Forgotten Project - Resident Evil 1.5 (RE2 prototype) Pt. 3

Welcome back to the LONG awaited episode of Forgotten. Today we'll be further indulging ourselves into the mystery behind Resident Evil 1.5, the Resident Evil 2 prototype. In my last two installments I gave you a look at the characters, enemies, some bios, and information about the game. Today we're finally going to be going a bit deeper into what this game really had to offer. I'll be showing you screen-shots of many different places, characters, and enemies in the game. All of that and more, today...on Forgotten.

In case you missed the first two parts of this series, here are the links:
Forgotten Project - Resident Evil 1.5 (RE2 prototype)
http://screwattack.com/node/8255

Forgotten Project - Resident Evil 1.5 (RE2 prototype) Pt. 2
http://screwattack.com/node/8883

Before we get started, I would like to (once again) give a special thanks to bioflames dot com for all of their help. Not to mention, all of the youtubers out there who posted up all of these amazing videos for our viewing pleasure. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have a blog. Here's a link to bioflames if you're interested in checking it out for yourself:
http://www.bioflames.com/

So we'll begin with a few of the very first screen-shots ever revealed for this canceled gem. They all take place in a location we are all very familiar with by now, the R.P.D. lobby. The stain blue, signifying a power outage, has become all too familiar to those who were following this game up to this point. However, this time we actually get to see some action taking place in these shots.

Notice that the character model used for these images is the original design for Leon S. Kennedy. This is also the first we get to see an actual character model for the Fat Zombie, an enemy that was originally planned for this game but didn't appear until Resident Evil 3 Nemesis.

Here's a gif of Leon in the same situation you see in the picture above. You may notice the smoother animation of the zombies. They definitely moved A LOT less robotic in RE1.5 than they ended up in RE2.

As you can see, Leon is actually firing his gun in this shot and makes contact with a zombie. The blood animation or appearance had not really improved from the first game. It was much too bright, but at least it wasn't spraying out of the wound as it was in the original Resident Evil.

Leon begins to be overrun by zombies, in a location we hadn't quite seen before. It was obviously a hallway leading away from the R.P.D. lobby, and it shows that they had definitely put a lot of work into making the areas a bit larger then one square shaped room.

As you can tell, there are way to many zombies for Leon to handle at this point. Death is just around the corner, and it's interesting too see how many zombies there are on screen at once. It wasn't very often that the final version of RE2 took advantage of this. While there were one or two areas where there were 5+ zombies on screen, this is very impressive for so many zombies in such a small hallway.

I believe this shot is a little further into development for the game because the zombies contain a bit more detail on their body, and Elza's character model looks a bit more advanced than Leon's.

There are many shots that take place in other rooms of the R.P.D. station. You've got the parking lot, the chief's office (which is COMPLETELY different from how it was in RE2), the firing range, the jail cells (these are the famous images that many people relate to when they see this game), some random offices, and even some outside images. Here they are:
FIRING RANGE:

There's obviously something going on in the background. It appears that the back wall of the firing range has been destroyed and that you can leave the building from there. Pretty cool actually, and kind of reminds me of the exploding hotel in Resident Evil 3 Nemesis.

OFFICES:

PARKING LOT:


This is the first shot of the Gorilla enemy in the game. These guys look vicious, and I bet they were a real problem to take down. Maybe they were removed from the game so that William Birkin would be the only big and strong enemy around.

This is a shot of the Mother Gorilla, one of the bosses in RE1.5. It's a shame that at least the boss didn't make it into RE2. It would've been better than the lame G boss.

CHIEF'S OFFICE:

As you can tell, the chief's office is completely different than it was in the final product of the game. He had a large window in the back of his office, signifying that the R.P.D. building was several stories tall. Also, he had a model of the city in his office. No taxidermy in sight.

OUTSIDE:

This shot shows Leon wielding a flamethrower, signifying that the weapon still existed in this version of the game. It's good to know that such a powerful weapon wasn't scraped. Although he does seem to have the weapon way earlier in the game as well. This doesn't seem to resemble the Umbrella lab at all.

UMBRELLA LAB:

This is the only shot really available for the Man-Spider right now. You can't get a good look at it, but you can definitely tell which enemy this is. The Man-Spider wouldn't make it into a game until Resident Evil 3 Nemesis, where it received two-forms, new names, and different style entirely.

This is a shot of the back of William Birkin. This game didn't hint at him evolving at all really. It appeared that this hulking, pipe-wielding, version of William was the final product you would face in RE1.5.

JAIL CELL:

Unfortunately I was only able to come across one image of the jail cell scene, but it was definitely epic. All of the prisoners have transformed into zombies, and reach out for you when you run by. Scary!

FIRE AREA:

RANDOM AREAS:

This screen-shot is of the roof of the R.P.D. building. There's an obvious marker for a helicopter landing. There was an area similar to this in the final product, but it was WAY smaller.


This is a room that everyone who played RE2 should remember. Not much changed except in the final version they added many more gurneys to the front of the room. This also hints that in RE1.5 there were plans to include the basement area of the R.P.D. station.

Here we see the sewers. It's pretty neat to see the similarities between the games. Not only was the parking lot, and basement two areas that were originally planned, but so were the sewers. Although the sewers look a tad more realistic with the way they're set up in this game. Instead of one big long tunnel, they've actually made areas for the people to walk on.

Well that finishes up my screen-shots for certain areas in the game. Next I have three very interesting screen-shots that raise a good question about a certain enemy in the game.

DEATH SCENES:


Here you see Claire being mauled to death by some of the zombie dog enemies. At first this seems normal enough, unless you take a look at the next photo.

Now you see Leon facing the same fate, but instead of the German Shepard type of dog, you see a Doberman Pincher. At first glance the answer seems simple, there were two different dog types in the game. However, if you look closer, Elza is being mauled in her original character model form. Leon is being mauled in his final character model form. So did they scrap the older character model for the dogs, and change it into the same model from the first game? Unfortunately, we'll probably never know, but I found this very interesting.

That pretty much sums up all of the screen-shots, but I've still got a ton more to show you guys. I've got comparison photos, items that were taken out of the game, more animated gifs, and even...video footage. So as always, if you enjoyed this blog, PLEASE leave a comment and I will send you a Personal Message when the next and final installment is up. Also, leave a comment, rate, digg, or personal message if you enjoyed this blog or just feel like you have an opinion to express. I love to chat with you guys, and your feedback is what really keeps me going. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time...on Forgotten.