Do u guys think 1.5 will be released by capcom some form?

[Darkmoon]

It looks like a basic version of Resident Evil 2.

That's the thing, and I admit I am horribly biased in this - it's not a basic version of RE2. It's almost a completely different game. The RPD and sewers are totally different, there's an Umbrella office featured in the game, there's a lot more involvement from secondary characters (they don't just die a scene or two after you meet them) the game had multiple endings and a somewhat different storyline (S.T.A.R.S were believed, Umbrella was already being shut down). The only thing that was the same is Leon was in it, and the labs had a similar layout (although even they had some extra areas). And the game was playable, one end to the other, with FMV sequences created for it.

Now, the game appeals to me for several reasons. I'm a big fan of 'might have beens,' alternative reality stories and such, which is why I'm fond of Beta material. I like to see story elements that didn't make it, characters that are very different, and the like.

Secondly, 1.5 is the RE2 I was expecting. I love RE2, it is my favourite Resident Evil, but as seen above...I wanna know what happened in 1.5. I wanna know how they escaped, if Linda was like Ada, how the outbreak occurred, etc.

And finally - I want an old school RE game. Capcom's never going to make one again, but 1.5 is exactly what I want. I'd love to have it. And yes, I'd swap RE4, RE5, both Wii games, Revelations, ORC and RE6 for it if I could. But that's just me.

As for the point - no, there really isn't a need for as many 1.5 threads as we've had recently. But people are still interested, and occasionally something will crop up.

[Jill4EverSTARS]

Small thought if they ever were to release it why not as a downloadable game that'd be nice

[Beanovsky Durst]

Small thought if they ever were to release it why not as a downloadable game that'd be nice

I agree with this, would be the easiest form to release the game, but I don't think it won't ever happen. This will be a dark secret of Capcom for the times to come. The only way I can see it released is leaked by the people (collectors) who have it... I can't see that happen either. So it's a no-no.

[OKeijiDragon]

That's the thing, and I admit I am horribly biased in this - it's not a basic version of RE2. It's almost a completely different game. The RPD and sewers are totally different, there's an Umbrella office featured in the game, there's a lot more involvement from secondary characters (they don't just die a scene or two after you meet them) the game had multiple endings and a somewhat different storyline (S.T.A.R.S were believed, Umbrella was already being shut down). The only thing that was the same is Leon was in it, and the labs had a similar layout (although even they had some extra areas). And the game was playable, one end to the other, with FMV sequences created for it.

Here's another thing.

RE1.5 is technically a technical hybrid of RE1 and RE2. RE1.5 was directly built from RE1, down to the sound effects, graphics, character animations, controls, and was even made by the same staff members from RE1 who worked on this game, but moved on after Resident Evil 2's development restarted. I've had several people from the RE2 development team who confirmed this to me.

RE2 was built from RE1.5, utilizing the some background, sound, and the same game engine assets.

This is the obvious perhaps, but I just wanted to point this out.

Now, the game appeals to me for several reasons. I'm a big fan of 'might have beens,' alternative reality stories and such, which is why I'm fond of Beta material. I like to see story elements that didn't make it, characters that are very different, and the like.

This. +1

Secondly, 1.5 is the RE2 I was expecting. I love RE2, it is my favourite Resident Evil, but as seen above...I wanna know what happened in 1.5. I wanna know how they escaped, if Linda was like Ada, how the outbreak occurred, etc.

Reading about RE1.5 was what got me into this game franchise to begin with. =)

And finally - I want an old school RE game. Capcom's never going to make one again, but 1.5 is exactly what I want. I'd love to have it. And yes, I'd swap RE4, RE5, both Wii games, Revelations, ORC and RE6 for it if I could. But that's just me.

We could have had an totally different game franchise and storyline had this game came out instead of the final RE2 we know and love today.

As for the point - no, there really isn't a need for as many 1.5 threads as we've had recently. But people are still interested, and occasionally something will crop up.

I suggest that any future talk about this game should only be posted on one thread and it should be this. http://www.the-horror.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6332

[Xander Ashford]

@Darkmoon
You make very valid points, and ones that I can agree with; however, another facet to my argument is that no matter how much interest Resident Evil fans have in this, it still will probably not be released for the simple fact that it only would generate revenue from a small niche market.

