Modder Slowly Recreating Long Abandoned Version of ‘Resident Evil 4’

Resident Evil 4 is a modern classic, a successful (and badly needed) reinvention of a rapidly aging series. Before Capcom landed on a direction for Resident Evil 4, though, the game went through all sorts of growing pains, including a horror-centric take that’s been dubbed by fans as Resident Evil 3.5. Capcom cancelled that version of the game, but a modder’s been slowly recreating it himself.

CODE: Madman takes what’s publicly known about Capcom’s plans for Resident Evil 3.5 and builds on it. That version would have starred Leon Kennedy, taken place a few days after the events of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, and found Leon haunted by malevolent hallucinations.

For reference, here’s the most extensive look we ever got at the game:

And here’s what CODE: Madman‘s recreation looks like:

Granted, it’s lacking enemies and uses assets from other games, but given that Capcom is unlikely to let fans play this abandoned version, this is the closest we’ll come to diving into Resident Evil 3.5. As a super fan, that’s incredibly cool.

Unlike other ambitious recreation mods, a playable demo for this one already exists—check the YouTube description for updated links. The developers have ambitions beyond what’s already there, and I’d love a version that actually included the infamous hookman enemy, but we’ll see what happens.