Absolutely Worthless

[TheSelfishGene]

If the 'el gigante' is a natural product of 'las plagas' infection, and the people in biohazard 5 are infected by 'las plagas', then I'd expect to see 'el gigante' in biohazard 5.
Note the name would be different (for both el gigante and las plagas, simply because in Africa Spanish isn't a common language (to my knowledge)).

However, I think Luis mentioned in a file in RE4 that el gigante were engineered rather than a natural product of las plagas infection. And of course there has been no official word that the cause of the aggression in RE5 is 'las plagas', so for the time being, it seems out of place. The el gigante is evidence that it is 'las plagas' though, or at least a variant of, that is afflicting the people of Africa.

I think this would be a LOGICAL storyline for RE5, however Capcom aren't known for their logic.
There is a civil war in a country in Africa. Someone (Wesker *cough cough*) sells a biological weapon to one side in the civil war, and the shit hits the fan. BSAA, an anti bio-terrorism unit is sent in to investigate. That could be how 'Las Plagas' gets to Africa.
NOTE: This is all speculation by me. Feel free to comment on it, good bad or otherwise.

[Dot50Cal]

It should also be brought up that this infection is supposedly a side effect of a volcano going off. So unless thats a cover story for what really happened, the Gigante is even more out of place. Plus, they've said numerous times that they are going to "the source", Progenitor. I just don't see why they would get plagas involved in this.

I'm assuming its just a lack of creativity on the teams part. They want to make Progenitor be another parasite which also happens to spawn El Gigante's and plagas-like enemies.

[Jill's Boob]

It should also be brought up that this infection is supposedly a side effect of a volcano going off. So unless thats a cover story for what really happened, the Gigante is even more out of place. Plus, they've said numerous times that they are going to "the source", Progenitor. I just don't see why they would get plagas involved in this.

I'm assuming its just a lack of creativity on the teams part. They want to make Progenitor be another parasite which also happens to spawn El Gigante's and plagas-like enemies.

Well, Kramer kept saying that this game will tie up the loose ends from all previous Resident Evils. So, I'm guessing with 4 being canon, (and the heaviest influence on 5), that Wesker is using the sample of Las Plagas he obtained (though Ada supposedly sent him a placebo) to mix with the progenitor, so that the infected can be controlled. Maybe that's why so much of the infection seems similar?

But I am probably wrong.

[TheSelfishGene]

I still think it's Las Plagas. If it's not, I'll be very very disappointed. The easiest way to resolve the similarities in the story would be to have Las Plagas involved. Then again it's Capcom, so I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Considering that the T virus was an 'improvement' over the progenitor, and that mostly spawned zombies (when humans were infected). Also, weren't some of the monsters in RE0 mostly progenitor creations? I'm not sure about that last point, someone will be able to clarify. There are files in RE0 describing the effects of the progenitor virus on different genuses of animals.

If these are just progenitor only created monsters, then there is a massively glaring inconsistency, as these monsters clearly look superior to most T virus creations.

Like the fact that Umbrella was wasting it's time splicing T-virus genes with animals genomes, and yet Birkin has made a virus that can make super humans like wesker. When the whole point of the T virus project was to make smart bioweapons, and the closest they get is the Tyrant. In Umbrella Chronicles, Wesker can defeat two Ivan tyrants simultaneously, so I don't know why Umbrella continued T virus research.

Went off the rails a bit there, but in short, I'm expecting it to be Las Plagas implicated in RE5, but I wouldn't bet too much on it.

[Dot50Cal]

Well, whos to say there wasn't another Umbrella scientist working independent of Marcus (T-Virus' creator) who developed his own variation off the Progenitor strain? If you recall, Marcus used leeches to cultivate the virus. We've been seeing black, leech-like slugs in these trailers, who also seem to have the same "hive" behavior the leeches did in Resident Evil 0.

[Jill's Boob]

I think the formula Birkin gave to Wesker wasn't ever tested before. So that's why Wesker is one of a kind.

But as for all the different strains and whatnot, I can never keep up. Plus I am too lazy to go back and replay all the games. I'm sure there's somewhere on the internet that sums it all up nicely. Also, Umbrella Chronicles does a nice job of rehashing the old storylines (in various files you find).

Still, I hope RE5 provides a decent summary for all the confusing plot elements. Frankly, I think they went a little nuts with it all: progenitor, T, G, T-Alexia, Las Plagas...what was the one from ZERO? Was that progenitor? I thought that one was just briefly mentioned in Code Veronica?

[TheSelfishGene]

I'm not up to scratch on all my different viruses and things either. It's been a while since I've played alot of the games.

I guess all we can really do is wait until the game hits, or hope there is alot more shown at the Tokyo Game Show.

