100 Things You Never Knew About Resident Evil

51. Resident Evil 4's Asset Origins

Resident Evil 4
Capcom

Developers will do all manner of different things for research and inspiration, and it's commonplace for Capcom to send it's teams out around the world to see locations for themselves, take reference photos and get a feel for the atmosphere. This has famously happened with RE7, RE5 and, in the case of RE4, the staff spent 11 days in Spain and the UK photographing various Gothic structures.

However, it seems that the team also got several ideas from art books... and entire assets too. In 2021, a legal proceeding was brought to Capcom that alleged that the company had used the work of artist Judy A. Juracek without explicit permission. One such example was the cracked glass effect in the game's logo. This was settled out of court sometime in 2022.

But it isn't just visual art, Resident Evil 4 also uses pre-existing audio. The famous save theme "Serenity" samples David Torn's "To Burble and Pine", which thankfully won't get the company into any legal battles since it's royalty free. What it does mean is that RE4 has something in common with Devil May Cry, Silent Hill Origins, 1997 sci-fi move The Cube and nu metal band Korn's song "10 or a 2-Way" as these all sample the track.

Contributor

Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many gaming quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite