A few source photos (extracted from the disc), from a large collection taken by the development team.

Resident Evil 5 concept art for an African themed location, with an inset screenshot, from the Resident Evil 5 DLC 'Lost in Nightmares', of a painting found in Oswell E. Spencer's mansion estate.

During the earliest development stages, Resident Evil 5 had much more of a war/action theme to it. There were numerous allies planned that would assist the player, and allow for gameplay mechanics such as 'protection'.

"I drew these in the summer of 2005. There are way more people here than are in the final game. The characters coloured green are allies... Since the enemies always outnumber Chris and his allies, the player would have had to figure out how to use the allies effectively to win each battle.": Background Designer Yasuko Shimoda (The Art of Resident Evil 5)

Below image shows concepts for Jill Valentine during the Majini bike assault. During this beta stage the Sheva Alomar character had yet to be established, with a focus instead on Jill Valentine and her platoon. Although still in early design, by this stage Capcom had decided to drop zombies as standard enemy, (initially preferred to develop connection with the original Resident Evil game), moving forward with Ganado’s.

From the time of these earliest concept designs, it was always a part of the narrative that Jill would die. The development team considered gameplay stages were Jill would meet her demise, depending on player actions.
As with Chris Redfield, the character of Albert Wesker had been decided upon from the outset, before any concept stages had been planned, before any other character designs. A small note in his early design concept states ‘confirm model of gun’. It is possible that Yamagata-san was told of the Samurai Edge and this was to be an integral part of the story. The design team wanted to give Wesker a spy theme with the clothes he wore looking futuristic.

The earliest concept sketches of Wesker interacting with his Uroboros mutation was considerably different to the final build. The inclusion of foreign objects such as metals had yet to be designed, the developers instead opting to focus on Wesker's ability to control Uroborus by sheer will alone. Prior to the addition of metal shards during his battle with Chris Redfield, Wesker's combat style would have been very different, using only the power of mind he could extend and contract Uroboros. Furthermore, it was at this earliest development stage, when the battle with Chris did not involve a co-op partner, just one on one battle between these two bitter rivals, that allowed for such a fighting design. Wesker having no requirement for additional 'weaponary', however, with the inclusion of Sheva Alomar co-op for this final boss battle, he needed beefing up!

Initially Excella Gionne was going to be a secretary, with the CEO role going to a male figure. Far removed from her strong presence in the retail version, the character's earliest conception was that of a feminine secretary, far more submissive, and in a sexual relationship with Albert Wesker. Yamagata goes on to state that when they changed her role to the CEO the design team decided to make her attire similar to a celebrity style.

Excella went through several different changes in her design and there was much conflict between the staff concerning 'makes a great woman'. In the BSAA Desktop at the very end, an animation can be seen where Ryan’s blood splatters across the screen and a silhouette of M Suzuki appears behind him, on the monitor. That silhouette seen is the exact concept model as Excella’s secretary attire shown in early concept art

Once the Uroboros mutation became integral to the enemy designs, and the game's development was at the stage where it had been determined Irving would mutate into his Uroboros form for a ship battle, concept art for this revised Irving monster had to be designed. And the first revisions for a seafaring creature were quite different from the final retail build; these earlier concepts are clearly influenced by Octopuses. These designs were passed on, considered too slow a creature for keeping up with a speeding ship.

"The design team took precedence on creature design in Resident Evil 5. They defined enemy characteristics, like their role, action pattern and so on for the art team. The two teams had various discussions and the artists prepared many rough designs from the results. This enabled us to chose the visual look of the creature. In rare cases we began with the creature's appearance and expanded the game idea from that image, like in the case of Uroboros. Sometimes we created a new character from art to remedy any lack of visual excitement following the gameplay development.": Modeler Yoshinori Matsushita (Prima Games Interview)

Possible scrapped Irving story in the earliest beta scenarios? Well, within the BSAA desktop (a supplemental website released in conjunction with Resident Evil 5 as a part of the marketing campaign alongside 'Adam's Blog' and the 'Famitsu Biohazard 5 Blog'), a file does state:

'Moreover, there are questionable documents claiming he was in Raccoon City during the tragedy in 1998, though it is difficult to confirm this because a large majority of records has been lost.'

In Resident Evil Remake the 'Laboratory Security System Information' file tells us that a 'Keith Irving' was the Visual Data Room monitor, in the Arklay Mansion laboratory! Perhaps a relation to Ricardo Irving, and the connection linking him to this canon reference of Ricardo being present in Raccoon City during the 19998 tragedy? It's possible Irving had a back-story that never made it into the game, stretching back to a beta build. His father (Keith) perishing in Raccoon City is a likely explanation for Ricardo’s future criminal descent, forcing him down a dark path selling bio-weapons on the black market; moreover as a way to enact revenge on a world that saw the loss of his family to a biohazard outbreak! Very similar to Curtis Miller’s character arc in Resident Evil Degeneration, perhaps explaining why this part of Irving's biography was scrapped - due to the similarity, and that both instalments were in development around the same period.