[Bertha]

Well, whos to say there wasn't another Umbrella scientist working independent of Marcus (T-Virus' creator) who developed his own variation off the Progenitor strain? If you recall, Marcus used leeches to cultivate the virus. We've been seeing black, leech-like slugs in these trailers, who also seem to have the same "hive" behavior the leeches did in Resident Evil 0.

From what I could remember, there were different scientists working on different variants of the T-virus. T-Veronica/Alexia was just as old as the Progenitor strain. I do remember in one of the notes Alexander Ashford was using the basic design Alexia made or something....trying for years to reproduce her and that is how the twins were artificially created. If I have time I'll try to go back and freshen up on the exact details.

[Archelon]

Taken from an interview with CODE: Veronica director, Hironobu Kato:

Question 4
In Resident Evil 2, William Birkin developed the T-virus, but why in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, T-virus is the general term of the virus variation of the founder virus?
Answer 4
William Birkin made the T-virus that was developed in the Arklay facility. Other T-virus were developed in different facilities and are not related to Birkin's work.

Source: http://www.survivhor.com/morbidcreat...recv_qanda.htm

Also, many of the monsters in RE0 were created using the Progenitor Virus, not the T-Virus. The zombies and a few other monsters, however, were created when the reanimated Marcus released the T-Virus in the Training Facility.

B.O.W. Report

Research to date has shown that when the Progenitor virus is administrated to living organisms, violent cellular changes cause a breakdown in the system. Furthermore, no satisfactory method has been found to control the organisms for use as weapons. Clearly, greater coordination at the cellular level is essential to enable further growth. I conducted a number of experiments in an effort to find a breakthrough. This is my report:

Insecta
Perhaps because these ancient animals have been genetically stable for millennia, when administered with the Progenitor virus they exhibit only explosive, high-energy growth and increased aggressiveness. It is extremely difficult to envision using them as a B.O.W...

Amphibia
Injecting a frog with the virus resulted in an increase in leaping power and abnormal tongue growth. However, no change in mental ability was observed. Furthermore, an abnormal appetite resulted in the test subject randomly attacking all moving objects. Usefulness for B.O.W. is limited.

Mammalia
The Progenitor virus was merged with a monkey's cellular DNA resulting in increased fertility. The resulting young exhibited improved aggressiveness and some increased mental capacity. (As a side effect, visual power was lost, but this was offset by an improvement in hearing ability.) However, they were unsatisfactory as weapons. It does seem that no progress can be made without making humans the base organism.

Finally, it should be noted that Birkin did not create Wesker's super virus, per se. It was simply a mutated strain of the T-Virus that had certain miraculous properties.

Virus Memo

We go way back so I hope you forgive me
cutting the formalities. I don't have
much time. I must describe how to use
the item in question.

The sample you have been given is
from one of the mutation stocks.
It possesses a unique characteristic.

It should be injected into the host at
least 5 minutes before needed. The
results are almost immediate, but they
do require a few minutes to completely
take effect.

Even in death, as long as some portion
of the host remains, the virus can
reconstruct the rest of its body and
bring it back to life.

During this process, there is a brief
period where the host appears, for all
intents and purposes, dead.

In experiments with animals, 70% of the
subjects grew more powerful as a result
of this resurrection. Their muscular and
circulatory systems for exceeded those
they possessed in life.

This virus has been designed to
conquer death. 20% came back to life,
but with none of the beneficial
side-effects present in the primary
group. The remaining 10% remained dead.

In other words, there was a 90% revival
rate. The virus has not been used on a
human yet, but that is soon to change.

I'm not sure how this will help, but I'm
sure you will put it to good use!

Good luck.

[Dot50Cal]

RE: William Birkin created the T-Virus

This isn't true, or at least its been ret-conned. Marcus made it, and when Birkin and Wesker killed him under the orders of Spencer, Birkin took Marcus' work as his own. That interview was done before Zero was released. I'm pretty certain it made it clear that Marcus was responsible for creating the T-Virus.

[Archelon]

This isn't true, or at least its been ret-conned. Marcus made it, and when Birkin and Wesker killed him under the orders of Spencer, Birkin took Marcus' work as his own. That interview was done before Zero was released. I'm pretty certain it made it clear that Marcus was responsible for creating the T-Virus.

I'm well aware of that. The point of posting that question and answer was the fact that there were several T-Virus strains created by different branches of Umbrella across the world, not that Birkin created the T-Virus. I probably could have made that clearer.

[Dot50Cal]

Ah, alright ;)

[ZERO]

weed i totally agree with you,i never liked the story of re 4 and never got scared too and they are doing the very same thing in re 5 but with a diferent story and the monsters are even more stupid than the ones in re 4 and the story doesnt seen good aswell but of course we cannot take any conclusions without playing the game but i a not going to buy it at launch,i a going to play in my friend's 360.

