Scrapped Resident Evil 2 prototype leaked

Capcom never finished its first crack at making Resident Evil 2, getting an early version of the game together but then scrapping it. Parts and ideas did make it into the finished RE2, but the project later dubbed 'Resident Evil 1.5' never saw the light of day. However, industrious fans somehow ended up getting hold of the source code and began fixing it up, and have now released an early version.

16

Capcom never finished its first crack at making Resident Evil 2, getting an early version of the game together but then scrapping it. Parts and ideas did make it into the finished RE2, but the project later dubbed 'Resident Evil 1.5' never saw the light of day. However, industrious fans somehow ended up getting hold of the source code and began fixing it up, and have now released an early version.

Like RE2, Leon Kennedy was one of the main characters in 'Resident Evil 1.5', but the other was Elza Walker, later replaced with Claire Redfield to tie back to the first game. Though they were often nearby, the two never actually met in-game. Supposedly, creator Shinji Mikami had intended for this to close the series and ended the game accordingly, but Capcom wanted it to continue.

On one hand, this did get us Resident Evil 4. On the other, well, I'd need both hands and perhaps a bag to carry all the bad Resident Evil games. Either way, RE2 wasn't looking that great so Capcom went back to the drawing board. Check out PlayStation Universe's retrospective for more on the game that never was.

The version released yesterday (via Kotaku) by the mysterious restoration team is in a poor state, rife with bugs. However, an unscrupulous sort had got ahold of the build and was attempting to sell it, prompting the team to release it themselves and scupper his schemes. Poor show, old boy.

The team's representative 'Robert Zork' described this build as "a bit of an unstable mess," saying it's "in no way representative of the current state of missing room implementation, restoration of broken elements, or addition of new content." Work continues.

If you've got a modded original PlayStation still or, you know, a PS emulator, you can download the ISO and give it a whirl. Just don't expect it to work well. Or necessarily be all that fun.

Here's someone's footage of playing as Elza Walker, college student and motorbike racer:

From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 18, 2013 2:30 PM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Scrapped Resident Evil 2 prototype leaked.

    Capcom never finished its first crack at making Resident Evil 2, getting an early version of the game together but then scrapping it. Parts and ideas did make it into the finished RE2, but the project later dubbed 'Resident Evil 1.5' never saw the light of day. However, industrious fans somehow ended up getting hold of the source code and began fixing it up, and have now released an early version.

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 3:19 PM

      Awesome! Shit game or not.. I prefer old school RE to new so I'll definitely pick this up and try it out. Thanks for the heads up!

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 4:17 PM

        I would be cool if you reported back on wether this game is fun.

        • reply
          February 19, 2013 11:02 AM

          Don't hold your breath. I prob won't get around to it any time soon.

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 4:01 PM

      I do not have any nostalgic memories about the Resident Evil series. In fact I never got past the demos (which I downloaded from 3dfiles.com *sob*). I hate the absolute instead of relative referenced control scheme, just could not get used to it. I always thought having the zombies so slow was just to compensate for the poor response on aiming.

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 4:35 PM

        I never understood the criticism of the tank controls...I mean, how hard is it to remember that up is always up?

        • reply
          February 18, 2013 4:36 PM

          The fact that we have inverse mouse settings in games illustrates the scope of your thinking.

          • reply
            February 18, 2013 4:38 PM

            Uh, okay?

            • reply
              February 18, 2013 5:49 PM

              Hmm, what I'm trying to say is that up isn't even up for everyone. We have people who prefer inverse mouse control (I do in some games). Up is down! Cats and dogs living together, etc.

              • reply
                February 18, 2013 5:51 PM

                I have always played with inverted controls, just feels right to me. I have tried to play regular but it never works out

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 4:24 PM

      How the hell did they "get the source code" let alone release a scrapped game from a huge developer/publisher? I'm more interested in that story!

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 4:33 PM

        For reals! Was this like the System Shock 2 source code, did someone get an old devkit with the source burned to a disc?

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 5:00 PM

      :O

      RE2 is one of the best games ever made

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 5:08 PM

      I saw someone playing this on twitch tv yesterday, he had to use some special menu to skip to different points/locations in the game.

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 5:13 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 5:16 PM

      I still have that Playstation Underground CD that had the original showing of the gameplay, I remember you had to enter some kind of code in order to view it.

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 5:17 PM

        it was this one http://www.game-rave.com/demos/ps_ug_1/ps_ug_1_cover.jpg

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 5:17 PM

        I still have that Digital Underground CD that didn't have Sounds Of Da Underground on it, like the cassette did.

        • reply
          February 18, 2013 7:41 PM

          Second or third CD I bought was (MC) Hammer's Too Legit to Quit, and I remember being bummed that it didn't have "Addams Groove" on it, but the cassette did, along with more remixes (so, padded to the C90 length basically). I was like "WTF, I upgrade to CD and now the cassettes are getting more songs now?"

          • reply
            February 18, 2013 8:00 PM

            Yeah, It was like an 82 min tape, compared with 74 min CD (or something very like that). It was really odd, considering the CD was like $8 more than the tape.

      • reply
        February 18, 2013 6:33 PM

        Haha one of my good friends has it too. I think he still remembers the code. I can't remember if thats the one that has The Urge music video as well. lol

    • reply
      February 18, 2013 7:51 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      March 3, 2013 10:32 AM

      I wonder if she was in part the inspiration for Dead Rising's Chuck Greene...

Hello, Meet Lola