Resident Evil Cancelled Game Makes a Surprise Return

The whole idea behind Resident Evil 3.5 and what might have been is a profoundly weird one. What it essentially amounts to is a series of plans for a game that were eventually scrapped before we finally got the all-time gem that is Resident Evil 4.

Despite that massive lack of tangible features, fans have continued to obsess over what the world may have looked like had Capcom stuck to their guns and delivered on their original vision.

It's made all the more bizarre when you consider the fact that Resident Evil 4 is one of the best survival horror games ever made and an absolute titan of the genre that continues to influence design choices in new games to this day.

But if P.T. taught us anything it's that people are far more fascinated by potential than anything else, and they won't rest until they get to see the mythical RE3.5 in action.

Fortunately, there is some hope thanks to the dedicated modding community who are seeking to make it a reality. Over on ModDB, you should be able to find the Resident Evil 3.5 Revival mod available to download.

The project was first announced some time ago, promising a fully built version of the game designed inside a heavily altered version of the Resident Evil 4 engine (which itself starts as a very good foundation to build out from).

It's all made in third-person with a fixed camera, and you'll be able to take control of both Leon and Ashley, with the latter significantly different from the version you know.

The story starts with the massacre of Leon's team (though, of course, the man himself survives). From there, he becomes infected and spends the first portion of the game fighting off demons and creatures created by his own mind in his addled state.

If you're looking for a reference point for what it's going to be like to play, then it's likely most similar to the remake of Resident Evil (1996), though the animations themselves are based on the limited gameplay footage that exists in the public domain.

Whilst the lack of knowledge around the developer's intentions for the project as a whole could easily be seen as a disadvantage, it does have one cool benefit. Specifically, it implicitly allows it to become the ultimate "fan" project, where only the major lines have been blocked in and we can colour in the rest.

Though it doesn't have a release date just yet, it's still under active development, so keep an eye on progress and we should hopefully be able to jump in before long.