[Darkmoon]

This is essentially how I'm looking at the game currently. Please rememeber, however, that I am extremely cynical and tend to expect the worst to happen at all possible times. It's stood me in good stead through life. So I'm going to mention both what I hope will happen and what I actually think is going to happen.

1 - The Resident Evil 4 Recycling.

Well, I dislike the Ganados. Since they're just too dumb to be allowed to live. I'm sorry, but when faced with a man carrying a shotgun, a magnum, a rocket launcher a machine gun several grenades and a handgun big enough to take out aircraft what would you do? Would it be run until you're several feet from him then walk, slowly, your axe raised in a threatening manner? No? Then you fail the intelligence test for a ganado. You're too smart. Got to the Regenerator Factory please.

I hope they strip out the Ganado movements but most importantly the AI. The fact that the Ganados actually tended to stop and allow themselves to be a better target annoyed the piss outta me and is partially why the game was less scary that the cardboard cutout of Leon. What I'm expecting is the animations will be taken out by the AI will remain the same so gameplay stays the same.

As for El Gigante...that is pure lazyness. Now it's been seen I expect it'll stay the same and, more than likely, more RE enemies such as those damned bugs and AJ will show up. I'm hoping I'm wrong, though.


2 - Storyline.

Alright. I think it's generally agreed that RE4 completely and epicly failed with it's story. From the introduction where Umbrella has collapsed to the fact you're trying to rescue the president's daughter to Ada the story reeks of lazyness and a desire to get on with shooting crap.

Well, we've been promised a tie up to loose ends of the story. We've been told the Progeneator Virus will be featured, although I don't believe it's ever said it was actually the virus responsible for this outbreak. We've been promised a female character returning from the series. And it appears that Wesker will be in the game...in some fashion.

My hope is that we'll get what's been promised to us. That Wesker and Chris will engage in another epic battle resulting in a resounding climax to this chapter of RE and allowing new and more interesting directions to be taken. That Sherry will be the tube victim and it'll explain that due to her situation of having G-Virus in her blood but not being a monster makes her a unique specimen that doesn't get Alice-like powers. That the Progeneator virus and Las Plagas have been merged by Wesker in this outbreak, explaing the similarities and differences between this version and the old one.

What I'm expecting is Progeneator mentioned as background, never to appear in game, Wesker to be involved at the edges and in side stories and the like not the main game (and to never see Chris) and for the game to barely touch on anything before 4. Las Plagas is, shockingly, Las Plagas...only a different African strain. And it turns out Las Plagas is all over the world before it was driven underground into a dormant state hundreds of years ago by the Knights Templar, whose modern day descendants are the BSAA. Or something equally stupid to explain why they'll be in every RE from now on.


3 - Gameplay.

One of my biggest gripes with RE4 was the changes in the gameplay from the older style. Not the control system, which is a vast improvement over the older style, nor the camera angles. Those are a natural change to make the game more player friendly and to help new fans play it. The changes are those you've heard me detail before...action over horror, action over exploration, action over puzzles. Action over everything.

Yes, I know RE3 is responsible for similar crimes, but not nearly to this extent. There was some exploration, some choices as to what you did first, some puzzles. But you could still run out of ammo if you were wasteful and it still had it's fair share of scares, albeit that most of them involved Nemesis.

I'm expecting more of the same from RE5. No more puzzles if they can manage it. No scares that don't involve 50 enemies attacking and you mowing them down with shotgun blasts while a hammer guy wanders up behind you. The Oven Guy was the scariest moment in RE4 so I expect something will randomly appear on occasion like that, but beyond that and some improved exploration elements (and even then I'm expecting it's a bigger area for you to look around before you move on to the next linear area) that it's gonna be RE4 only with two sets of gun blaring all the time.

My hope is that they're gonna be smarter here. Make it so that you can't fight all the enemies all the time so long as you choose a good spot to shoot from. Hell, if you stand in the doorways and no one throws axes at you can use the knife for most of the enemies until it gets dark in RE4. Make it so enemies dive out of windows as you pass, jump out from behind things with no warning. It's gonna be action orientated, no question there, but by making huge fights something special instead of something that happens in every area they become more interesting...and more intimidating. My favorite fight in RE4 is the one in that big hall where you have to crank a a set of stairs and then Ashley raises two platforms so you can cross. I've actually run low on ammo and helping Ashley while not getting stabbed is a challenge.

Then I'm also hoping that the exploration will be real exploration. As in you have to go several sections of a city, explore, find items and solve puzzles before moving on to new areas, possibly even with a choice of where to move on to. That would make up for a lot of sins for me, even El Gigante.


Anyway...that's why I'm unimpressed so far but why I still have some hope it isn't gonna be an RE4 clone and nothing else. If RE4 had done this and it was an RE4 clone I'd be over the damned moon.

[Bertha]

Darkmoon I think that was one of the most thorough, well backed explainations I've seen in a while. Kudos. How long did it take you to type all that?