Summary
- Resident Evil 9 shouldn't abandon RE's modern, well-designed and player-friendly maps.
- The color-coding and item-marking map systems were welcome inclusions and should be present in the next entry in some manner.
- Capcom should ensure RE9's map UI is robust and on par with previous titles while potentially offering more options catering to both veteran and new players.
Resident Evil has been hiding in the shadows regarding what the next main installment might be bringing to the table. The franchise has been on an upward trajectory since 2017 thanks to RE7's rebooted direction, and bolstered by the high bar set by the remakes of earlier classic titles. Following RE Village and 2023's widely praised RE4 remake, excitement around the future of Resident Evil has been building since. But for over a year at this point, firm information from developer Capcom about where RE will go next has been in short supply.
With the studio still not offering much in the way of its plans, Resident Evil 9 has been the subject of leaks and rumors along with sometimes conflicting reports about the status of other potential projects, like remakes of Code Veronica, Resident Evil 0, and RE5. However, as fans await word on what Resident Evil has planned for 2025, there is one latter-day feature that RE9 should definitely include: the updated and handy map system.
Resident Evil 9 Can't Abandon the Franchise's Modern Approach to Maps
Resident Evil's Slick Modern Map System
First introduced in the 2002 remake of the original 1996 title, Resident Evil's dynamic map gave players a simple and elegant method of tracking their progress as they navigated through the environment. Each room on the map was coded with three colors, showing clearly at a glance whether players had visited them and had found every available item within:
- Blue (completed)
- Red (incomplete)
- Gray (unexplored)
Additionally, the map would display icons for the locations of uncollected items like ammo and herbs, as well as safe points and key puzzles, updating on the fly as players explored. Having Resident Evil's map function this way was an incredibly thoughtful quality of life inclusion, and helped eliminate some of the frustration and confusion that could arise from some of the older titles' designs.
The modern remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 also then used this design to great effect. However, Resident Evil 7 and the RE4 remake were a little less robust in this area. RE7 instead had the psychostimulants that revealed all items in the immediate surrounding area for a brief period. RE4 remake's map still displayed item icons, but didn't change colors per the above. RE Village then brought back both the color-coding system and item markers. Capcom should thus ensure that Resident Evil 9's map UI is at least on par with these in many ways.
Resident Evil 4 remake also had separate treasure maps sold by the merchant that added their locations to the main one.
Resident Evil 9's Maps Can Cover Territory Both New and Old
One of the biggest questions currently is whether Resident Evil 9 will be open-world, and if so, how big its map may be. While this remains to be seen, Capcom has often experimented over the course of RE's nearly 30-year history, and there are various ways it could incorporate previous map designs and interfaces in RE9. Assuming its size will be at least comparable to RE4 or Village, though, it could expand on existing options that allow players to customize the level of map detail, or even if they wish to make use of one at all.
Letting fans toggle objective markers and item locations off or on, as well as the ability to set multiple waypoints, may help with immersion while offering good options for veterans and newcomers alike. The former might choose to ignore the map or have a very minimal display, while the latter could make use of the opposite direction if in need of guidance. At the minimum, it would behoove Capcom to keep the general standards mentioned above while perhaps finding other creative ways to further refine and enhance the maps for Resident Evil 9, especially given its open-world and other possible directions.
Resident Evil 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 98%
- Released
- March 24, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Engine
- RE Engine
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
