The development team behind Resident Evil 7 has shed light on its decision to dramatically redesign one of the franchise’s key characters for his appearance in the critically acclaimed survival horror game. Be warned; spoilers contained below!
Speaking on Capcom’s official Japanese website (via NeoGAF) in a dev dialogue segment, the team said they were looking to achieve a ‘simulator experience’ whereby they trick the gamer into thinking what they are seeing is real. As a result of this design philosophy, it was necessary to overhaul Chris Redfield’s appearance in the game, as his previous model in Resident Evil 6 was not deemed to be photorealistic—hence the drastic overhaul.
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The end result was Capcom finding a suitable model, creating a photoscan of the individual, and thereby producing the new-look, photorealistic Chris. As players will recall, Redfield shows up at the climax of Resident Evil 7 to rescue hero Ethan Winters, although the fact he’s riding on an Umbrella-branded chopper has lead many gamers to question his identity. In fact, some folk are still convinced ‘Chris’ is actually an imposter, possibly Agent HUNK from the previous games.
Resident Evil 7 was released on PS4, PC, and Xbox One in January 2017, and proved an instant success, shipping over three million copies worldwide. The game takes place in Dulvey, Louisiana, and sees Winters exploring a spooky plantation mansion in an effort to locate his missing wife, Mia, while being stalked by the seemingly immortal Baker family. The game has seen two DLC packs released to date in the shape of Banned Footage Vol. 1 & 2, with a third releasing later this year.
Capcom will also release the free expansion Not a Hero in spring 2017, which features Chris Redfield as the playable character. According to early leaks, the DLC will see Redfield hunting down surviving Baker family member, Lucas, with the mission taking on a more action-oriented path in comparison to the main game.