One of the undisputed best games of 2019 it may have been, but one seemingly very small alteration made to last year’s Resident Evil 2 left fans somewhat disappointed.
We are, of course, referring to the survival horror remake’s knife, a tool which, stretching all the way back to classic Resident Evil, has been an integral part of the series. Unlike the controversial change made to Leon and Claire’s reimagined nightmare – in which the Capcom decided to make the melee weapon an exhaustible resource – the developer has opted to make them function exactly as before in Resident Evil 3, meaning you’ll only ever need one.
According to producer Peter Fabiano, the choice was made as a means of ensuring the player always has something on-hand to deal with aggressors in the event that they run out of ammo for, let’s say, more efficient zombie-killing weapons.
Speaking to Game Informer, Fabiano said:
We kept the knife inexhaustible [in Resident Evil 3], so you can use it forever. We’re dealing with survival horror and everything is exhaustible. You run out of bullets. You run out of herbs. You run out of all the items you can use. So if you did run out of everything, what would you have? The knife. The director always wanted to make it so that you at least have your trusty knife. That’s always something you can rely on.
The knife returns to its original function as serving as a safety net, then, though Fabiano also acknowledges the large community of fans who often like to challenge themselves in any given Resident Evil title by attempting to complete the game using nothing but the sharp instrument. The good news, then, is that internal playthroughs by members of the development team have proven that such runs are definitely possible. The bad news? That it’ll be ball-bustlingly hard, though I imagine for the masochists to which such a challenge appeals to, that’ll be another plus.
Resident Evil 3 is out April 3rd for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
