And yes, he’s OP
We’re patiently counting down the days to Akuma’s Street Fighter 6 release on May 22, but the iconic, demonic character has made his way into another Capcom game: Resident Evil 2.
Those who actively played the 1998 title may have caught wind of a rumor put out by Electronic Gaming Monthly (they’re the ones who famously did the Sheng Long hoax for Street Fighter back in 1992) claiming that players could replace Leon Kennedy with Akuma if certain criteria were met. This wasn’t true, but modders here in 2024 have brought the idea to life and it’s exactly what you’d imagine it to be.
The gaming magazine was known for taking full advantage of April Fool’s Day, something that was much easier to get away with a quarter century ago, and trolled Capcom fans hard with a detailed description of not only how to unlock Akuma in Resident Evil 2, but added a bunch of doctored photos (also much easier to get away with a quarter century ago) featuring the character in the game.
Electronic Gaming Monthly placed a hefty journey in front of their faux prize by telling players they’d have to play through the entire game six times using both Leon and Claire, using only a hand gun and knife and garnering an A ranking in every play through.
If done properly, on the seventh run players could input “AKUMA” in a computer terminal in a lab section of the game to cause Akuma to bust out of a conspicuous test tube and become fully playable.
He’d run through the game without the need for keys to unlock doors and blast through enemies with his red Gohadoken fireball. This surely felt believable at the time, paired with convincing photos and the fact that Akuma often was hidden away as a secret addition to the games he was in, but alas, it was just as false as Mew being hidden under the truck outside the S.S. Anne.
Enter modder Snipzu here in 2024.
Snipzu coded and created a mod based on the old hoax for Resident Evil 2 Sourcenext PC Version with Classic Rebirth, and don’t worry, instead of hours of pristine play it only requires a download for you to get your hands on.
Not only can the demonic fighter use his red fireball to obliterate enemies (even the giant spiders don’t feel scary anymore) he can also dole out damage via punches and maneuver backwards out of sticky situations with a teleport-like glide.
You can see some screen shots via the gallery right here, and then there’s footage of Akuma in action below. Let us know what you think of this awesome mod and if you’ll be blasting zombies as Akuma soon in the comments.
Click images for larger versions
IT’S NOT APRIL FOOLS – 26 years later…the rumors were true. AKUMA IS IN RESIDENT EVIL 2! Download for FREE right now on Moddb. pic.twitter.com/ghgYRaSpQ2
— Maximilian Dood (@maximilian_) May 9, 2024
