend nearly 3m at maximum reach. These tentacles normally function as auxiliary legs for independent locomotion.
The Ivies that appear en masse in the final stages are presumed to be Plant 43, specimens under development in the laboratory that escaped after a researcher's death.
The poisonous Ivy, whose discolored head resembles a flower bud.
ENCOUNTER WITH CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
Even as the 21st century approaches, there are no reports of plants that move around of their own volition. Carnivorous plants that capture insects through various means do exist however. Don't underestimate them just because they're carnivorous. Here's one report: On Mindanao Island in the Philippines, a carnivorous plant called Nepenthes merilii is found. It's the largest species within the Nepenthes genus, with trap pouches reaching 40cm in height and entrances up to 15cm in diameter. Observed inside these traps were the carcasses of mice, frogs, even birds. If you ever need to dispose of a severed wrist, you might try putting it in one.
A type of carnivorous plant, Nepenthes, characterized by its hanging pouches
Length about 2.5m
Main habitat Laboratory
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Plants contain chlorophyll, produce nutrients via photosynthesis, and lack the ability to move. However, carnivorous plants are often considered monster motifs due to their aggressiveness in catching insects and other small animals to digest them and form part of their nutrients.
From the start, carnivorous plants are plants that have no classification in the subject of botany because they function by supplementing deficient nitrogen and phosphorus, which are lacking in the soil of their habitats, by feeding on insects. There are various forms of insect traps in nature, but they're mainly divided between three types: pitall, trap and sticky types.
IN-GAME SETTINGS
The giant plant "Plant 42" appeared as a mid-boss in the previous game's "dormitory." While this plant was huge enough to take root in an entire building, "Ivy" is a self-moving plant created through breeding based on the research results at the Umbrella Arklay Laboratory. Many appear in the final stage at the Umbrella lab. It's slow-moving and weak to fire, but its long reach makes it difficult to slip by, making it a troublesome foe. The name Ivy, issued because it freely controls two ivies to catch its prey, is a lovely name that could initially be given to a woman, but could it be pronounced differently as 'evil'?
In addition, "Poison Ivy" is a monster that fully exploits the adaptability of plant life. In the lab's first half, "P-e Gas" (perhaps a modified version of the herbicide "V-JOLT" that was made when beating the previous "Plant 42") is sprayed to weaken the monsters that appear in the lab. It appears converted only when replaying. In this Ivy subspecies, the parts corresponding to the head and tips of the hands turn red, and the absorbed poison gas is spat as green poison. There's no doubt it's tough.
Plant 42 sprawling across a large room resembling a hall. (From BIO HAZARD)
Inside the mansion, there were also plants attacking with whip-like vines. (From BIO HAZARD)
IVY
Plant 42's a new species of plant, based on carnivorous plants, that was infected by the T-Virus and grew to enormous size. Analyzing it, humans artificially created the Ivy, officially named "Plant 43".
POISON IVY
Combining the adaptability of plants thriving in rocky mountains, tundra, and even deserts with Ivy's modified, resilient cellular structure, it seems capable of controlling poison. By decomposing gas internally, it exhales a green breath with poison properties.
Its vine-like tentacles likely extend nearly 3m at maximum reach. These tentacles normally function as auxiliary legs for independent locomotion.
The Ivies that appear en masse in the final stages are presumed to be Plant 43, specimens under development in the laboratory that escaped after a researcher's death.
The poisonous Ivy, whose discolored head resembles a flower bud.
ENCOUNTER WITH CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
Even as the 21st century approaches, there are no reports of plants that move around of their own volition. Carnivorous plants that capture insects through various means do exist however. Don't underestimate them just because they're carnivorous. Here's one report: On Mindanao Island in the Philippines, a carnivorous plant called Nepenthes merilii is found. It's the largest species within the Nepenthes genus, with trap pouches reaching 40cm in height and entrances up to 15cm in diameter. Observed inside these traps were the carcasses of mice, frogs, even birds. If you ever need to dispose of a severed wrist, you might try putting it in one.
A type of carnivorous plant, Nepenthes, characterized by its hanging pouches
ZOMBIE DOG (p.032)
Length about 60-70cm
Main habitat R.P.D. Basement
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Dogs are said to be humanity's oldest domesticated animals. Whether this is the reason or not, dogs are humanity's most loyal companions, with hundreds of breeds formed over centuries of history. Inevitably seen as symbols of loyalty, their nature can also be flipped to represent servility or blind obedience. In Greek mythology, Cerberus appears as the hellhound guarding the entrance to the underworld. This monster's described as having a serpentine tail and three heads. Garm in Norse mythology serves a similar role.
IN-GAME SETTING
The pharmaceutical company Umbrella Corp. created this Cerberus as a biological weapon in reality. The zombie dog Cerberus smashing through a glass window and charging into the hallway at the beginning of the previous game is arguably one of the scenes that bolstered BIO HAZARD's reputation. This time, the Zombie Dogs aren't bioweapons, but police Dobermans infected with the T-Virus that've become ferocious. Their cellular tissue's already breaking down. Their only attack pattern's leaping and lunging, so veterans can simply duck under their jump trajectory to avoid them.
RELATED WORKS
In movies and novels, dogs are often possessed or sacrificed by supernatural entities. Among these, the “demon dogs” appearing in Stephen King's works are particularly outstanding. From a zombie perspective, in Pet Sematary (Bungeishunju Bunko), pets buried in a sacred Indian burial ground return as zombified and ferocious creatures. Considering the setting of viral infection however, the story of the rabid, enraged St. Bernard in "Cujo" (Shinchosha Bunko) might be closer. Naturally, both works have been adapted into films.
Zombie Dog
Dogs infected by the T-Virus and turned into Zombies, just like humans. However, their muscle tissue seems to strengthen faster than humans'.
A Cerberus breaking through a window and charging in. (From BIO HAZARD).
A zombified Doberman. There seemed to be a kennel in the basement.
LET'S TURN YOUR DOG INTO A ZOMBIE TOO!
Akita Inu - They'll wait for their master indefinitely, no matter how long it takes.
Chihuahua - The world's smallest zombie dog. Won't bother the neighbors, so you can rest easy.
Friendly neighborhood mutt - Once zombified, bodily fluids drip everywhere, so even if they become friendly, it's a problem.
Poodle - Even if zombified, just give them a neat trim and you're good. Smells awful, but cute.
Length about 60-70cm
Main habitat R.P.D. Basement
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Dogs are said to be humanity's oldest domesticated animals. Whether this is the reason or not, dogs are humanity's most loyal companions, with hundreds of breeds formed over centuries of history. Inevitably seen as symbols of loyalty, their nature can also be flipped to represent servility or blind obedience. In Greek mythology, Cerberus appears as the hellhound guarding the entrance to the underworld. This monster's described as having a serpentine tail and three heads. Garm in Norse mythology serves a similar role.
IN-GAME SETTING
The pharmaceutical company Umbrella Corp. created this Cerberus as a biological weapon in reality. The zombie dog Cerberus smashing through a glass window and charging into the hallway at the beginning of the previous game is arguably one of the scenes that bolstered BIO HAZARD's reputation. This time, the Zombie Dogs aren't bioweapons, but police Dobermans infected with the T-Virus that've become ferocious. Their cellular tissue's already breaking down. Their only attack pattern's leaping and lunging, so veterans can simply duck under their jump trajectory to avoid them.
RELATED WORKS
In movies and novels, dogs are often possessed or sacrificed by supernatural entities. Among these, the “demon dogs” appearing in Stephen King's works are particularly outstanding. From a zombie perspective, in Pet Sematary (Bungeishunju Bunko), pets buried in a sacred Indian burial ground return as zombified and ferocious creatures. Considering the setting of viral infection however, the story of the rabid, enraged St. Bernard in "Cujo" (Shinchosha Bunko) might be closer. Naturally, both works have been adapted into films.
Zombie Dog
Dogs infected by the T-Virus and turned into Zombies, just like humans. However, their muscle tissue seems to strengthen faster than humans'.
A Cerberus breaking through a window and charging in. (From BIO HAZARD).
A zombified Doberman. There seemed to be a kennel in the basement.
LET'S TURN YOUR DOG INTO A ZOMBIE TOO!
Akita Inu - They'll wait for their master indefinitely, no matter how long it takes.
Chihuahua - The world's smallest zombie dog. Won't bother the neighbors, so you can rest easy.
Friendly neighborhood mutt - Once zombified, bodily fluids drip everywhere, so even if they become friendly, it's a problem.
Poodle - Even if zombified, just give them a neat trim and you're good. Smells awful, but cute.
GIANT SPIDER (p.033)
Length 2-3m
Main habitat sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Greek mythology contains an episode explaining the origin of spiders. Long ago, there lived a girl who wove beautiful cloth. Her name was Arachne. Overconfident that she could even surpass Athena, the goddess of war and craftsmanship, she challenged Athena to a weaving contest and insulted her. Enraged, Athena caused her to hang herself and die. Taking pity on Arachné, Athena decided to transform her into a spider hanging from a thread... This tale, which also gave rise to the word “arachnid” for spiders in English, tells of a suicide victim turned into a spider. It likely also expresses the eeriness ancient people felt toward spiders.
IN-GAME SETTING
The spiders appearing in the game, measuring 2-3 meters in size, make a return appearance following "1" and serve as an indispensable spice for this series. The image source is likely the tarantula, a venomous spider often used as a prop in films. This spider, which frequently appears in classic adventure films like the first James Bond movie, "Dr. No" (1962), and the first Indiana Jones film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), is also called a dancing spider due to the legend that its bite causes victims to writhe in agony as if dancing. Despite its intimidating appearance, it is said to be not particularly venomous.
Speaking of scary spiders, a recent example's the panic movie Arachnophobia (1990), for which Spielberg served as executive producer. True to its title meaning "spider phobia," it depicts a spider-phobic man battling spiders capable of killing humans with a single bite.
At first glance it appears to be a subspecies of tarantula, but it lacks an official codename and details remain unclear. It was bred for research into its venom production system and the venom itself, but escaped during a disturbance and seems to have taken up residence in the sewers. Its primary diet consists of rats and cockroaches, placing it at the top of the sewer food chain.
The "Web Spinner" that appeared midway through the previous game. It was originally a bioweapon created by Umbrella. (From BIO HAZARD).
The "Black Tiger," a giant form of the Web Spinner. Defeating it spawns a large number of baby spiders. (From BIO HAZARD).
LEGEND OF THE DEADLIEST VENOMOUS SPIDER
Black Widow Spider - Found in South America. Body length: 8cm. Its venom can kill 500 mice. Humans die too. Painful.
Black Widow Spider - Found in Central and South America. Body length: 1cm. Though small, its venom surpasses even that of scorpions. However, there is an antidote, so it's safe.
The photo shows a “Mexican Redknee”. It's a less toxic species. It may be the model for the Black Tiger.
Length 2-3m
Main habitat sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Greek mythology contains an episode explaining the origin of spiders. Long ago, there lived a girl who wove beautiful cloth. Her name was Arachne. Overconfident that she could even surpass Athena, the goddess of war and craftsmanship, she challenged Athena to a weaving contest and insulted her. Enraged, Athena caused her to hang herself and die. Taking pity on Arachné, Athena decided to transform her into a spider hanging from a thread... This tale, which also gave rise to the word “arachnid” for spiders in English, tells of a suicide victim turned into a spider. It likely also expresses the eeriness ancient people felt toward spiders.
IN-GAME SETTING
The spiders appearing in the game, measuring 2-3 meters in size, make a return appearance following "1" and serve as an indispensable spice for this series. The image source is likely the tarantula, a venomous spider often used as a prop in films. This spider, which frequently appears in classic adventure films like the first James Bond movie, "Dr. No" (1962), and the first Indiana Jones film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981), is also called a dancing spider due to the legend that its bite causes victims to writhe in agony as if dancing. Despite its intimidating appearance, it is said to be not particularly venomous.
Speaking of scary spiders, a recent example's the panic movie Arachnophobia (1990), for which Spielberg served as executive producer. True to its title meaning "spider phobia," it depicts a spider-phobic man battling spiders capable of killing humans with a single bite.
At first glance it appears to be a subspecies of tarantula, but it lacks an official codename and details remain unclear. It was bred for research into its venom production system and the venom itself, but escaped during a disturbance and seems to have taken up residence in the sewers. Its primary diet consists of rats and cockroaches, placing it at the top of the sewer food chain.
The "Web Spinner" that appeared midway through the previous game. It was originally a bioweapon created by Umbrella. (From BIO HAZARD).
The "Black Tiger," a giant form of the Web Spinner. Defeating it spawns a large number of baby spiders. (From BIO HAZARD).
LEGEND OF THE DEADLIEST VENOMOUS SPIDER
Black Widow Spider - Found in South America. Body length: 8cm. Its venom can kill 500 mice. Humans die too. Painful.
Black Widow Spider - Found in Central and South America. Body length: 1cm. Though small, its venom surpasses even that of scorpions. However, there is an antidote, so it's safe.
The photo shows a “Mexican Redknee”. It's a less toxic species. It may be the model for the Black Tiger.
GIANT MOTH (p.034)
Length about 1-2m
Main habitat Laboratory
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Moths are a large group within Lepidoptera that compete with butterflies. Their wings are often drably colored, and since they're mainly nocturnal, many languages refer to them as "night butterflies," though their strict classification remains unclear. In ancient Greece, both moths and butterflies were collectively called "psyche" (soul). This likely originates from the nature of a pupa giving rise to the adult, yet later generations treated the two entirely differently. Generally, butterflies, with their many beautiful species, are beloved worldwide and symbolize fleeting beauty. In contrast, moths, whose larvae may be poisonous or bear unsettling patterns, are often treated as pests. Although the belief their scales contain poison appears to be a superstition.
IN-GAME SETTING
The Giant Moth's an escaped moth from Umbrella's Arklay facility, where it was a test subject that underwent abnormal growth. Through repeated reproduction, its torso became bloated, but its wings failed to grow proportionally, leaving them ragged. The larvae seem to particularly favor warm locations. Possibly originating from the mountain moth, it features distinctive eye-like patterns. As generations passed though, the detrimental effects of mutation likely emerged, resulting in few adult specimens appearing and leaving a faint impression in this installment.
RELATED WORKS
When it comes to giant moths, the undisputed king of tokusatsu cinema is "Mothra" (1961). Like the Giant Moth, it possesses enormous eye-like patterns, likely also modeled after the Japanese Giant Silkworm Moth. Its larvae spin silk, while the adults attack with powdery scales. It builds a cocoon on Tokyo Tower, showcasing immense scale, though it didn't eat people.
Giant Moth
A moth that escaped from Umbrella's experiments and multiplied. It likely took several generations to reach this size. Its wings are ragged and it lacks the tail-like appendage seen in the original mountain moth.
An adult with ragged wings, perhaps unbalanced with its body.
Larvae are more numerous than adults and seem to prefer warm places.
DISCOVERED! REAL GIANT INSECTS
Even the larvae measure over 10cm in body length. The world's largest moth, the Yonaguni Giant Moth, with its wings spread, an adult moth can reach over 30cm. Distributed from India and Sri Lanka to China and Malaysia, its wings are adorned with a pale, mottled pattern. The Nanpei Giant Moth, inhabiting Central America, is also known for its considerable size, but overall, it can't match the scale of the Yonaguni Giant Moth. It's large enough to completely cover a human face, making it possible to hold a real-life masquerade ball with just one specimen.
Length about 1-2m
Main habitat Laboratory
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Moths are a large group within Lepidoptera that compete with butterflies. Their wings are often drably colored, and since they're mainly nocturnal, many languages refer to them as "night butterflies," though their strict classification remains unclear. In ancient Greece, both moths and butterflies were collectively called "psyche" (soul). This likely originates from the nature of a pupa giving rise to the adult, yet later generations treated the two entirely differently. Generally, butterflies, with their many beautiful species, are beloved worldwide and symbolize fleeting beauty. In contrast, moths, whose larvae may be poisonous or bear unsettling patterns, are often treated as pests. Although the belief their scales contain poison appears to be a superstition.
IN-GAME SETTING
The Giant Moth's an escaped moth from Umbrella's Arklay facility, where it was a test subject that underwent abnormal growth. Through repeated reproduction, its torso became bloated, but its wings failed to grow proportionally, leaving them ragged. The larvae seem to particularly favor warm locations. Possibly originating from the mountain moth, it features distinctive eye-like patterns. As generations passed though, the detrimental effects of mutation likely emerged, resulting in few adult specimens appearing and leaving a faint impression in this installment.
RELATED WORKS
When it comes to giant moths, the undisputed king of tokusatsu cinema is "Mothra" (1961). Like the Giant Moth, it possesses enormous eye-like patterns, likely also modeled after the Japanese Giant Silkworm Moth. Its larvae spin silk, while the adults attack with powdery scales. It builds a cocoon on Tokyo Tower, showcasing immense scale, though it didn't eat people.
Giant Moth
A moth that escaped from Umbrella's experiments and multiplied. It likely took several generations to reach this size. Its wings are ragged and it lacks the tail-like appendage seen in the original mountain moth.
An adult with ragged wings, perhaps unbalanced with its body.
Larvae are more numerous than adults and seem to prefer warm places.
DISCOVERED! REAL GIANT INSECTS
Even the larvae measure over 10cm in body length. The world's largest moth, the Yonaguni Giant Moth, with its wings spread, an adult moth can reach over 30cm. Distributed from India and Sri Lanka to China and Malaysia, its wings are adorned with a pale, mottled pattern. The Nanpei Giant Moth, inhabiting Central America, is also known for its considerable size, but overall, it can't match the scale of the Yonaguni Giant Moth. It's large enough to completely cover a human face, making it possible to hold a real-life masquerade ball with just one specimen.
ALLIGATOR (p.035)
Length about 10m
Main habitat Sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Generally, “crocodile” is a collective term for the order Crocodilia within the class Reptilia. Extant species are divided into three subfamilies: Alligatoridae (alligators), Crocodylidae (crocodiles), and Gavialidae (gharials). Crocodiles are typically considered Old World (e.g., Africa), while alligators are New World. Although modern zoology increasingly rejects classification based solely on geographical origin. In popular imagination however, alligators are unmistakably associated with American crocodilians. The alligator in the game was likely captured in Florida, a famous crocodilian habitat in the United States.
Due to their distinctive appearance, knowledge of crocodilians spread far beyond their native range since ancient times. In the chapter on Egypt within Herodotus's ancient Greek book "The Histories", crocodiles are mentioned as creatures that can see with their eyes closed and lack tongues. It also states that some Egyptians tamed crocodiles, mummified them after death, and gave them elaborate funerals. This independent evolution of imagery gave rise to the proverb "crocodile tears". From the superstition that crocodiles shed fake tears to lull their prey into a false sense of security, it evolved into the belief that they weep after consuming their victims, becoming a symbol of "hypocrisy."
IN-GAME SETTING
The crocodile's image continued to take on a life of its own, becoming a central figure in urban legends. Several years ago, rumors spread that a crocodile was in the pond at Shakujii Park, even prompting police to respond (?). The origin of this likely stems from the modern folklore image of "crocodiles inhabiting New York's sewers." True to form, the giant crocodile lurking in the sewers (10m long) would be spectacularly blown to bits by the player, much like in modern storyteller Spielberg's "Jaws".
Due to the T-Virus and sewage flowing through the sewers, the alligator's entire skeleton has become gigantified. The original species was likely a freshwater alligator (5-6m long) native to the southeastern United States. Its nature's also become more ferocious.
LET'S KEEP AN ALLIGATOR EDITION
1. Unfortunately, the 7-8m-long saltwater crocodile's hard to come by. Beginners should try keeping a spectacled caiman (max 3m).
2. It's crucial to maintain both water and ambient temperatures between 25°C and 30°C using heaters or electric lamps. Be especially careful during Japan's cold winters.
3. Feed them loaches, crayfish, mice, crucian carp, etc. Gently bring the food to their mouths and they'll snap it up. Be careful not to get your wrist bitten.
CAUTION!
Alligators are extremely dangerous. Don't keep them without proper knowledge.
NOTE: Contrary to their appearance, alligators are highly sensitive. In unfamiliar surroundings, they may refuse food for 2-3 days. It's truly heartbreaking.
Length about 10m
Main habitat Sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Generally, “crocodile” is a collective term for the order Crocodilia within the class Reptilia. Extant species are divided into three subfamilies: Alligatoridae (alligators), Crocodylidae (crocodiles), and Gavialidae (gharials). Crocodiles are typically considered Old World (e.g., Africa), while alligators are New World. Although modern zoology increasingly rejects classification based solely on geographical origin. In popular imagination however, alligators are unmistakably associated with American crocodilians. The alligator in the game was likely captured in Florida, a famous crocodilian habitat in the United States.
Due to their distinctive appearance, knowledge of crocodilians spread far beyond their native range since ancient times. In the chapter on Egypt within Herodotus's ancient Greek book "The Histories", crocodiles are mentioned as creatures that can see with their eyes closed and lack tongues. It also states that some Egyptians tamed crocodiles, mummified them after death, and gave them elaborate funerals. This independent evolution of imagery gave rise to the proverb "crocodile tears". From the superstition that crocodiles shed fake tears to lull their prey into a false sense of security, it evolved into the belief that they weep after consuming their victims, becoming a symbol of "hypocrisy."
IN-GAME SETTING
The crocodile's image continued to take on a life of its own, becoming a central figure in urban legends. Several years ago, rumors spread that a crocodile was in the pond at Shakujii Park, even prompting police to respond (?). The origin of this likely stems from the modern folklore image of "crocodiles inhabiting New York's sewers." True to form, the giant crocodile lurking in the sewers (10m long) would be spectacularly blown to bits by the player, much like in modern storyteller Spielberg's "Jaws".
Due to the T-Virus and sewage flowing through the sewers, the alligator's entire skeleton has become gigantified. The original species was likely a freshwater alligator (5-6m long) native to the southeastern United States. Its nature's also become more ferocious.
LET'S KEEP AN ALLIGATOR EDITION
1. Unfortunately, the 7-8m-long saltwater crocodile's hard to come by. Beginners should try keeping a spectacled caiman (max 3m).
2. It's crucial to maintain both water and ambient temperatures between 25°C and 30°C using heaters or electric lamps. Be especially careful during Japan's cold winters.
3. Feed them loaches, crayfish, mice, crucian carp, etc. Gently bring the food to their mouths and they'll snap it up. Be careful not to get your wrist bitten.
CAUTION!
Alligators are extremely dangerous. Don't keep them without proper knowledge.
NOTE: Contrary to their appearance, alligators are highly sensitive. In unfamiliar surroundings, they may refuse food for 2-3 days. It's truly heartbreaking.
CROW (p.036)
Length 30-40cm
Main habitat Police Department 2F
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Order Passeriformes, Family Corvidae. Most are entirely black and widely distributed worldwide except South America and New Zealand.
