Resident Evil 3 Remake producer reveals one reason it's scarier than RE2

Resident Evil 3 Remake is here to make all your nightmares come true.

To the delight of scare-seeking gamers everywhere, it's time to head back to Raccoon City, a fictional Midwestern burg with a massive pest-control problem. The nefarious scientists of Umbrella Corporation have engineered a virus that causes living beings to mutate into horrifying monsters hell-bent on spreading carnage wherever they shamble. That means lots of ooey-gooey zombie headshots, intricate puzzles, and more corporate conspiracies to unravel.

This time around, you'll step into the shoes of Jill Valentine, a member of Raccoon City's elite police force known as S.T.A.R.S. She's on her way out of town when an unexpected gentleman caller shows up at her door. Or, rather, through her wall. Nemesis, a horrifying mashup of Emperor Palpatine and the giants of Attack on Titan, pursues Jill doggedly throughout the game. He'll stop at nothing to eliminate her and the other members of S.T.A.R.S. in order to keep Umbrella's nefarious bio-meddling a secret.

Though a rumor made the rounds in recent weeks that Nemesis could enter safe rooms, producer Fabiani tells Inverse this isn't accurate. You'll still be able to catch a much-needed breather to sort your items and save on the typewriter once you leave the hulking terror in the dust. That said, he'll require a somewhat different approach than your favorite Resident Evil 2 stalker, Tyrant (aka Mr. X).

"Nemesis is way more nimble and agile than Tyrant. He can use his tentacles to grab Jill and jump long distances to appear right near you. He also has the ability to use weapons, so you never know what he’s got up his sleeve," says Resident Evil 3 Remake producer Peter Fabiano. "It might just be best to run. You could always try your hand at fighting though."

Fabiano recently shared his insights on Capcom's reimagining of the 1999 classic. The conversation below has been edited for clarity and brevity.

RE2 Remake was spectacularly gory, but never to the point of being truly upsetting. How do you make that judgment call, and what sorts of imagery or violence are off-limits?

Fabiano: It’s often up to the director and producers to make those calls, and it really depends on the overall vision for the game. Of course there are certain boundaries we don’t really want to push, but nothing is off limits, until it is.

The sound design of RE2 Remake made a massive contribution to the scary, tense atmosphere at the police station. What challenges or opportunities did having more outdoor settings in RE3 Remake present from an audio standpoint?

Thanks! As you mention, Resident Evil 3 has more open areas, but also ones that are claustrophobic. We had some of the same sound designers and technologies as Resident Evil 2, so we were able to really expand on what we did there. There’s a lot you can play with when you are outside and only hear the audio cues to let you know that something might be coming – but from where?

Why did the team choose to bundle Project Resistance with RE3 Remake, instead of releasing it as a standalone?

From the beginning, we knew we wanted to challenge ourselves to create an online survival horror game and include it with Resident Evil 3. After going through ideas with our friends at Neobards, we settled on creating Resident Evil Resistance, which made its debut at TGS last year.

How did you expand the characters of Claire and Carlos for this remake?

We really reimagined the overall narrative so you’ll see a lot more dialogue and performances from Jill and Carlos. Their back-and-forth really helps to bring out their personalities. You’ll also get to play as Carlos in an expanded role this time around.

Did you deviate from the original story in any ways that you can tell our readers about? If so, why?

At its core, it still remains the story of Jill attempting to get through and escape Raccoon City while being pursued by Nemesis. There have been changes to the narrative, but we’d like players to experience those on their own. We don’t want to spoil the fun.

The older Resident Evil games have a reputation for being pretty challenging. What sort of difficulty tweaks did you make in order to allow the game to be enjoyed by a broader audience?

We are always testing and playing the game internally to make sure it feels right. We also do focus tests to get even more external feedback. There are various difficulty modes that players can chose from as well.

Resident Evil 3 Remake is out now for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.