Resident Evil 8follows the progression of theResident Evilstory where it left off inResident Evil 7,following Ethan after he escaped the Baker estate at the end ofRE7with Chris Redfield.Resident Evil 8takes the reins by fast forwarding a bit and dropping Ethan into the middle of mystery in Europe that happens to involve his old pal, Chris Redfield.
Aside from this tid-bit and theofficial trailer forResident Evil 8, there aren’t a whole lot of details regarding enemy design that have come from the publisher, Capcom. That being said, there’s one enemy design that Capcom omitted in the more recentRE7, but was present inRE6back in 2012. That particular enemy is the Tyrant.
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What is a Tyrant?
Tyrants are experimental bio-organic weapons, or BOWs, that the Umbrella Corporation created as a means to take the T-Virus and practically apply its properties to create a soldier capable of taking and executing commands with a degree of intelligence. The most famous of these are the T-00, orMr. X, fromResident Evil 2and Nemesis fromResident Evil 3. Both of Tyrants are clones of the T-002 prototype, making them T-103 Tyrants with the only difference between them being the Nemesis Alpha parasite that replaces Nemesis’s brain.
The primary purpose of Tyrants throughout the series has been to give each a specific task that they carry out until their dying breath. Usually, its to seek out a specific target and eliminate them as withNemesis and the STARS team, or to retrieve something as with Mr. X and the G-Virus sample. Unfortunately, the Tyrant’s glory days were short lived as the Umbrella Corporation would eventually become defunct, ending all production of Tyrants. At the most current point in theREstoryline, all Umbrella Corp. Tyrants are dead, butRE 6had a pretty good copycat, Ustanak.
Who is Ustanak?
Ustanak is the mainmonster inResident Evil 6and is the closest thing to an Umbrella Corp. T-103 Tyrant in “modern” games. There are a couple of differences between them, namely the C-Virus that was used in Ustanak’s creation instead of the old T-Virus that gave rise to the T-103. Another difference was that Ustanak was not prone to the volatile mutations that characterized the T-103 which necessitated the Tyrant’s signature inhibitor trench coat. Other than that, Ustanak is a viable BOW who has shown intelligence in his mission to seek and destroy Jake Muller which puts him in the same league as the T-103. The final nail in the coffin is the fact that Ustanak was created by Neo-Umbrella eight years after the original had been shut down, thereby making him an honorary Tyrant.
Why Should RE8 Have a Tyrant
The presence of a lingering, antagonizing force that drives the game’s plot forward are what madeRE 6, theRE 2remake, andRE 3remake so engaging. Having a similar Tyrant-like enemy inResident Evil 8would appropriately tie itself toeachResident Evilgame.RE 7tried to do this with Jack Baker, but his involvement as a recurring antagonist wasn’t as constant as Ustanak or the other Tyrants, as he would get weaved between other boss fights with the Baker family members.
Having a BOW with the threat level and persistence of a Tyrant is whatResident Evil 8needs most, and it is still possible to have it despite Umbrella not being a key player in the story anymore. The forces at work behind the monsters in the Village ofRE8should have an alpha predator, like the Tyrant, that will fill this role and relentlessly pursue Ethan through every area of the game. Until Capcom gives fans anupdate on the development ofResident Evil 8, players will have to wait and wonder if a Tyrant is waiting in the wings to be unveiled.
Resident Evil 8will launch in 2021 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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