IN-GAME SETTING
Crows reappear from the previous game. While individuals in locations like the mansion's art room were likely caught in the explosion, those inhabiting the forest surrounding the city became frenzied after feeding on Zombie carcasses. They attack in flocks, making them impossible to eliminate completely, so hearing their cries means you better run.
RELATED WORKS
When it comes to flocks of crows, Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963) is legendary. It depicts the terror of a town overrun by crows. The film "The Dark Half" (1993, not released in Japan), directed by Romero and based on a Stephen King story, also features a painful-looking scene near the end where a swarm of sparrows flies into a house and attacks people, reminiscent of The Birds.
Crow
A crow whose physique hasn't changed much, but whose nature has become ferocious. The iris area has turned red.
Crows attacking the protagonist in a flock.
Length 30-40cm
Main habitat Police Department 2F
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
Order Passeriformes, Family Corvidae. Most are entirely black and widely distributed worldwide except South America and New Zealand.
IN-GAME SETTING
Crows reappear from the previous game. While individuals in locations like the mansion's art room were likely caught in the explosion, those inhabiting the forest surrounding the city became frenzied after feeding on Zombie carcasses. They attack in flocks, making them impossible to eliminate completely, so hearing their cries means you better run.
RELATED WORKS
When it comes to flocks of crows, Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963) is legendary. It depicts the terror of a town overrun by crows. The film "The Dark Half" (1993, not released in Japan), directed by Romero and based on a Stephen King story, also features a painful-looking scene near the end where a swarm of sparrows flies into a house and attacks people, reminiscent of The Birds.
Crow
A crow whose physique hasn't changed much, but whose nature has become ferocious. The iris area has turned red.
Crows attacking the protagonist in a flock.
LARGE ROACH
Length 30-40cm
Main habitat Sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
The scientific name Blattaria for the cockroach order comes from "light-shunning." The Japanese name "gokiburi" (cockroach) indicates "one that gnaws at vessels." Cockroaches appeared on Earth about 300 million years ago, reaching their peak during the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. Since their fossils from that time display almost no differences from their current form, they can be considered the most familiar living fossils. Possessing formidable vitality, their lifespan can reach up to four years. They're highly prolific, with females laying over 1000 eggs in their lifetime.
IN-GAME SETTING
The Large Roaches in the game are cockroaches inhabiting the sewers that've been mutated into giant forms by the T-Virus. While rats originally introduced the T-Virus into the sewers, it seems the Large Roaches, having undergone an intense competition of survival, eradicated the rats that'd become monstrous.
RELATED WORKS
The movie "Mimic" (1998) features the genetically modified giant insect "Judas Bloodline," based on cockroaches. When standing upright it reportedly resembles a man wearing a coat. Its image overlaps somewhat with the Tyrant.
Large Roach
Among the mutants in BIOHAZARD 2, the Large Roach may be the creature that grew the largest proportionally (roughly 7-8 times the size of the original species). Its diet shifted from omnivorous to primarily carnivorous, but its voracious vitality remains unchanged.
The Large Roach, which dislikes light and inhabits ducts.
Length 30-40cm
Main habitat Sewer
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
The scientific name Blattaria for the cockroach order comes from "light-shunning." The Japanese name "gokiburi" (cockroach) indicates "one that gnaws at vessels." Cockroaches appeared on Earth about 300 million years ago, reaching their peak during the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. Since their fossils from that time display almost no differences from their current form, they can be considered the most familiar living fossils. Possessing formidable vitality, their lifespan can reach up to four years. They're highly prolific, with females laying over 1000 eggs in their lifetime.
IN-GAME SETTING
The Large Roaches in the game are cockroaches inhabiting the sewers that've been mutated into giant forms by the T-Virus. While rats originally introduced the T-Virus into the sewers, it seems the Large Roaches, having undergone an intense competition of survival, eradicated the rats that'd become monstrous.
RELATED WORKS
The movie "Mimic" (1998) features the genetically modified giant insect "Judas Bloodline," based on cockroaches. When standing upright it reportedly resembles a man wearing a coat. Its image overlaps somewhat with the Tyrant.
Large Roach
Among the mutants in BIOHAZARD 2, the Large Roach may be the creature that grew the largest proportionally (roughly 7-8 times the size of the original species). Its diet shifted from omnivorous to primarily carnivorous, but its voracious vitality remains unchanged.
The Large Roach, which dislikes light and inhabits ducts.
LEON S. KENNEDY (p.040-041)
HEIGHT: 178cm
WEIGHT: 70.2kg
BLOOD TYPE: A
21 YEARS OLD
A rookie policeman with a strong sense of justice who still retains his boyish appearance. His sharp eyes and long bangs show his innate naiveté. He has a rather enthusiast gun, a VP-70 manufactured by Heckler & Koch. It's unlikely this gun's officially adopted by the Raccoon Police Department, and it's believed to be his personal property.
He had good grades at the police academy, and although he's unskilled with large guns such as shotguns, he's generally proficient with firearms and rarely misses his aim. Even in the midst of the catastrophe that struck Raccoon City, he was able to use his marksmanship skills to his advantage.
On the other hand, he's not very good with women. In spite of his position as a police officer, Claire Redfield, a female motorcyclist, and Ada Wong, an enigmatic Chinese woman, whom he gets to know in the course of the incident, never seem to listen to his instructions and do their own thing. In the end he fails to protect even a young girl as she runs away in fear, and he's still young and full of vigor so still a bit green, which may prevent him from winning the hearts of women. The fact he rides a jeep and carries a survival knife makes him seem more like a boy scout than a cop.
He's also quite a romantic and falls seriously in love with Ada while they're together. It could be said him falling in love with her under extreme circumstances was due to his youthfulness. He declares he'll protect her with his own hands, even though he was separated from the girl Claire to search for survivors. He's so devoted to Ada he can't even question her words and actions, which aren't typical of ordinary people, and when she's shot at by a suspicious person, he takes a stand to defend her. He's unable to protect Ada in the end and their love affair comes to an abrupt end with her death, but he appears to have accepted her death in his own way, while also seeming to have some kind of commitment.
The look on his face as he vows to cleanse Umbrella after his escape from Raccoon City, isn't only heated, but also powerful in a way he hadn't been before the previous night. He's now one of the people who've touched the depths of Hell and come back.
According to Mr. Baba in charge of the character design, Leon's based on the image of River Phoenix. The character's current youthful appearance was chosen in order to make the player feel more comfortable with an unreliable protagonist. Also, since Chris in the previous game was rather cheerful and open-minded, he was originally planned to be made a little more calm and quiet. However, the voice actors' enthusiastic performance made it seem less so. "They spoke with a lot of tension when we recorded the voices, so I thought it'd be good to have him in this mood" said director Kamiya.
Leon's appearance varies slightly from scene to scene, but his fine lines are consistent. On the left's a CG model made after the game was completed to more faithfully reproduce the artist's vision of Leon. His inner fearlessness has come to the fore.
There are two types of Leon's hidden costumes. One's the left one, which looks like a rocker from the 60s. The skull on the back's pretty cool. The other's the gymnast style on the right. It's easy to move around in, but it's quite defenseless. It's a bit narcissistic. By the way, the way he shoots his gun changes when he changes his clothes, and in both cases he shoots diagonally with one hand. It's said clothes make the man... but his personality's also changed quite a bit.
LEON'S ITEM
LIGHTER
In the previous game, Chris was a smoker and actually looked good with a cigarette. In the opening live-action scene, the actor who played Chris enthusiastically lit a cigarette with a Zippo. Leon, however, doesn't have any smoking scenes, and he himself isn't a guy who looks good with a cigarette. If you examine this in the game, you'll see it has the Raccoon Police Department's emblem engraved on it. It must've been given to him upon his appointment. If he doesn't smoke, he's still a serious guy as he came to work with this in hand.
S.T.A.R.S. & SWAT
Unlike the S.T.A.R.S. members in the previous game, Leon's simply a rookie cop. S.T.A.R.S. is an abbreviation for "Special Tactics And Rescue Service", a special ops unit created to deal with crimes and incidents difficult for ordinary police to handle. Since it's an internal police organization, it doesn't simply shoot criminals to death like other special forces affiliated with the military. These settings are probably based on the real SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics). However, Leon's performance in this game's as good as those of Special Weapons and Tactics, so should be greatly admired.
Incidentally, it has recently been revealed that Japan also has a special police unit. It's called the "Special Assault Team". In April 1998, seven prefectural police departments, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police Department, officially established it as the "SAT". It has about 200 members. Due to the dangerous nature of their missions, the selection of members is said to be conducted after careful consideration for kinship and other factors.
HEIGHT: 178cm
WEIGHT: 70.2kg
BLOOD TYPE: A
21 YEARS OLD
A rookie policeman with a strong sense of justice who still retains his boyish appearance. His sharp eyes and long bangs show his innate naiveté. He has a rather enthusiast gun, a VP-70 manufactured by Heckler & Koch. It's unlikely this gun's officially adopted by the Raccoon Police Department, and it's believed to be his personal property.
He had good grades at the police academy, and although he's unskilled with large guns such as shotguns, he's generally proficient with firearms and rarely misses his aim. Even in the midst of the catastrophe that struck Raccoon City, he was able to use his marksmanship skills to his advantage.
On the other hand, he's not very good with women. In spite of his position as a police officer, Claire Redfield, a female motorcyclist, and Ada Wong, an enigmatic Chinese woman, whom he gets to know in the course of the incident, never seem to listen to his instructions and do their own thing. In the end he fails to protect even a young girl as she runs away in fear, and he's still young and full of vigor so still a bit green, which may prevent him from winning the hearts of women. The fact he rides a jeep and carries a survival knife makes him seem more like a boy scout than a cop.
He's also quite a romantic and falls seriously in love with Ada while they're together. It could be said him falling in love with her under extreme circumstances was due to his youthfulness. He declares he'll protect her with his own hands, even though he was separated from the girl Claire to search for survivors. He's so devoted to Ada he can't even question her words and actions, which aren't typical of ordinary people, and when she's shot at by a suspicious person, he takes a stand to defend her. He's unable to protect Ada in the end and their love affair comes to an abrupt end with her death, but he appears to have accepted her death in his own way, while also seeming to have some kind of commitment.
The look on his face as he vows to cleanse Umbrella after his escape from Raccoon City, isn't only heated, but also powerful in a way he hadn't been before the previous night. He's now one of the people who've touched the depths of Hell and come back.
According to Mr. Baba in charge of the character design, Leon's based on the image of River Phoenix. The character's current youthful appearance was chosen in order to make the player feel more comfortable with an unreliable protagonist. Also, since Chris in the previous game was rather cheerful and open-minded, he was originally planned to be made a little more calm and quiet. However, the voice actors' enthusiastic performance made it seem less so. "They spoke with a lot of tension when we recorded the voices, so I thought it'd be good to have him in this mood" said director Kamiya.
Leon's appearance varies slightly from scene to scene, but his fine lines are consistent. On the left's a CG model made after the game was completed to more faithfully reproduce the artist's vision of Leon. His inner fearlessness has come to the fore.
There are two types of Leon's hidden costumes. One's the left one, which looks like a rocker from the 60s. The skull on the back's pretty cool. The other's the gymnast style on the right. It's easy to move around in, but it's quite defenseless. It's a bit narcissistic. By the way, the way he shoots his gun changes when he changes his clothes, and in both cases he shoots diagonally with one hand. It's said clothes make the man... but his personality's also changed quite a bit.
LEON'S ITEM
LIGHTER
In the previous game, Chris was a smoker and actually looked good with a cigarette. In the opening live-action scene, the actor who played Chris enthusiastically lit a cigarette with a Zippo. Leon, however, doesn't have any smoking scenes, and he himself isn't a guy who looks good with a cigarette. If you examine this in the game, you'll see it has the Raccoon Police Department's emblem engraved on it. It must've been given to him upon his appointment. If he doesn't smoke, he's still a serious guy as he came to work with this in hand.
S.T.A.R.S. & SWAT
Unlike the S.T.A.R.S. members in the previous game, Leon's simply a rookie cop. S.T.A.R.S. is an abbreviation for "Special Tactics And Rescue Service", a special ops unit created to deal with crimes and incidents difficult for ordinary police to handle. Since it's an internal police organization, it doesn't simply shoot criminals to death like other special forces affiliated with the military. These settings are probably based on the real SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics). However, Leon's performance in this game's as good as those of Special Weapons and Tactics, so should be greatly admired.
Incidentally, it has recently been revealed that Japan also has a special police unit. It's called the "Special Assault Team". In April 1998, seven prefectural police departments, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police Department, officially established it as the "SAT". It has about 200 members. Due to the dangerous nature of their missions, the selection of members is said to be conducted after careful consideration for kinship and other factors.
CLAIRE REDFIELD (p.042-043)
HEIGHT: 169cm
WEIGHT: 52.4kg
BLOOD TYPE: O
19 YEARS OLD
A college student who rides into Raccoon City alone on her beloved motorcycle, fearing for her older brother Chris, who disappeared two months ago. Although she gets caught up in a major incident, she overcomes her predicament with her innate bravery and skilled gun-play, and finally succeeds in escaping with a little girl named Sherry.
The back print of her vest, "Made in Heaven", matches her brother's. In the game, she makes Sherry wear this vest as a "good luck charm," which shows she herself has been wearing it as some kind of emotional support on a daily basis. She's been living with Chris since she was a child, which may have made other men seem soft to her. Her personality's tough and strong-willed and she doesn't rely on any man, but rather does things as she sees fit. She's more than capable of handling a gun, which is probably due to the fact her brother, an expert within S.T.A.R.S, taught her how. In the U.S., where the concept of self-defense is widespread, gun education's very popular in some areas, but even so, it'd be rare for a girl to be taught directly by someone from special ops.
However, it's doubtful she was a tomboy who kicked boys' butts from a young age. Perhaps it was because she started off weak that she admired her strong brother, and made her own efforts to get as close to him as possible. With that in mind, the survival knife she wears on her left shoulder, following Chris' example, looks awkward.
Her fashion sense isn't very sophisticated, probably because she's not interested in men and doesn't need to look like a girl. She likely never expected her rugged rider boots would come in handy for kicking Zombies in the head.
After she meets Sherry, she begins showing her maternal strength and tries her best to protect her, even when she doesn't know what'll happen to her own life. She's no longer just a girl who yearns for her brother's strength, as she moves forward with a little hand in her grasp despite her many wounds.
Claire's weapons are generally more game-like than Leon's more realistic weapons. The weapons she uses, such as the Bow Gun and Spark Shot, are chosen for their appearance. Incidentally, it was Ms. Hayashi, who was in charge of motion, who recommended the Bow Gun. She said, "I thought it was cool when Juliette Lewis used one in From Dusk Till Dawn." She initially had an idea for attaching bombs to the arrow-tips, like in Rambo, blowing up enemies after they land. That's exciting. That's what you'd expect from an American motorcycle rider.
Claire has something of a baby-face. However, her American-made figure's that of a tough Amazoness-like build with sanpaku eyes, a Roman nose, pointed cheekbones, and thick lips. It appears CAPCOM made some changes to her figure as soon as possible, but this story makes one think about the culture gap.
Her hidden costumes. The costumes are a wild mix of both Indian and cowboy imagery. These radical styles look great and she can now use the Colt S.A.A., a masterpiece revolver, and her shooting style changes to one where she holds the revolver in her waistband while quickly raising the firing pin with her other palm.
CLAIRE'S ITEM
LOCKPICK
A set of safety pins and a wire. There must be some trick to it, as she can easily open a simple lock with this. She probably has a knack for tinkering with machines since she maintains motorcycles on a daily basis, but why would she need such a thing...? Maybe she borrows roadside bikes for a while and carries it with her for those occasions? The most famous way to steal a motorcycle's to connect cords, but it's impossible to control since the handlebars remain locked. So the quickest way's to pry open the lock... Or perhaps that's not possible.
ABOUT CLAIRE'S BIKES
Claire owns two motorcycles. In addition to the white bike she rode to Raccoon City, she also has a black bike with flames painted on the tank. Both of them are Harley Davidson-type bikes, but except for the engine, the rest of the bikes are custom made with one-off parts she made herself. Customization's the act of taking an industrial motorcycle and making it your own. It starts with putting stickers on the bike, changing the cowl, seat, tank, etc., replacing bolts with high quality ones, and giving it a custom paint job to differentiate it from others in terms of appearance. When you get to the end of the process, you have to replace all the parts except for the engine, or "complete customization". These complete customs aren't uncommon in the Harley world. Especially in the U.S., there are many manufacturers that produce original frames for Harleys. Nonetheless, these two bikes, which were made entirely by hand without using frames from such companies, are truly worthy of being called "Claire's Customs". These bikes are probably just as she'd envisioned them. Perhaps she was able to recover one of the bikes that was abandoned in this incident.
HEIGHT: 169cm
WEIGHT: 52.4kg
BLOOD TYPE: O
19 YEARS OLD
A college student who rides into Raccoon City alone on her beloved motorcycle, fearing for her older brother Chris, who disappeared two months ago. Although she gets caught up in a major incident, she overcomes her predicament with her innate bravery and skilled gun-play, and finally succeeds in escaping with a little girl named Sherry.
The back print of her vest, "Made in Heaven", matches her brother's. In the game, she makes Sherry wear this vest as a "good luck charm," which shows she herself has been wearing it as some kind of emotional support on a daily basis. She's been living with Chris since she was a child, which may have made other men seem soft to her. Her personality's tough and strong-willed and she doesn't rely on any man, but rather does things as she sees fit. She's more than capable of handling a gun, which is probably due to the fact her brother, an expert within S.T.A.R.S, taught her how. In the U.S., where the concept of self-defense is widespread, gun education's very popular in some areas, but even so, it'd be rare for a girl to be taught directly by someone from special ops.
However, it's doubtful she was a tomboy who kicked boys' butts from a young age. Perhaps it was because she started off weak that she admired her strong brother, and made her own efforts to get as close to him as possible. With that in mind, the survival knife she wears on her left shoulder, following Chris' example, looks awkward.
Her fashion sense isn't very sophisticated, probably because she's not interested in men and doesn't need to look like a girl. She likely never expected her rugged rider boots would come in handy for kicking Zombies in the head.
After she meets Sherry, she begins showing her maternal strength and tries her best to protect her, even when she doesn't know what'll happen to her own life. She's no longer just a girl who yearns for her brother's strength, as she moves forward with a little hand in her grasp despite her many wounds.
Claire's weapons are generally more game-like than Leon's more realistic weapons. The weapons she uses, such as the Bow Gun and Spark Shot, are chosen for their appearance. Incidentally, it was Ms. Hayashi, who was in charge of motion, who recommended the Bow Gun. She said, "I thought it was cool when Juliette Lewis used one in From Dusk Till Dawn." She initially had an idea for attaching bombs to the arrow-tips, like in Rambo, blowing up enemies after they land. That's exciting. That's what you'd expect from an American motorcycle rider.
Claire has something of a baby-face. However, her American-made figure's that of a tough Amazoness-like build with sanpaku eyes, a Roman nose, pointed cheekbones, and thick lips. It appears CAPCOM made some changes to her figure as soon as possible, but this story makes one think about the culture gap.
Her hidden costumes. The costumes are a wild mix of both Indian and cowboy imagery. These radical styles look great and she can now use the Colt S.A.A., a masterpiece revolver, and her shooting style changes to one where she holds the revolver in her waistband while quickly raising the firing pin with her other palm.
CLAIRE'S ITEM
LOCKPICK
A set of safety pins and a wire. There must be some trick to it, as she can easily open a simple lock with this. She probably has a knack for tinkering with machines since she maintains motorcycles on a daily basis, but why would she need such a thing...? Maybe she borrows roadside bikes for a while and carries it with her for those occasions? The most famous way to steal a motorcycle's to connect cords, but it's impossible to control since the handlebars remain locked. So the quickest way's to pry open the lock... Or perhaps that's not possible.
ABOUT CLAIRE'S BIKES
Claire owns two motorcycles. In addition to the white bike she rode to Raccoon City, she also has a black bike with flames painted on the tank. Both of them are Harley Davidson-type bikes, but except for the engine, the rest of the bikes are custom made with one-off parts she made herself. Customization's the act of taking an industrial motorcycle and making it your own. It starts with putting stickers on the bike, changing the cowl, seat, tank, etc., replacing bolts with high quality ones, and giving it a custom paint job to differentiate it from others in terms of appearance. When you get to the end of the process, you have to replace all the parts except for the engine, or "complete customization". These complete customs aren't uncommon in the Harley world. Especially in the U.S., there are many manufacturers that produce original frames for Harleys. Nonetheless, these two bikes, which were made entirely by hand without using frames from such companies, are truly worthy of being called "Claire's Customs". These bikes are probably just as she'd envisioned them. Perhaps she was able to recover one of the bikes that was abandoned in this incident.
THE OTHER CHARACTERS (p.044-047)
The outbreak of the T-Virus germ weapon. It was a flick of the Grim Reaper's scythe that struck an ordinary suburban town. In a matter of a day and a night, Raccoon City was transformed into an extremely sour hell. But the city wasn't even allowed to die out. It was now filled with the breath of countless people. The faint heat of those who were no longer human. Seeking the flesh of their former brethren, the deformed ones continued to stir.
In the densely swirling air, however, there are other breaths. They may be violent and disturbed, or they may even be trying to kill themselves, but they're certainly breathing. Their sweat-soaked profiles, fortunate to have escaped Death's blade, are now illuminated by fiery hands and emerge in the darkness. An unceasing interplay of despair and hope. The lives that flicker in the midst of it all.
Those who are trying to survive, those who are trying to fulfill their missions, and those who are trying to cleanse this city. With their own agendas in mind, they put new magazines in their guns.
ADA WONG
A female spy sent to the Umbrella research facility to retrieve the G-Virus. She's deeply involved in the incident and previously approached John, one of the T-Virus developers, and acted as his lover to carry out espionage. She's believed to be affiliated with Umbrella Headquarters, but it's unclear whether this is true or not.
However, what's certain is she's a capable spy. Her body language and special marksmanship skill (see note) are clearly professional. She seems to be mentally well-trained, her face unchanging even in the midst of this extraordinary situation.
However, she's constantly shrouded by a dark shadow. It's often said a woman's inner self's "both tough and weak at heart," and in accordance with this, her "heart" probably must've been tough enough. At the same time, however, it was very fine and you could say it was like a piece of taut wire. The kind of wire that'd burst apart at the slightest incision.
The rookie cop Leon whom she meets in the incident seems to have made an incision in her. Being exposed to the purity and honesty of the man Leon must've upset her far more than when she saw the Licker, G, and other deformed monsters.
