Removing a crossbow bolt in real life takes practice. In the Resident Evil 4 (RE4) VR port, all you have to do is lift the controller in the air at the right time.
And it’s always satisfying.
The Perry mechanic is one of the new additions to the 2023 remake developed by Capcom. Whenever a bolt or melee from an infected villager is about to impact Leon Kennedy, all you need to do is press a button to make him dodge the in-game knife. This action offers a chance to follow an on-the-spot attack while also adding to RE4’s original close-quarters smackdown.
Adapting it to the PlayStation VR2 wasn’t easy. Instead of having Leon perform a quick animation with just a button press, you need to grab the knife from your chest, raise it in the air and match the incoming attack. It’s more involved, sure, but also more immersive, adding a new layer of novelty to the mechanic.
Director Keisuke Yamakawa says, “Enemy attacks detect weapon position attacks.” “So, by testing the contact between enemy attack detection and Leon’s knife, we were able to achieve almost our expected behavior. When we were able to perform the first parry, the team was very excited about how much fun it was.” , and we believe that [the] VR mode was going to be fun.
Paring is just one of the many elements that go through careful consideration when translating a remake to virtual reality. To learn more about the process, Game Informer spoke with Yamakawa and producer Masato Kumazawa about the development of the VR mode, how the VR version of Resident Evil Village served as a basis, and what the future holds for the game. What to expect from Capcom’s ongoing push. Medium
Knife party
Will Leon throw a knife in the middle of battle? Virtual reality gives you more control over characters, and the team had to consider all the possibilities for player agency. In deciding where to place boundaries and where to allow people to experiment, Capcom came up with three main pillars. Namely, whether your actions are fun in VR, whether you feel like you’re spawning Leon, and if it’s all in line with the RE4 experience.
At first, the team was not sure about this possibility. In the VR version of Resident Evil Village, you as Ethan Winters can not only throw knives but also weapons. Since Ethan is a civilian, the idea of throwing away everything he has to kill an enemy and make a quick escape doesn’t seem unreasonable. However, Leon has a lot of training and experience in the field, so he won’t be throwing a pistol at anyone’s head.
Ultimately, the developers thought players would want to throw knives like Leon, so they added the mechanic for VR. Unlike Village, there is a short delay after throwing the knife before returning it to the shortcut slot – which is placed within arm’s reach on your virtual body. Furthermore, there is the advantage of manually returning the knife to the slot to regain some of its durability. Considering the more prominent use of knives in RE4, this all fits the concept. In addition to attacking enemies, you can throw knives at bear traps to get them safely out of harm’s way or do target practice with chickens to get eggs.
In the VR version of Village, you are able to close your hands and make fists and punch wolves. Unlike with a knife, there is no lag or cooldown time to prevent you from defending yourself with this method. Sure, the damage is far inferior to knives and guns, but since it’s considered a VR novelty and not a proper mechanic, there’s no penalty. Allowing you to punch Ganados as Leon was also considered early in development. The problem, say the developers, was that it meant replacing the current melee system in favor of a punch that you could repeat without apparent penalty. Funnily enough, you can wield two knives at once to quickly stab enemies. But of course sustainability will prevent you from repeating this process endlessly. (Unless you get all the Clockwork Castilians to unlock the Primal Knife, which can be upgraded to become indestructible. You’re welcome.)
Of course, the village was not the only point of reference. The original Resident Evil 4 got a standalone VR version developed by Armature Studios and published by Oculus Studios in 2021. Although the team did not mention it as an inspiration, there are a number of similarities, such as the cutscenes shown on a variety of virtual TVs. As for the world itself, there isn’t much focus on interactivity, which is one of VR’s hallmarks. Perhaps more importantly, the first-person perspective shifts to third-person whenever you perform melee actions, just like in the flat version.
“During the spinning kick attack, Leon’s posture changes dramatically, and his body spins,” says Yamakawa. “So, it was clear that having the camera in the head position wouldn’t produce the right image. The surroundings and enemies were also important to be able to be captured by kicks, so we developed a third-person view from the start. Decided to use
Alternate realities.
In addition to throwing knives and manual attacks, you can grab and inspect objects up close, perform revolver maneuvers à la Revolver Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid, and even wield a weapon with one hand. Can reload shotgun by cocking. In order to maintain the intensity of RE4’s remake, a lot had to be smoothed out along the way.
Barrels and crates containing items can be destroyed by swinging your knife, but you can choose to use a button prompt that does the same for you. In the base game, whenever Leon enters a dark area, he turns on the flashlight until you return to a well-lit environment. This also happens in VR, but the light is attached to your head by default after you move. However, you can grab it by your forehead and move it yourself, likewise in the village, until the section ends. Each weapon has its own quirks, especially when it comes to reloading, but some are easier than you’d expect in VR. As the team says, the purpose of these shortcuts is to make it so you can focus on the action around you.
“For shotguns and other weapon types that load one shot, we think it would be very interesting to reload one shell at a time, as a VR game,” says Yamakawa. “But in Resident Evil 4, combat is very intense, and if players have to reload shells one by one during combat, it will become very difficult and can affect your level of enjoyment.”
According to Kamazawa, the release of the VR mode was scheduled “one year after” the initial release of the base game, which came out on March 24, 2023. It was released as free DLC in December. 8 of the same year.
This was partly thanks to the fact that while the core team was still developing the main game, it also started working on aspects of the VR mode. Additionally, the Village director assisted the team during the early stages of development, while Yamakawa himself worked on the VR version of Resident Evil 7. This made for a very smooth process, even if mechanics like dual-powered weapons needed to be built. scratch
In the “Integrated Report 2015” document released by Capcom that same year, the company expressed its interest and commitment to VR for its development division 1, the group responsible for the Resident Evil series. Nine years later, half of the mainline Resident Evil games released at the time have received a VR version on PlayStation headsets. The remakes of The Resident Evil 2 and 3 and the Armature version of RE4 are outliers.
When asked if this focus on VR has affected the way Capcom develops new games in the franchise, knowing it will be working on a VR version ahead of time, the team suggested otherwise. “The simple answer is ‘no,'” says Yamakawa. “It’s very important to us that the main game is as interesting as possible, so we didn’t change it just because there was going to be a VR mode.” In addition, includes basic additions such as Perry. It wasn’t until the team began iterating on the base game to translate the experience to VR that changes and tweaks were made to the mechanics.
Interviewees say they implemented all the elements they wanted for Resident Evil 4 VR. Once they wrapped up the project, they realized that VR was a good fit for the franchise. Although he did not discuss specifics, Kamazawa says he “plans to take on more challenges in the future.”
Furthermore, Kamazawa added that one of the reasons for releasing the VR version of Village and 4 as free DLC is because the team wants to try to help expand the VR market. Yamakawa, personally, joined the project as director because of his passion for VR.
While conditions such as motion sickness continue to be a concern for players accessing VR, Yamakawa says there are significant improvements over the original PlayStation VR headset.
“When we received the first version of the original VR development kit, I spent a lot of time playing with it,” says Yamakawa. “VR also fits in very well with the Resident Evil franchise. I would like VR to be more popular with the public. Since headsets can still be quite expensive and heavy, I would like the kits to be lighter and Keep getting more affordable to make it more. [approachable] for a general audience.”
This article originally appeared in Game Informer issue 364.