The only enemy characters Capcom had decided on from the start of production were zombies, even the Majini were yet to be conceived into the game. Zombies played a significant role in the early stages of the game, such as the public assembly stage. These zombies differed from previous versions by having the ability to run. Even though zombies, they still had the ability to aggressively rush the player.

Still in early scenario design stage, and the development team decided to switch directions, promoting newly conceived Majini enemies over zombies. This was due to concerns within Capcom that another zombie based game was too tired an enemy concept to appeal to the wider audience, so desperately needed for the series, at this precarious time in its history; Resident Evil 5 had to progress the franchise forward and produce significant sales figures, arguably for it to survive. Furthermore, zombies lacked the intellect to communicate, hold weapons, and of particular significance, lacked the ability to organise group assaults, a gameplay mechanic the development team wanted to implement, mindful of series progression.

These unused creature concepts were designed to confuse their pray with illusions, triggered by this enemy emitting a gaseous substance. When the player came into contact with this gas, a gameplay mechanic would see the screen change to a distorted thermal view.

After dropping these illusion creatures, the design team then set about creating a collection of parasite Plaga creatures that required human hosts. Resident Evil 5 Modeller Yoshinori Matsushita who created these types of enemies, also added variants of the B.O.W. with an ability to use the illusion gas. One such enemy that would emit this gas was approved at one stage, adorned with psychedelic colour, in keeping with the hallucination theme.

When the decision was taken not to use Plaga types requiring human host, Matasushita-san then attempted to evolve his creature to fit the game’s theme; sketching concepts that were stand-alone creatures. However his concepts were all rejected, with this variant of the hallucination B.O.W. finding its way to the cutting room floor, with all the others.

The Majini’s eyes were originally designed to glow red in the dark, being one of the only ways of telling the difference between human and Majini. The wetlands Majini’s skin colour is very similar to the colour used when the game was using zombies as the enemies. Also, the Giant Majini encountered in the village scenario was originally designed to a considerably larger scale; in fact the model was so out of scale with its surrounding environment it would not fit inside the houses, and so the design team had to reduce its size. And early designs for the Cephalo involved the host’s body splitting in half as opposed to the Plaga protruding from the host’s neck.

Originally the Executioner was conceived as a Chainsaw Majini wielding a huge axe; however his slender appearance did not feel sufficiently intimidating. He was always intended to have a butcher, self-harming theme. Early concept sketches were of a minimalist appearance, with just a hood over his head; he wore no clothing on his upper body unlike the retail version. Another un-used concept saw his back designed with a large weak spot, which would open up like a flower, offering a vulnerable area for the player to target in battle.

"It is their insanity and unpredictable behaviour linked with their human intelligence which now create fear for the player.": Modeler Yoshinori Matushita (Prima Games Interview)

Concept drawings for the Kipepeo reveal a creature that was equipped with abdominal claws. In the game, the creature uses these talons to perform an effective grapple attack. Coming with the final implementation of all these enemy creatures into the retail build, will always be the development challenge of how much influence is given over in the final cut, to the artist's concept, or to the game design.

"Creatures can be conjured by artistic designs but, in the case of Kipepeo and Bui Kichwa, they were prompted by a request from the design team. We wanted to create a situation in which one character is caught and the other must help.": Production Director Yasuhiro Anpo (Prima Games Interview)

The Kipepeo’s first appearance was to take place in a cut-scene that did not survive to make retail version, and would have played in real time. Kipeopeo's début into the game's final build, instead being moved to the sewer stage.

"The design team made a presentation of Kipepeo's required attributes ['Kipepeo comes rushing over to the player and pulls him up'], and the art team then worked on a creature design to match this… the Kipepeo's design was first decided and appeared on the basis of animation, but then we thought 'Kipepeo's image doesn't fit the game', and we had to overhaul his design radically.": Modeler Yoshinori Matsushita (Prima Games Interview)

Makoto Fukui’s early designs for the canine based Adjule were not overly frightening (concept art below); their ears were floppy and too cute, so it was decided the creature would split in half, creating a far more fearsome image.

"The Plaga's tentacles came out from the back in RE4 but, during the development of RE5, I wanted to create something more disgusting and visually impressive. As we were discussing ideas, the design artist made a rough sketch with a splitting head. This is the design I chose.": Lead Designer Jiro Taoka (Prima Games Interview)

The first design sketches for the Popokarimu clearly resemble a hybrid creature, born of a scorpion combined with a bat. But the earliest sketches for a flying enemy were conceived before the decision was made to base Popokarimo’s design on a bat. Whereas some enemy designs start life as a random creature concept, created initially with only aesthetics in mind, the Popokarimu came to be with a specific gameplay purpose already determined, and hence the move away from the earliest concept design.

Somewhere near the fort location is an old floodgate/dam, dilapidated and covered with graffiti. Design instructions for this area were to not to show any religious iconography, as this would be covered in the further stages. Design notes stated that these old buildings were built by Westerners, but they were chased away by the indigenous villagers that had been hiding in the abandoned fort. Additional fort scenarios created in the Summer of 2005 included sequences with many more people than in the final build; this involved a mass battle sequence with twelve allies. This beta gameplay was designed to include a barrage of stones & arrows hurled at the player. The design team took the Battle of Normandy as influence for this concept fight.