(Note)...... Ada's unique stance, with the barrel lying flat, is an eye-catching feature of her shooting style. The advantage of this stance is it allows her to spread out the number of bullets by increasing the rate of fire. Normally however it'd result in a drastic decrease in her hit rate. As you can see in her actual firing scenes, in which she seems to use her left hand with her thumb hooked around the hammer. This suppresses the so-called "kick" of the gun's recoil.
The character of Ada had already appeared in the so-called experimental title "BIO1.5", and was created from a strong push by one of the production staff who said "We should include an Asian female character", he then created Ada's model and drew her texture himself. In particular, pay attention to the degree of fetishizing around her bust area. She has a nice body and is very popular among the creators. The soft lines of her body, which give the impression of a mature woman, are a testament to the designer's skill.
ANNETTE BIRKIN
William's wife who's also an Umbrella researcher and loves her husband, she doesn't wish to lose her beloved husband's research and runs around the lab in search of the missing G-Virus, turning her gun on the main characters. Her fate in the end may have been a happy thing as the wife of a scientist.
WILLIAM BIRKIN
The Umbrella researcher who developed the G-Virus. Although he's a genius scholar, by tinkering with the underlying genes of life in his hands, he may have felt transcendence, omnipotence or something or other. On the other hand, in an e-mail to the police chief he was secretly conspiring with, he also displays a mundane aspect in desiring the position of an Umbrella executive.
SHERRY BIRKIN
A girl whose parents are the genius scientist William and female researcher Annette. After she escaped inside the police station, she's protected by Claire. At times she displays an active role like an adult by helping the heroes with strength of will, but on the other hand if left alone she'll crouch weakly on the spot. It seems her parents' occupation has led her to grow up without enough love, now that she has finally met someone like Claire who's attached to her, it's perhaps harder for her to imagine she'll be left alone.
HUNK
One of the Umbrella special agents. During the G-Virus recovery mission, he was attacked by the G-Virus but survived and continued his mission. His appearance is unknown due to the gas mask he wears for fear of airborne transmission of the virus, but he's a middle-aged man and his appearance suggests he's had a long career. Incidentally, communicating via the radio at the beginning seems to be a clever use of rejected lines from the movie when the lab was attacked.
TO-FU
Apparently he's one of the Umbrella special agents. The entity's a test character that was used to check the priority of the backgrounds while making the game. The indentations are there to make it easier to see which way it's facing. The reason why "Tofu-sugata" appears on the save screen's because it was originally called "Tofu-hen", but it was garbled due to a font bug. It was so interesting it was left as it is.
The outbreak of the T-Virus germ weapon. It was a flick of the Grim Reaper's scythe that struck an ordinary suburban town. In a matter of a day and a night, Raccoon City was transformed into an extremely sour hell. But the city wasn't even allowed to die out. It was now filled with the breath of countless people. The faint heat of those who were no longer human. Seeking the flesh of their former brethren, the deformed ones continued to stir.
In the densely swirling air, however, there are other breaths. They may be violent and disturbed, or they may even be trying to kill themselves, but they're certainly breathing. Their sweat-soaked profiles, fortunate to have escaped Death's blade, are now illuminated by fiery hands and emerge in the darkness. An unceasing interplay of despair and hope. The lives that flicker in the midst of it all.
Those who are trying to survive, those who are trying to fulfill their missions, and those who are trying to cleanse this city. With their own agendas in mind, they put new magazines in their guns.
ADA WONG
A female spy sent to the Umbrella research facility to retrieve the G-Virus. She's deeply involved in the incident and previously approached John, one of the T-Virus developers, and acted as his lover to carry out espionage. She's believed to be affiliated with Umbrella Headquarters, but it's unclear whether this is true or not.
However, what's certain is she's a capable spy. Her body language and special marksmanship skill (see note) are clearly professional. She seems to be mentally well-trained, her face unchanging even in the midst of this extraordinary situation.
However, she's constantly shrouded by a dark shadow. It's often said a woman's inner self's "both tough and weak at heart," and in accordance with this, her "heart" probably must've been tough enough. At the same time, however, it was very fine and you could say it was like a piece of taut wire. The kind of wire that'd burst apart at the slightest incision.
The rookie cop Leon whom she meets in the incident seems to have made an incision in her. Being exposed to the purity and honesty of the man Leon must've upset her far more than when she saw the Licker, G, and other deformed monsters.
(Note)...... Ada's unique stance, with the barrel lying flat, is an eye-catching feature of her shooting style. The advantage of this stance is it allows her to spread out the number of bullets by increasing the rate of fire. Normally however it'd result in a drastic decrease in her hit rate. As you can see in her actual firing scenes, in which she seems to use her left hand with her thumb hooked around the hammer. This suppresses the so-called "kick" of the gun's recoil.
The character of Ada had already appeared in the so-called experimental title "BIO1.5", and was created from a strong push by one of the production staff who said "We should include an Asian female character", he then created Ada's model and drew her texture himself. In particular, pay attention to the degree of fetishizing around her bust area. She has a nice body and is very popular among the creators. The soft lines of her body, which give the impression of a mature woman, are a testament to the designer's skill.
ANNETTE BIRKIN
William's wife who's also an Umbrella researcher and loves her husband, she doesn't wish to lose her beloved husband's research and runs around the lab in search of the missing G-Virus, turning her gun on the main characters. Her fate in the end may have been a happy thing as the wife of a scientist.
WILLIAM BIRKIN
The Umbrella researcher who developed the G-Virus. Although he's a genius scholar, by tinkering with the underlying genes of life in his hands, he may have felt transcendence, omnipotence or something or other. On the other hand, in an e-mail to the police chief he was secretly conspiring with, he also displays a mundane aspect in desiring the position of an Umbrella executive.
SHERRY BIRKIN
A girl whose parents are the genius scientist William and female researcher Annette. After she escaped inside the police station, she's protected by Claire. At times she displays an active role like an adult by helping the heroes with strength of will, but on the other hand if left alone she'll crouch weakly on the spot. It seems her parents' occupation has led her to grow up without enough love, now that she has finally met someone like Claire who's attached to her, it's perhaps harder for her to imagine she'll be left alone.
HUNK
One of the Umbrella special agents. During the G-Virus recovery mission, he was attacked by the G-Virus but survived and continued his mission. His appearance is unknown due to the gas mask he wears for fear of airborne transmission of the virus, but he's a middle-aged man and his appearance suggests he's had a long career. Incidentally, communicating via the radio at the beginning seems to be a clever use of rejected lines from the movie when the lab was attacked.
TO-FU
Apparently he's one of the Umbrella special agents. The entity's a test character that was used to check the priority of the backgrounds while making the game. The indentations are there to make it easier to see which way it's facing. The reason why "Tofu-sugata" appears on the save screen's because it was originally called "Tofu-hen", but it was garbled due to a font bug. It was so interesting it was left as it is.
"BIO HAZARD" AS "RESIDENT EVIL" (p.068-069)
NOT A STRAIGHT PORT: Resident Evil 2
BIOHAZARD 2 has sold over three million copies worldwide. Its popularity extends beyond Japan to overseas markets, as evidenced by its continued presence at the top of US sales charts even four months after its simultaneous Japan-US release in late May 1998. Behind this success lies a specific reason. The international version of BIOHAZARD 2, titled Resident Evil 2, was adjusted with various features tailored to overseas user preferences. This included significant changes from the Japanese version. Let's take the American version Resident Evil 2 as an example.
The title was translated as Resident Evil 2. When Japanese games are introduced overseas, they sometimes receive names quite different from the original title. For instance, Taito's "Puzzle Bobble" became "Bust A Move". The name given to the previous game, "Resident Evil," means "residing evil spirits" (essentially, “earthbound spirits”?). Following that name, the packaging for this game also features a different, more "evil-looking" design (a monster peering with a malicious gaze) compared to the Japanese version. However, it's a bit concerning that the Zombies have too much intensity in their eyes, and the G-rated version seems overly decayed. Furthermore, the inclusion of an excerpt from a GameFan magazine review and the "Adult" rating mark really highlight the "cultural differences." Opening the package reveals a different label design too. While the Japanese version used red and blue color coding, Leon and Claire are printed directly onto the disc. Japanese gender norms just don't apply here, huh.
BLOOD SPLATTERS, HORRIFIC DEATHS
The most impactful change by far is the existence of the Game Over screen effect, though. When the protagonist's health depletes, the screen briefly whiteouts before fading to black. Only the monster and the fallen protagonist remain in the darkness, with blood splatters filling the entire screen. Overlaid on this is the blood-red text: "YOU DIED." The camera then pulls back while spinning, leaving only the monster's chewing sound echoing... The three photos on the side are the Top 3 Most Horrible Death Scenes. The game over scene with the cockroach that has an instant-kill attack is utterly insane in particular. Ada's the model in the photo but she's completely covered by cockroaches to the point of being unrecognizable. Cockroaches are flying in from all directions toward the corpse.
The blood splatter beside the title was created by the Zombie Dog. This scene's so realistically rendered it's a shame we couldn't include a sequence of stills. The Zombie Dog bites into what appears to be the carotid artery and shakes the head violently from side to side. Blood splatters fly with each bite of flesh torn away, and once the protagonist finally succumbs, the dog lets out a proper howling-style battle cry. It's a scene crafted with such detail it's hard to believe it's just an extra effect for overseas versions.
This cutscene actually exists in the demo version of "2" included with the "BIO HAZARD Director's Cut". However, due to various circumstances, it was cut from the Japanese version, while the overseas version, rated for adults, retained it. It's a bit of a shame this dizzyingly gruesome scene was removed.
The manual. It has a different feel from the Japanese version.
The package has a different title logo design than the Japanese version.
NON-HOMING BULLETS!?
Difficulty adjustments are made in other subtle areas too. It's a well-known anecdote that Resident Evil lacked an auto-aim function for targets until just before mastering. The default setting for the international version of Resident Evil 2 is pure manual mode. Pressing the R1 button won't target enemies, so you have to manually rotate the player character with the directional buttons to aim. You can select auto-aim in the options, but it seems overseas markets demanded a more severe difficulty. Monster placements have changed, increasing the number of zombies. Enemy health values also appear to have been raised.
Resident Evil 2 features various balance adjustments beyond just text translation. While overseas PS software isn't easily playable in Japan, I'd love to try it as a parallel import.
Claire surrounded and devoured by Zombies. Heartbreaking.
G-IV's death scene. Leon's pierced by sharp fangs.
Even if you don't hate cockroaches, this is a death you wouldn't want to experience.
The translated description text. Incidentally, the dialogue subtitles are gone.
It's hard to see, but there's one more Zombie here than in the Japanese version.
Naturally, it says “Resident Evil” here.
Resident Evil 2 features not just a title change, but various other modifications.
"RESIDENT EVIL 2" PORTING STAFF INTERVIEW
Resident Evil 2 features numerous detailed specification adjustments differing from the original. We spoke with Todd Sauson of Capcom Entertainment, who supported this localization work, about Resident Evil 2.
Q1. How well did Resident Evil 2 sell in America?
Resident Evil 2 sold over 3 million copies worldwide. In the US, the game sold over 1.1 million copies in its first six weeks, from January to February, breaking PlayStation sales records. It continues to sell strongly as the top PlayStation game.
Q2. Why was the title changed?
The original title was changed due to trademark restrictions in the US. The name Resident Evil is based on the first game's content.
Q3. The Resident Evil series is extremely popular worldwide. What are the projected global sales figures?
Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2's record-breaking success is very gratifying. Combined global sales for both titles have already reached eight million copies.
Q4. How'd American fans react to this series?
For several months Resident Evil was the No.1 game in America. It's deeply loved by American fans. Resident Evil 2 also received outstanding reviews, being called "the major event of 1998."
Q5. Who are the popular characters?
The two protagonists, Claire and Leon, are extremely popular. It seems weapon preferences also influence which character fans favor.
Q6. What are the differences between Biohazard 2 and Resident Evil 2?
Resident Evil 2's been significantly reworked with a much more challenging difficulty level.
Q7. What'd you focus on during the porting process?
A7. We worked closely with the Japanese development team to carefully adjust the difficulty level to perfection.
Q8. What other games have you localized?
A8. Capcom games are often localized a bit for the American market. Recently, we've done Breath of Fire III, Mega Man Legends (Rockman DASH), and more recently, Rival Schools (Shiritsu Justice Gakuen). Normally, localization's limited to text translation, but sometimes features change a bit.
Q9. Can you tell us which game has made the biggest impression on you so far?
A9. Wow! It's really hard to pick just one. Fortunately, many Capcom games have made a big impression on me. I take my hat off to the Japanese development teams who make such great games.
Q10. Many Japanese players want to play Resident Evil 2. Do you have a message for them?
A10. I'm delighted to hear Japanese game fans are interested in the American version of Resident Evil 2. I really hope they'll play Resident Evil 2, which features new additions like DualShock support.
NOT A STRAIGHT PORT: Resident Evil 2
BIOHAZARD 2 has sold over three million copies worldwide. Its popularity extends beyond Japan to overseas markets, as evidenced by its continued presence at the top of US sales charts even four months after its simultaneous Japan-US release in late May 1998. Behind this success lies a specific reason. The international version of BIOHAZARD 2, titled Resident Evil 2, was adjusted with various features tailored to overseas user preferences. This included significant changes from the Japanese version. Let's take the American version Resident Evil 2 as an example.
The title was translated as Resident Evil 2. When Japanese games are introduced overseas, they sometimes receive names quite different from the original title. For instance, Taito's "Puzzle Bobble" became "Bust A Move". The name given to the previous game, "Resident Evil," means "residing evil spirits" (essentially, “earthbound spirits”?). Following that name, the packaging for this game also features a different, more "evil-looking" design (a monster peering with a malicious gaze) compared to the Japanese version. However, it's a bit concerning that the Zombies have too much intensity in their eyes, and the G-rated version seems overly decayed. Furthermore, the inclusion of an excerpt from a GameFan magazine review and the "Adult" rating mark really highlight the "cultural differences." Opening the package reveals a different label design too. While the Japanese version used red and blue color coding, Leon and Claire are printed directly onto the disc. Japanese gender norms just don't apply here, huh.
BLOOD SPLATTERS, HORRIFIC DEATHS
The most impactful change by far is the existence of the Game Over screen effect, though. When the protagonist's health depletes, the screen briefly whiteouts before fading to black. Only the monster and the fallen protagonist remain in the darkness, with blood splatters filling the entire screen. Overlaid on this is the blood-red text: "YOU DIED." The camera then pulls back while spinning, leaving only the monster's chewing sound echoing... The three photos on the side are the Top 3 Most Horrible Death Scenes. The game over scene with the cockroach that has an instant-kill attack is utterly insane in particular. Ada's the model in the photo but she's completely covered by cockroaches to the point of being unrecognizable. Cockroaches are flying in from all directions toward the corpse.
The blood splatter beside the title was created by the Zombie Dog. This scene's so realistically rendered it's a shame we couldn't include a sequence of stills. The Zombie Dog bites into what appears to be the carotid artery and shakes the head violently from side to side. Blood splatters fly with each bite of flesh torn away, and once the protagonist finally succumbs, the dog lets out a proper howling-style battle cry. It's a scene crafted with such detail it's hard to believe it's just an extra effect for overseas versions.
This cutscene actually exists in the demo version of "2" included with the "BIO HAZARD Director's Cut". However, due to various circumstances, it was cut from the Japanese version, while the overseas version, rated for adults, retained it. It's a bit of a shame this dizzyingly gruesome scene was removed.
The manual. It has a different feel from the Japanese version.
The package has a different title logo design than the Japanese version.
NON-HOMING BULLETS!?
Difficulty adjustments are made in other subtle areas too. It's a well-known anecdote that Resident Evil lacked an auto-aim function for targets until just before mastering. The default setting for the international version of Resident Evil 2 is pure manual mode. Pressing the R1 button won't target enemies, so you have to manually rotate the player character with the directional buttons to aim. You can select auto-aim in the options, but it seems overseas markets demanded a more severe difficulty. Monster placements have changed, increasing the number of zombies. Enemy health values also appear to have been raised.
Resident Evil 2 features various balance adjustments beyond just text translation. While overseas PS software isn't easily playable in Japan, I'd love to try it as a parallel import.
Claire surrounded and devoured by Zombies. Heartbreaking.
G-IV's death scene. Leon's pierced by sharp fangs.
Even if you don't hate cockroaches, this is a death you wouldn't want to experience.
The translated description text. Incidentally, the dialogue subtitles are gone.
It's hard to see, but there's one more Zombie here than in the Japanese version.
Naturally, it says “Resident Evil” here.
Resident Evil 2 features not just a title change, but various other modifications.
"RESIDENT EVIL 2" PORTING STAFF INTERVIEW
Resident Evil 2 features numerous detailed specification adjustments differing from the original. We spoke with Todd Sauson of Capcom Entertainment, who supported this localization work, about Resident Evil 2.
Q1. How well did Resident Evil 2 sell in America?
Resident Evil 2 sold over 3 million copies worldwide. In the US, the game sold over 1.1 million copies in its first six weeks, from January to February, breaking PlayStation sales records. It continues to sell strongly as the top PlayStation game.
Q2. Why was the title changed?
The original title was changed due to trademark restrictions in the US. The name Resident Evil is based on the first game's content.
Q3. The Resident Evil series is extremely popular worldwide. What are the projected global sales figures?
Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2's record-breaking success is very gratifying. Combined global sales for both titles have already reached eight million copies.
Q4. How'd American fans react to this series?
For several months Resident Evil was the No.1 game in America. It's deeply loved by American fans. Resident Evil 2 also received outstanding reviews, being called "the major event of 1998."
Q5. Who are the popular characters?
The two protagonists, Claire and Leon, are extremely popular. It seems weapon preferences also influence which character fans favor.
Q6. What are the differences between Biohazard 2 and Resident Evil 2?
Resident Evil 2's been significantly reworked with a much more challenging difficulty level.
Q7. What'd you focus on during the porting process?
A7. We worked closely with the Japanese development team to carefully adjust the difficulty level to perfection.
Q8. What other games have you localized?
A8. Capcom games are often localized a bit for the American market. Recently, we've done Breath of Fire III, Mega Man Legends (Rockman DASH), and more recently, Rival Schools (Shiritsu Justice Gakuen). Normally, localization's limited to text translation, but sometimes features change a bit.
Q9. Can you tell us which game has made the biggest impression on you so far?
A9. Wow! It's really hard to pick just one. Fortunately, many Capcom games have made a big impression on me. I take my hat off to the Japanese development teams who make such great games.
Q10. Many Japanese players want to play Resident Evil 2. Do you have a message for them?
A10. I'm delighted to hear Japanese game fans are interested in the American version of Resident Evil 2. I really hope they'll play Resident Evil 2, which features new additions like DualShock support.
"BIOHAZARD 2" DIALOGUE ANALYSIS GUIDE (p.171)
Analyzing the compelling conversations in BIOHAZARD 2 which are composed of subtitles and English dialogue.
The dialogue scenes in the BIO series are quite elaborate. In the previous game, what personally resonated most with me was the style of subtitles combined with English, but in "2", the number of cutscenes has increased, making the dialogue even more nuanced. At the same time, there are now many instances where the phrasing differs significantly between Japanese and English. To fully appreciate the character personalities and new revelations revealed through these differences, I’ll share tips on how to read between the lines of the subtitles.
DISTINGUISHING "HELLO"
For example, take the opening scene where Claire enters a bar and encounters a Zombie for the first time. The dialogue here is easy to understand. Since it consists of just three identical words, it’s a great example for easily comparing the differences between the subtitles and the English dialogue.
Claire enters the bar.
Line: Hello. Subtitle: Good evening.
Claire looks around suspiciously.
Line: Hello? Subtitle: Is anyone home?
She hears a noise (chewing).
Line: Hello!? Subtitle: Are you there?
These subtle nuances are reflected in the subtitles. In English-speaking countries, "hello" is a very versatile word. It’s used as a casual greeting at any time of day, a brief call-out, or even as "hello" when answering the phone. The scene where Leon calls out "Hey, Claire!" over the radio also uses "hello."
CLAIRE’S AFFECTION
A train speeding away to escape Raccoon City. Inside, Claire tells Sherry, "We’ll always be together from now on." I think quite a few people assumed this meant Claire was taking Sherry in, but listening to the English dialogue reveals a new fact.
Line: Ah, my god’s protected you.
Subtitle: "I guess my lucky charm worked."
Zoom in on the jacket's emblem
Line: It will be always with you.
Subtitle: "We'll always be together from now on."
The subject of the second half of the sentence is "it," referring to the jacket (= my god). In other words, it seems to mean the jacket Claire gave to Sherry will always be with her, not that Claire and Sherry will live together. How matter-of-fact, Claire.
LEON’S GRUMBLING
Meanwhile in Leon B, Leon grumbles "Women..." twice. Following "Ada!" and "Wait!", it's a memorable line that could almost be considered a catchphrase of his. But did you know the Japanese version actually includes the word "women," whereas it isn't in English? For example, when Ada leaves him in front of the prison cell and Claire cuts off the radio. The subtitle reads, "Women really are something else..." In the English version, it’s "Man, why doesn’t anyone ever listen to me!?"-- meaning, "Hey, do you even care what I say!?" A similar line, "Women are all so self-centered...," is what Leon says to Ada when she tells him to "escape alone" after she’s wounded, but the original text's more like "Everyone just ignores what I say." Since there's no single word that conveys the full range of life experiences associated with being a woman, Leon’s immature youth really shines through (?).
Other recommended scenes include Leon’s final moments with Ada as well as the dialogue involving the talkative woman, Annette. Annette particularly makes full use of rhetorical questions and tag questions in the English version, which really brings out her sarcastic and self-righteous character. People like this are entertaining to watch from the sidelines. Unless, of course, you’re the one on the receiving end.
BIOHAZARD 2: THE KING OF PROFANITY CROWNED!
Profanity's a staple of horror movies. In English, there are vulgar four-letter words like "shit," "damn," and "fuck." BIO2's surprisingly mild, Leon occasionally mutters "damn" under his breath, but it gets drowned out by the strong women and leaves little impression. Compared to that, when Claire drops T into the blast furnace, her dazzling line, "sucker!" is a bit much, I’d say. The word "suck" itself has evolved from its original meaning of "to put in one’s mouth" or "to suck" to carry a particularly heavy connotation among four-letter words. When you add "-er," it means something like "a naive guy (who still hasn’t weaned himself off his mother’s milk)," but even so, you don’t often hear young girls using it. Claire gives the impression of calmly taking down Zombies and pressing forward, but perhaps she’s an even more enigmatic woman than Ada.
However, there was someone who took the swearing to a whole new level. That would be, without a doubt, the truck driver who appears in the opening scene. After a Zombie bites his arm, he yells, "That guy’s a maniac!" The subtitles translate this as "…damn it!", but that’s not quite right. The word "maniac" here carries the exact same meaning as the "kichi" in "Tsuri Kichi Sanpei". I certainly can’t write the literal translation here. So, the title of "King of Profanity" in the original BIO2 goes to the truck driver who spewed that banned word!
(Editor: Matsudaira)
Analyzing the compelling conversations in BIOHAZARD 2 which are composed of subtitles and English dialogue.
The dialogue scenes in the BIO series are quite elaborate. In the previous game, what personally resonated most with me was the style of subtitles combined with English, but in "2", the number of cutscenes has increased, making the dialogue even more nuanced. At the same time, there are now many instances where the phrasing differs significantly between Japanese and English. To fully appreciate the character personalities and new revelations revealed through these differences, I’ll share tips on how to read between the lines of the subtitles.
DISTINGUISHING "HELLO"
For example, take the opening scene where Claire enters a bar and encounters a Zombie for the first time. The dialogue here is easy to understand. Since it consists of just three identical words, it’s a great example for easily comparing the differences between the subtitles and the English dialogue.
Claire enters the bar.
Line: Hello. Subtitle: Good evening.
Claire looks around suspiciously.
Line: Hello? Subtitle: Is anyone home?
She hears a noise (chewing).
Line: Hello!? Subtitle: Are you there?
These subtle nuances are reflected in the subtitles. In English-speaking countries, "hello" is a very versatile word. It’s used as a casual greeting at any time of day, a brief call-out, or even as "hello" when answering the phone. The scene where Leon calls out "Hey, Claire!" over the radio also uses "hello."
CLAIRE’S AFFECTION
A train speeding away to escape Raccoon City. Inside, Claire tells Sherry, "We’ll always be together from now on." I think quite a few people assumed this meant Claire was taking Sherry in, but listening to the English dialogue reveals a new fact.
Line: Ah, my god’s protected you.
Subtitle: "I guess my lucky charm worked."
Zoom in on the jacket's emblem
Line: It will be always with you.
Subtitle: "We'll always be together from now on."
The subject of the second half of the sentence is "it," referring to the jacket (= my god). In other words, it seems to mean the jacket Claire gave to Sherry will always be with her, not that Claire and Sherry will live together. How matter-of-fact, Claire.
LEON’S GRUMBLING
Meanwhile in Leon B, Leon grumbles "Women..." twice. Following "Ada!" and "Wait!", it's a memorable line that could almost be considered a catchphrase of his. But did you know the Japanese version actually includes the word "women," whereas it isn't in English? For example, when Ada leaves him in front of the prison cell and Claire cuts off the radio. The subtitle reads, "Women really are something else..." In the English version, it’s "Man, why doesn’t anyone ever listen to me!?"-- meaning, "Hey, do you even care what I say!?" A similar line, "Women are all so self-centered...," is what Leon says to Ada when she tells him to "escape alone" after she’s wounded, but the original text's more like "Everyone just ignores what I say." Since there's no single word that conveys the full range of life experiences associated with being a woman, Leon’s immature youth really shines through (?).
Other recommended scenes include Leon’s final moments with Ada as well as the dialogue involving the talkative woman, Annette. Annette particularly makes full use of rhetorical questions and tag questions in the English version, which really brings out her sarcastic and self-righteous character. People like this are entertaining to watch from the sidelines. Unless, of course, you’re the one on the receiving end.
BIOHAZARD 2: THE KING OF PROFANITY CROWNED!
Profanity's a staple of horror movies. In English, there are vulgar four-letter words like "shit," "damn," and "fuck." BIO2's surprisingly mild, Leon occasionally mutters "damn" under his breath, but it gets drowned out by the strong women and leaves little impression. Compared to that, when Claire drops T into the blast furnace, her dazzling line, "sucker!" is a bit much, I’d say. The word "suck" itself has evolved from its original meaning of "to put in one’s mouth" or "to suck" to carry a particularly heavy connotation among four-letter words. When you add "-er," it means something like "a naive guy (who still hasn’t weaned himself off his mother’s milk)," but even so, you don’t often hear young girls using it. Claire gives the impression of calmly taking down Zombies and pressing forward, but perhaps she’s an even more enigmatic woman than Ada.
However, there was someone who took the swearing to a whole new level. That would be, without a doubt, the truck driver who appears in the opening scene. After a Zombie bites his arm, he yells, "That guy’s a maniac!" The subtitles translate this as "…damn it!", but that’s not quite right. The word "maniac" here carries the exact same meaning as the "kichi" in "Tsuri Kichi Sanpei". I certainly can’t write the literal translation here. So, the title of "King of Profanity" in the original BIO2 goes to the truck driver who spewed that banned word!
(Editor: Matsudaira)
AN ILLUSIVE LOST "BIO", THE 1.5 VERSION (p.191)
Every fan knows "2" was released on a very different date than originally planned.
During that time, there was a version that was 80% complete but disappeared.
Commonly known as "1.5", what kind of game was it?
FIRST SCREENS REVEALED AT TOKYO GAME SHOW IN SUMMER '96
It was at the Tokyo Game Show held at Tokyo Big Sight in the summer of 1996 that the first screens of "2" were shown to the public. However, at that time, it was only short footage of a few dozen seconds, exhibited in a promotional video aired at the CAPCOM booth. Moreover the characters were only outlines and the backgrounds were black shadows, so it was far from finished, and we could only barely make out the atmosphere. However, we could already identify multiple zombies swarming, and we could see "2" was aiming to be a game where we could enjoy battle of one against many. This was a scene which showed the basic concept of "2", which was to produce "fear in numbers." As for the protagonists, it was decided there'd be one male and one female protagonist, as in the previous game, and according to publicity materials at the time, "The male protagonist will be Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop in the Raccoon Police Department (he was a little younger and darker than Leon in the game), and the woman's Elza Walker, a motorcycle racer." If you've played "2", you're probably thinking, "Who's Elza?" She was a female college student wearing bright red leather clothes who visited Raccoon City in search of a certain person, and got caught up in the incident.
SEVERAL ELEMENTS DISAPPEARED OR CHANGED
In the completed "2," of course, there's no Elza (analysis of the CD-ROM shows the character select screen data from that time's still there). There were many other elements that disappeared or were changed. For example, Marvin, the black cop who appears at the beginning of the game. Originally, he was supposed to be Leon's superior who played an active role in various ways and eventually escaped. Also, the Zombies were originally planned to be quite numerous, and some of the rooms were filled with them.
There were many more changes to the locations. Let's take a look at some of them from the original setting documents.
• Chief's Office...... A room with a glass window on one wall and blinds down. It's on the top floor, and you used to be able to see the whole city from the window, but now it's blocked by a building under construction.
• Armory...... The place where weapons are stored in the police department. It's adjacent to the underground parking lot.
• Firing Range...... is the place where the officers train to shoot. There are shooting booths on one side of the open space (this room itself does not appear in the actual game).
• Office A...... The office that serves as the window to the police station itself. It's a large, vertical room with two rows of tables facing each other (probably the prototype of the room where the protagonist first receives the key card in "2").
• Office B...... Has an interrogation room in the back, where the staff of the Juvenile Division, Narcotics Division, Homicide Division, etc. work. The chief of police also often conducts his business here.
REMADE WHILE 80% COMPLETE
If you look at the "1.5" version, you can see the completed form of "2" is already visibly hidden there. However, the development of "2" progressing in this way was suddenly reworked just before its release. What happened to it? According to Shinji Mikami, creator of the "BIO" series, it was because the game's quality was too low.
"I left the work of 1.5 to the young staff, but there were many problems. The ingredients were good to a certain extent, so it was just a matter of cooking. Even if it wasn't good, I thought it would probably be fixed in three months. However, when I opened the lid, I found the dish's level of saltiness to be lacking. So we decided to remake it from scratch."
Mr. Mikami has bitter memories of 1.5. However, the staff persevered and eventually completed "2" as an entertaining game with fun elements like "HUNK" and "TOFU."
"The difference between 1.5 and "2" is huge, and if we'd released "3" as it was, it would've fallen to the point I don't know if it would've even sold 500,000 copies." (Mr. Mikami) His unwarranted fears were successfully dispelled.
Written by TAKASHI MIZUNO
Every fan knows "2" was released on a very different date than originally planned.
During that time, there was a version that was 80% complete but disappeared.
Commonly known as "1.5", what kind of game was it?
FIRST SCREENS REVEALED AT TOKYO GAME SHOW IN SUMMER '96
It was at the Tokyo Game Show held at Tokyo Big Sight in the summer of 1996 that the first screens of "2" were shown to the public. However, at that time, it was only short footage of a few dozen seconds, exhibited in a promotional video aired at the CAPCOM booth. Moreover the characters were only outlines and the backgrounds were black shadows, so it was far from finished, and we could only barely make out the atmosphere. However, we could already identify multiple zombies swarming, and we could see "2" was aiming to be a game where we could enjoy battle of one against many. This was a scene which showed the basic concept of "2", which was to produce "fear in numbers." As for the protagonists, it was decided there'd be one male and one female protagonist, as in the previous game, and according to publicity materials at the time, "The male protagonist will be Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop in the Raccoon Police Department (he was a little younger and darker than Leon in the game), and the woman's Elza Walker, a motorcycle racer." If you've played "2", you're probably thinking, "Who's Elza?" She was a female college student wearing bright red leather clothes who visited Raccoon City in search of a certain person, and got caught up in the incident.
SEVERAL ELEMENTS DISAPPEARED OR CHANGED
In the completed "2," of course, there's no Elza (analysis of the CD-ROM shows the character select screen data from that time's still there). There were many other elements that disappeared or were changed. For example, Marvin, the black cop who appears at the beginning of the game. Originally, he was supposed to be Leon's superior who played an active role in various ways and eventually escaped. Also, the Zombies were originally planned to be quite numerous, and some of the rooms were filled with them.
There were many more changes to the locations. Let's take a look at some of them from the original setting documents.
• Chief's Office...... A room with a glass window on one wall and blinds down. It's on the top floor, and you used to be able to see the whole city from the window, but now it's blocked by a building under construction.
• Armory...... The place where weapons are stored in the police department. It's adjacent to the underground parking lot.
• Firing Range...... is the place where the officers train to shoot. There are shooting booths on one side of the open space (this room itself does not appear in the actual game).
• Office A...... The office that serves as the window to the police station itself. It's a large, vertical room with two rows of tables facing each other (probably the prototype of the room where the protagonist first receives the key card in "2").
• Office B...... Has an interrogation room in the back, where the staff of the Juvenile Division, Narcotics Division, Homicide Division, etc. work. The chief of police also often conducts his business here.
REMADE WHILE 80% COMPLETE
If you look at the "1.5" version, you can see the completed form of "2" is already visibly hidden there. However, the development of "2" progressing in this way was suddenly reworked just before its release. What happened to it? According to Shinji Mikami, creator of the "BIO" series, it was because the game's quality was too low.
"I left the work of 1.5 to the young staff, but there were many problems. The ingredients were good to a certain extent, so it was just a matter of cooking. Even if it wasn't good, I thought it would probably be fixed in three months. However, when I opened the lid, I found the dish's level of saltiness to be lacking. So we decided to remake it from scratch."
Mr. Mikami has bitter memories of 1.5. However, the staff persevered and eventually completed "2" as an entertaining game with fun elements like "HUNK" and "TOFU."
"The difference between 1.5 and "2" is huge, and if we'd released "3" as it was, it would've fallen to the point I don't know if it would've even sold 500,000 copies." (Mr. Mikami) His unwarranted fears were successfully dispelled.
Written by TAKASHI MIZUNO
INTERVIEW 1 - HIDEKI KAMIYA (p.131-146)
Mr. Kamiya, who served as director and oversaw the entire production of “BIOHAZARD 2,” personally drew all the storyboards collected here. They vividly convey the enjoyable atmosphere of the production site. Of course, development involved not only enjoyment but also various trials, errors, and hard work. We asked him to discuss the work BIOHAZARD 2 from the director's perspective.
All the storyboards in this collection were drawn by Kamiya himself. They served the purpose of concretely communicating to the staff the images and flow of each scene he had in mind for the game's production. It seems he drew them "on a whim", and as the mood of the scene grew more exciting, the text became larger and the number of exclamation marks increased, so you can almost feel the artist’s excitement as you look at them, which is fun just to observe. Despite the storyboard's high energy however, the cut composition’s meticulously calculated so even the minutest details of the direction have been worked out. These are the rough gems of famous scenes from "BIOHAZARD 2", and we hope you’ll take the time to look at them carefully.
ED: A common question, but first, what was the theme of BIO2?
KAMIYA: Well, we definitely prioritized "fear." I believe the BIO series gained such widespread acceptance primarily because of its innovative portrayal of fear. We focused our efforts on ensuring that element wasn't lost.
ED: Still, even within the BIO series, compared to the first game, which was primarily created under Mikami-san's direction, I feel this time Kamiya-san's influence is much stronger.
KAMIYA: Yeah. If the previous game was orthodox horror, I aimed to incorporate the atmosphere of an action movie into "2". It allows for a sense of scale and appeals to a broader audience. It was also simply something I wanted to do (laughs). I've always loved Hollywood-style entertainment with strong action elements.
ED: I heard you're actually not that fond of horror movies though.
KAMIYA: I actually don't like them (laughs). During the production of the first game, Mikami-san jotted down 30 to 40 major horror movie titles on paper and told me, "Go watch these." He's been a fanatic since his student days. I prefer action movies and emotionally moving films though, horror movies just aren't my thing. Reluctantly, I watched "Dawn of the Dead" at home, and it left me feeling incredibly blue (laughs).
ED: You mean Romero's "Zombie", right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, it's different from Hollywood movies, isn't it? No happy ending. After watching it, I felt utterly hopeless. It was a huge shock of course, so I'm glad I watched it. And I also didn't like Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series.
ED: Don't those have some comedic elements?
KAMIYA: No, but they're still just gross, right? Anyway, the blood and guts are intense. They emphasize the grotesqueness to the point of making it a gag, trying to make it funny. I really can't handle that kind of stuff.
ED: But BIO2's pretty intense too, isn't it? Like Zombies exploding open.
KAMIYA: Yeah, I just accepted that aspect. Honestly, I did think, "I wanna make a game with a dream-like atmosphere," but somehow it just turned into BIOHAZARD (laughs).
ED: (laughs). But conversely, you have a good understanding of fear and could depict it in your work precisely because you dislike horror, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah. Actually, no one on the team particularly liked horror either. But thinking about how to scare the players was fun. When we hit on an idea, we'd all grin.
ED: It does sound like fun.
KAMIYA: We incorporated quite a few ideas from outside the planning team too, but everyone was incredibly fast at programming their own sections. Creating horror effects is actually quite labor-intensive. You have to repeatedly check things like the cuts, the sound, and the timing. But they'd breeze through their own parts.
ED: Speaking of horror effects, personally, I screamed when all those hands came through the window (laughs).
KAMIYA: Ah, that part. Even I get startled sometimes (laughs). Like during bug checks, even when I know they'll appear, I'll get a "Whoa!" reaction while playing through it. But hands are scary, right? I heard a story once that really freaked me out. Apparently, a famous female singer went overseas to shoot a calendar. She was taking photos with a lake as the backdrop, but it turned out to be a notorious suicide spot. Apparently, the photos showed a sequence of people falling off the cliff behind her. And in the final photo, capturing the moment they hit the water, countless hands burst out from the surface...
ED: Wow. Is that a true story?
KAMIYA: Nah, it sounds made up. But if it's made up they sure did a great job crafting it. Incidentally, the concept behind that hand mechanism is simple, but it was crafted with considerable attention to detail. Normally, Zombie hands have four fingers fused together. But we felt that without expressive fingers, it wouldn't be scary enough, so we made a dedicated hand model.
ED: It's precisely because you went to that extent that the horror comes through. The Zombies are also depicted in even greater detail than in the previous game. Things like everyone being bald and sticking out their hands in the same way in "1" feel more realistic now.
KAMIYA: Exactly. For the arms, instead of having them extended from the start, we had them lowered at first. Then as humans approach, they extend them. That feels more authentic and unsettling.
ED: I also noticed a lot of care went into the other characters' movements.
KAMIYA: Yes, for the CG movie parts, we used motion capture footage. We asked amateur actors to model the movements. When amateurs do it, the movements naturally have a certain quality. They might look a bit shy or, conversely, overdo it. We actually have specific people assigned to each role, Leon for Leon, Claire for Claire, and so on.
ED: Just a layman's thought, but do you choose models who resemble the characters in terms of vibe?
KAMIYA: Yeah, that does influence things to some extent.
ED: Speaking of which, why's Ada the only one without a CG movie?
KAMIYA: Hahaha (wry smile).
ED: It was incredibly disappointing! Ada fans everywhere must be furious, wishing at least that kiss scene had been a movie.
KAMIYA: Well... simply put, we didn't have the flexibility in the schedule to create Ada's model. Within the team though, we were actually excited about that scene, calling it "the industry's first polygon kiss scene."
ED: Really? (laughs)
KAMIYA: The spots for cutscenes were decided right from the start: the opening, ending, and the hook scene with the Licker's appearance. Everything else was planned as puppet-style animation. Leon and Ada's interactions around that time weren't supposed to be nearly as intense initially. We figured polygons would handle it just fine. As we actually integrated the scenario into the game though, did the cutscene editing and worked on the storyboard direction, it ended up becoming this flashy, extended event.
ED: I see. But it's a great scene, isn't it? Where Leon yells "Adaaaa!"
KAMIYA: I'm actually quite fond of it myself.
ED: By the way, how were the voice actors chosen?
KAMIYA: They're all from Canada. For each character, we listed about ten candidates and had them send demo tapes. We listened and selected them here. However, the actress playing Annette wasn't a voice actor, she was someone active in TV and such.
ED: Didn't the voice actors struggle with recording for a game?
KAMIYA: Yeah. We recorded before the visuals were finished, so we only had the script to work with. It was hard to convey subtle but crucial details, like "this part needs to be spoken quickly." So we let them do the first take freely. If it didn't match our vision, we'd give feedback like, "No, that part needs to sound more tense," or "More calmly," describing the visual image we were aiming for on the spot. But it was apparently quite difficult, and we ended up doing multiple takes.
ED: If you listen closely, the Zombie voices are surprisingly varied.
KAMIYA: We actually used quite a few staff members' voices for the Zombies. Everyone made "Ugh" sounds and such. I was a bit embarrassed, so I didn't participate (laughs). Also, after Leon or Claire's voice actors finished their lines, we'd ask them to "throw in a Zombie voice too" while they were at it. We then processed those recordings to make them usable.
ED: Starting with this "2", I really feel a strong intent to make the player jump. You could call it a "positive kind of horror." I think the charm of "1" was more about that underlying chill and creepiness being front and center. In that sense, this feels much more like entertainment.
KAMIYA: That might be true.
ED: The visuals are incredibly realistic, so it's genuinely terrifying. What does fear mean to you, Kamiya-san?
KAMIYA: Hmm, let me see...
ED: For example, what was the scariest situation you've ever experienced in your life?
KAMIYA: I'm pretty timid, so pretty much everything scares me... Come to think of it, I had a burglar break into my room the other day.
ED: A burglar?!
KAMIYA: Yeah. I came back to my company dorm like usual, put the key in the knob, and it was already unlocked. I thought, "Huh?" When I opened the door, even though it was summer, this cold breeze just wafted out. At first I thought maybe I'd left the AC on and just walked out. Inside was pitch black, but I could tell it was incredibly messy. I was sure I'd cleaned up the night before, so why was it such a mess? For a second, I was so confused I even wondered if I'd ended up at a friend's place who just leaves their room filthy. Then I turned on the light, and the sheer level of clutter made me feel a chill run down my spine.
ED: That's scary... the whole situation with the wind blowing in when you opened the door.
KAMIYA: After calling the police and having them investigate, nothing major was stolen, but since then, I've been a little scared to go into that room. Even where I live now, I'm scared to open the door when I come home. I worry someone might be inside and attack me. So, I end up opening the door very slowly and peeking inside.
ED: Speaking of which, opening doors in BIO's scary too, right? This time, there's that one moment where Zombies suddenly appear when you open a door. Because of that, I always tense up when opening doors, wondering if something else will pop out.
KAMIYA: I wanted to include that from the very beginning.
ED: Do you ever have people play it and observe their reactions?
KAMIYA: Yeah, I do. Something funny happened when I had one of our staff members who directed "Rockman DASH" play it. He got so startled he yelled "Whoa!" and threw the controller (laughs). I also often hear stories about people pulling the controller cable out. Also, I really can't stand bugs.
ED: Bugs appear in "2" too, right? Cockroaches, spiders, caterpillars...
KAMIYA: I really can't stand caterpillars, so I definitely wanted to include them. You know how they're in school science textbooks, like "the larva of the swallowtail butterfly"? I used to fold and stack that page to seal it shut, making sure I never opened it. I just couldn't stand caterpillars, so I put them in. Also, in the first game, there was an enemy called Chimera. When you defeated it, maggots would scatter everywhere. That was my idea too. "I hate that thing, I hate it, so let's do that!"
ED: I see (laughs).
KAMIYA: I'm not particularly scared of cockroaches, but there was a staff member who absolutely hated them. I realized that cockroaches were to him what caterpillars and maggots were to me, so I totally understood his feelings. So I thought, "Alright, let's have him do the cockroaches too." But, well, when someone who hates something makes it, it turns out incredibly disgusting. He was making them while saying things like, "Ugh, I hate it when they fly at the screen!" (laughs).
ED: What about spiders?
KAMIYA: I hate it when they get inside the house. Once, a pretty big spider came inside, and I picked it up with a tissue and-- sorry-- squished it. When I did, I felt that squishy sensation directly on my fingers. I didn't use enough tissue. It felt just like crushing a grape.
ED: Eeeek.
KAMIYA: Ever since then, whenever I find a spider, I gently wrap it up and take it outside to release it.
ED: So the enemy characters were created in a friendly, lively atmosphere. Everyone saying things like "I hate this!"
KAMIYA: Yeah, our floor was pretty noisy. We got complaints from other teams all the time (laughs).
ED: Kamiya-san, you've been involved with BIO since the first game, right?
KAMIYA: Yes. When I joined the company, I was assigned to the BIO1 team.
ED: I heard that initially the BIO team was just diligently researching and experimenting, and from the outside, no one really understood what they were doing. They were even called the "Polygon Team," right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, we went through a lot of trial and error.
ED: How long did it take for BIO's core concept to solidify during that period?
KAMIYA: Hmm, about two years, I'd say. Back then, the PlayStation hadn't launched yet; the Super Famicom was still the main console. When we started developing something for the PlayStation, the research began on how far we could push horror using the technology available at the time. That was actually before I joined the company. Later, I joined as one of three planners. The higher-ups made all of us play "Sweet Home", telling us "Play this." BIO's core concept actually stems from that game. Elements like each protagonist having distinct skills and personalities, or the limited number of items you can carry, were inherited from Sweet Home. Also, when BIO was first conceived, the plan was to render the entire background in full polygons using a "first-person player perspective." Ultimately, it was decided that achieving the quality envisioned by Mikami, who was the director at the time, was difficult with full polygons, so it became what it is now.
