Ask any Resident Evil fan what their favorite game in the series is, and chances are they'll tell you it's Resident Evil 2.
While the first game pioneered and popularized the survival horror genre, Resident Evil 2 simultaneously expanded on its predecessor's concepts and fixed all of the original game's problems. Even after nearly two decades, Resident Evil 2 is still an amazingly fun game to play.
That being said, 18 years of graphical improvements haven't been kind to Resident Evil 2. While the style and presentation are still great, everyone looks like they're made of Lego bricks, and the environments look like muddy paintings. For whatever reason, Capcom has yet to remake Resident Evil 2 like they did the first game ... so, the fans decided to do it themselves.
The folks over at Invader Games have been hard at work developing Resident Evil 2: Reborn — and this isn't another case of someone adding in high-res textures and calling it a day. The remake is being developed from the ground-up in the Unreal Engine 4, complete with a reworked aiming system, health system, graphical effects and character models ... and the game is almost ready for you to play.
While Reborn can't exactly hold its own against the graphical juggernauts of today, the fact that it's been done entirely by fans is amazing. It's a far cry from the pixelated, low-res Raccoon City that fans grew up with — in fact, the team over at Invader Games have seemingly put more effort into Reborn than Capcom did with its GameCube remaster of Resident Evil 2 (if you could even call it that).
Better yet, the game is almost ready for launch: Invader Games is planning on releasing an Alpha version of the game to the public this summer, which will feature the game's opening and Leon's first trip through the Raccoon City Police Department.
Granted, there's still a chance that Capcom could shut Reborn down: rumors have begun circulating that the publisher will finally be releasing its own HD remaster of Resident Evil 2. While that's great news for fans, it's not exactly great news for the Reborn team — after all, it's highly unlikely that Capcom would want a fan-based project running alongside their official one.
With any luck, Capcom won't have an issue with Resident Evil 2: Reborn. If that's the case, you can expect to play the Alpha Version sometime this summer.
For more info, head on over to the official Invader Games site.
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