100 Things You Never Knew About Resident Evil
More Biohazard trivia than you can shake a can of First Aid Spray at.
Some video game franchises come, make a difference and then go. Resident Evil is not one of those franchises.
Over the last three decades, Capcom's suvival horror behemoth has continually reinvented itself in order to stay relavant and, in so doing, has remained one of the biggest franchises in the industry. With games of all kinds (not to mention other media), it's got also got fans of all kinds: from those who are purely here for the thrill to those who are hungry for every tidbit of information they can get their hands on.
But aren't you sick of hearing the same old things? You know that Resident Evil was a successor to Sweet Home, you know that Resident Evil 2 got cancelled and restarted during production and you know that Resident Evil 4's development hell resulted in Devil May Cry.
With nearly 30 years of history under it's bandolier of shotgun ammo and First Aid Sprays, there are far more interesting secrets, stories and references than the same, old tired guff.
Here's 100 of them (probably more, I couldn't help myself)...
100. Resident Evil 3's Missable Outbreak Nods
Until the reveal of Resident Evil Requiem, the status and canonicity of Outbreak was hotly debated. Fans would get by on tiny scraps, like those tucked away in Resident Evil 3's 2020 reimagining that are very easy to miss.
At one point, players find themselves in the familiar street behind the RPD from the previous game in a moment of "aha". However, if you take your time to look around you'll discover a neat reference that makes this area all the sweeter. Approaching an abandoned squad car, a radio crackles to life with a voice that says:
"RPD dispatch, this is 153. I'm trapped in Northgarden with three civilians. West side, cafeteria, back of the kitchen. One of us is injured and immobilised. Please advise."
Considering there's no other random distress calls like this anywhere else in the game, this has to mean something and the best guess is a nod to RPD officer and Outbreak character Kevin Ryman. By the sounds of things he's describing the scenario called Outbreak, where players escape J's bar and move across the city. A group of four matches perfectly with Outbreak being a four-player co-operative experience.
Moreover, just a minute away in Kendo's Gun Shop, eagle-eyed players may spot a flyer that reads "contact Al Lester" - the character who becomes the dangerous Axe Man in the Flashback scenario of Outbreak File #2.
See, RE3 Remake might not be so bad, after all.