ED: So, fixed camera shots, the so-called objective viewpoint, right?
KAMIYA: Yes. But since the theme remained fear, we decided to leverage the strengths of fixed camera angles.
ED: Meaning utilizing blind spots invisible to the player.
KAMIYA: Exactly. In "2," we also used "watched cutscenes." High overhead shots or long-range shots place the character far away, effectively drawing out the player's sense of unease. For example, shots like entering a hall or a character standing alone in a vast space were used to heighten loneliness. We frequently employed techniques that pulled the character away from the player's perspective.
ED: Looking at the storyboards, it seems you were quite particular about cuts and camera angles?
KAMIYA: Yes, I was particular. There were three main points I focused on for shot composition.
ED: Could you elaborate?
KAMIYA: First, "compositional beauty." The in-game backgrounds are modeled in CG and are quite detailed. For instance, even a single wall wouldn't look convincing with just one texture applied, it'd look flat and CG-like. So, we applied dozens of small textures, ten or twenty in total. Whether this level of detail shines or falls flat depends entirely on the cut though.
ED: I see. If the composition isn't good, all that effort goes to waste.
KAMIYA: That's right. Then there's "ease of spatial awareness." We need to clearly convey the space's structure and the player character's position to players exploring the playfield. But above all, our top priority was "linking to gameplay." We focused on questions like: "Is it hard to fight the Zombies?" "Are the blind spots that build terror effectively depicted?" "Is movement restricted?" "Is combat with enemies effectively staged?" We prioritized whether it functions properly as a "game" above all else.
ED: So you didn't just pursue "visual beauty" alone, then.
KAMIYA: We absolutely avoided that. Even so, we were quite particular about the cuts to ensure all three elements were satisfied.
ED: In boss fight scenes, the camera often aligns with the enemy's eye level, right?
KAMIYA: Yes, aiming to convey the boss's size and imposing presence. I absolutely love high-angle shots.
ED: Speaking of high-angle shots, the Tyrant comes to mind.
KAMIYA: Yeah, I'm really fond of the Tyrant. We had a scenario writer this time, and initially, the Tyrant wasn't heavily involved in the game. When talking with the writer though, I insisted we absolutely had to include the Tyrant (laughs).
ED: I see. I definitely felt an extraordinary amount of love poured into the Tyrant's entrance scene.
KAMIYA: We nailed that shot with a perfect high angle. Plus, I wanted to give him a divine aura, so I added a hymn-like jingle. It's a pretty outlandish tune, so I planned to include it just in case, and if staff asked "What's this?" I'd say "Just kidding!" and scrap it.
ED: But it worked out, huh? (laughs)
KAMIYA: Yes (laughs). Honestly, I wanted to use more high-angle shots, but we had to balance it with playability, so we couldn't overuse them. Boss scenes just feel more impactful with high-angle cuts, right? Personally I really wanted to use them, but then it wouldn't feel like a game anymore. That's the tough part about games, they can't be like movies.
ED: But being able to focus on cinematic cuts and direction like that is unique to the "objective viewpoint," isn't it?
KAMIYA: Yeah. When we discussed switching from full polygons for the first game, there were some complaints within the staff. I was one of those who initially felt that way too. Once we actually saw the screen though, it turned out really well.
ED: I thought the way the motion changes based on damage was really clever too. That's also something only possible with an objective viewpoint, right?
KAMIYA: Exactly. We wanted to do that since the first game. Having characters limp or clutch their stomachs just feels more natural for people in this kind of emergency.
ED: Like using a shotgun as a cane when you're equipped with one, that's really detailed, isn't it?
KAMIYA: You can really direct yourself while playing (laughs). Like, "Man, I'm fighting in this crazy situation right now!"
ED: Haha (laughs).
KAMIYA: However doing that stuff means you get bitten by Zombies and die, so you have to heal with herbs. The moment you recover, you can't do that performance anymore, and you're like, "Damn it!" (laughs).
ED: But that way, you can tell roughly how much health you have without looking at the gauge. It's cleverly tied into the gameplay mechanics, really well done.
KAMIYA: Ever since the first game, Mikami said he didn't want to show a health bar or anything like that on screen. It's scarier when you can't see exactly how much damage you've taken, like in a fighting game.
ED: It's been half a year since the second game's release. Looking back, how'd you feel?
KAMIYA: Hmm, being a first-time director definitely came with its share of struggles. With the first game I was just one of the planners, yelling and biting at Mikami-san. This time, I was the one being bitten.
ED: So you finally understood how tough it was for Mikami-san (laughs).
KAMIYA: Yeah. Looking back now, during the really tough times, I was drinking every night.
ED: The "I can't take this anymore!" kind.
KAMIYA: Yep (laughs). I'd come back to my room and start drinking. Work was so busy, I'd get home at 1am or 2am. Then I had to be at the office by 9am the next morning, but I couldn't fall asleep.
ED: Were your nerves on edge?
KAMIYA: Whether my nerves were on edge or I felt calm, as soon as I lay down in bed, all these worries would start popping up. Like, "What about that plan?" or "How should we handle this part of the production?"... A mini-meeting would just start in my head (laughs). For "2", we had meetings twice a week with the entire 40-person team. And there, we'd get constant pressure from the planning side: "How's the schedule looking?" or "We wanna build this room but haven't gotten the map yet." That kind of stuff. And it all starts playing in my half-asleep state. Once I start thinking, "Oh, I haven't done this, I haven't done that," I just can't sleep anymore. So I'd chug brandy on the rocks and crash out. Then I'd sleep soundly till morning and wake up refreshed. I did that every single day.
ED: And your health was okay with that?
KAMIYA: When was it... I went to a yakiniku place with a friend. It was all-you-can-eat, but I'm cheap, so I kept eating even when I wasn't hungry. I got stuffed and thought, "This is bad," so I went to the bathroom. When I threw up, blood just gushed out (laughs).
ED: Wow, that's awful...
KAMIYA: At first I couldn't believe it, but after throwing up two or three times, it was clearly fresh blood. I went to the doctor the very next day and had them check it out with an endoscopy. I never actually went back to hear the results, though.
ED: Oh my... But if there was a problem, they'd call you, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, so I figure it probably wasn't anything serious.
ED: I recall Mikami-san saying something similar back when working on the first game, that standing at the top and bringing everyone together's incredibly tough.
KAMIYA: Right. "Bringing the game together" ultimately means "bringing people together," and that was the hardest part. With over 40 staff members, everyone has their own ideas they want to express, and as creators, they strongly assert their opinions...
ED: Meaning some ideas inevitably had to be discarded.
KAMIYA: Yes. It's not that everyone had misguided opinions, but rather choosing which methodology to adopt from among many possibilities.
ED: Within that process, what criteria did you use to make those selections?
KAMIYA: Above all, whether it fit BIO2's world. For this project, the hardest part was making everything-- the scenario, enemies, weapons, player movement, event scenes, cutscenes-- fit together into a single, cohesive, beautiful game.
ED: I imagine the staff members all had a real passion for it.
KAMIYA: They did. When I first took on the director role, I was still inexperienced and often made mistakes. Eventually though a strong trust developed among us, and everyone's energy started moving in a positive direction. I think we reached a point where we could all think, "If this guy's pushing this hard, let's trust him." Although, have you ever had an endoscopy?
ED: No, I haven't.
KAMIYA: That thing's the worst. They insert this endoscope through your esophagus, but your body's natural reaction makes you want to vomit, so you can't eat anything the night before. The next morning, you can't eat anything, you can't even drink water. They empty your stomach, and first, they numb your throat.
ED: With an injection?
KAMIYA: No, it's this gel-like, syrupy stuff. You put it in your mouth and let it drip down your throat bit by bit over five minutes. Then you lose all sensation in your throat. Even swallowing saliva uses throat muscles, right? You lose that sensation too, so you can't swallow your saliva. It just all comes back up. Eventually, even breathing makes you anxious. Like, if I choke, won't I suffocate and die?
ED: Anesthesia really makes people anxious, doesn't it?
KAMIYA: Yeah. So, they lay you down on the table and make you bite down on this plastic ring. To keep you from biting down on the endoscope with your teeth. Even if it hurts, they tell you to clench your teeth with that. They slide the endoscope in through that plastic ring, and all your saliva comes out, and the monitor shows the inside of your own gut, it's absolutely awful. Then they try to look into your intestines, prying open the entrance to them, and that hurts too.
ED: Wow, that sounds like a nightmare.
KAMIYA: I kept going "Waaah, waaah" while the nurse tried to calm me down. I thought I'd never drink again... but I still do (laughs).
ED: Earlier you mentioned fear and "entertainment value" as themes, but this time there was also the theme of channel surfing, right?
KAMIYA:Yes. The idea of channel surfing was around since the late stages of developing the first game. I wondered if we could evolve the BIO series further, even from a scenario perspective.
ED: Regarding zapping though, I feel like some aspects weren't fully realized. For example, needing to set the same flags in the alternate route that you set in the main route.
KAMIYA: Ouch.
ED: Sorry about that (laughs).
KAMIYA: Hmm. Realistically, it makes sense to prioritize realism and eliminate flags from either the main or alternate route. It just wasn't fun as a game, though...
ED: Was creating a new mission essentially like making another game, making it nearly impossible?
KAMIYA: Yeah, that was definitely a stretch. In "Back to the Future," you see the events of the first movie from the second movie's perspective, right? Watching that, I thought, "Ah, so that's how it was," and it was really interesting. I really wanted to try something like that. But BIO's ultimately a game, so it's different from a movie that's just a script, right? Actually, making it happen would have been a huge undertaking...
ED: Can you elaborate?
KAMIYA: Hmm, well, for instance, having to manage the script and events within the game itself was incredibly tricky. You have to make sure players pick up a key here and use it there, or spawn an enemy here to trigger a fight, all while preventing them from skipping around. Mess with one part, and another breaks. Problems like events failing to trigger can occur. But if you make the scenario progress too smoothly, it loses its appeal as a game.
ED: That's right. It'd be ideal if an invisible hand could skillfully guide the player, but if that hand becomes visible, it ruins the immersion. It turns into what's called an "errand game."
KAMIYA: It certainly gave me a headache.
ED: But those rough edges stand out more precisely because the other parts are so well-done.
KAMIYA: Exactly. That's a major challenge. It's still rough around the edges and I think there's plenty of room for improvement going forward. We want to polish it up more.
ED: One more probing question, if I may.
KAMIYA: What is it? (laughs)
ED: Fans of the first game sometimes say the second one isn't scary anymore. Like the difference between Alien and Aliens, entertaining but not scary. What do you think about that opinion?
KAMIYA: Hmm, well... The biggest difference is that in the first one, the mere presence of Zombies was scary, right? That approach just doesn't work anymore. So we decided "Fine, let "2" have its own distinct flavor." Just like that Alien film, we aimed to strengthen the entertainment aspect and follow the classic sequel formula. So the overall vibe's that the horror of the first game is more in the shadows, while the horror of the second's more in the spotlight. That's what we meant. Also, there's the issue of difficulty. The previous game was tuned fairly high for advanced players, but we did get quite a few comments from casual players saying things like "it's too hard" or and "I can't clear it." We anticipated "2" would attract many new buyers, so we needed to adjust the difficulty with those players in mind.
ED: Although that bitter atmosphere for hardcore users was part of BIO's appeal, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, so constantly having to balance the needs of these two extremes of fans was always a major headache. That's why, from a "marketability" perspective, I think BIO2's excellent, but honestly I do have some reservations about it from an "artistic merit" standpoint. Back with the first game, our target was 300,000 copies, and since it was aimed at core users from the start, we could really enjoy making it. We could pretty much do whatever we wanted. Now that BIO's gotten this big however, it's no longer just ours.
ED: Doesn't that feel a little lonely?
KAMIYA: Yeah, there's a bit of loneliness (laughs). But regardless of the approach, it's true the staff poured their hearts into this one too.
ED: Has work on "BIOHAZARD 3" already started?
KAMIYA: That's right. We're a bit stuck right now, though, on things like the direction.
ED: Since 2 ended on such a heroic note like "Let's go crush Umbrella!" or "I have to save my brother!", will it feel like the entire cast is reuniting to bring the story to a conclusion?
KAMIYA: Yeah, we've been tossing around ideas like that. Honestly though, when we had them say "Let's go crush Umbrella!", we hadn't really thought it through at all (laughs). I never imagined I never imagined I'd be doing "3" too.
ED: Oh, really?
KAMIYA: You know how sometimes you leave a story hanging just a little to create a pleasant aftertaste? That's all I was aiming for, but everyone started saying, "There's a sequel, there's a sequel!" So here I am, doing it again (laughs).
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
All the storyboards in this collection were drawn by Kamiya himself. They served the purpose of concretely communicating to the staff the images and flow of each scene he had in mind for the game's production. It seems he drew them "on a whim", and as the mood of the scene grew more exciting, the text became larger and the number of exclamation marks increased, so you can almost feel the artist’s excitement as you look at them, which is fun just to observe. Despite the storyboard's high energy however, the cut composition’s meticulously calculated so even the minutest details of the direction have been worked out. These are the rough gems of famous scenes from "BIOHAZARD 2", and we hope you’ll take the time to look at them carefully.
ED: A common question, but first, what was the theme of BIO2?
KAMIYA: Well, we definitely prioritized "fear." I believe the BIO series gained such widespread acceptance primarily because of its innovative portrayal of fear. We focused our efforts on ensuring that element wasn't lost.
ED: Still, even within the BIO series, compared to the first game, which was primarily created under Mikami-san's direction, I feel this time Kamiya-san's influence is much stronger.
KAMIYA: Yeah. If the previous game was orthodox horror, I aimed to incorporate the atmosphere of an action movie into "2". It allows for a sense of scale and appeals to a broader audience. It was also simply something I wanted to do (laughs). I've always loved Hollywood-style entertainment with strong action elements.
ED: I heard you're actually not that fond of horror movies though.
KAMIYA: I actually don't like them (laughs). During the production of the first game, Mikami-san jotted down 30 to 40 major horror movie titles on paper and told me, "Go watch these." He's been a fanatic since his student days. I prefer action movies and emotionally moving films though, horror movies just aren't my thing. Reluctantly, I watched "Dawn of the Dead" at home, and it left me feeling incredibly blue (laughs).
ED: You mean Romero's "Zombie", right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, it's different from Hollywood movies, isn't it? No happy ending. After watching it, I felt utterly hopeless. It was a huge shock of course, so I'm glad I watched it. And I also didn't like Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" series.
ED: Don't those have some comedic elements?
KAMIYA: No, but they're still just gross, right? Anyway, the blood and guts are intense. They emphasize the grotesqueness to the point of making it a gag, trying to make it funny. I really can't handle that kind of stuff.
ED: But BIO2's pretty intense too, isn't it? Like Zombies exploding open.
KAMIYA: Yeah, I just accepted that aspect. Honestly, I did think, "I wanna make a game with a dream-like atmosphere," but somehow it just turned into BIOHAZARD (laughs).
ED: (laughs). But conversely, you have a good understanding of fear and could depict it in your work precisely because you dislike horror, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah. Actually, no one on the team particularly liked horror either. But thinking about how to scare the players was fun. When we hit on an idea, we'd all grin.
ED: It does sound like fun.
KAMIYA: We incorporated quite a few ideas from outside the planning team too, but everyone was incredibly fast at programming their own sections. Creating horror effects is actually quite labor-intensive. You have to repeatedly check things like the cuts, the sound, and the timing. But they'd breeze through their own parts.
ED: Speaking of horror effects, personally, I screamed when all those hands came through the window (laughs).
KAMIYA: Ah, that part. Even I get startled sometimes (laughs). Like during bug checks, even when I know they'll appear, I'll get a "Whoa!" reaction while playing through it. But hands are scary, right? I heard a story once that really freaked me out. Apparently, a famous female singer went overseas to shoot a calendar. She was taking photos with a lake as the backdrop, but it turned out to be a notorious suicide spot. Apparently, the photos showed a sequence of people falling off the cliff behind her. And in the final photo, capturing the moment they hit the water, countless hands burst out from the surface...
ED: Wow. Is that a true story?
KAMIYA: Nah, it sounds made up. But if it's made up they sure did a great job crafting it. Incidentally, the concept behind that hand mechanism is simple, but it was crafted with considerable attention to detail. Normally, Zombie hands have four fingers fused together. But we felt that without expressive fingers, it wouldn't be scary enough, so we made a dedicated hand model.
ED: It's precisely because you went to that extent that the horror comes through. The Zombies are also depicted in even greater detail than in the previous game. Things like everyone being bald and sticking out their hands in the same way in "1" feel more realistic now.
KAMIYA: Exactly. For the arms, instead of having them extended from the start, we had them lowered at first. Then as humans approach, they extend them. That feels more authentic and unsettling.
ED: I also noticed a lot of care went into the other characters' movements.
KAMIYA: Yes, for the CG movie parts, we used motion capture footage. We asked amateur actors to model the movements. When amateurs do it, the movements naturally have a certain quality. They might look a bit shy or, conversely, overdo it. We actually have specific people assigned to each role, Leon for Leon, Claire for Claire, and so on.
ED: Just a layman's thought, but do you choose models who resemble the characters in terms of vibe?
KAMIYA: Yeah, that does influence things to some extent.
ED: Speaking of which, why's Ada the only one without a CG movie?
KAMIYA: Hahaha (wry smile).
ED: It was incredibly disappointing! Ada fans everywhere must be furious, wishing at least that kiss scene had been a movie.
KAMIYA: Well... simply put, we didn't have the flexibility in the schedule to create Ada's model. Within the team though, we were actually excited about that scene, calling it "the industry's first polygon kiss scene."
ED: Really? (laughs)
KAMIYA: The spots for cutscenes were decided right from the start: the opening, ending, and the hook scene with the Licker's appearance. Everything else was planned as puppet-style animation. Leon and Ada's interactions around that time weren't supposed to be nearly as intense initially. We figured polygons would handle it just fine. As we actually integrated the scenario into the game though, did the cutscene editing and worked on the storyboard direction, it ended up becoming this flashy, extended event.
ED: I see. But it's a great scene, isn't it? Where Leon yells "Adaaaa!"
KAMIYA: I'm actually quite fond of it myself.
ED: By the way, how were the voice actors chosen?
KAMIYA: They're all from Canada. For each character, we listed about ten candidates and had them send demo tapes. We listened and selected them here. However, the actress playing Annette wasn't a voice actor, she was someone active in TV and such.
ED: Didn't the voice actors struggle with recording for a game?
KAMIYA: Yeah. We recorded before the visuals were finished, so we only had the script to work with. It was hard to convey subtle but crucial details, like "this part needs to be spoken quickly." So we let them do the first take freely. If it didn't match our vision, we'd give feedback like, "No, that part needs to sound more tense," or "More calmly," describing the visual image we were aiming for on the spot. But it was apparently quite difficult, and we ended up doing multiple takes.
ED: If you listen closely, the Zombie voices are surprisingly varied.
KAMIYA: We actually used quite a few staff members' voices for the Zombies. Everyone made "Ugh" sounds and such. I was a bit embarrassed, so I didn't participate (laughs). Also, after Leon or Claire's voice actors finished their lines, we'd ask them to "throw in a Zombie voice too" while they were at it. We then processed those recordings to make them usable.
ED: Starting with this "2", I really feel a strong intent to make the player jump. You could call it a "positive kind of horror." I think the charm of "1" was more about that underlying chill and creepiness being front and center. In that sense, this feels much more like entertainment.
KAMIYA: That might be true.
ED: The visuals are incredibly realistic, so it's genuinely terrifying. What does fear mean to you, Kamiya-san?
KAMIYA: Hmm, let me see...
ED: For example, what was the scariest situation you've ever experienced in your life?
KAMIYA: I'm pretty timid, so pretty much everything scares me... Come to think of it, I had a burglar break into my room the other day.
ED: A burglar?!
KAMIYA: Yeah. I came back to my company dorm like usual, put the key in the knob, and it was already unlocked. I thought, "Huh?" When I opened the door, even though it was summer, this cold breeze just wafted out. At first I thought maybe I'd left the AC on and just walked out. Inside was pitch black, but I could tell it was incredibly messy. I was sure I'd cleaned up the night before, so why was it such a mess? For a second, I was so confused I even wondered if I'd ended up at a friend's place who just leaves their room filthy. Then I turned on the light, and the sheer level of clutter made me feel a chill run down my spine.
ED: That's scary... the whole situation with the wind blowing in when you opened the door.
KAMIYA: After calling the police and having them investigate, nothing major was stolen, but since then, I've been a little scared to go into that room. Even where I live now, I'm scared to open the door when I come home. I worry someone might be inside and attack me. So, I end up opening the door very slowly and peeking inside.
ED: Speaking of which, opening doors in BIO's scary too, right? This time, there's that one moment where Zombies suddenly appear when you open a door. Because of that, I always tense up when opening doors, wondering if something else will pop out.
KAMIYA: I wanted to include that from the very beginning.
ED: Do you ever have people play it and observe their reactions?
KAMIYA: Yeah, I do. Something funny happened when I had one of our staff members who directed "Rockman DASH" play it. He got so startled he yelled "Whoa!" and threw the controller (laughs). I also often hear stories about people pulling the controller cable out. Also, I really can't stand bugs.
ED: Bugs appear in "2" too, right? Cockroaches, spiders, caterpillars...
KAMIYA: I really can't stand caterpillars, so I definitely wanted to include them. You know how they're in school science textbooks, like "the larva of the swallowtail butterfly"? I used to fold and stack that page to seal it shut, making sure I never opened it. I just couldn't stand caterpillars, so I put them in. Also, in the first game, there was an enemy called Chimera. When you defeated it, maggots would scatter everywhere. That was my idea too. "I hate that thing, I hate it, so let's do that!"
ED: I see (laughs).
KAMIYA: I'm not particularly scared of cockroaches, but there was a staff member who absolutely hated them. I realized that cockroaches were to him what caterpillars and maggots were to me, so I totally understood his feelings. So I thought, "Alright, let's have him do the cockroaches too." But, well, when someone who hates something makes it, it turns out incredibly disgusting. He was making them while saying things like, "Ugh, I hate it when they fly at the screen!" (laughs).
ED: What about spiders?
KAMIYA: I hate it when they get inside the house. Once, a pretty big spider came inside, and I picked it up with a tissue and-- sorry-- squished it. When I did, I felt that squishy sensation directly on my fingers. I didn't use enough tissue. It felt just like crushing a grape.
ED: Eeeek.
KAMIYA: Ever since then, whenever I find a spider, I gently wrap it up and take it outside to release it.
ED: So the enemy characters were created in a friendly, lively atmosphere. Everyone saying things like "I hate this!"
KAMIYA: Yeah, our floor was pretty noisy. We got complaints from other teams all the time (laughs).
ED: Kamiya-san, you've been involved with BIO since the first game, right?
KAMIYA: Yes. When I joined the company, I was assigned to the BIO1 team.
ED: I heard that initially the BIO team was just diligently researching and experimenting, and from the outside, no one really understood what they were doing. They were even called the "Polygon Team," right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, we went through a lot of trial and error.
ED: How long did it take for BIO's core concept to solidify during that period?
KAMIYA: Hmm, about two years, I'd say. Back then, the PlayStation hadn't launched yet; the Super Famicom was still the main console. When we started developing something for the PlayStation, the research began on how far we could push horror using the technology available at the time. That was actually before I joined the company. Later, I joined as one of three planners. The higher-ups made all of us play "Sweet Home", telling us "Play this." BIO's core concept actually stems from that game. Elements like each protagonist having distinct skills and personalities, or the limited number of items you can carry, were inherited from Sweet Home. Also, when BIO was first conceived, the plan was to render the entire background in full polygons using a "first-person player perspective." Ultimately, it was decided that achieving the quality envisioned by Mikami, who was the director at the time, was difficult with full polygons, so it became what it is now.
ED: So, fixed camera shots, the so-called objective viewpoint, right?
KAMIYA: Yes. But since the theme remained fear, we decided to leverage the strengths of fixed camera angles.
ED: Meaning utilizing blind spots invisible to the player.
KAMIYA: Exactly. In "2," we also used "watched cutscenes." High overhead shots or long-range shots place the character far away, effectively drawing out the player's sense of unease. For example, shots like entering a hall or a character standing alone in a vast space were used to heighten loneliness. We frequently employed techniques that pulled the character away from the player's perspective.
ED: Looking at the storyboards, it seems you were quite particular about cuts and camera angles?
KAMIYA: Yes, I was particular. There were three main points I focused on for shot composition.
ED: Could you elaborate?
KAMIYA: First, "compositional beauty." The in-game backgrounds are modeled in CG and are quite detailed. For instance, even a single wall wouldn't look convincing with just one texture applied, it'd look flat and CG-like. So, we applied dozens of small textures, ten or twenty in total. Whether this level of detail shines or falls flat depends entirely on the cut though.
ED: I see. If the composition isn't good, all that effort goes to waste.
KAMIYA: That's right. Then there's "ease of spatial awareness." We need to clearly convey the space's structure and the player character's position to players exploring the playfield. But above all, our top priority was "linking to gameplay." We focused on questions like: "Is it hard to fight the Zombies?" "Are the blind spots that build terror effectively depicted?" "Is movement restricted?" "Is combat with enemies effectively staged?" We prioritized whether it functions properly as a "game" above all else.
ED: So you didn't just pursue "visual beauty" alone, then.
KAMIYA: We absolutely avoided that. Even so, we were quite particular about the cuts to ensure all three elements were satisfied.
ED: In boss fight scenes, the camera often aligns with the enemy's eye level, right?
KAMIYA: Yes, aiming to convey the boss's size and imposing presence. I absolutely love high-angle shots.
ED: Speaking of high-angle shots, the Tyrant comes to mind.
KAMIYA: Yeah, I'm really fond of the Tyrant. We had a scenario writer this time, and initially, the Tyrant wasn't heavily involved in the game. When talking with the writer though, I insisted we absolutely had to include the Tyrant (laughs).
ED: I see. I definitely felt an extraordinary amount of love poured into the Tyrant's entrance scene.
KAMIYA: We nailed that shot with a perfect high angle. Plus, I wanted to give him a divine aura, so I added a hymn-like jingle. It's a pretty outlandish tune, so I planned to include it just in case, and if staff asked "What's this?" I'd say "Just kidding!" and scrap it.
ED: But it worked out, huh? (laughs)
KAMIYA: Yes (laughs). Honestly, I wanted to use more high-angle shots, but we had to balance it with playability, so we couldn't overuse them. Boss scenes just feel more impactful with high-angle cuts, right? Personally I really wanted to use them, but then it wouldn't feel like a game anymore. That's the tough part about games, they can't be like movies.
ED: But being able to focus on cinematic cuts and direction like that is unique to the "objective viewpoint," isn't it?
KAMIYA: Yeah. When we discussed switching from full polygons for the first game, there were some complaints within the staff. I was one of those who initially felt that way too. Once we actually saw the screen though, it turned out really well.
ED: I thought the way the motion changes based on damage was really clever too. That's also something only possible with an objective viewpoint, right?
KAMIYA: Exactly. We wanted to do that since the first game. Having characters limp or clutch their stomachs just feels more natural for people in this kind of emergency.
ED: Like using a shotgun as a cane when you're equipped with one, that's really detailed, isn't it?
KAMIYA: You can really direct yourself while playing (laughs). Like, "Man, I'm fighting in this crazy situation right now!"
ED: Haha (laughs).
KAMIYA: However doing that stuff means you get bitten by Zombies and die, so you have to heal with herbs. The moment you recover, you can't do that performance anymore, and you're like, "Damn it!" (laughs).
ED: But that way, you can tell roughly how much health you have without looking at the gauge. It's cleverly tied into the gameplay mechanics, really well done.
KAMIYA: Ever since the first game, Mikami said he didn't want to show a health bar or anything like that on screen. It's scarier when you can't see exactly how much damage you've taken, like in a fighting game.
ED: It's been half a year since the second game's release. Looking back, how'd you feel?
KAMIYA: Hmm, being a first-time director definitely came with its share of struggles. With the first game I was just one of the planners, yelling and biting at Mikami-san. This time, I was the one being bitten.
ED: So you finally understood how tough it was for Mikami-san (laughs).
KAMIYA: Yeah. Looking back now, during the really tough times, I was drinking every night.
ED: The "I can't take this anymore!" kind.
KAMIYA: Yep (laughs). I'd come back to my room and start drinking. Work was so busy, I'd get home at 1am or 2am. Then I had to be at the office by 9am the next morning, but I couldn't fall asleep.
ED: Were your nerves on edge?
KAMIYA: Whether my nerves were on edge or I felt calm, as soon as I lay down in bed, all these worries would start popping up. Like, "What about that plan?" or "How should we handle this part of the production?"... A mini-meeting would just start in my head (laughs). For "2", we had meetings twice a week with the entire 40-person team. And there, we'd get constant pressure from the planning side: "How's the schedule looking?" or "We wanna build this room but haven't gotten the map yet." That kind of stuff. And it all starts playing in my half-asleep state. Once I start thinking, "Oh, I haven't done this, I haven't done that," I just can't sleep anymore. So I'd chug brandy on the rocks and crash out. Then I'd sleep soundly till morning and wake up refreshed. I did that every single day.
ED: And your health was okay with that?
KAMIYA: When was it... I went to a yakiniku place with a friend. It was all-you-can-eat, but I'm cheap, so I kept eating even when I wasn't hungry. I got stuffed and thought, "This is bad," so I went to the bathroom. When I threw up, blood just gushed out (laughs).
ED: Wow, that's awful...
KAMIYA: At first I couldn't believe it, but after throwing up two or three times, it was clearly fresh blood. I went to the doctor the very next day and had them check it out with an endoscopy. I never actually went back to hear the results, though.
ED: Oh my... But if there was a problem, they'd call you, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, so I figure it probably wasn't anything serious.
ED: I recall Mikami-san saying something similar back when working on the first game, that standing at the top and bringing everyone together's incredibly tough.
KAMIYA: Right. "Bringing the game together" ultimately means "bringing people together," and that was the hardest part. With over 40 staff members, everyone has their own ideas they want to express, and as creators, they strongly assert their opinions...
ED: Meaning some ideas inevitably had to be discarded.
KAMIYA: Yes. It's not that everyone had misguided opinions, but rather choosing which methodology to adopt from among many possibilities.
ED: Within that process, what criteria did you use to make those selections?
KAMIYA: Above all, whether it fit BIO2's world. For this project, the hardest part was making everything-- the scenario, enemies, weapons, player movement, event scenes, cutscenes-- fit together into a single, cohesive, beautiful game.
ED: I imagine the staff members all had a real passion for it.
KAMIYA: They did. When I first took on the director role, I was still inexperienced and often made mistakes. Eventually though a strong trust developed among us, and everyone's energy started moving in a positive direction. I think we reached a point where we could all think, "If this guy's pushing this hard, let's trust him." Although, have you ever had an endoscopy?
ED: No, I haven't.
KAMIYA: That thing's the worst. They insert this endoscope through your esophagus, but your body's natural reaction makes you want to vomit, so you can't eat anything the night before. The next morning, you can't eat anything, you can't even drink water. They empty your stomach, and first, they numb your throat.
ED: With an injection?
KAMIYA: No, it's this gel-like, syrupy stuff. You put it in your mouth and let it drip down your throat bit by bit over five minutes. Then you lose all sensation in your throat. Even swallowing saliva uses throat muscles, right? You lose that sensation too, so you can't swallow your saliva. It just all comes back up. Eventually, even breathing makes you anxious. Like, if I choke, won't I suffocate and die?
ED: Anesthesia really makes people anxious, doesn't it?
KAMIYA: Yeah. So, they lay you down on the table and make you bite down on this plastic ring. To keep you from biting down on the endoscope with your teeth. Even if it hurts, they tell you to clench your teeth with that. They slide the endoscope in through that plastic ring, and all your saliva comes out, and the monitor shows the inside of your own gut, it's absolutely awful. Then they try to look into your intestines, prying open the entrance to them, and that hurts too.
ED: Wow, that sounds like a nightmare.
KAMIYA: I kept going "Waaah, waaah" while the nurse tried to calm me down. I thought I'd never drink again... but I still do (laughs).
ED: Earlier you mentioned fear and "entertainment value" as themes, but this time there was also the theme of channel surfing, right?
KAMIYA:Yes. The idea of channel surfing was around since the late stages of developing the first game. I wondered if we could evolve the BIO series further, even from a scenario perspective.
ED: Regarding zapping though, I feel like some aspects weren't fully realized. For example, needing to set the same flags in the alternate route that you set in the main route.
KAMIYA: Ouch.
ED: Sorry about that (laughs).
KAMIYA: Hmm. Realistically, it makes sense to prioritize realism and eliminate flags from either the main or alternate route. It just wasn't fun as a game, though...
ED: Was creating a new mission essentially like making another game, making it nearly impossible?
KAMIYA: Yeah, that was definitely a stretch. In "Back to the Future," you see the events of the first movie from the second movie's perspective, right? Watching that, I thought, "Ah, so that's how it was," and it was really interesting. I really wanted to try something like that. But BIO's ultimately a game, so it's different from a movie that's just a script, right? Actually, making it happen would have been a huge undertaking...
ED: Can you elaborate?
KAMIYA: Hmm, well, for instance, having to manage the script and events within the game itself was incredibly tricky. You have to make sure players pick up a key here and use it there, or spawn an enemy here to trigger a fight, all while preventing them from skipping around. Mess with one part, and another breaks. Problems like events failing to trigger can occur. But if you make the scenario progress too smoothly, it loses its appeal as a game.
ED: That's right. It'd be ideal if an invisible hand could skillfully guide the player, but if that hand becomes visible, it ruins the immersion. It turns into what's called an "errand game."
KAMIYA: It certainly gave me a headache.
ED: But those rough edges stand out more precisely because the other parts are so well-done.
KAMIYA: Exactly. That's a major challenge. It's still rough around the edges and I think there's plenty of room for improvement going forward. We want to polish it up more.
ED: One more probing question, if I may.
KAMIYA: What is it? (laughs)
ED: Fans of the first game sometimes say the second one isn't scary anymore. Like the difference between Alien and Aliens, entertaining but not scary. What do you think about that opinion?
KAMIYA: Hmm, well... The biggest difference is that in the first one, the mere presence of Zombies was scary, right? That approach just doesn't work anymore. So we decided "Fine, let "2" have its own distinct flavor." Just like that Alien film, we aimed to strengthen the entertainment aspect and follow the classic sequel formula. So the overall vibe's that the horror of the first game is more in the shadows, while the horror of the second's more in the spotlight. That's what we meant. Also, there's the issue of difficulty. The previous game was tuned fairly high for advanced players, but we did get quite a few comments from casual players saying things like "it's too hard" or and "I can't clear it." We anticipated "2" would attract many new buyers, so we needed to adjust the difficulty with those players in mind.
ED: Although that bitter atmosphere for hardcore users was part of BIO's appeal, right?
KAMIYA: Yeah, so constantly having to balance the needs of these two extremes of fans was always a major headache. That's why, from a "marketability" perspective, I think BIO2's excellent, but honestly I do have some reservations about it from an "artistic merit" standpoint. Back with the first game, our target was 300,000 copies, and since it was aimed at core users from the start, we could really enjoy making it. We could pretty much do whatever we wanted. Now that BIO's gotten this big however, it's no longer just ours.
ED: Doesn't that feel a little lonely?
KAMIYA: Yeah, there's a bit of loneliness (laughs). But regardless of the approach, it's true the staff poured their hearts into this one too.
ED: Has work on "BIOHAZARD 3" already started?
KAMIYA: That's right. We're a bit stuck right now, though, on things like the direction.
ED: Since 2 ended on such a heroic note like "Let's go crush Umbrella!" or "I have to save my brother!", will it feel like the entire cast is reuniting to bring the story to a conclusion?
KAMIYA: Yeah, we've been tossing around ideas like that. Honestly though, when we had them say "Let's go crush Umbrella!", we hadn't really thought it through at all (laughs). I never imagined I never imagined I'd be doing "3" too.
ED: Oh, really?
KAMIYA: You know how sometimes you leave a story hanging just a little to create a pleasant aftertaste? That's all I was aiming for, but everyone started saying, "There's a sequel, there's a sequel!" So here I am, doing it again (laughs).
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
INTERVIEW 2 - YOSHIKI OKAMOTO (p.147-149)
Director and General Manager of the Development Division at CAPCOM Co. Ltd. Born on June 10th 1961. He's in overall charge of CAPCOM's arcade and consumer game development.
The story of Okamoto's criticism of "BIO HAZARD" just before it was released is so famous it's even been featured in a shōnen manga magazine. Where will his philosophy on game production and "BIOHAZARD" lead the series?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): I heard you gave a lot of final advice for "1".
YOSHIKI OKAMOTO (hereafter, OKAMOTO): It wasn't really advice I must say, more like I just flipped the table over. It was heavy, so I made them help me, saying like "You hold that side" (laughs).
ED: Is that so (laughs)?
OKAMOTO: Up until then I'd only worked on arcade games, so I hadn't paid any attention to consumer games. Then the situation in the company changed in a few ways and I was told BIO HAZARD was about to be released, so I was shown it. When I saw it, I didn't like it at all. It was a promising game, which made me not like it even more. I thought, "You've brought it this far, now you're gonna stop?" So because it might be a big home run, while saying "I don't like this, I don't like that, do it like this", I also asked the sales team "can we delay the release date somehow?"
ED: What sort of adjustments did you make specifically? Like the auto-correct when aiming a gun.
OKAMOTO: That's right. The system initially divided the 360 degrees around you into 270, so you'd rotate the gun for as long as you held the button down, but this meant even if you thought you were facing a Zombie, you weren't, and if you were firing rapidly at a moving Zombie, your bullets would miss. Also if you pick up one ink ribbon you can save three times, but you could only save once before. So when I was playing, I started to feel uneasy and ended up looking for ink ribbons more than anything else. Even considered changing the title to "Game Where You Look For Ink Ribbons" (laughs).
ED: So one ink ribbon makes a big difference, does it?
OKAMOTO: It's like a 100 yen continue. Continue and add three more lives. Pick up another ink ribbon, you get three more lives. I thought it'd be good if it could be done that way. There were other proposals that were adopted and others that were rejected.
OKAMOTO: The main thing was the control system. I wanted to make the RC control system work like "Rockman DASH". Although we couldn't handle the part where you back away while shooting at Zombies. We had no choice but to use those controls. I thought it'd probably be rejected 8 or 9 times out of 10, but we released it anyway.
ED: So that turned out to be a needless worry.
OKAMOTO: It really felt like we just happened to get away with it. The other parts were good, so those controls were accepted. I thought there was only a 10% chance they'd have been accepted.
ED: That's pretty harsh.
OKAMOTO: There were a lot of things I wanted kept to a minimum. If I hadn't changed its direction myself, I think casual players probably wouldn't have been able to keep up. With SEGA's "Virtual-On", if you suddenly jump up then come down, you'll land facing the enemy. I think that jump's there for that purpose. You need to be able to use it like that.
ED: That's certainly true.
OKAMOTO: "BIO" didn't have that, so that's what I meant when I said it was a "shitty game". I called it a shitty game due to the poor balancing. For instance, when you go to a zoo and make an elephant out of clay while looking at the real thing, you make the parts realistically then stick them together, and you think "Oh, the head's a bit small. The parts are good though". That's how BIO HAZARD was made.
ED: But the term "shitty game" was pretty harsh, no?
OKAMOTO: When I say "shitty game", I mean the parts are well-made so if the whole thing works well, it'll be a good game. The members who worked with me on the arcades could easily understand that nuance, but it seems the consumer side didn't use that kind of expression. So the younger generation were mad. But I wouldn't say that if I didn't think there was any hope for it.
ED: So it seems like Mikami-san was the one who stepped in and communicated well?
OKAMOTO: He was working really hard. It's a shame. That's why Mikami seems like a millionaire, but he's not at all.
ED: How's that?
OKAMOTO: He goes out drinking to fill the gap.
ED: So he treats them.
OKAMOTO: That's why the team gets along well. They're cheerful.
ED: Fortunately the controls were well-received by users, so you're keeping them the same for "2".
OKAMOTO: Whether they're well-received or not, we won't change the controls. Because when you particularly play a series game, you don't read the manual, do you?
ED: That's right.
OKAMOTO: We don't want it to be a series where reading the manual is a must. The selling point of a sequel is being able to just jump straight into it with the same feel you got from the first game.
ED: I see.
OKAMOTO: They came to ask me again this time too. "Should we change the controls?" I told them they didn't have to touch them.
ED: Was that when you were making "2"?
OKAMOTO: They thought we'd get a lot of complaints about "2" too. I was confident, but I think they seemed worried "Okamoto will say something again." That wasn't the case though. In that sense, the "Director's Cut" was released, but I think it could've received a little higher praise.
ED: In what areas?
OKAMOTO: That'd be how it incorporated elements we wanted to include even before the release of "1", as well as parts we thought would've been good if we included them after release. Even if you only play "2", you won't understand it unless you play Director's Cut as well.
ED: You mean you won't get it unless you play Director's Cut, rather than "1"?
OKAMOTO: That's with Director's Cut being the first in the BIO series. So I want people who haven't played it to try the DualShock compatible version of Director's Cut. This time the controller vibrates and we've also tried changing the music.
ED: There was also a "1.5" between 1 and 2.
OKAMOTO: It looked really cool just looking at the screen. With the technology we had at the time of "1", we were able to display three Zombies on-screen, but we were able to grasp the hardware's peculiarities to the point we could "go up to seven." So I think we achieved the same kind of evolution where "Alien" became "Alien 2".
ED: At the time of "1.5"?
OKAMOTO: At the time of "1.5". It was evolving in a different direction to what users were expecting though. That wasn't good enough, so I got the main members of the team together with FLAGSHIP's Noboru Sugimura-san and had them meet and talk for days on end. Sugimura-san's a scenario writer, so he has a way with words. Mikami's also a master, but he was persuaded. If I was in his position I would've felt pressured and said "yes". Since we're boss and subordinate. But with Mikami and Sugimura-san, they can have a lively exchange of ideas with each other on equal footing. So Mikami came to me and said he wanted to change it like so-and-so, and it'd delay the development period by this long.
ED: From the company's point of view, it's not a very pleasing discussion to hear the development period will be delayed.
OKAMOTO: When you look at it long term, it's crucial to see how much CAPCOM deserves recognition as a business. If we successfully launch a title like BIO HAZARD by chance, but then messed up on "2", we can't be trusted as a company. If you let your ace pitcher take the mound two days after his last and he ends up injuring his shoulder, you'll still let him pitch as your ace whether it's four or five days after his last, and he'll definitely get a win. That's the sort of usage I want to see.
ED: The director's changed from Mikami-san to Kamiya-san this time. How do you feel about that?
OKAMOTO: The director changing is no issue, the scenario's what's important. It's vital to absolutely stick to uniform scenarios. That's why I didn't want them to truly make the change from Alien to Alien 2. If you go all the way with "2", there's nothing left to do with "3". I didn't want it to go in that direction.
ED: So what kind of direction would you like it to go in?
OKAMOTO: I feel it should be more like "007". The enemies in 007 are like some sort of super rich guy holding a cat or something, and even if an island gets blown up, it's like one finger gets blown off. Someone just so happens to get a lead on someone like that, some big-time enemy, seriously working on some conspiracy, and it causes some commotion. I want to tell the stories of "1" and "2" as if they're pieces of a much bigger narrative.
ED: Was that something in mind since "1"?
OKAMOTO: No (laughs). When we had "1" and "1.5" was starting to take shape, I imagine they probably thought, "If they liked 1, then let's make 2, which is the story that comes after that, and if they like that, let's make 3, the story that comes after that", y'know? That's not right. The entire world's created at the point of "1". And we're going to proceed with 1 as this part of the story, 2 as this part of the story, and so on.
ED: It's like the story of Gundam.
OKAMOTO: Right, that's it. First you create the world then never leave it. That's why it's OK even if the director changes.
ED: So it won't just be "3", but continue on from there.
OKAMOTO: That's right. We won't let the world get mixed up though. So for example, if we manage to get to "5" I don't know which'll be the best, but if one of them sells three million copies in Japan, those who played that one will want to try out and buy the others too. So I want to see the gap filled between the other ones and three million copies. I want to make this into a series that way. It's not about money, it's about a big scale, so I want to show the full scale.
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
The story of Okamoto's criticism of "BIO HAZARD" just before it was released is so famous it's even been featured in a shōnen manga magazine. Where will his philosophy on game production and "BIOHAZARD" lead the series?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): I heard you gave a lot of final advice for "1".
YOSHIKI OKAMOTO (hereafter, OKAMOTO): It wasn't really advice I must say, more like I just flipped the table over. It was heavy, so I made them help me, saying like "You hold that side" (laughs).
ED: Is that so (laughs)?
OKAMOTO: Up until then I'd only worked on arcade games, so I hadn't paid any attention to consumer games. Then the situation in the company changed in a few ways and I was told BIO HAZARD was about to be released, so I was shown it. When I saw it, I didn't like it at all. It was a promising game, which made me not like it even more. I thought, "You've brought it this far, now you're gonna stop?" So because it might be a big home run, while saying "I don't like this, I don't like that, do it like this", I also asked the sales team "can we delay the release date somehow?"
ED: What sort of adjustments did you make specifically? Like the auto-correct when aiming a gun.
OKAMOTO: That's right. The system initially divided the 360 degrees around you into 270, so you'd rotate the gun for as long as you held the button down, but this meant even if you thought you were facing a Zombie, you weren't, and if you were firing rapidly at a moving Zombie, your bullets would miss. Also if you pick up one ink ribbon you can save three times, but you could only save once before. So when I was playing, I started to feel uneasy and ended up looking for ink ribbons more than anything else. Even considered changing the title to "Game Where You Look For Ink Ribbons" (laughs).
ED: So one ink ribbon makes a big difference, does it?
OKAMOTO: It's like a 100 yen continue. Continue and add three more lives. Pick up another ink ribbon, you get three more lives. I thought it'd be good if it could be done that way. There were other proposals that were adopted and others that were rejected.
OKAMOTO: The main thing was the control system. I wanted to make the RC control system work like "Rockman DASH". Although we couldn't handle the part where you back away while shooting at Zombies. We had no choice but to use those controls. I thought it'd probably be rejected 8 or 9 times out of 10, but we released it anyway.
ED: So that turned out to be a needless worry.
OKAMOTO: It really felt like we just happened to get away with it. The other parts were good, so those controls were accepted. I thought there was only a 10% chance they'd have been accepted.
ED: That's pretty harsh.
OKAMOTO: There were a lot of things I wanted kept to a minimum. If I hadn't changed its direction myself, I think casual players probably wouldn't have been able to keep up. With SEGA's "Virtual-On", if you suddenly jump up then come down, you'll land facing the enemy. I think that jump's there for that purpose. You need to be able to use it like that.
ED: That's certainly true.
OKAMOTO: "BIO" didn't have that, so that's what I meant when I said it was a "shitty game". I called it a shitty game due to the poor balancing. For instance, when you go to a zoo and make an elephant out of clay while looking at the real thing, you make the parts realistically then stick them together, and you think "Oh, the head's a bit small. The parts are good though". That's how BIO HAZARD was made.
ED: But the term "shitty game" was pretty harsh, no?
OKAMOTO: When I say "shitty game", I mean the parts are well-made so if the whole thing works well, it'll be a good game. The members who worked with me on the arcades could easily understand that nuance, but it seems the consumer side didn't use that kind of expression. So the younger generation were mad. But I wouldn't say that if I didn't think there was any hope for it.
ED: So it seems like Mikami-san was the one who stepped in and communicated well?
OKAMOTO: He was working really hard. It's a shame. That's why Mikami seems like a millionaire, but he's not at all.
ED: How's that?
OKAMOTO: He goes out drinking to fill the gap.
ED: So he treats them.
OKAMOTO: That's why the team gets along well. They're cheerful.
ED: Fortunately the controls were well-received by users, so you're keeping them the same for "2".
OKAMOTO: Whether they're well-received or not, we won't change the controls. Because when you particularly play a series game, you don't read the manual, do you?
ED: That's right.
OKAMOTO: We don't want it to be a series where reading the manual is a must. The selling point of a sequel is being able to just jump straight into it with the same feel you got from the first game.
ED: I see.
OKAMOTO: They came to ask me again this time too. "Should we change the controls?" I told them they didn't have to touch them.
ED: Was that when you were making "2"?
OKAMOTO: They thought we'd get a lot of complaints about "2" too. I was confident, but I think they seemed worried "Okamoto will say something again." That wasn't the case though. In that sense, the "Director's Cut" was released, but I think it could've received a little higher praise.
ED: In what areas?
OKAMOTO: That'd be how it incorporated elements we wanted to include even before the release of "1", as well as parts we thought would've been good if we included them after release. Even if you only play "2", you won't understand it unless you play Director's Cut as well.
ED: You mean you won't get it unless you play Director's Cut, rather than "1"?
OKAMOTO: That's with Director's Cut being the first in the BIO series. So I want people who haven't played it to try the DualShock compatible version of Director's Cut. This time the controller vibrates and we've also tried changing the music.
ED: There was also a "1.5" between 1 and 2.
OKAMOTO: It looked really cool just looking at the screen. With the technology we had at the time of "1", we were able to display three Zombies on-screen, but we were able to grasp the hardware's peculiarities to the point we could "go up to seven." So I think we achieved the same kind of evolution where "Alien" became "Alien 2".
ED: At the time of "1.5"?
OKAMOTO: At the time of "1.5". It was evolving in a different direction to what users were expecting though. That wasn't good enough, so I got the main members of the team together with FLAGSHIP's Noboru Sugimura-san and had them meet and talk for days on end. Sugimura-san's a scenario writer, so he has a way with words. Mikami's also a master, but he was persuaded. If I was in his position I would've felt pressured and said "yes". Since we're boss and subordinate. But with Mikami and Sugimura-san, they can have a lively exchange of ideas with each other on equal footing. So Mikami came to me and said he wanted to change it like so-and-so, and it'd delay the development period by this long.
ED: From the company's point of view, it's not a very pleasing discussion to hear the development period will be delayed.
OKAMOTO: When you look at it long term, it's crucial to see how much CAPCOM deserves recognition as a business. If we successfully launch a title like BIO HAZARD by chance, but then messed up on "2", we can't be trusted as a company. If you let your ace pitcher take the mound two days after his last and he ends up injuring his shoulder, you'll still let him pitch as your ace whether it's four or five days after his last, and he'll definitely get a win. That's the sort of usage I want to see.
ED: The director's changed from Mikami-san to Kamiya-san this time. How do you feel about that?
OKAMOTO: The director changing is no issue, the scenario's what's important. It's vital to absolutely stick to uniform scenarios. That's why I didn't want them to truly make the change from Alien to Alien 2. If you go all the way with "2", there's nothing left to do with "3". I didn't want it to go in that direction.
ED: So what kind of direction would you like it to go in?
OKAMOTO: I feel it should be more like "007". The enemies in 007 are like some sort of super rich guy holding a cat or something, and even if an island gets blown up, it's like one finger gets blown off. Someone just so happens to get a lead on someone like that, some big-time enemy, seriously working on some conspiracy, and it causes some commotion. I want to tell the stories of "1" and "2" as if they're pieces of a much bigger narrative.
ED: Was that something in mind since "1"?
OKAMOTO: No (laughs). When we had "1" and "1.5" was starting to take shape, I imagine they probably thought, "If they liked 1, then let's make 2, which is the story that comes after that, and if they like that, let's make 3, the story that comes after that", y'know? That's not right. The entire world's created at the point of "1". And we're going to proceed with 1 as this part of the story, 2 as this part of the story, and so on.
ED: It's like the story of Gundam.
OKAMOTO: Right, that's it. First you create the world then never leave it. That's why it's OK even if the director changes.
ED: So it won't just be "3", but continue on from there.
OKAMOTO: That's right. We won't let the world get mixed up though. So for example, if we manage to get to "5" I don't know which'll be the best, but if one of them sells three million copies in Japan, those who played that one will want to try out and buy the others too. So I want to see the gap filled between the other ones and three million copies. I want to make this into a series that way. It's not about money, it's about a big scale, so I want to show the full scale.
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
INTERVIEW 3 - KEIJI INAFUNE (p.150-151)
General Manager of Planning Room 2, Development Division, CAPCOM Co., Ltd. Producer of CAPCOM's popular "Rockman" series. He's been involved with BIOHAZARD since the second title.
From producing the Rockman series to producing "BIOHAZARD 2", what exactly is the struggle of establishing a new series? What sort of conflicts did he have over the content of what could be called extreme expressions?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): What were your basic principles when producing the major title BIOHAZARD 2 that couldn't afford to fail?
KEIJI INAFUNE (hereafter, INAFUNE): In my mind, I was wondering if BIO would really sell if we just made a good game, so I thought about the challenge of promoting the game by it being a follow-up to a good game, and other aspects. I had a real sense BIO was supported by people who weren't really interested in games, as I'd heard about people buying a PS just to play BIO, or women who bought a PS and got hooked on BIO. Even with those people buying it, it was still only 1.1 million copies. To add to that 1.1 million, I felt we need to appeal to even more casual users. So I thought it'd be good if we could get the name BIO HAZARD known to people who don't usually play games, by putting information in places other than game magazines. We also visited Tokyo Marui to propose the Desert Eagle, thinking it'd appeal to new audiences for both of us.
ED: The commercial was also very distinctive.
INAFUNE: Rather than just making a commercial, this time I thought we could appeal to different audiences using the commercial. Especially since BIO HAZARD's a cinematic game. We used the director of the "Zombie" films, George A. Romero, to give the commercial a BIO feel, and we chose Brad Renfro to appeal to women. It cost a lot of money (laughs).
ED: The Director's Cut was also very popular.
INAFUNE: There were some people who were worried about the format being like a rehash of an old title, but it sold 500,000 copies.
ED: 500,000 copies is a big number considering ports of popular titles often don't sell. Who came up with the idea for the Director's Cut in the first place?
INAFUNE: I think Mikami and Okamoto decided that. I think it was a project that took into account the promotional aspects of "2" and the needs of users who wanted to try "1". If you start a series halfway through, you want to watch the whole thing, don't you? BIO HAZARD was a game made in a cinematic style in every respect, so we were also conscious of non-game aspects in terms of promotion. We made many first-time attempts, for both CAPCOM and the game industry, so there were various obstacles and some things we were quite confused about.
ED: What kind of obstacles did you face?
INAFUNE: For example, while the game was being developed, we approached various people but most of the responses we got were negative. People said things like "It's just a game after all" or "We don't do games". I think things have changed now, though, since "2" sold so well and was such a hot topic. So we weren't able to do enough to make BIO known to the general public. Ever since 2's release though, things have become easier, so I'm thinking of keeping that in mind for "3".
ED: If you've sold two million copies this time, will you be aiming even higher with "3"?
INAFUNE: In BIO's case it's a genre people scared of scary things can't play though, so there's a handicap there. It's not like Square's "Final Fantasy" where anyone can play. Right now though, "Final Fantasy VII" is the best-selling PS game, so I'd like to aim for that (laughs).
ED: It's amazing you've sold that many despite the handicap.
INAFUNE: I think it's amazing, but we still want to be the best (laughs).
ED: It's scary, but I think that's also what leads to the high sales figures.
INAFUNE: Normally at CAPCOM we aim to make games people say are "fun", but in the case of BIO HAZARD we aimed to make a game people would say was "scary". In that sense, I think we succeeded.
ED: I heard you were also the producer of the Rockman series, but the way you promote your games is completely different, isn't it? I think there are some difficult aspects, such as the grotesque depictions, right?
INAFUNE: That's true. We take the approach of having people understand the game before they play it. We also voluntarily impose restrictions on the depictions.
ED: There's a warning on the package that says "Contains grotesque imagery", but I think BIO's the only game that displays such a warning on the screen before the game starts.
INAFUNE: When you think of a game as a singular work of art, such a display doesn't look very nice. It's something that doesn't sit well with the development side either. The regulations only require a sticker be attached to the package, but CAPCOM wanted to show we were thinking about this issue properly, so we made a point of doing it voluntarily, and the developers were satisfied with the result. I feel it's necessary to include in any game that contains such depictions, not just in BIO. CAPCOM particularly wants to do what we can with BIO, but I hope future restrictions on depiction won't just be restricting.
ED: I often hear from various manufacturers and creators "there are strict regulations on expression in games." What do you think?
INAFUNE: Sony understood BIO wasn't a game that was trying to scare people by showing gratuitous splatter-esque or grotesque scenes, but that it was "content depicted with a sense of necessity". Even so, there were cases where we had to remove elements the creators were particular about.
ED: I'm sure the creators might've resisted, but it must've been hard for the people who said "let's put a stop to it."
INAFUNE: For me, I know it'd be scarier if they were included, so it was even tougher. And I know it'd make the game more interesting. However that's not all that makes BIOHAZARD games so fun, so we removed them.
ED: From what you're saying, it sounds like you were in a pretty rough position.
INAFUNE: No, I think it was harder for Mikami this time. I think he was under a lot of pressure. We did achieve our target of two million units sold though, so I feel like we did a good job. Although by the time we think we can achieve two million units, the target will have been raised to three million (laughs).
ED: So the "3" means three million? The target number of copies sold goes up by a million each time, right?
INAFUNE: We're thinking of doubling the target number of copies sold, 100, 200, 400, and so on (laughs). As I said before though, there are some handicaps. There are people who don't like these sorts of visuals. But I'd like to aim for four million copies sold (laughs).
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
From producing the Rockman series to producing "BIOHAZARD 2", what exactly is the struggle of establishing a new series? What sort of conflicts did he have over the content of what could be called extreme expressions?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): What were your basic principles when producing the major title BIOHAZARD 2 that couldn't afford to fail?
KEIJI INAFUNE (hereafter, INAFUNE): In my mind, I was wondering if BIO would really sell if we just made a good game, so I thought about the challenge of promoting the game by it being a follow-up to a good game, and other aspects. I had a real sense BIO was supported by people who weren't really interested in games, as I'd heard about people buying a PS just to play BIO, or women who bought a PS and got hooked on BIO. Even with those people buying it, it was still only 1.1 million copies. To add to that 1.1 million, I felt we need to appeal to even more casual users. So I thought it'd be good if we could get the name BIO HAZARD known to people who don't usually play games, by putting information in places other than game magazines. We also visited Tokyo Marui to propose the Desert Eagle, thinking it'd appeal to new audiences for both of us.
ED: The commercial was also very distinctive.
INAFUNE: Rather than just making a commercial, this time I thought we could appeal to different audiences using the commercial. Especially since BIO HAZARD's a cinematic game. We used the director of the "Zombie" films, George A. Romero, to give the commercial a BIO feel, and we chose Brad Renfro to appeal to women. It cost a lot of money (laughs).
ED: The Director's Cut was also very popular.
INAFUNE: There were some people who were worried about the format being like a rehash of an old title, but it sold 500,000 copies.
ED: 500,000 copies is a big number considering ports of popular titles often don't sell. Who came up with the idea for the Director's Cut in the first place?
INAFUNE: I think Mikami and Okamoto decided that. I think it was a project that took into account the promotional aspects of "2" and the needs of users who wanted to try "1". If you start a series halfway through, you want to watch the whole thing, don't you? BIO HAZARD was a game made in a cinematic style in every respect, so we were also conscious of non-game aspects in terms of promotion. We made many first-time attempts, for both CAPCOM and the game industry, so there were various obstacles and some things we were quite confused about.
ED: What kind of obstacles did you face?
INAFUNE: For example, while the game was being developed, we approached various people but most of the responses we got were negative. People said things like "It's just a game after all" or "We don't do games". I think things have changed now, though, since "2" sold so well and was such a hot topic. So we weren't able to do enough to make BIO known to the general public. Ever since 2's release though, things have become easier, so I'm thinking of keeping that in mind for "3".
ED: If you've sold two million copies this time, will you be aiming even higher with "3"?
INAFUNE: In BIO's case it's a genre people scared of scary things can't play though, so there's a handicap there. It's not like Square's "Final Fantasy" where anyone can play. Right now though, "Final Fantasy VII" is the best-selling PS game, so I'd like to aim for that (laughs).
ED: It's amazing you've sold that many despite the handicap.
INAFUNE: I think it's amazing, but we still want to be the best (laughs).
ED: It's scary, but I think that's also what leads to the high sales figures.
INAFUNE: Normally at CAPCOM we aim to make games people say are "fun", but in the case of BIO HAZARD we aimed to make a game people would say was "scary". In that sense, I think we succeeded.
ED: I heard you were also the producer of the Rockman series, but the way you promote your games is completely different, isn't it? I think there are some difficult aspects, such as the grotesque depictions, right?
INAFUNE: That's true. We take the approach of having people understand the game before they play it. We also voluntarily impose restrictions on the depictions.
ED: There's a warning on the package that says "Contains grotesque imagery", but I think BIO's the only game that displays such a warning on the screen before the game starts.
INAFUNE: When you think of a game as a singular work of art, such a display doesn't look very nice. It's something that doesn't sit well with the development side either. The regulations only require a sticker be attached to the package, but CAPCOM wanted to show we were thinking about this issue properly, so we made a point of doing it voluntarily, and the developers were satisfied with the result. I feel it's necessary to include in any game that contains such depictions, not just in BIO. CAPCOM particularly wants to do what we can with BIO, but I hope future restrictions on depiction won't just be restricting.
ED: I often hear from various manufacturers and creators "there are strict regulations on expression in games." What do you think?
INAFUNE: Sony understood BIO wasn't a game that was trying to scare people by showing gratuitous splatter-esque or grotesque scenes, but that it was "content depicted with a sense of necessity". Even so, there were cases where we had to remove elements the creators were particular about.
ED: I'm sure the creators might've resisted, but it must've been hard for the people who said "let's put a stop to it."
INAFUNE: For me, I know it'd be scarier if they were included, so it was even tougher. And I know it'd make the game more interesting. However that's not all that makes BIOHAZARD games so fun, so we removed them.
ED: From what you're saying, it sounds like you were in a pretty rough position.
INAFUNE: No, I think it was harder for Mikami this time. I think he was under a lot of pressure. We did achieve our target of two million units sold though, so I feel like we did a good job. Although by the time we think we can achieve two million units, the target will have been raised to three million (laughs).
ED: So the "3" means three million? The target number of copies sold goes up by a million each time, right?
INAFUNE: We're thinking of doubling the target number of copies sold, 100, 200, 400, and so on (laughs). As I said before though, there are some handicaps. There are people who don't like these sorts of visuals. But I'd like to aim for four million copies sold (laughs).
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
INTERVIEW 4 - SHINJI MIKAMI (P.152-153)
Producer, Development Headquarters, CAPCOM Co., Ltd. The driving force behind the creation of BIO HAZARD. He was the director of "1". Currently planning a new game.
Despite being the driving force behind the success of BIO HAZARD, Mr. Mikami took a step back to become producer for the sequel. How'd he feel leaving the series he nurtured?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): You're the producer this time, right?
SHINJI MIKAMI (hereafter, MIKAMI): This time I only decided on the general direction at the beginning then left most of the rest to the director, Kamiya. Kamiya's more particular with things like keeping the story flowing smoothly along a single straightforward path, or depicting the characters' expressions, rather than having things like branching paths, so I think that came across well.
ED: The quality's improved between "1" to "2", but at the same time, I think the logic of fear has also changed?
MIKAMI: What I was particular about in "1" was wanting to create a sense of fear that flowed through the story. I think the scariest thing's when you're actually facing the enemy. It's preferable to be able to let the fear build up in your head, wondering “is it coming now or coming later?” The way emphasis was placed on flashiness in the scenes was a change in "2."
ED: So that's the difference between Kamiya-san's way of thinking and Mikami-san's way of thinking.
MIKAMI: That's right. For example, there's a scene where Tyrant's dropped from a helicopter. There are six containers with Tyrants in them, but if you asked me, I'd have said, "Why six? One's enough." I wouldn't do it that way myself. That's where Kamiya's style comes in. If it were me, I'd probably only show one capsule. And I wouldn't have it drop in a capsule. If it were me, a guy would suddenly turn up and you'd say, "Who the hell are you?", then suddenly without saying anything he'd start firing a gun or grab you. As a player, I'd panic saying, "What the hell's happening?" It's a terror of realism and absurdity. So if I were to do it, it might be a bit plain. I insisted on adding a scene while playing where Tyrant bursts through a wall, but the details of the scene before and after weren't quite as I'd imagined. If I put too much of myself into it though, the "subjective taste" of the game's creators would be lost. Subjectivity comes into play one way or another after all. I think that's what determines the degree of interest.
ED: Wasn't it lonely to stand back and watch from the sidelines?
MIKAMI: It was really lonely. Personally I think a producer's main job is to make money while the real work of creating something is done on-site. If I myself were working on-site as a director and a producer told me to do this or that, I'd say, "Leave it to me, I'll make it fun, so don't waste your breath and just keep working that abacus." So even when I became a producer myself, I didn't want to give too many orders on-site.
ED: To what extent were you actually involved in the game's production?
MIKAMI: There was a version now called "1.5" and to tell you the truth, I often gave my input on-site at the time (laughs). And of course, there were times Kamiya and I disagreed. At times like that, the question of whose opinion to listen to would come up, so I said I'd just back off. Even though I stepped back, I still worried, so I asked if I could check on its progress once a month by burning a ROM. In the end though we still had disagreements, so I decided to truly leave it up to them. The ingredients were quite good, so I imagined if we put them in a pot, the rest would be up to how we cooked it, and even if it tasted bad when we opened the lid to try it, it'd probably taste good in about three months. When I opened the lid and tasted it though, it was so bad I turned pale. I realized it wasn't a matter of how much salt, it was fundamentally bad. So I had them remake it from scratch. After that though I didn't get deeply involved, just watched from the sidelines.
ED: You initially said 150,000 copies would be enough, but with "2" the series has grown to two million copies. Do you have any feelings about that?
MIKAMI: When I look back, I feel like BIO's gone a long way. Maybe it's like when your daughter's taken by another man and goes off to be his wife. You're still bound by blood, make no mistake, but the parents are no longer in any position to say anything.
ED: So I guess that makes you happy.
MIKAMI: Yeah, I'm happy. But because I'm happy, I also wonder if it's enough. That's why I want to get back in the field and make games from scratch again.
ED: Do you not think about making BIO3?
MIKAMI: It's not impossible, but if I were to do it, I think I'd end it with "3". If I'd done "2", I might've ended it there. As a game, I think it'd be most beautiful to end it there. Also, horror's a stimulant. Like a drug, there comes a point where it gradually stops working. Once you've seen a lot of horror movies, you start to get a feel for the patterns and when a scare will come, you're like, 'Oh, this is 50-50', and start analyzing it. That kind of function starts to kick in even though the girl next to you is jumping. I was into horror movies when I was a student, but I got bored of them. The orthodox patterns in horror movies had all been used up, then things like "Battalion" came out, a comical movie that incorporated comedy. Even that didn't work, so they took it even further and finally came up with something like "Braindead", where blood splatters everywhere and you just have to laugh. Once they got to that point, it was all over.
ED: That's true, it's not really horror once it gets to that point.
MIKAMI: Yeah, people get used to it. However, if you do it over a span of four or five years, a new generation will come along and be scared again. You can't just keep churning them out because it's a fad. Also, creators are basically in the service industry.
ED: So they're not like artists.
MIKAMI: That's right. It's like being a masseur, asking does this feel good? Or how it'd feel better. Like a comedian or a masseur, you have to get a reaction from the audience. So when one joke doesn't work, it's important to be able to say, "Well how about this one?" To do that, you have to put aside the value of marketability and focus fully on the work itself. If you don't do that, you won't be able to create anything interesting. The reason I didn't interfere too much with "2" was because I didn't want to nip new growth in the bud. Kamiya also understood in his head that "fear" was BIO's main premise, so his influences are apparent in many areas. I don't like games that lack the creator's touch.
