Resident Evil has influenced many horror games, from Silent Hill to Dead Space to 2022’s Callisto Protocol. But there is one third-person shooter that has a particularly strong – albeit complicated – connection to RE and Capcom, especially 2019’s excellent Resident Evil 2 remake. If you haven’t played it and want to try it, the good news is that it’s available now as a free game on CDPR’s GOG – but you need to act fast.
Resident Evil, a tribute to a little-known survival horror game that heavily influenced the RE2 remake, is now available as a free game on CDPR’s GOG.
Resident Evil
Daymare 1998 originally started as an unofficial fan remake of Resident Evil 2, dubbed Resident Evil 2 Reborn. However, in 2015, Invader Studios, a small development team, was invited to Capcom headquarters and asked to cancel the project because an official remake was secretly in the works.
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Rather than abandon the game altogether, Invader renamed it “Daymare 1998” (a tribute to the release year of the original “Resident Evil 2”) and even managed to recruit several veterans of the RE series to help with development – “Resident Evil Zero” and “Code Veronica ), Satoshi Nakai, who was the enemy designer for “Resident Evil 2”, joined the team, as did Kazuhiro Aoyama, the director of the original “Resident Evil 3”.
The campy horror films
The result is a work that pays homage to the campy horror films that were the starting point of “Resident Evil”. Players take control of multiple characters to investigate a chemical facility leak, use their limited ammunition, and save points to defeat zombies and mutants while solving a series of puzzles that defy logic.
It’s like an alternate universe version of Resident Evil, with many familiar ideas but different presentations and designs. If you’re a horror fan and haven’t tried “Daymare 1998” yet, play it now, as it’s free on GOG through January 2.
You may also want to check out the Epic Games Store sale for bargains or the highlights of the current Steam sale. Or grab one of Steam’s other free games to get your 2023 off to the perfect start.