Capcom producer talks Resident Evil 5

Since the game's original announcement, nearly every aspect of Resident Evil 5 has been shrouded in darkness. That's mildly ironic, given that the next installment in the survival horror franchise will be bringing the zombie-hunting action out into the light of day like never before.

In a 13-minute video interview conducted by Famitsu and translated for the official Capcom blog, Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi discussed the development team's approach to certain aspects of the game, starting with the decision to set the game in Africa. If Takeuchi was aware of the controversy that has been stirred up, he didn't show it.

"We settled on the fact that we really wanted to show the origins of the virus," Takeuchi said. "So for the setting, we thought how about using the place where humankind was born?"

That decision--combined with a desire to take the player outside as much as possible at different times of the day and in different weather--necessitated that the team emphasize improved lighting effects in the graphics engine.

"In all of the games up until now, light and darkness have been used as abstract concepts," Takeuchi said. "This time we wanted to realistically create that light and shadow, and use it in combination with the abstract concept."

One such realistic tweak involves mimicking the way that the human eye works with the graphics engine. When you're in brightly lit areas, you won't be able to see into the shadows. If you then walk into a darkened hut, it will take a few seconds to adjust to the dark before you can see what's actually inside.

"It's those few seconds where you can't see that really fans the fires of panic," Takeuchi said.

Amid clips of the previously released trailer for the game and scant sections of never-before-seen gameplay, Takeuchi also talked about other aspects of Resident Evil 5. The gameplay and controls will be built largely off of Resident Evil 4, although Takeuchi said there would be some tweaks to the formula.

"Biohazard was originally based somewhat on the idea of fighting enemies with a limited amount of weaponry," Takeuchi said. "But when the number of enemies gets this large, things would be a bit tough with just the handguns and shotguns that we've used up until now, so we have greatly increased the number of weapon variations."

For gamers who still hunger for Resident Evil 5 news, the clip closes out with the simple message to "wait for the media summit," presumably the E3 Media & Business Summit, set for July 15-18.