The fortress area was designed with several stages to it, which the Ganado’s could use to their advantage attacking from different elevations, such as sliding down slopes. At the central base of the fort, Chris Redfield and his allies are attacked by approx. 15 Gigantes, going berserk throughout the base. The player's objective was to safely move your allies into the fort, from the desert. Players had the ability to manoeuvre the allies out from the desert and inside, using a drawbridge. However the many surrounding enemies are also trying to get into the fort, forcing the player to defend the base too! The player had access to defence mechanisms, such as knocking down drawbridges for allies, and manning machine gun turrets.

Another scrapped scenario for the fort area involved a fight scene at the central base. The entire area had been developed into a fortress with the use of wood scaffolding, and leftover equipment from the mines.

However these ambitious narratives, modelled on a grander scale, and with a generous amount of team back-up on-hand, offering the player significant support, did not encompass the survival horror essence, enjoyed by Resident Evil 5's predecessors. Consequently the fort build for Resident Evil 5 was consigned to the cutting room floor.

"Early on in development the game had more of a war-action game feel to it. There were tons of allies to assist the player, and I always felt that it kind of strayed a little too far from the true style of the Resident Evil series.": Production Director Yasuhiro Anpo (The Art of Resident Evil 5)

[Scenario B] Keeping with the fort scenario ideas, but this stage places Jill in an 'interior version', a power supply room, with design notes stating nothing else would differ from the main fort build. Whilst Jill attempts to repair a power source unit, vital for game progression, the player will control Chris Redfield, having him cover and defend Jill from an attacking Gigante onslaught, trying to scupper her attempts to re-engage power. Further design notes for this idea instruct that Jill is to showcase her technical skill here, and the sequence must make her look cool!

Another idea for the fort section, designed as an interior scene, would have Chris and his team finding themselves inside a large refinery facility, housing a lot of machine equipment, and bustling with much background activity. Chris and the players objective was to overwhelm and suppress the many guards and Ganados working within this facility.

The last idea for an exterior fort scenario, was set in a small valley. Chris and the team had to defend their allies, whilst fending off waves of enemies, including El Gigantes & zombies. The player has access to co-operate with the allies, close off gates and create barricades. Machine gun turrets are again available to use from an elevated vantage point, and players had the ability to shoot large boulders loose, causing them to fall on enemies.

Following on from the Fort location, was a planned abandoned diamond mine scenario, with a wonderfully survival horror theme, 'fear of solitude'. Chris and Sheva enter the mines from the conquered fort, but soon after Chris is separated, finding himself in the bowels of the mine, engulfed in darkness, he's forced to rely on torch-light. In the image (below right) note the creepy creature crawling up the stairs, much like when the player first meets bad Mia Winters, in Resident Evil 7. Design notes make the dumping of this beta scenario very lamentable.

'Separated from the group, the player experiences a fear unlike any Biohazard in the past as they wander through the labyrinthine tunnels.': (The Art of Resident Evil 5)

Prolonging the scenario where Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar are separated, a cut-scene would have played, depicting Chris falling from a waste management facility, to an unknown subterranean level, leading to the 'Ancient Ruins' section of the game.

Originally the underground city was conceived on a significantly grander scale. From the concept sketches, it appears to be of a much larger design, and far more extravagant; due to the fact that at an early development stage, this beta build narrative involved a considerably advanced civilisation, as compared to the more Neanderthal intellect used in the retail version. The city had been largely flooded, with most of the ruined buildings submerged.

"With so many areas having water running through them, and highly contrasting areas of light and dark, I had a lot of fun drawing this city.": Background Designer Yasuko Shimoda (The Art of Resident Evil 5)

The laser puzzle in the retail game was used in the city but for different purposes. The inhabitants would use the light reflection from the sun bouncing it from several mirrors to a spherical ball that would light the entire city which was shown in a cut scene when entering the Ruins. In the ancient ruins all houses in the underground village had a sphere atop of them with a large hole in the middle which was used to light up the houses. A Prism mechanism was used to bounce light to each home, and whilst these spheres made it into the retail game, they are used as a weapon against you.

"Back when the game was being designed as a single player game, this stage had more of an adventure game atmosphere to it. Once we brought co-op in, we had to reduce the number of traps and mechanisms.": Production Director Yasuhiro Anpo (The Art of Resident Evil 5)

The area had its own Stonehenge style architecture, with more unbalanced rocks. Differing from that seen in the final version of Resident Evil 5, the method for the prism puzzle, involved one large device, near a lake in the middle of the ruins, utilised to bounce light to other smaller prisms.

Frequent use of spheres was a design theme in the beta ancient ruins section. Almost every building, statue, or landmark were covered in as many spheres as would allow. The fascination with this geometrical design, sprung from the inhabitants of these ruins being worshipers of a sun god.
Arguably the reason for the sphere motif theme being abandoned, was these models being too great a strain on the game engine available at that time. Concept designs and ideas for the sphere themed ruins were very ambitious, with another scenario, fated to the cutting room floor, involving a large, rolling sphere, bearing down on the player, engulfed in flames, and manned by a Majini; a far cry from the dull by comparison boulders of Resident Evil 4!

