Shinji Mikami was the director on the originalResident Evilgames, which pioneered the survival-horror genre (even coining the term survival horror). His background with that series will more than likely have an impact as he works on the upcoming PS5 console xclusiveGhostWire: Tokyo. But this will almost surely be a good thing.
GhostWire: Tokyowas announced back in June of 2020 and has since gathered buzz as the next in a long line of action and horror games from famed producer Shinji Mikami. The two trailers forGhostWireshown off so far give sparse detail about the upcoming game, with the newest trailerrevealing new gameplay footage. More specifically, the newest trailer shows off some of the abilities and environments that players will have access to inGhostwire Tokyo.
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While recently Tango Gameworks said in an interview thatGhostWirewould be an action-adventuretitle and not strictly survival-horror, the influence of Mikami’s work in the horror genre is definitely on display in the game. Famously, the development of the originalResident Evil 4was extended by Mikami’s desire to incorporate more supernatural elements into what had previously been more a scientific horror franchise. That game would inevitably becomeDevil May Crybut Mikami’s desire to add supernatural elements to theResident Evilfranchise seems to manifest in the paranormal enemies and powers shown off in the trailers forGhostWire.
Another thematic similarity is Mikami’s penchant for making the mundane into horrific scenes.Resident Evil 2’s grounding in the reality of a cityscape turned hellish by the T-Virus outbreak is a good example of what to expect from the streets of Tokyo emptied of pedestrian life by the ambiguous paranormal threat ofGhostWire.Seeing how Mikami handles eschewing theviruses and parasites ofResident Evilfor ghosts and spirits inGhostWire: Tokyois something many fans of his work will be looking forward to exploring.
Resident Evilis a very violent franchise, with Mikami’sResident Evil 4among one of the most violent. The myriad ofcinematics and death animationsinRE4see Leon S. Kennedy beheaded, impaled, and otherwise mutilated. The ESRB rating forGhostWireis still pending, and the trailers shown so far don’t feature much gore. But it will be interesting to see if the violence and overall body horror from theResident Evilfranchise make their way to the new game. The supernatural bent ofGhostWiredoesn’t necessitate the kinds of gore that viral mutations and citywide zombie infestations thatResident Evildoes, so it’ll be interesting to see how Mikami handles the more visceral side of his past work.
Gameplay is another important hallmark of Mikami’s work withResident Evil; the original game pioneered controls that became the industry standard for horror games throughout the 90s. And thenagain withResident Evil 4Mikami and Capcom innovated the third-person shooter genre with its over-the-shoulder camera angles and fast precision aiming. This again became an industry standard in games likeGears of Warand plenty of other survival-horror titles. The first gameplay trailer forGhostWireshowed off first-person gameplay involving supernatural powers that invokeBioshockat first glance.
Now thatGhostWire: Tokyohas a more concrete release windowas per Sony’s CES conference, eager fans of Mikami’s previous work withResident Eviland beyond won’t have much longer to wait before they can get their hands on his next project.
Ghostwire: Tokyois set to release in October 2021 for PC and PS5.
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