Earlier this month, Capcom finally confirmed the much-awaited and highly requested remake of Resident Evil 3. The official announcement of the upcoming RE3 Remake came with a preview trailer that showed players the return of Resident Evil veteran Jill Valentine, alongside some of the game's supporting characters such as Carlos Oliveria, Nikolai Zinoviev, Mikhail Viktor, and Brad Vickers.
Apart from the preview trailer shown at Sony's State of Play, many details about Resident Evil 3 remake is still being kept under wraps. However, a couple of developers at Capcom revealed that just like the remake of Resident Evil 2, the upcoming re-imagining of Jill's escape from Raccoon City will remain faithful to the basic story of the original game. But, just like its 2019 predecessor, Resident Evil 3 remake will expand the original story, to give veteran players a fresh new experience.
Now, while no one knows how Capcom plans to introduce new storylines in the remake, the developers also revealed that the studio is planning to expand the role of Brad Vickers, one of the surviving members of the Raccoon Police Department's STARS division. In an interview with Japanese publication Famitsu, Capcom producers Peter Fabiano and Masachika Kawata, revealed that the remake will introduce several changes to the upcoming game, which will include an expansion of Brad's story. However, the producers did not reveal much about how it plans to broaden Brad's time in the spotlight apart from the fact that his role in the game underwent considerable changes, and that "Brad turned out quite neatly."
Although we would have to wait until Capcom is willing to share more information about this, here are some theories as to how the studio can expand Brad's role in Resident Evil 3 remake. But first, a fair warning to those players who haven't played Resident Evil 3 that the article includes spoilers for several Resident Evil games.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the character, Brad Vickers, known to his comrades as "Chickenheart Vickers" made his debut alongside Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine in the first Resident Evil game. Brad was the STARS Alpha Team's helicopter pilot who infamously abandoned his comrades when infected dogs started to attack the team. In Resident Evil 3, Brad made a short cameo as he finds himself stuck in the middle of a zombie-infested Raccoon City and met his end in the hands of Nemesis.
Given his actions during the mansion incident, Brad earned the reputation of being the cowardly police officer who met a gruesome death after encountering one of Umbrella's tyrants. However, with the upcoming remake of Resident Evil 3, Capcom now has the ability to reverse Brad's tarnished reputation and give him the redemption that his character badly needs. This can easily be achieved by giving Brad a heroic moment in the game by either showing him fearlessly rescuing some of Raccoon City's residents, or even helping out Jill fight off the hordes of the undead citizens and the bioweapons roaming around the city.
Capcom can also give Brad a backstory to let players understand why he acted the way he did in Resident Evil. Was Brad under the orders of Wesker to abandon the team as soon as they get into trouble? Or was he, just like Barry Burton, blackmailed by the STARS captain to do his bidding? These are just some of the possibilities that could redeem Brad's reputation from just being a cowardly police officer who abandons his teammates in a life-threatening situation.
While we are not expecting any changes in the remake that would alter the lore of Resident Evil, there is this small possibility that Brad may even survive the Raccoon City incident. It is worth pointing out that in the original Resident Evil 2, players would encounter Brad Vickers who has already turned into a zombie. Of course, we all know now that this was a foreshadowing of Brad's death in Resident Evil 3. However, zombie Brad was nowhere to be found in Resident Evil 2 remake and was only shown through a recruitment poster in the police station, which could be a hint that he won't die in the upcoming game. Of course, while this theory is possible, it is still unlikely to happen given that it would alter the franchise's established lore, and will rob players of seeing a remade version of one of the most unforgettable deaths in Resident Evil's history.
In the end, there is really no way of knowing how Capcom plans to expand Brad's story. While the game's producers did say that changes will be made, it is possible that they were just referring to the shuffling of the order of some of the game's events, like Brad's death. Given that Brad's journey crosses spoiler territory, we don't expect Capcom to give an update during the period leading up to Resident Evil 3's release. Luckily, the studio has already confirmed the game's release date, which is set to launch next year.
Resident Evil 3 releases on April 3, 2020, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.