One of the strangest things about an already fascinating and technically challenging stage, were the peculiar homes, designed to be built into the canopy of the cave structures, effectively placing them upside down! Probably the reason this whole stage was scrapped, was Shimoda-san being instructed that sphere designs would surely prove to be too much a drain on technical resources. Throughout the ruins there would be signs of how the ancient underground villagers had made all these spheres but it largely remains a mystery now.

Continuing this beta storyboard, the player uses a large Gondola to navigate a free falling water current. A conversation takes place between Wesker and Excella; we can only presume that this is something Chris Redfield overhears via radio contact, similar to the elevator scene in the retail version, when Chris and Sheva discover Wesker is still alive. Chris then finds himself in an underground mining with family housing, and make-shift scaffolding. He is subsequently attacked by a group of Ganado’s, who until his arrival were digging for treasure. Chris then receives communications from Sheva Alomar, requesting aid, and hurries into a quarry storage area, only to witness Sheva and the group being attacked by an El Gigante! Chris rescues the team and helps defeat the B.O.W.

Afterwards the group head into a collapsed tunnel, referred to as a 'resetting area'. Chris and Sheva have a conversation regarding the ruins. When heading into the next area Chris and Sheva are still conversing when they spot Wesker heading into the pyramid. Suddenly the pair are attacked by a large group of Ganado and, after winning this confrontation, the group head into an area with an imposingly large statue. Here Chris has to solve two connecting puzzles, to create the 'Origin of civilisation'. The next area allows Chris to take somewhat of a break with a bonus treasure game. After solving the 'Origin of civilisation' puzzle, the scenario triggers 'a flash from the ancient weapon, the aurora road appears, granting passage to the sun temple'. The diagram shows a rainbow path of light. Whether or not they are suggesting Chris and team travel across a ray of light, is unknown, it may be a euphemism.

The player next enters the Sun Temple, covered in wall murals & paintings galore. The narrative behind this beta scenario has the ancient villagers worshiping the sun, these decorations are their homages. In keeping with the ancient villagers' theology, the concept sketches below, depict temple walls decorated with religious murals, and iconography to match their devotion to the sun, and other celestial bodies.

The scenario continues to develop, with the player collecting a book item and then a trap activates, a gameplay mechanic to separate Chris Redfield and the rest of his team. Following this Chris engages in a sniper-type game, involving a large mural. Further along in the temple Chris would reach a flooded area where the player would have to swim underwater; the primary goal being to find a way through, whilst using air pockets to catch your breath (similar to Resident Evil 6's Tall Oak’s caverns). Capcom's attention to detail saw the development team implement player air bubbles, as well as encountering sea-life. No enemy designs here, only environmental hazards.

Chris would then enter an area with giant fans, having to navigate his way through them, and into further flooded ruins with the increased danger of 'torpedo traps'. After exiting the water Chris finds an elevator, descending deeper into the ruins. The player would then come under attack from an unknown enemy, whilst descending in the elevator.

Enemy defeated, Chris Redfield traverses a water slope, whilst having to avoid traps on his way down. When reaching the bottom successfully, Chris finds himself in a location titled 'Forgotten Fields' - this area’s primary goal is to develop an ambience for the boss fight to follow. In the garden facility, the original location for the Progenitor flower, Chris encounters Albert Wesker for the first time in-game. The inevitable battle ensues, until the point that Chris’s team (unknown members) arrive to assist in battle. Wesker retreats, but not before releasing an ancient B.O.W.

Although this entire location was re-designed in the final build, with many concept ideas for its inhabitants, architecture and puzzles regrettably scrapped (for both technical and aesthetic reasons), these murals survived to the final build, in slightly different form. The retail version of Resident Evil 5 does include indigenous hand paintings, found on the walls of the revised ancient ruins section; the first two appear before entering the laser lift room.

Another can be found upstairs, in the location where Chris battles Wesker and Jill, in the retail version. Perhaps the Ancient B.O.W. did make it into the final game after all, only his role now reduced to these indigenous diagrams.

Extractions from the Resident Evil 5 disc depicting the source photographs & textures, for these indigenous wall murals, throws up a fascinating theory, regarding the potential origin story for the parasitic creature, which made its first appearance in Resident Evil 4 - the Plaga! The surprising depiction of Plaga, carved into the walls of the African ancient ruins, provokes debate as to the possible birth place of this parasite. Moreover, its location, in the same area where the Progenitor ('stairway to the sun') flower can be found growing, tantalisingly suggests this could be the origins of both.

Image file extracted from the Resident Evil 4 disc by The Chief, of the original plaga design, clearly matches the parasite carvings intriguingly found in this Resident Evil 5 beta scenario.

One theory based on this observation, proposes this the Plaga is a form of mutation, from a creature infected with Progenitor, and that the parasite seen in the native carvings, developed from said creature. An extension of this theory, put forward by Welsh, suggests the creatures shown fighting with the Ndipaya tribe are plaga infected, with a clear resemblance to the Adjule creature, first seen in concept artwork for Resident Evil 4.

More scrapped areas for this 'Ancient Ruins' scenario, not included in the time-line we have been following, and the narrative continues with Chris and his team on the train. There was a beta location designed to represent celestial bodies, but it is not clear what these areas are used for; they seem to interact with the sunlight, so possibly puzzles the player had to solve to open up the next stage. Another scrapped area included a large mechanical gear system, utilised as a calendar. The marked gears would rotate, possibly using the position of the sun to identify the time of year. It appears to be a large, complicated hourglass.

This architectural theme of spherical buildings, with prominent pillars & archways, especially when formed into illogical angles, has a strong resemblance to the unusual designs developed in the artwork of M.C. Escher; perhaps the artist's work was an inspiration for these beta concepts.

The Progenitor flower stage went through various design changes, ranging from an environment rich in dry vegetation, to an area filled with water pools, decorated with stone carvings; a location befitting for when the 'stairway to the sun', was conceived as an aquatic flower, similar in design to water lilies.

Miscellaneous concept artwork for beta scenarios, including night time excavation (perhaps Umbrella or Tricell were excavating the area), a puzzle focused area changing colours using a lighting system, flooded ruins, and more mysteriously decorated archway styled ancient architecture.

Referring back to the narrative with Chris Redfield on board the train; there is concept art for the U-11 Uroboros B.O.W. illustrating it destroying a train. It is possible that this was planned to take place during the laboratory stage, but also a possibility that it could have taken place earlier, when the Zombie horde train crash occurred. A third option, neither occurred, this concept was merely sketched for the purpose of showing the creature in action. There is no further confirmation that Chris ever battled a Uroboros enemy on a train.

Wesker and the CEO sketched in one of the concept pieces, shown to be walking among a large area filled with similar capsules. Meanwhile in another concept sketch from this scrapped beta scenario, Excella and the CEO are shown in a surveillance room, watching several video screens depicting different characters.

Wesker was originally planned to fall to his demise into the lava; the rocket launcher sequence was later added purely as homage to the series game-play. Excella’s transformation was not part of this beta narrative, instead she would gradually mutate through transitional stages. Much like the retail game Chris is depicted viewing Jill via video feed, isolated in one of the holding capsules. The environment is different but the actual scene is very much the same. Moments after their fall from the Spencer Estate, Wesker is shown to be holding an unconscious Jill Valentine. Wesker’s eye is bleeding and appears to be severely damaged. As we know this damage is due to Jill stabbing him in the eye with her knife. Sheva is surrounded by Excella and her group of human mercenaries, who do not appear to be infected. She is consequently taken captive, shown tied to a wall in this beta concept sketch.

The ship stage was originally constructed to be open-world, enabling the player free, non-linear exploration, however this freedom afforded to the gameplay lead the design team to get carried away with ambition, and the size of the ship had to be scaled down for retail.

A Tyrant was originally included at this beta stage, with Albert Wesker having the ability to control and order the B.O.W. to execute Excella Gionne. The Tyrant impales her through the chest, while Chris looks on; probably the set-up to a Chris/Tyrant boss battle. Moments after his first  in-game fight with Wesker, Jill Valentine appears to save Chris, who has been beaten within an inch of his life. Sheva Alomar also appears on the scene. Chris, Jill and Sheva are now shown using a computer terminal, for what purpose is unknown; perhaps tracking Wesker. The next cell in this beta scenario storyboard, depicts Chris Redfield racing off with purpose, whilst instructing Jill and Sheva to make haste in the opposite direction; probably pursuing Albert Wesker moments before the finale boss battle.

An injured Chris Redfield is shown once again, beaten and on his knees, whilst an onlooking Wesker taunts him, Sheva Alomar is in shot, distracting Wesker and consequently saving Chris. She fires her weapon, hitting Wesker in his damaged eye (caused by Jill stabbing it with her knife during their Spencer Estate battle). This was Wesker’s true weakness and was thus used to finally defeat him, in this beta narrative. Wesker is shown in human form, not mutated with Uroborus. The final boss battle for Resident Evil 5 at beta stage, was to be a raw battle between Chris and an Albert Wesker free of the circling Uroboros tentacles and appendages upgraded with chunks of metal, that he was afforded in the retail version. These bonuses were added to enhance Wesker for a fairer fight, since it was now 2 vs 1. The storyboard continues with Chris Redfield climbing into the plane, triumphant after finally defeating his nemesis.

Ancient Ruins Fire Balls: Spectacular gameplay enjoyed from the retail version of Resident Evil 5, featured large spherical balls of fire. These unforgettable obstacles roll onto the stage where Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar have to hurriedly dodge, whilst also attempting to stop a fatally closing wall, achieved by triggering a pressure plate. At beta stage these fire balls originally had a menacing Majini inside each one! However, Anpo-san confirmed that this idea was scrapped due to the unwanted, context jarring comedy involved when these Majini riders, ejected out from the flaming wheels, in a crazed, dizzy state!

