Capcom first teased the latest installment of the Resident Evil franchise, Project Resistance, earlier this week with a teaser trailer (and leak) that led many to speculate that the game would be multiplayer-style game similar to Resident Evil: Outbreak, a co-op survival game that released in 2003. Since then Capcom has added more information to the game’s official site and shared a new trailer that shows off Project Resistance‘s gameplay.
Project Resistance is different from previous Resident Evil games in that it’s a 4 versus 1 “asymmetrical co-op experience” in the Resident Evil universe in an area around Raccoon City. The four player characters are young people abducted by Umbrella for experimentation, and while escaping are pitted against a single “Mastermind.” To survive they will need to collaborate and make use of each of their unique skills in order to survive through the area’s and the Mastermind’s obstacles. Project Resistance is being compared to Dead by Daylight or Friday the 13th, with the 4v1 aspect setting it far apart from Outbreak which was strictly players versus the environment.
The four co-op characters are Valerie, January, Tyrone, and Samuel, and each has abilities that make them function in a unique way. Valerie and January are support-type characters, with Valerie working as a medic for the team and January using her hacking skills to disable the security cameras, slowing down the Mastermind. Tyrone can soak up damage and kick really hard, and Samuel looks like more of a straight-up damage dealer.
While the four co-op characters are controlled in the third person, the “Mastermind” plays by controlling the security cameras around the map, summoning devious traps and unrelenting zombies to try and make sure the co-op team has the worst day ever. After enough time (and presumably resources) the Mastermind will be able to call in the big guns, summoning and taking direct control of the infamous Tyrant in his Mr. X outfit to terrorize the co-op team. The Tyrant form is a bit like an Ultimate in that he will only be active for a limited time.
According to IGN, Capcom is using Project Resistance as “an experiment” in its own right, saying that Project Resistance is “not full product” and that they will look to judge player’s reactions to the format to get a feel for their interest level. Many expected Capcom’s next major Resident Evil game to be a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis to follow the success of Resident Evil 2 Remake earlier this year, or to hear some news about the development of Resident Evil 8. More news may still come from Capcom soon on new major projects in the Resident Evil franchise.
Capcom has yet to set a release window, but Project Resistance is entering a closed beta this October and is set to release for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam.