Resident Evil 5: Beta Analysis

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Article by Yota

[As usual, let us know if you see any errors. English is not our first language]

Thanks to Resident Evil Beta for some of these images!

Resident Evil 5 was officially announced on June 2005, but it was shown for the first time to the public only two months later in a CG trailer. This video was essentially one of the concepts that the developers were working on since the release of Resident Evil 4: in what at time seemed to be the Middle East or Africa, we saw Chris exploring the alleys of a city and then being attached by a group of fast-running enemies.

The graphics style and the general mood were already much similar to the released game, even if Chris looked somewhat younger and less bulky. We don’t know if the enemies, which where only shadows in the trailer, were  supposed to be so quick at some point of the planning stages, or if it was just a scenic effect created for the target render.  It is interesting to note that producer of the game said, in an old interview, that originally the time of the day and the weather were supposed to have a major impact on the gameplay and affect the main character abilities. Also, Resident Evil 5 was intended to be a single player game.

Anyway, Capcom created another trailer for Resident Evil 5 in 2007. The beginning of this video was not that different from the final game:  Chris walked for a bit in the village and then suddenly all the natives seemed to vanish.  There were, however, many important differences:  Sheva and the dealer were nowhere to be found, Chris didn’t  have his safari dress, cutscenes and monologues were shorter,  the  location where we fight for the first time was completely removed, enemies had some attacks that can’t be found in the released game, such as the headbutt, and so on.

Even in the last year of the development Capcom was still moving things around. For example, the crash site of the helicopter was originally a fully playable section, not a series of QTE’s.

2005 Trailer

Chris seems to be younger.

The mysterious enemies from the 2005 trailer. They don’t appear to be Ganados/Majini, and they are a lot faster.

Of course, the location of the trailer is nowhere to be found in the released game.

2006 Testing Location?

This in an indoor location created only for testing purposes. The polygonal models of the enemies are very early.

2007 Trailer

In a removed cutscene, the Majini used an hook to try to catch up with Chris.

An aerial view of the beta village in the 2007 trailer.

In the 2007 trailer the Majini didn’t execute the dealer.

This is the test map where Chris fights for the first time in the 2007 trailer.  It  was completely removed in the released version.

Another removed location from the 2007 trailer.  The assault rifle is remarkably different from the AK-47 of the final game.

2007 Testing Map

These screenshots are from the same test map of the 2007 trailer

A woman Majini without bandana. It seems that at the beginning there were more variations of the standard Town Majini.

In a scripted event, the majini were supposed to overturn the bus. Note the strange pose of the Majini on the left.

A Majini with a chair.

2008 Trailer

I don’t recall to have seen this area anywhere in the final game. Was it located in the village where now Chris and Sheva fight the giant ?

A first version of Irving’s boat.  The boss is still absent.

Beta underground garden. You don’t fight enemies in this area in the final version.

A removed locations from the Marshlands.

Another shot of Irving’s boat.

In the 2008 trailer the crash site of the helicopter was fully playable.

Other Pics

Beta version of the dogs.

Probably just a temporary placeholder, but in the beta the hangman was the Chainsaw Majini.

This the bridge of the chapter 2-1, but you can’t go in that place in the final game.

An entire group of Popokarimu. Maybe this was the original cutscene of the helicopter crash.

In the final build “Assault” was changed to “Attack”.

You can’t be in that balcony in the released game.

Beta Worship Area. The enemies are still the Town Majini.

This could be a removed area from the Caves.

As it happened with Resident Evil 4, there could still be some unused content hidden in the game code of Resident Evil 5. We’ll try to update this article when we’ll have more beta informations. Do you have anything to add to this article? Did you find more beta screenshots or videos? Let us know! Send us an email or join our forum!

[Article by Yota]

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Beta Trailers:

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