U-8 Boss Fight Environmental Damage: Inside the large room where Chris Redfield encounters Jill Valentine in the retail version, the design team wanted to insert a human captive into every capsule, and also have the lift platform moving, whilst the player battles U8, stumbling into the capsules and knocking them off the wall.

Experimental Phase: Set inside a run-down building, the Resident Evil 5 development team used this stage specifically for reasons of gameplay testing. Community member USS Command states that the environment consisted of only a few rooms, some with beds, however the player did not have the ability to leave the area and venture outside

Chris is sporting a modified Silver Ghost handgun in the beta trailer, which did not appear in the retail game. This handgun débuted in Resident Evil 4 , as Leon S. Kennedy’s starting weapon. The gun also appeared in Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil Degeneration, and even makes cameo appearances in Resident Evil The Deck Building Game and Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

It would not be for almost a further two years, until the second trailer for Resident Evil 5 was aired, at the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2007.

The music has a tradditional African vibe and does not appear in the retail game. Chris’s introduction from Resident Evil 5's opening plays here, prior to its revision for final release. But that isn’t the only production edit, with Roger C. Smith's cadence being audibly different with this delivery.

The area in the screenshot below, was completely scrapped from the later build, or at the very least it has been considerably re-designed. Notice the shape of the building in the background, behind the tree. There are also goats roaming the street, only seen in the retail build locked in cages.

Although this area is in the retail version (image below left), the 'Friday Night' banners are of a different design than in the final build. Also note the tall, white building in the background, where you can spot the Agitator Majini in the retail version. This area is to Chris Redfield's left when the player takes control for the first time.

Although the scenario in the screenshot (image below right) makes it to retail build, the iconic 'Executioner' enemy makes no appearance here. Alternatively his role is given to the chainsaw wielding Majini, but minus his chainsaw; here he wields the large modified axe, soon to be gifted to his physically superior successor!

Also Reynard Fisher is missing from this scene, seen in his fateful place, is an unidentified prisoner, tied upside down. He does not appear to be Reynard, and may simply be a place-holder for a planned character, yet to be fully realised by the design team. Also notice the unusual wooden structure to the right, from which this unfortunate captive hangs; it is not in the retail build.

The first close shot of revised Chris Redfield character model shows a more mature looking man, with significantly larger upper-body muscle, and a re-designed uniform, now sporting his B.S.A.A. logo and the more recognisably military colour khaki, compared to the model seen in the début 2005 trailer.

This section in the below screenshot was scrapped from the retail build.

A large group of Majini surround Chris Redfield, in an unknown location, scrapped from the final version. It is possible this is an earlier concept for the retail version's 'Public Assembly' area, although there are design differences.

Another scrapped location, in the below screenshot, which also showcases the larger crowds of chasing enemies that pursue and surround the player (who during this beta build was afforded the privilege of a defensive ducking maneuver!). These larger, pursuing crowds frequently seen during the 2007 trailer, seems to have been planned for the retail game, but were presumably dropped due to technical limitation. This large crowd storm toward Chris, hurling machetes and other projectile weapons.

Further locations that were left on the cutting-room floor.

Further cut content in the collection of screens below, including beta weapons, removed areas, and experimental gameplay: The player unloads a machine gun that is not available in the retail version, a M4A1 Carbine. This assault rifle played a key role in Resident Evil 3 Nemesis. Used by Carlos and Mikhail this rifle has an automatic and manual mode and uses 5.56mm NATO rounds.

More shots of this mysterious map features Chris Redfield attcked by three Majini, all wielding axes, and all about to strike the player simultaneously. This enemy attack feature is not a gameplay mechanic available in the final build, as these enemies are restricted to only hit the player one at a time. Again, technical limitation is the most likely reason for this.

The last two screens showcase removed weapons. We see Chris equipped with a Benelli M3, and whilst a similar shotgun appears in the retail build, this variant model replacing the beta weapon, had significant design alterations. And a M1911 Handgun, very similar to the one used by Ethan in the Resident Evil 7 biohazard demo, Kevin Ryman in Resident Evil Outbreak, and Billy Coen in Resident Evil zero. Despite being featured in this trailer, it was not an equipable weapon in the final game build.

Opening her eyes, Jill awakens in her capsule, the closing shot from E3's trailer, but not appearing in the final game. This could certainly be a small part of larger beta footage, cut from the retail build.

The third trailer, for 'Captivate 08', also shown at Electronics Entertainment Expo that year, and still containing significant scrapped material, was to showcase Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360.

Chris uses an opening monologue here, that is different to the retail version.

In the screenshot (below right), Chris Redfield struggles with multiple enemies on the balcony that only Sheva Alomar can gain access to in the retail version, and we can now see a broader range of skin tone for the marauding enemies, as compared to the universally darker skin colour of all Majini in the previous two trailers. Capcom went on to deny that the racism controversy had any influence on the game, in a Kotaku article. And another image (below left) of Chris Redfield's M4A1 which never made it into retail.

The final Resident Evil 5 trailer that can be dissected for significant cut material, was showcased in Germany 2008, at the Leipzig Games Convention.

Various scrapped playable locations, including a night time scene which probably took place just before, or after the confrontation with Ndesu, and the area which provided the Majini biker cut-scene & QTE in the retail build, is seen here as a playable stage for both characters.

