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BIOHAZARD 3 (バイオハザード3 Baiohazādo 3?) is a cancelled game that was being made for PlayStation. It is unrelated to Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. One of its development nicknames is "Ship BIO" (船バイオ) in reflection of its setting.

Plot[]

BIOHAZARD 3 was to sequel the events of "4th Survivor", continuing with the exploits of HUNK, a USS agent previously seen in Resident Evil 2. In the story he was to be sent to retrieve a sample of the G-Virus while getting caught up in a viral outbreak on a cruise ship. An alternative standard enemy to the Zombies was envisioned, with the t-Virus infusing plant DNA into infected humans.[1] The story may have changed over the course of development, as producer Hideki Kamiya has also described it as involving a new protagonist exploring a passenger liner lost for several years.[2]

Development[]

BIOHAZARD 3 was the brainchild of Hideki Kamiya, who began working with what became FLAGSHIP towards the end of Resident Evil 2's development in late 1997. Having already shown an isolated mansion and a city, Kamiya intended for a cruise ship to be the next setting for the franchise to keep it original.[3] Not long into production, Kamiya grew disinterested with his job as Producer, and stepped down in favour of being a Planner as he was in the original Resident Evil.[4] Kazunori Kadoi would then join the project having finished on Rockman Dash.[5] Director Massaki Yamada expressed frustration with the change in staff.[4]

Programming[]

In terms of technology, BIOHAZARD 3 was comparable to Resident Evil 2, Capcom having determined they could not improve PlayStation technology much beyond what that game was capable of. The game was planned to rely on pre-rendered backgrounds of better visual quality than 3D environments typical of games at the time, with as many as sixteen separate backgrounds per room, the limit they could do.[4][6] Inspired by Dino Crisis, Kamiya did experiment with 3D full-poly environments.[7]

Design[]

Artist Satoshi Nakai, a freelancer hired by FLAGSHIP, was brought on board to provide creature designs. Nakai would provide designs for the franchise for the next few years.

Cancellation[]

In mid-1998 Sony announced their new PlayStation 2 console, to release in 2000. Capcom became concerned that a AAA game would have diminished sales if close to the PS2's release date, and tasked studio manager Shinji Mikami with producing a new Resident Evil title for it. Kamiya was offered the Producer job, and agreed to the offer to work on a next-gen game as Director.[8] BIOHAZARD 3 was immediately cancelled as a superfluous project, and its developers migrated over to the new project, which would take on the same name. However, the plot, programming and designs were scrapped in favour of starting from the ground-up to better utilise the PS2's hardware.[9]

Sources[]

  1. Yasuhisa Kawamura Interview (Project Umbrella). Project Umbrella. Retrieved on 2013-06-24.
  2. @PG_kamiya (Nov 18, 2021). 船を舞台にしたバイオです…何年も前に行方不明になっていた客船が突然現れ、そこに乗り込む…という筋書きでした… (Japanese).
  3. @PG_kamiya (January 14, 2014). Ah, u mean a passenger boat? RT @project_umb Did u revisit the idea? In interview u say u thought about it for BIO3 o i.imgur.com/GFcLXjF.jpg.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 @PG_kamiya (24 April 2020). そういう過程を身をもって経験して、バイオ2で当時PS1で出来る限界値に達したのが分かったので、俺個人はもうバイオに関わる意欲を無くし、その続編(船バイオ←色んな変遷を辿ってボツ)のディレクターはやりたくないと駄々をこねて降りました….
  5. @PG_kamiya (24 April 2020). …で、船バイオ(当時のバイオ3)は後輩に任せて、俺ともう一人他部署から呼び寄せた奴がサポートに回る事になったんだけど、この「もう一人」というのが、バイオ1で俺と同じく企画を担当して、その後ロックマンダッシュチームに移っていた、後のバイオ2リメイクのディレクターの門井でした….
  6. @PG_kamiya (24 April 2020). これもよく話すことだけど、バイオ1の時は一部屋で8カットまでという制限があったから、ホールみたいな大きい部屋は2部屋に分けざるを得なかったし、どうしても引き目の絵になるという苦しさがあった…2からは倍の16カットになってだいぶ楽になったけど、演出等を考えたらそれでもカツカツだったなぁ….
  7. @PG_kamiya (24 April 2020). 船バイオは会社の思惑もあって三上さんから離れた部署で開発していて、プリレンダの静止画スタイルはそのままで、今で言うストリートビューみたいにカメラワークがつけられないかとか、ディノクライシスを参考に一部フルポリ部屋にしたり、色んなことを試していたけど、そこにPS2登場という速報が….
  8. @PG_kamiya (24 April 2020). …で、ある夜突然三上さんに電話で居酒屋に呼び出され、「PS2で新しいバイオ開発せえへんか」と…俺も新しいハードなら新しい事が試せると思ったので、是非にと…いうことで、船バイオは無くなって、三上さんのもと、PS2で新たにバイオ3(後のDMC)の開発が始動したわけです….
  9. Edge, Issue #102 (2001), p.30.
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