Last week, we were the first to break the news that Bandai Namco were testing out a brand new Resident Evil 2 Remake-based arcade shooter, Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot. At that time, all there was to go off of was a single shot quietly posted to social media, but now there is considerably more out there previewing this title. Longtime site friend and reader Toby Na Nakhorn has since captured the first detailed photos and videos of the game to become available, so let’s take a close look at them…
NOTE: The game discussed in this post is on location test, which is the arcade industry equivalent of a beta test. The final product may differ significantly from the final production release – if the game passes the test and reaches production.
Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot
First off, there is this brief clip and slideshow of photos giving an overview of the insides of the cabinet. This confirms it as using wired light-gun pistols, as opposed to mounted guns; this is a little bit of a surprise, given the latter’s prevalence in more recent years of arcade shooters, but a nice one. And while some may have thought that this would follow the standard ‘environmental’ shooter cabinet format with a bench seat (again following newer games), here standing is prioritized for the full experience with its bass shaker floor.
There is still a small ledge at the back of the enclosure to sit on, but as it is, the emphasis is definitely on it being a stand-up shooter. Not many enclosed shooter cabinets have gone for this approach; the closest example that can be found to it is probably the SDLX design of Mission: Impossible Arcade by Sega. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Konami’s Silent Hill The Arcade too, given the genre at hand and it also taking a console game into the arcade arena, though that one only had over-hanging curtains.
Best of all however, Toby has also managed to capture a full 22 minute video showing off the whole game as it currently stands. First impressions from this is that it is very House of the Dead-like, as some may have been expecting – the graphics are even a slight improvement on Scarlet Dawn, which is good as that game already stands up fine nearly seven years on from release. Where it differs though is it featuring a lot more blood and gore, but not going all out with huge hordes of zombies to take on, with the latter likely being down to its bigger gameplay emphasis on head shot accuracy.
As well as the usual ranking and leaderboard system found in most proper arcade shooters, there is additionally a Mr. Raccoon mascot collection mechanic, which is a nice touch. What’s also notable is that though only two levels are playable here, a further three are shown on a screen at the start, which should give an indication as to how far along in development the game is and when we can expect it to release if it passes testing. Back in 2023 GoldStorm Pirates was in a similar state on its first tests, and that did not release until late 2024 in Japan (plus only this month for the rest of the world), so it could be the case that we don’t see this until the latter half of 2026 at the earliest.
Once again, it may also come to market with numerous changes, given the nature of location tests. That has confused some people who are paying attention to arcade games for the first time in a while again with this, but it is how it is in this industry. As seen here, it is also sometimes the case that we have to keep the specific location of these tests publicly under wraps (something which Toby also honoured); this is something that others choose to not do, even if that can negatively impact testing numbers for the relevant companies here. It will be a shame if that is so, as this game is looking great and will hopefully see release at some point, though there is always the option of testing it out at another place…
For now, what do you think of Resident Evil 2: Dead Shot? Would you like to see this new arcade lightgun shooter release, and play it at an arcade near you one day?