Beta Dialogue

Sheva Alomar - Scrapped dialogue, consigned to the cutting-room floor, (until extracted from the retail disc by BSSArklay), included an insightful little epilogue by Sheva Alomar, reminiscent of the Resident Evil 3 epilogues:

'Sheva's Epilogue': "Of the approximately 3000 terrorist incidents involving BOW’s annually. The BSAA is despatched to handle roughly one third of the most series infractions. This mission represents only one of those thousands of incidents. The success of this mission however saved the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet."

Albert Wesker: Dialogue for Wesker, cut from the retail game build included a nice little piece where the antagonist explains he is not a king, but a God, and even Kings will bow to Gods! Further lines include taunts aimed at both Chris & Sheva, and a variant line for longer duration boss fight.

Chris Redfield: Scrapped beta dialogue from Chris includes an unusual catchphrase (uploaded in the audio box below). I guess Capcom were aiming for humour here, but perhaps it was cut due to its unusual style of humour! The same can be said of the following scrapped audio; it appears Capcom wrote this line for Chris to poke fun at himself, much like they implemented in later games, Revelations 2 & Resident Evil 7 biohazard. Like the films 'Scream', 'Shaun of the Dead' and most recently 'Deadpool' it could be seen as a breaking-the-fourth-wall reference.

Laboratory Alert: During the boss fight with the Uroboros B.O.W. located inside the laboratory area when Chris & Sheva use the flame-thrower. Originally there was a VA system with a computerised female voice informing us about the breach in the lab and the status of the flame-thrower. In the retail version this was replaced by a flashing red and green light system to let us know when the flame thrower was charging and fully charged.

Ndipya Conversation: Chris and Sheva share dialogue regarding the behavior of the Ndipya Villagers, during the Ancient Ruins scenario. Sheva also shares historic details of the tribe’s culture and architecture to Chris.

Beta Inventory

A comprehensive file search of the Resident Evil 5 game disc, unfortunately only reveals two scrapped beta inventory items. An image file of a mysterious scroll, alongside the other image files for those items that did make it to retail build, plus an interesting texture for the variant medicinal herbs that can be found in-game. As can be seen from the other extraction, a texture for in-game item medicinal herb, there are four variant types listed, labeled 'type A. B. C. and D'. Although green, blue, and red colour variants are included here as a resource, the blue herb does not make an appearance in the released game build.

The Merchant was planned to interact with Chris Redfield from behind a closed door, with letterbox style peep hole, and ask "Friend or Foe". Any trade deals would pass through this opening, and so Capcom only needed to create the character model’s eyes. From this file extracted by BSAArklay from the Resident Evil 5 disc, fans of the film 'Silence of the Lambs', may notice the eyes used were from Sir Anthony Hopkins

Beta B.O.W.s

The G-Human: Keep an open mind for this one! G-Humans have been a much talked about B.O.W. within the series, particularly surrounding Resident Evil 4 beta gameplay. Commonly known as the 'Castle' or 'Fog' build, its scenario designer Yasuhisa Kawamura (in interview with Crimson-Head.com) confirmed this beta NPC was designed as part of his origin story for the 'progenitor virus'.

Another extraction, and the name of this image file 'g-humann01_bm' alone captures ones attention. However, this character model is placed within the same disc location as image files for the capsules found in the Resident Evil 5 underground laboratory area, close to Jill Valentine’s empty capsule. It is more than likely this 'G-Human01_bm' is a place-holder name for test subjects within these capsules.

Most B.O.W.s and secondary infectants conceived by the design team went through various states of amendment, as the enemy concept is realised from beta sketch, to finished retail cast member. The Bui Kichwa B.O.W. for Resident Evil 5 was no exception, yet whilst most unwanted beta designs would be lost to the cutting-room floor, an early concept for this creature found itself re-used, in the subsequent release, almost a decade later, of Capcom's 'Umbrella Corps', as seen in the screenshot below, from the game's Kijuju stage (identified by TheBatman on The Resident Evil Podcast #35)

Biohazard 5 DLC Beta & cut content

During the Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition (Directors Note) interview (archived by Resident Evil Database), the director for both main game & DLC, Yasuhiro Ampo, identified the catalyst for 'Lost in Nightmares' & 'Desperate Escape' scenarios being kept over for a separate, subsequent release, being Resident Evil 5's considerable popularity. Ampo-san confirmed the decision to implement 'Lost in Nightmares' & 'Desperate Escape' scenarios as bonus modes for completing the main game, occurred very late into development; this also had the disadvantage of no longer gaining access to Hollywood studios that produced the high quality, main game cut-scenes. Furthermore, in Weekly Famitsu (Sept 29th 2009) Jun Takeuchi confirmed the 'Lost in Nightmares' episode was originally planned as part of the main game retail release, but during development the team decided it didn't fit with the flow of the rest of the game.

At one stage the development team did consider making American comic style cut-scenes, but despite their best efforts, this concept could not be realised to Capcom's satisfaction. After the game launched Capcom received feedback from the fans, with one of the most demanded requests being a playable Jill Valentine; this feedback provoked the decision to create the scenario for 'Lost in Nightmares'.

