What is Code Madman? The Forgotten Resident Evil 4 Build
The Resident Evil franchise has released yet another remake of its longstanding and popular series of games. The Resident Evil 4 remake already making waves across the community. But the game we’ve gotten today has taken a significant step away from the 2005 original. With that original game we got was also a step away from another proposed build. That was what would eventually be known as Resident Evil 3.5 and the Code Madman demo.
What is Code Madman?
A demo for Resident Evil 4 was released at E3 in 2003. The demo reveals a completely different plot and location to the one we’re shown both in the final product and the 2023 remake. In the demo protagonist, Leon was forced to “fight his demons” in Castle Spencer. In a more paranormal, more Silent Hill-esque story than the traditional survival horror genre.
Obviously, owner and developer Capcom moved on from this concept, but fans were still interested in where this idea could have been taken. To that end, Resident Evil fan ShiguWorks would release their take on this concept with Code Madman. Another demo but this time for a full-release game of the concept made by modders. This was to be known as Resident Evil 3.5. However, this project has yet to proceed any further due to fears of legal challenges.
The Official Side of Things
While Resident Evil 4 decided to abandon these ideas for the game we got. Capcom wasn’t so willing to entirely rid themselves of them. Many of those ideas were instead planted into Resident Evil 8: Village, which certainly feels more like a paranormal game than the survival horror the series is known for.
Still, it’s always interesting to see what could have been. With how much Resident Evil 4 has changed from its first builds to what it’s become under the remake. Resident Evil 3.5 and Code Madman are windows into what was.
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