Screenshots from an alleged Resident Evil 7 alpha concept have leaked out, showcasing a mock-Venetian setting experienced in third-person and led by series icon Leon S. Kennedy. The original story was supposed to revolve around a water-based bio-organic weapon (BOW) and feature greater player agency in key gameplay scenarios.
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(1/3) There's a lot of Resudent Evil news to cover today.
First of all, concept art of Resident Evil 6.5 was finally discovered online from this artist: https://t.co/Ri4Bt8SwFp
It was a scrapped version of RE7 that played similar to RE6, but Leon & Sherry in a fictional Europe pic.twitter.com/yj3jB95ZrI
— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) February 8, 2023
The screenshots come from freelance concept artist Sergey Kalinin of design studio VOLTA. Ka has worked for a number of game development studios including Ubisoft and Sledgehammer Games, but has lent his services to Capcom for every Resident Evil game since Resident Evil 4.
Kalinin’s Resident Evil 7 alpha screenshots reveal a third-person Leon-helmed continuation of the Resident Evil 6 story, but set in a Venice-inspired fictional European city. The environments look strikingly similar to the Assassin’s Creed Revelations depiction of Constantinople, likely due to Kalinin’s work with Ubisoft.
Industry insider Dusk Golem has claimed that the original concept of Resident Evil 7, as depicted in Kalinin’s screenshots, featured Leon and the Sherry character, and revolved around a water-based BOW. In a manner similar to Telltale Games’ titles, this RE7 concept let players choose between differing actions in slow-motion “Choice” moments. Dusk Golem further claims that a 30-60 minute playable demo of the concept was made in a late 2012-late 2013 period, but was scrapped in favor of returning to the series’ first-person survival horror roots. Kalinin has previously shared concept art of the Baker House from Resident Evil 7:
While Resident Evil 7: Biohazard began a different story saga with protagonist Ethan Winters in 2017, fan-favorite Leon has been missing from the games since Resident Evil 6. Would you have liked to see the older RE7 concept materialize? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Sergey Kalinin (via Dusk Golem)