Parasite Eve 2 revived in Unreal Engine 5 is sending shivers down our spine, tapping into that tense atmosphere of the original and polishing that sickly sheen to the nines.
Parasite Eve never gripped gamers in the way that Resident Evil and Silent Hill did, however, it was a worthy entry into the then-nascent survival horror genre. I mean that rat transformation scene is going to stick in our minds forever. The protagonist of the series, Aya Brea, discovers a conspiracy to use modified mitochondria to reinvent the human race and create a new food chain and then battles those creatures and the people engineering them in order to save the world. For some reason, the fact that these mitochondria turn organisms into rabid slathering corruptions of themselves that will eventually cannibalise their own kind is not too much of a handicap.
Check out this awesome restoration of an original PlayStation here!
In Unreal Engine 5, Parasite Eve 2 looks oh so unsettling. The Neo Ark is oppressively old and shadowy, letting your imagination run rampant, and the dedication to detail in Dryfield is a wonderful colour palette contrast. This is the work of Enfant Terrible, a gaggle of UE5 enthusiasts that are equally as passionate about the cult classic game, and feast your eyes right here on the remake:
And, I'm not totally sure what that creature with the giant gob cradling a little version of itself is, but I'm not hanging around too long to find out. Commenters have suggested changes to Aya's Metahuman model because she's not as young or as sexy as they would want (writer's note: gamers, please consider one day not being so gross). But on the whole, they're pretty pleased with Enfant Terrible's efforts. "I would pay whatever you ask to play this [game] again with current graphics," said one. Unfortunately, it looks like Square Enix's focus is elsewhere.
Featured Image Credit: Enfant Terrible via YouTubeTopics: Square Enix