Also, I think this mainly only interests those Resident Evil fans that have been with the series from the very beginning or perhaps Resident Evil 2. I started out with the series with Resident Evil Zero for the Gamecube. I am obviously not someone whose been with the series from the beginning, but yet, I am still a heavy fan of Resident Evil. I think if you are more in the "neo-Resident Evil" era this probably won't interest you. You've been spoiled with the nicer graphics and the better gameplay style. I'm sure there are a few new fans out there that this does appeal to, but again, still not enough to warrant Capcom to release this.

You can complain, you can hack Mercenaries leaderboards...Whatever. It isn't going to be released by Capcom. It is not a financially smart move.

Capcom Logic:

Crap similar to Resident Evil 5 > What fans from the beginning want
RE5 Style Game (Appeals to masses) = More $$$

I do agree with Jill4EverSTARS: If this were a PSN/XBOX Live download, it would maybe...MAYBE...have some success and easy for Capcom to do. Still, I attest that Resident Evil 1.5 will never see the light of day by means of Capcom.

[kevstah2004]

If people where forced to play the original titles they'd have a greater appreciation for them and see how far capcom have deviated from that path, whilst I liked remake I felt some areas where overdone.

[OKeijiDragon]

http://www.bioflames.com/forum

Any chance we'll see this back up in the future?

[Mr. Spencer]

Bioflames, I really should go there at some point.

[Darkmoon]

We could have had an totally different game franchise and storyline had this game came out instead of the final RE2 we know and love today.

This is one of the reasons give for why they scrapped 1.5. They (Mikami) apparently felt they wouldn't get more than a trilogy of games out of the series. It is, of course, bullshit. The biggest change in the plot was Umbrella was still alive and kicking in RE2. It would be quite possible to have the rest of the games in the series still, with minor changes - the UBCS would be the biggest change I can think of - Rockford Island and Sheena Island could still be active sites under dummy companies, RE3 and Outbreak could still have taken place with small changes, and Re4 would have started without a massive scream of 'Bullshit!' when Umbrella is taken down in a prologue.

Of course, this doesn't stop me of dreaming of alternative RE series featuring 1.5 and 3.5 as a alternative reality spin off series...

I suggest that any future talk about this game should only be posted on one thread and it should be this. http://www.the-horror.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6332

Any thread will do, really, and this one is serving fine. There only tends to be one 1.5 thread active at any one time, we've just had a rapid succession of the things recently.

@Darkmoon
You make very valid points, and ones that I can agree with; however, another facet to my argument is that no matter how much interest Resident Evil fans have in this, it still will probably not be released for the simple fact that it only would generate revenue from a small niche market.

Well, I would argue that since the game was anywhere between 70 and 90% complete, depending on who you talk to, and that it's development costs were more than covered by RE2's sales already, for a minimal cost of finishing it and dumping it on the PSN network under a title like 'Resident Evil 2 - Another Story', Capcom would make essentially pure profit, given the tiny cost involved. And it would likely do as well as any other PSN version of a PS1 game.

But Capcom will never, ever release 1.5, so it's a pointless argument. When it comes, it'll be the beta, leaked from a collector who doesn't want there disc, which they bought for quite a lot of money, being made worthless when someone else leaks it. Better to cash it in there and then for themselves.

Also, I think this mainly only interests those Resident Evil fans that have been with the series from the very beginning or perhaps Resident Evil 2. I started out with the series with Resident Evil Zero for the Gamecube. I am obviously not someone whose been with the series from the beginning, but yet, I am still a heavy fan of Resident Evil. I think if you are more in the "neo-Resident Evil" era this probably won't interest you. You've been spoiled with the nicer graphics and the better gameplay style. I'm sure there are a few new fans out there that this does appeal to, but again, still not enough to warrant Capcom to release this.

Possibly. Then again, there's enough interest in the old games to put them up on the PSN, and enough to include CODE: Veronica in the HD Remix package they're bringing out. While the new games certainly have a larger fanbase (I suspect CODE: Veronica is bundled with RE4 to boost it's sales) there is still enough call for the old school games to make them worthwhile.

You can complain, you can hack Mercenaries leaderboards...Whatever. It isn't going to be released by Capcom. It is not a financially smart move.

Capcom Logic:

Crap similar to Resident Evil 5 > What fans from the beginning want
RE5 Style Game (Appeals to masses) = More $$$

I do agree with Jill4EverSTARS: If this were a PSN/XBOX Live download, it would maybe...MAYBE...have some success and easy for Capcom to do. Still, I attest that Resident Evil 1.5 will never see the light of day by means of Capcom.

