Despite not adhering to the series’ lore, the original set of six Resident Evil movies were a smash hit. They catered to a different crowd and achieved success in their own right. They didn’t harm the enjoyment of the games in any way. However, that doesn't mean fans haven’t wished to see a film truly capture the atmosphere, plot, and characters of the games themselves.
That seemed like the goal of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. However, right from the get-go, differences are noticeable between the film, and Resident Evil 1 & 2. The latest film is drastically more faithful to the games in many ways but only on a surface level. There will be spoilers for the film and both of the games as well in this exploration of what Welcome to Raccoon City changed.
6 The Timeline
The first game takes place between July 24-25, 1998. Resident Evil 2 takes place during September 29-30, 1998. The film decides to set the date on September 30, 1998, which creates some problems. Most notably, these two events are not supposed to take place at the same time. Originally, there is a two-month gap there. The Spencer Mansion incident is how the infected creep into Raccoon City. In the film, on the other hand, the water seems to be the culprit.
The events of the second and third games do take place simultaneously though. That's one of the selling points of playing both games back to back. This is presumably why the two remakes happened a year apart. Someone might have confused the timeline when planning things out for the film.
5 Chris And Claire
In the games, Chris and Claire are indeed orphans. However, their relationship is solid. Chris leaves to join the Air Force where he meets Barry Burton. Barry becomes a close friend to Claire and Chris and even ties into Claire learning some combat skills. Claire goes off to college at this time too, with Chris’ blessing.
In the games, the reason why Claire comes to Raccoon City is that Chris disappears a month after the Spencer Mansion incident. She knows he is going after Umbrella. They’re not even supposed to meet again until the events of Code Veronica. The movie depicts them very differently, since Claire leaves as a child and creates some bad blood between them.
4 Wesker Is A Spy
In the games, Wesker is tied to Umbrella. He’s an actual researcher that helps create the STARs unit as sort of a backup plan for Umbrella. Wesker's betrayal of the other members is one of the bigger twists in the first game.
The film version, meanwhile, makes him out to be a little clueless. He’s not even bloodthirsty; for example, he winces when Jill kills a bird. He instead is a spy, hired to go inside the Spencer Mansion in order to recover Umbrella secrets. His employer, though, is never revealed. It could be Ada, or TriCell, or some other unknown party. The sequel should reveal all.
3 Raccoon City Is Being Abandoned
There is nothing wrong with Raccoon City during the events of the first game, nor in the beginning of the second. Everything is seemingly fine, with Umbrella hard at work on creating the perfect society. This paradise is ruined when the infected escape the mansion and turn to the streets of Raccoon City.
On the other hand, the film portrays the city as a dump. People are too poor to leave, so they are forced to stay behind and get infected. Umbrella has eyed a new town to build their empire on, but the location of that area is never revealed. It could be somewhere else in North America or they could move to Europe. The latter of the two choices seems plausible, since that’s where the games eventually go.
2 The Changes To The RPD, Orphanage, And Mansion
The Spencer Mansion from the first game is almost spot on. The design is great and relatively spooky. One thing, though, is never built upon: the underground facility, which looks like it might be just one room and a big hallway.
The two areas that changed the most, though, are the police station and the orphanage. The orphanage was added into the remake of Resident Evil 2 and wasn’t even that big a part of the game. It’s pretty much there for a playable Sherry Birkin mission. The RPD station is the highlight of the second game, but that importance is swapped in the film. For example, the iconic Licker scene is supposed to be in the station rather than the orphanage.
1 There Is No Barry
Barry Burton is a huge character in this franchise. He’s not just some side character like Richard who dies in the mansion. Barry was Jill’s partner in her playthrough of the first game. He’s the one that says the iconic “Jill Sandwich” line, which Jill says herself in the film. Barry even stars in his own game later on, or at least half a game.
It makes no sense why the film got rid of him in favor of highlighting Richard. He is not important at all in the games. The only thing that makes sense as to why Barry is missing is due to budgetary reasons. Hopefully, he will get justice in the sequel. He can’t possibly be a STARs member at this point though, so maybe it’s best if he remains absent.