Yasuhiro Ampo's team wanted to make a traditional episode, paying homage to the original Resident Evil. Ampo-san himself had worked on the original game, although joining the project late on, he claims that he owes a debt of thanks to this first instalment, for the inspiration behind 'Lost in Nightmares'. Interestingly, he states its narrative was already in existence as a concept, even prior to the co-op mechanic being implemented; although it appears to have been single player when originally envisioned, as Ampo-san states the scenario had to then be re-envisioned for a co-op partner mechanic. Jill's addition into the DLC was then a forgone conclusion, as many on the team also wanted her to be a playable character during part of the main game.

The 'Desperate Escape' scenario was originally planned as a bonus mission, discarded during the later builds approaching retail, but then this scrapped scenario was fortunately revived as DLC, due to a large number of fan feedback demanding to play as Jill Valentine. Josh was a popular character amongst the team so Capcom decided to implement him into DLC. Original plans for Josh Stone saw him perish during the oil refinery location.

Sheva’s original plan as a guide for Chris Redfield, was during the boat section, just prior to fighting Iriving, and she was to steer the boat during the pursuit for Irving, with Chris boarding the antagonist's boat alone. However when Sheva joined Chris as co-op partner, boarded the boat together, the development team then required a new character to steer, hence Josh's return. Ampo san knew that Jill would play one of the main characters during the 'Desperate Escape' scenario, but didn't know who the other character would be; luckily Josh Stone being available, allowed him to became her Jill Valentine's partner by default.

Scrapped Guardian information: Capcom Unity ran a promotion allowing five lucky winners to submit their chosen questions to one of the development team. This in turn has shed fascinating light on the earliest concepts for this scenario. Capcom stated that they would have liked to have implemented Hunters into 'Lost in Nightmares'. The most fascinating response though comes from the second winning entry:

Spencer’s mansion is located near the harbour warehouses, and the Guardians of Insanity seem to have access to those warehouse facilities through one of the mansion’s many secret underground pathways.”

The Guardians seem to wander around the area so perhaps that’s where they got their anchors. A likely location for these harbour warehouses, has been identified in the concept art (image left) of Oswell E. Spencer's castle.

The title 'Lost in Nightmares' was created to express "Chris’s profound sense of loss and the fear of unforgettable nightmare. Capcom also admitted they did not have access to the same orchestral recording & Hollywood production studios when creating this scenario, forcing the development team to spend considerable more time designing cut-scenes that could match the quality of the main game. Below we can see source photographs of environmental features, taken by Capcom to use as textures for cliffs, and stone architecture for the Spencer Estate.

It's common for Capcom to send scenario artists & designers to particular environments, that may inspire concepts during early development, and also offer the opportunity to take source photographs for the textures, for natural & man-made structures; for example when community member Welsh extracted files from the Resident Evil remake disc, a search through its catalogue revealed the location for source photographs that provided textures for Spencer's mansion, Chepstow Castle in Wales. The photographs below, extracted from the Resident Evil 5 disc, were taken in the very earliest development stage for the 'Lost in Nightmares' scenario.

The debut trailer for Lost In Nightmares would also include content that would not make the cut to retail:

Chris & Jill enter the mansion, however in the retail version once entering the mansion the player takes immediate control. Jill then uses the corner wall for cover in another scene not included in the retail build. Chris and Jill enter the dining room, another scene deleted from the released cut, surveying the room, with their weapons drawn.

A possible explanation for what happened to the dining room banister is alluded to; notice the wood beneath Jill on the dining room table - what would have caused Jill to have fallen here?

Chris is then seen in an area that is not accessible in the retail build, only Jill can access this area after Chris gives her a boost across the gap.

In the library where Chris and Jill face Wesker, Jill appears to be shouting to someone, and in the retail game this mirrors the sequence when Chris is grabbed and hoisted up into the air by Wesker, moments before Jill tackles him out the window. However in this version Chris stands by his partner’s side.

Probably just a shot for the trailer, but the finale shot of a back-to-back pose between Chris and Jill is nowhere to be found in the retail version. At the end of the trailer in a post credit scene, Chris is shown using a crank, and in dialogue not heard in the game, quips “What is it with this guy and cranks?”. Jill responds “He’s a man of refined taste”. Chris adds “He’s obsessed, that’s what he is”.

Lost in Nightmares cut dialogue:

Jill questions Chris about a woman; this conversation takes place after their “Kind of takes you back to Raccoon City” conversation:

(Regarding a file)

Chris “You think it’s talking about Wesker?”

Jill “You think this could be Wesker?”

Chris “So there is a connection between Spencer and Wesker.”

Jill “The sooner we apprehend Spencer the closer we will be to finding Wesker. There can be no doubt about it now Spencer and Wesker are connected.”

Chris “I just hope he knows where to find Wesker. Come on let’s get going.”

(Regarding the Itchy Tasty file)

Chris “I feel like I’ve read this before.”

Jill “I can’t help but feel I’ve read this somewhere before.”