I think Capcom are learning, due to the lacklustre reviews RE5 received. Bar Mercs, none of there newer games are in the RE5 style. In fact, they're taking two very different approaches - Revelations, which is trying to combine the newer play style with horror, and ORC, which is going for raw action. They seem to have realized that being neither one nor the other is a good plan.

Unfortunately, it is possible they're more likely to head down the pure action route than the return to horror one, but they might not. A lot of people, and reviewers, complained about the lack of horror in RE5, making it obvious that turning it into Gears of War with Plagas won't work well for them - there are better action games out there already dominating that market. I think they're going to try reintroducing it.

But yeah, Capcom could do this. They just won't release it. And that's fine. I know Alzaire doesn't want them too, thinking they'll fuck it up while finishing it, and just wants the final beta. And I'm fine with that. Thing's playable end to end, and that's enough for me.

[OKeijiDragon]

This is one of the reasons give for why they scrapped 1.5. They (Mikami) apparently felt they wouldn't get more than a trilogy of games out of the series. It is, of course, bullshit. The biggest change in the plot was Umbrella was still alive and kicking in RE2. It would be quite possible to have the rest of the games in the series still, with minor changes - the UBCS would be the biggest change I can think of - Rockford Island and Sheena Island could still be active sites under dummy companies, RE3 and Outbreak could still have taken place with small changes, and Re4 would have started without a massive scream of 'Bullshit!' when Umbrella is taken down in a prologue.

Of course, this doesn't stop me of dreaming of alternative RE series featuring 1.5 and 3.5 as a alternative reality spin off series...

EDIT: Did Mikami really actually write the scenario for RE1.5? I keep reading about him writing the story for it, but I'm uncertain.

Mikami didn't really care about the story so as long as the game lived up to his then-magnum opus. It didn't. So if redesigning the game meant scrapping the story he had in mind for 1.5, I think he would not lose sleep over it, as long as the horror element wasn't compromised.

Should BIO1.5 have been the BIO2 we got, they could have just turned Sengoku Biohazard into BIO3, and ignore Jill and the rest of the cast and setting, and have it a prequel to the series.

Which apparently was almost the case anyways before it became Onimusha, according to BIO2 Promotional Producer Keiji Inafune.

[Darkmoon]

There are so many reasons given for why 1.5 wasn't released...it's impossible to say which are true and which are actual factors. I mean, one of the issues claimed was that it felt too close to RE1, so they changed it in RE2...to a game a much closer to RE1, taking away the modern feeling areas and replacing them with the beautiful, but odd, RPD we know and love which is very reminiscent of the Mansion, and scrapping various features that would slowly crop up in other RE games, such as armour and grenades.

A lot them are obvious bullshit, at the end of the day, so who knows the exact situation. other than the people involved, anyway. Still, while it is entirely possible that 1.5 is worse than RE2, since RE2 is an awesome game, it would be lovely to play it.

[Alzaire]

But yeah, Capcom could do this. They just won't release it. And that's fine. I know Alzaire doesn't want them too, thinking they'll fuck it up while finishing it, and just wants the final beta. And I'm fine with that. Thing's playable end to end, and that's enough for me.

Yeah, pretty much. I'll play the "can't be satisfied" card and say that I'd still rather have the betas that are out there now. Capcom finishing 1.5 now and releasing it would be cool and all, and hell yeah I'd give it a look, but it's not gonna be the same thing it was going to be 15 years ago. It may have been close to completion, but last minute work is often times where many changes and additions/subtractions are made. The "finishing touches" they'd do now probably wouldn't be the same they'd have done back then, and would still leave me curious what might have been changed/removed/added from the old final beta to the "completed" new release. But that's just me.

I am really surprised this kind of topic still comes up. It's been 15 years since development. It's well-known Capcom considers it an inferior design and try to shy away from the mention of it. They've known for at least 11 of those years that there are fans that would love to see it. If they were gonna do something, they probably would have already done so. I don't know anyone who believes Capcom would ever release it, myself included. I'd be shocked.

[Jill4EverSTARS]

All this talk of 1.5 makes me want 3.5 also it was so promising in my opinion with the keeping of Hitchcock-esque camera but infusing it with precision aiming

[Beanovsky Durst]

All this talk of 1.5 makes me want 3.5 also it was so promising in my opinion with the keeping of Hitchcock-esque camera but infusing it with precision aiming

And makes me want 4.5 ... It's just a never ending cycle of "what if-s".

[Guest]

Well, for me, fuck 3.5 and 4.5.
They aren't a 80-85% completed beta.