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
Despite being the driving force behind the success of BIO HAZARD, Mr. Mikami took a step back to become producer for the sequel. How'd he feel leaving the series he nurtured?
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT (hereafter, ED): You're the producer this time, right?
SHINJI MIKAMI (hereafter, MIKAMI): This time I only decided on the general direction at the beginning then left most of the rest to the director, Kamiya. Kamiya's more particular with things like keeping the story flowing smoothly along a single straightforward path, or depicting the characters' expressions, rather than having things like branching paths, so I think that came across well.
ED: The quality's improved between "1" to "2", but at the same time, I think the logic of fear has also changed?
MIKAMI: What I was particular about in "1" was wanting to create a sense of fear that flowed through the story. I think the scariest thing's when you're actually facing the enemy. It's preferable to be able to let the fear build up in your head, wondering “is it coming now or coming later?” The way emphasis was placed on flashiness in the scenes was a change in "2."
ED: So that's the difference between Kamiya-san's way of thinking and Mikami-san's way of thinking.
MIKAMI: That's right. For example, there's a scene where Tyrant's dropped from a helicopter. There are six containers with Tyrants in them, but if you asked me, I'd have said, "Why six? One's enough." I wouldn't do it that way myself. That's where Kamiya's style comes in. If it were me, I'd probably only show one capsule. And I wouldn't have it drop in a capsule. If it were me, a guy would suddenly turn up and you'd say, "Who the hell are you?", then suddenly without saying anything he'd start firing a gun or grab you. As a player, I'd panic saying, "What the hell's happening?" It's a terror of realism and absurdity. So if I were to do it, it might be a bit plain. I insisted on adding a scene while playing where Tyrant bursts through a wall, but the details of the scene before and after weren't quite as I'd imagined. If I put too much of myself into it though, the "subjective taste" of the game's creators would be lost. Subjectivity comes into play one way or another after all. I think that's what determines the degree of interest.
ED: Wasn't it lonely to stand back and watch from the sidelines?
MIKAMI: It was really lonely. Personally I think a producer's main job is to make money while the real work of creating something is done on-site. If I myself were working on-site as a director and a producer told me to do this or that, I'd say, "Leave it to me, I'll make it fun, so don't waste your breath and just keep working that abacus." So even when I became a producer myself, I didn't want to give too many orders on-site.
ED: To what extent were you actually involved in the game's production?
MIKAMI: There was a version now called "1.5" and to tell you the truth, I often gave my input on-site at the time (laughs). And of course, there were times Kamiya and I disagreed. At times like that, the question of whose opinion to listen to would come up, so I said I'd just back off. Even though I stepped back, I still worried, so I asked if I could check on its progress once a month by burning a ROM. In the end though we still had disagreements, so I decided to truly leave it up to them. The ingredients were quite good, so I imagined if we put them in a pot, the rest would be up to how we cooked it, and even if it tasted bad when we opened the lid to try it, it'd probably taste good in about three months. When I opened the lid and tasted it though, it was so bad I turned pale. I realized it wasn't a matter of how much salt, it was fundamentally bad. So I had them remake it from scratch. After that though I didn't get deeply involved, just watched from the sidelines.
ED: You initially said 150,000 copies would be enough, but with "2" the series has grown to two million copies. Do you have any feelings about that?
MIKAMI: When I look back, I feel like BIO's gone a long way. Maybe it's like when your daughter's taken by another man and goes off to be his wife. You're still bound by blood, make no mistake, but the parents are no longer in any position to say anything.
ED: So I guess that makes you happy.
MIKAMI: Yeah, I'm happy. But because I'm happy, I also wonder if it's enough. That's why I want to get back in the field and make games from scratch again.
ED: Do you not think about making BIO3?
MIKAMI: It's not impossible, but if I were to do it, I think I'd end it with "3". If I'd done "2", I might've ended it there. As a game, I think it'd be most beautiful to end it there. Also, horror's a stimulant. Like a drug, there comes a point where it gradually stops working. Once you've seen a lot of horror movies, you start to get a feel for the patterns and when a scare will come, you're like, 'Oh, this is 50-50', and start analyzing it. That kind of function starts to kick in even though the girl next to you is jumping. I was into horror movies when I was a student, but I got bored of them. The orthodox patterns in horror movies had all been used up, then things like "Battalion" came out, a comical movie that incorporated comedy. Even that didn't work, so they took it even further and finally came up with something like "Braindead", where blood splatters everywhere and you just have to laugh. Once they got to that point, it was all over.
ED: That's true, it's not really horror once it gets to that point.
MIKAMI: Yeah, people get used to it. However, if you do it over a span of four or five years, a new generation will come along and be scared again. You can't just keep churning them out because it's a fad. Also, creators are basically in the service industry.
ED: So they're not like artists.
MIKAMI: That's right. It's like being a masseur, asking does this feel good? Or how it'd feel better. Like a comedian or a masseur, you have to get a reaction from the audience. So when one joke doesn't work, it's important to be able to say, "Well how about this one?" To do that, you have to put aside the value of marketability and focus fully on the work itself. If you don't do that, you won't be able to create anything interesting. The reason I didn't interfere too much with "2" was because I didn't want to nip new growth in the bud. Kamiya also understood in his head that "fear" was BIO's main premise, so his influences are apparent in many areas. I don't like games that lack the creator's touch.
ED: Thank you very much.
(Interviewer: Ayumi Saito, CAPCOM Co., Ltd.)
HUNK & TO-FU MODE
INTERNET RUMORS (p.201)
Internet information spreads fast. As soon as BIOHAZARD 2 launched, walkthroughs and info pages popped up online. Hidden scenarios like "The 4th Survivor" and "The Tofu Survivor," along with secret weapons like the rocket launcher, were revealed within a week. Many players likely used these online resources while playing. While the Internet's a convenient source of information, it also circulates non-existent information... so-called hoaxes. In fact, various hoaxes about BIOHAZARD 2 were flying around the net.
Examples of actual BIOHAZARD 2 hoaxes circulating online included... "Katana Mode" (allowing the use of a katana as a weapon that slices enemies clean in half, defeating them in one hit), "Chris Mode" (enabling the use of Chris, the protagonist from the previous game), "Ada Mode" (likewise allowing Ada to be used), and "Elza Mode" (enabling the use of Elza, the cut character from BIOHAZARD 1.5), "G Mode" (using the G-Virus turns the player into a G, allowing hand-to-hand combat with Tyrants and Lickers), "Helicopter Mode" (clearing the game without picking up any items unlocks a helicopter, allowing you to mow down Zombies with machine guns. You can even drop Tyrants from it), "Two-Player Simultaneous Mode" (achieved by inserting two CDs at once. Bullets from both players can hit each other. Along with the demo version, three-player simultaneous play was possible). Of course, all of these are fake rumors, so don't take them seriously.
Some even went so far as to create a convincing Ada Mode title and post it online. You have to admire the effort, but...
It's important to carefully verify the truth of online information and be careful not to be swayed by fake rumors.
ALL ABOUT TOFU (p.202)
The most challenging scenario in BIOHAZARD 2 is "The Tofu Survivor." In this scenario, our protagonist Tofu-kun changes color to red or purple when taking damage or poison. Interestingly, real-life tofu also comes in colors other than white. The well-known egg tofu's yellow, but there's also green tofu, and even red tofu, just like Tofu-kun.
First, let's introduce "Aobata tofu," a faintly green-colored tofu. Soybeans, the raw material for tofu, actually come in a wide variety of seed colors like yellow, brown, and black. Among these is a green soybean called "Aobata soybean." Tofu made from this Aobata soybean results in a pale green tofu. Aobata tofu is produced in places like Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures and is reputed to be exceptionally delicious.
Red tofu's made from the reddish-brown "Sakura Mame" (cherry bean) soybean.
CELEBRITIES & THE BIO SERIES (p.205)
The BIOHAZARD series, with BIOHAZARD 2 surpassing 2.3 million copies sold, enjoys widespread recognition. It turns out quite a few celebrities play it too. Here are some BIO anecdotes involving entertainers and musicians.
First, a little-known fact: Yuzo Kayama's actually a fan of BIOHAZARD. During one of his concerts, he suddenly addressed the audience, saying, "Well, you know, I'm really into this game right now. It's called BIOHAZARD’~" he suddenly told the audience, extolling the game's greatness. However, the audience was mostly elderly folks who looked completely baffled. Undeterred, he continued boasting about his speedrun: "Well~ people familiar with it say it's amazing. I cleared it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Pretty impressive, don't you think~?" Truly the Eternal Young Captain, forever youthful.
Also, on TV Asahi's late-night show "Platinum London Boots," during a segment called "not 100," London Boots Ichi-go Ni-go saw Uchimura Mitsuyoshi (the left member of Uchiyama Nanchiyatan, the one who looks like Jackie Chan) writhing in agony after being forced to eat an unagi donburi piled high with sansho pepper. They cracked, "Whoa, it looks like BIOHAZARD!"
It's well-known that many musicians are secret game fans. Kenji Otsuki, vocalist of the rock band "Kinniku Shoujo-tai," explained his two solo albums under the unit "UNDERGROUND SARCHLIE" as follows: "These two albums are a set. Like the Claire and Leon scenarios in BIOHAZARD 2, you need to listen to both to complete the story."
Countless other celebrities have also discussed BIOHAZARD on radio shows or in essays. This level of attention from famous figures likely reflects just how popular BIOHAZARD truly is.
THE SECRETS OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS (p.207)
In the world of BIOHAZARD, fictional entities called B.O.W.'s (Bio Organic Weapons) roam Raccoon City. For example, the Tyrant's "enhanced by a virus," but what exactly are real biological weapons? The introduction of modern scientific methods to the battlefield, where conventional firearms were the mainstay, occurred during the first half of the 20th century, amidst the two world wars. These weapons, primarily involving atomic, biological, and chemical methods, were collectively termed ABC weapons using their initials. Among them, bioweapons remain the most enigmatic.
Biological weapons are broadly categorized into two types: germ dispersal and its derivative, toxin-based weapons (using toxins extracted from germs). Methods for employing germ-type weapons are particularly diverse: deploying highly lethal pathogens, aiming to temporarily weaken enemy forces with vicious epidemics, or causing crop failures. What makes them terrifying's that germs are natural substances. Their lethality persists for extended periods, and they multiply. Detecting an attack's nearly impossible. Furthermore, they're easily obtainable and can cause immense damage.
Although never used in actual combat, the Imperial Japanese Army's believed to have developed them. Unit 731, stationed near Harbin, China, apparently handled their deployment. The basic principle involved placing rats carrying plague bacteria into containers and dropping them from aircraft. Had this been fully implemented, it might've become a primitive yet highly effective weapon. Indeed, as defeat in the war became inevitable, reports suggest that when unit commanders evacuated, these rats were released, causing a plague outbreak around the garrison that claimed numerous lives. Rumors also circulate about extreme human experimentation conducted there, with former researchers allegedly taking the data as a gift to pharmaceutical companies, rising to top positions decades later... though the truth remains shrouded in darkness. Only the human bones unearthed from the facility's ruins, bearing unnatural marks, know the truth. World War II was where the Nazis used poison gas in concentration camps and the Americans dropped atomic bombs. It was, it seems, an era of profoundly dark madness.
BIOHAZARD 2 TV COMMERCIAL (p.209)
TV commercials hold a crucial position in promoting games. BIOHAZARD 2 was no exception, with CAPCOM pouring massive funds into production of a TV commercial. Directed by George A. Romero, the master of zombie films famous for Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Special makeup by Screaming Mad George from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. And starring Brad Renfro, known for Sleepers. Despite this luxurious cast, the crucial result was utterly "not scary."
The commercial's story follows Leon, surrounded by hordes of Zombies outside a police station. He escapes the Zombies, restocks on ammo in the armory, then faces the Zombies alongside Claire, who's joined him... Even without showing actual gameplay footage, you can understand this is the game BIOHAZARD 2. However, the lighting's uncomfortably bright, the Zombies are overly made up, and throughout the entire commercial you don't feel the "fear" that should be BIOHAZARD's core selling point. It's unfortunate that it gives off the impression of a cheap hero flick.
CAPCOM's goal with this commercial was to "establish in viewers' minds the image that games have attained such status they can feature Hollywood celebrities, and that we've entered such an era" (producer Shinji Mikami), aiming to elevate the game's standing. From that perspective, regardless of its execution, it was certainly a commercial that generated buzz.
UMBRELLA CORP. SPECIAL FORCES (p.210)
The Umbrella Corporation special forces HUNK's a member of. Although private businesses and organizations are said to maintain corporate spies for intelligence gathering, it's unusual for Umbrella Corp. to have a combat unit that doesn't even mind murder for a mission. Now, supposing groups similar to the military unit HUNK and others belong to within the corporation do truly exist in the world, they'd be each nation's special forces units that suppress terrorist organizations. The most famous special forces in the world's the British SAS (British Special Air Service).
The SAS has a long history opposing terrorist activities of anti-establishment types and its superiority's inimitable over other special forces. The secret's in very intense training. CQB (Close Quarters Battle) in particular's severe enough to be called "Kill House." CQB in the SAS is adopted for training in other special forces, and friendly nations receive offers. It seems the special forces HUNK belongs to were also subject to the SAS' influence (or are from the SAS?)
There's a close resemblance between the all-black combat uniforms and gas masks which HUNK and others have equipped in this drama, and the equipment for close quarters battle of the SAS mobilized in the Iranian embassy crisis of London in '80. The gas masks that completely cover the face are for entry when using tear gas bombs, and the all-black combat uniforms are known as objects for intimidating terrorists, made from flame-proof Nomex. In firearms, the machine gun used at the time of seizing the G-Virus appears to be the Heckler & Koch 9mm MP5 series machine gun, used by the SAS and special forces of many nations. In addition, the art of indoor combat which HUNK showed great mobility in through anti-Zombie combat, is also important for anti-terrorism battles in limited small places such as passenger planes or interior rooms.
Moreover, although it's a digression, the codename HUNK means "a cool tough guy" and also "Eastern European immigrant worker." From a single name emanates the scent of a mercenary who has come through the battlefield.
INTERNET RUMORS (p.201)
Internet information spreads fast. As soon as BIOHAZARD 2 launched, walkthroughs and info pages popped up online. Hidden scenarios like "The 4th Survivor" and "The Tofu Survivor," along with secret weapons like the rocket launcher, were revealed within a week. Many players likely used these online resources while playing. While the Internet's a convenient source of information, it also circulates non-existent information... so-called hoaxes. In fact, various hoaxes about BIOHAZARD 2 were flying around the net.
Examples of actual BIOHAZARD 2 hoaxes circulating online included... "Katana Mode" (allowing the use of a katana as a weapon that slices enemies clean in half, defeating them in one hit), "Chris Mode" (enabling the use of Chris, the protagonist from the previous game), "Ada Mode" (likewise allowing Ada to be used), and "Elza Mode" (enabling the use of Elza, the cut character from BIOHAZARD 1.5), "G Mode" (using the G-Virus turns the player into a G, allowing hand-to-hand combat with Tyrants and Lickers), "Helicopter Mode" (clearing the game without picking up any items unlocks a helicopter, allowing you to mow down Zombies with machine guns. You can even drop Tyrants from it), "Two-Player Simultaneous Mode" (achieved by inserting two CDs at once. Bullets from both players can hit each other. Along with the demo version, three-player simultaneous play was possible). Of course, all of these are fake rumors, so don't take them seriously.
Some even went so far as to create a convincing Ada Mode title and post it online. You have to admire the effort, but...
It's important to carefully verify the truth of online information and be careful not to be swayed by fake rumors.
ALL ABOUT TOFU (p.202)
The most challenging scenario in BIOHAZARD 2 is "The Tofu Survivor." In this scenario, our protagonist Tofu-kun changes color to red or purple when taking damage or poison. Interestingly, real-life tofu also comes in colors other than white. The well-known egg tofu's yellow, but there's also green tofu, and even red tofu, just like Tofu-kun.
First, let's introduce "Aobata tofu," a faintly green-colored tofu. Soybeans, the raw material for tofu, actually come in a wide variety of seed colors like yellow, brown, and black. Among these is a green soybean called "Aobata soybean." Tofu made from this Aobata soybean results in a pale green tofu. Aobata tofu is produced in places like Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures and is reputed to be exceptionally delicious.
Red tofu's made from the reddish-brown "Sakura Mame" (cherry bean) soybean.
CELEBRITIES & THE BIO SERIES (p.205)
The BIOHAZARD series, with BIOHAZARD 2 surpassing 2.3 million copies sold, enjoys widespread recognition. It turns out quite a few celebrities play it too. Here are some BIO anecdotes involving entertainers and musicians.
First, a little-known fact: Yuzo Kayama's actually a fan of BIOHAZARD. During one of his concerts, he suddenly addressed the audience, saying, "Well, you know, I'm really into this game right now. It's called BIOHAZARD’~" he suddenly told the audience, extolling the game's greatness. However, the audience was mostly elderly folks who looked completely baffled. Undeterred, he continued boasting about his speedrun: "Well~ people familiar with it say it's amazing. I cleared it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Pretty impressive, don't you think~?" Truly the Eternal Young Captain, forever youthful.
Also, on TV Asahi's late-night show "Platinum London Boots," during a segment called "not 100," London Boots Ichi-go Ni-go saw Uchimura Mitsuyoshi (the left member of Uchiyama Nanchiyatan, the one who looks like Jackie Chan) writhing in agony after being forced to eat an unagi donburi piled high with sansho pepper. They cracked, "Whoa, it looks like BIOHAZARD!"
It's well-known that many musicians are secret game fans. Kenji Otsuki, vocalist of the rock band "Kinniku Shoujo-tai," explained his two solo albums under the unit "UNDERGROUND SARCHLIE" as follows: "These two albums are a set. Like the Claire and Leon scenarios in BIOHAZARD 2, you need to listen to both to complete the story."
Countless other celebrities have also discussed BIOHAZARD on radio shows or in essays. This level of attention from famous figures likely reflects just how popular BIOHAZARD truly is.
THE SECRETS OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS (p.207)
In the world of BIOHAZARD, fictional entities called B.O.W.'s (Bio Organic Weapons) roam Raccoon City. For example, the Tyrant's "enhanced by a virus," but what exactly are real biological weapons? The introduction of modern scientific methods to the battlefield, where conventional firearms were the mainstay, occurred during the first half of the 20th century, amidst the two world wars. These weapons, primarily involving atomic, biological, and chemical methods, were collectively termed ABC weapons using their initials. Among them, bioweapons remain the most enigmatic.
Biological weapons are broadly categorized into two types: germ dispersal and its derivative, toxin-based weapons (using toxins extracted from germs). Methods for employing germ-type weapons are particularly diverse: deploying highly lethal pathogens, aiming to temporarily weaken enemy forces with vicious epidemics, or causing crop failures. What makes them terrifying's that germs are natural substances. Their lethality persists for extended periods, and they multiply. Detecting an attack's nearly impossible. Furthermore, they're easily obtainable and can cause immense damage.
Although never used in actual combat, the Imperial Japanese Army's believed to have developed them. Unit 731, stationed near Harbin, China, apparently handled their deployment. The basic principle involved placing rats carrying plague bacteria into containers and dropping them from aircraft. Had this been fully implemented, it might've become a primitive yet highly effective weapon. Indeed, as defeat in the war became inevitable, reports suggest that when unit commanders evacuated, these rats were released, causing a plague outbreak around the garrison that claimed numerous lives. Rumors also circulate about extreme human experimentation conducted there, with former researchers allegedly taking the data as a gift to pharmaceutical companies, rising to top positions decades later... though the truth remains shrouded in darkness. Only the human bones unearthed from the facility's ruins, bearing unnatural marks, know the truth. World War II was where the Nazis used poison gas in concentration camps and the Americans dropped atomic bombs. It was, it seems, an era of profoundly dark madness.
BIOHAZARD 2 TV COMMERCIAL (p.209)
TV commercials hold a crucial position in promoting games. BIOHAZARD 2 was no exception, with CAPCOM pouring massive funds into production of a TV commercial. Directed by George A. Romero, the master of zombie films famous for Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Special makeup by Screaming Mad George from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. And starring Brad Renfro, known for Sleepers. Despite this luxurious cast, the crucial result was utterly "not scary."
The commercial's story follows Leon, surrounded by hordes of Zombies outside a police station. He escapes the Zombies, restocks on ammo in the armory, then faces the Zombies alongside Claire, who's joined him... Even without showing actual gameplay footage, you can understand this is the game BIOHAZARD 2. However, the lighting's uncomfortably bright, the Zombies are overly made up, and throughout the entire commercial you don't feel the "fear" that should be BIOHAZARD's core selling point. It's unfortunate that it gives off the impression of a cheap hero flick.
CAPCOM's goal with this commercial was to "establish in viewers' minds the image that games have attained such status they can feature Hollywood celebrities, and that we've entered such an era" (producer Shinji Mikami), aiming to elevate the game's standing. From that perspective, regardless of its execution, it was certainly a commercial that generated buzz.
UMBRELLA CORP. SPECIAL FORCES (p.210)
The Umbrella Corporation special forces HUNK's a member of. Although private businesses and organizations are said to maintain corporate spies for intelligence gathering, it's unusual for Umbrella Corp. to have a combat unit that doesn't even mind murder for a mission. Now, supposing groups similar to the military unit HUNK and others belong to within the corporation do truly exist in the world, they'd be each nation's special forces units that suppress terrorist organizations. The most famous special forces in the world's the British SAS (British Special Air Service).
The SAS has a long history opposing terrorist activities of anti-establishment types and its superiority's inimitable over other special forces. The secret's in very intense training. CQB (Close Quarters Battle) in particular's severe enough to be called "Kill House." CQB in the SAS is adopted for training in other special forces, and friendly nations receive offers. It seems the special forces HUNK belongs to were also subject to the SAS' influence (or are from the SAS?)
There's a close resemblance between the all-black combat uniforms and gas masks which HUNK and others have equipped in this drama, and the equipment for close quarters battle of the SAS mobilized in the Iranian embassy crisis of London in '80. The gas masks that completely cover the face are for entry when using tear gas bombs, and the all-black combat uniforms are known as objects for intimidating terrorists, made from flame-proof Nomex. In firearms, the machine gun used at the time of seizing the G-Virus appears to be the Heckler & Koch 9mm MP5 series machine gun, used by the SAS and special forces of many nations. In addition, the art of indoor combat which HUNK showed great mobility in through anti-Zombie combat, is also important for anti-terrorism battles in limited small places such as passenger planes or interior rooms.
Moreover, although it's a digression, the codename HUNK means "a cool tough guy" and also "Eastern European immigrant worker." From a single name emanates the scent of a mercenary who has come through the battlefield.