The 10 Best Reasons "Resident Evil" Fans Shouldn't Miss Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights This Year

Image via Complex Original

This is true of every maze at Halloween Horror Nights, but it bears repeating—especially in the case of Resident Evil, whose fans have a particularly keen eye for detail and faithfulness.

Universal and Capcom know what true, hardcore Resident Evil fans are into, and that's why the maze isn't based on the films or the later games, which perhaps would appeal to a larger number of visitors. Instead, it aims to recreate the disastrous events that transpired in Raccoon City over the course of the fan favorites, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.

The Resident Evil maze was built for hardcore fans, but its designers are fans as well. That's why, they say, it was so important for the experience to remain faithful to the games.

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director Michael Aiello professed his love of the series on opening night, and Capcom's Resident Evil Brand Marketing Manager John Diamonon, who was on hand to answer questions, bore witness to the maze's authenticity.

Unlike last year's Silent Hill maze, the Resident Evil labyrinth this year is not meant to bring the game world into the real world as much as insert fans into the world of the game itself. The game world is not reinterpreted for real life, but simply made life-sized for visitors to explore.

That becomes apparent the second you step in, and by the end you'll realize exactly what it means.

One of the first sights on entering the maze is Resident Evil fans' favorite protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy himself. Infamous emo haircut covering his face, Kennedy stands on the hood of a Raccoon City police cruiser, brandishing his gun and looking generally true to form.

Other characters—and creatures to jump out and claw at you—are brought to life throughout as well, but we don't want to spoil too much here. OK, one more: Nemesis is in there—obviously!

But it's more than the creatures and characters of Resident Evil who've been brought to life for Halloween Horror Nights 23. Throughout the maze are littered more easter eggs and details than even sharp-eyed visitors can catch in one trip through. 

"It's going to be very difficult to notice all the subtle touches that we littered throughout the attraction because you're going to be distracted with all of the scares, all of the zombies, all of the creatures that come out," Capcom's John Diamonon told us.

"But if you really pay attention there's going to be items that are from the video game itself that we've put there just so you know that we really paid attention to making this Resident Evil world come to life," he continued.

For example…

…the iconic typewriter. "If you're not a fan of Resident Evil, you won't know why a typewriter is there in the middle of a storage room full of ammunition and weaponry," Capcom's John Diamonon admitted to us. "You'll say, 'What the hell is that about?' Right? But if you're a fan of Resident Evil you know exactly what that's about. That's about saving your progress.

"And the thing is we've never shown in this game what it's like to actually save, you know, save your ammunition, save your weapons, and this kind of gives you that interpretation," he continued. "Where do the guns go? This is actually a great representation of that. So not only does it harken back to those kind of intricacies that define Resident Evil, it goes one step further and reinterprets it."

But there's more…

…like this room. Remember how the maze aims to bring visitors to the world of the game, and not the other way around?

Naturally that means there's a "paused" room where everything is still. It's a calm in the middle of a terrifying storm. 

Here's one more detail we can reveal: the iconic Resident Evil herbs, which littered the early games with health-giving rarity, are likewise scattered throughout the maze.

Non-fans may wonder why the maze's monsters have such a green thumb, but the true believers will know exactly why those herbs are there. Just don't try to smoke them.

Capcom's John Diamonon was not kidding around when he told us that these games in particular, with their intense Nemesis chase sequences, translate perfectly to real life.

"When you talk about the Nemesis, right—without giving away too much—you thinking you're only facing him once? You're not facing him just once. You can't just face the Nemesis once. He's unrelenting, and just seeing him in real life in all his glory I think fans of the series are going to be really excited about it."

And he's not the only familiar monster who will leap out at visitors—naturally the maze is rife with terrifying "scaracters" and gruesome animatronic puppets.

Lastly, don't forget that there are seven other awesomely terrifying mazes at Halloween Horror Nights 23 in Orlando, and each one is worth checking out.

There are three original mazes this year: one based on a derailed train full of psychotic super soldiers, a disorienting 3D labyrinth based on the afterlife, and a particularly horrifying one based on a Hispanic folk tale about a mother who drowns her children.

Beyond that, John Landis's An American Werewolf in London, this year's Evil Dead remake (complete with the realistically simulated smell of dead cats), Cabin in the Woods, and The Walking Dead have their own mazes this year as well. And they are all literally amazing.

Have you been and seen the Resident Evil maze yet? What did you think? Let us know on Twitter.