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Capcom’s Resident Evil 9: Requiem is designed to be a huge celebration of the iconic horror series with both first and third-person options, a return to Racoon City, and more. One key returning mechanic is the return of a stalker enemy, like Resi 2’s Mr X, who follows you across key parts of the map.
Resident Evil 9’s Stalker is way more advanced
However, Capcom’s new stalker enemy—colloquially called Big Mama by some fans—is much more impressive than prior foes. While Mr X and Nemesis would appear and stomp around environments, this new foe is actively hunting you as you explore the level.
Dusk Golem, a leaker known for their accurate reporting on both Resident Evil and Silent Hill titles, explained that Resident Evil 9: Requiem has taken a new approach to the stalker enemies that people love. The old system—which was last re-used in Resident Evil 8: Village—has been replaced with a dynamic AI system similar to the Xenomorph in Alien Isolation.
“The stalker stuff isn’t exactly a set piece [like past games],” the leaker explained on social media. “This is our introduction to Big Mama, but RE9 is using more dynamic AI, & playing with its own systems. She can kinda dip in & out more dynamically than you might expect. So fun.”
While Mr X, Nemesis and the short Dimitrescu section of Village are still brilliant horror sections, the Stalker enemies of Resident Evil have lacked compared to the sheer intelligence of the Xenomorph in Alien Isolation.
Right now, it’s not known if the so-called Big Mama will learn from your actions like the Xenomorph or if the dynamic AI systems are simply based around tracking your character. However, there are still some new additions that prior stalker foes haven’t done before such as launching physics objects across the room to deal damage.
While Resident Evil may not be entirely known for its stalker enemies, they have certainly become more prominent since the series’ glorious return over the past decade. As a celebration of all-things Resi, having a new stalker foe just makes sense.
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