Resident Evil 4is perhaps the most famous survival title of all time. Its lasting impact on gaming is still seen today, and players are currently enjoying a refreshed experience inResident Evil 4 Remake. Before the official version ofResident Evil 4was finalized, its development period explored four unique concepts. Known collectively asResident Evil 3.5, these concepts explored different evolutions of the series' horror-focused gameplay. The collection is essential to the series' legacy, asResident Evil 3.5’s unique conceptsspawned not only one of the most popular video games of all time but also gave birth to entirely new properties.
Resident Evil 3.5is the name given to the collection of concepts created forResident Evil 4.Development onResident Evil 4was quite extensive, and each concept produced a completely fresh take on the series' direction.Resident Evil 3.5consists of four unique builds, referred to as Canceled Biohazard 4, Castle Concept, Hallucination Concept, and Zombie Concept, which were followed by the officialResident Evil 4that players know today. Over the course of each build’s development, Capcom began to introduce original concepts, while slowly tweaking the balance between horror and action. Some concepts would return in laterResident Evilentries, while others produced entirely new series.
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Resident Evil 3.5: Canceled Biohazard 4
In 1999, development began onBiohazard 4,a sequel toResident Evil 3, withseries director Shinji Mikamihanding control of the series over to Capcom’s Hideki Kamiya. Kamiya came up with a concept in which the title’s protagonist Tony Redgrave and his twin brother, Paul Redgrave, would receive superhuman abilities from the Progenitor virus. Tony, the son of Oswell E. Spencer, would explore an Umbrella facility on Mallet island. The title proved too big a departure from the core concepts of theResident Evilseries. Rather than scrap the title, Kamiya’s setting and hero were reworked into a brand-new concept, giving birth to the originalDevil May Cryfor PS2.
Resident Evil 3.5: Castle aka Fog
The version ofResident Evil 4developed between 2001-2002 is referred to as the “Castle”, though some also refer to it as “Fog” today. In this version, an infected Leon S. Kennedy would return afterthe events ofResident Evil 2and participate in a raid on Oswell E. Spencer’s castle, the supposed headquarters of the Umbrella Corporation. During the events of the game, Leon would encounter a young woman and her B.O.W. companion. Together they would discover the origins of the Progenitor virus and uncover Spencer’s creation of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals as a tool to achieve immortality.
The concept featured a central “fog” enemy that would pursue Leon throughout the new title, much likeMr. X and Nemesisfrom earlierResident Evilentries. The creature would appear similar to the smoke monster from the tv seriesLOSTin addition to protruding tentacles. However, the fog monster proved too taxing on the Gamecube hardware, so the concept was scrapped. Work then began on a concept that could feature multiple enemies while relieving the risk of hardware limitations. The script written for the Castle concept was donated to another developer, Production Studio 1, where it would eventually lead to the final version ofHaunting Ground.
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Resident Evil 3.5: Hallucination
“Hallucination” is the name for the 2003 concept forResident Evil 4,commonly referred to as “Hook Man”,due tothe Hook Man enemyheavily featured in its promotional material.The script itself was scrapped before completion but was said to take many elements from the “Castle” build. Leon was once again infected, but this time the enemies would be a direct side effect of his mental health. In a return to the series' horror roots, Leon would hallucinate enemies, such as possessed dolls and humanoid monsters, that would appear throughout the game’s setting unexpectedly.
Despite a script going unfinished, the “Hallucination” build ofResident Evil 3.5was presented at E3 2003. Fans watched as Leon explored the rooms of a derelict building before being confronted by the Hook Man hallucination at the presentation’s climax. Of all the scrapped concepts fromResident Evil 3.5, Hook Man is perhaps the most famous, as players actually saw the figure in action. In fact, the recentResident Evil 4 Remakefeatured an easter egg about the Hook Man, which can be seen while players navigate Ashley through the Castle setting.
Resident Evil 3.5: Zombie
In the Autumn of 2003, a new concept, “Zombie”, began development, but didn’t get far. No concept art or materials for this phase in development are known to exist. “Zombie” was created in hopes to return to theclassicResident Evilformulaand featured human-like enemies called dabamen. The concept was quickly scrapped, due to fears that it would bore long-time fans of the series. However, the dabamen would go on to serve as the foundation forResident Evil 4’s Ganados.
Resident Evil 3.5’s Transformation Into Resident Evil 4
Following years of development, with only scrapped concepts to show for it, a brand-new team took over the development of thefinal version ofResident Evil 4. Once again under the direction of Shinji Mikami, the team took many ofResident Evil 3.5’s concepts and combined them into a single title. This team was told by Capcom that their build would be the title’s final chance at seeing release. With the mounting pressure from Capcom to produce results, Mikami made the controversial decision to transitionResident Evil 4to an action horror game.
Mikami relied heavily onResident Evil 3.5’s ideas, overhauling the third-person camera system to better suit the new action-oriented gameplay and adapting assets to create an experience worthy of this new direction. Casting aside the shambling zombies and boxed-in locations of prior titles, Mikami’s new setting,Resident Evil’s Valdelobos, and its resident Ganados could match Leon’s pace and quickly overwhelm the player if they over-relied on strategies from early titles. When the title was released in 2005, these risks paid off, withResident Evil 4now considered by many to be the best title that the series has ever produced.
Resident Evil 4 Remakewas released this March, giving long-time fans the opportunity to experience a modernized version of the title. Like the original, the remake demonstrates the fusion of ideas fromResident Evil 3.5. Had development onResident Evil 4not included this long and complicated history,Resident Evil 4would likely not have been the incredibly unique experience fans love today. Furthermore, players would never have experienced theDevil May Cryseries or the cult-classicHaunting Grounds. In light of its contributions to the gaming landscape,Resident Evil 3.5has cemented itself as some of the most important games that were never released.
Resident Evil 4(2023) is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
