By Cooper Bryson
A game 30 years in the making, Resident Evil Requiem delivers on the petrifying gore, the characters, as well as the gameplay. It keeps the perfect blend of horror and action that made the series famous. With dual protagonists, disgusting visuals, and a gripping story, there is something for both new and old fans of the series to enjoy in this latest instalment of Resident Evil.
Players follow Grace Ashcroft, an FBI technical analyst, tasked with solving a case related to the sudden return of the T-Virus which was developed by a bioweapon company called the Umbrella corporation. Her investigation leads her to Rhodes Hill Care Centre, where the first half of the game takes place. Grace’s perspective is filled to the brim with horror. These segments are scrappy and mean, with resources few and far between. At the beginning of the game, the player gets to choose between a first-person or a third-person camera. For Grace’s perspective, the game advises that you pick the first-person camera. This perspective elevates each scare to the next level of immersion. Players feel like they are alongside her, witnessing the frightening spectacle firsthand. The performance by actress Angela Sant’Albano can’t be praised enough, either. Grace consistently sounds just as scared as the player should be. Several scenes in this story would not have worked as well as they did if it wasn’t for Sant’Albano’s performance. Each bated breath, horror movie scream, and emotional moment is heightened by her captivating performance. Grace Ashcroft is a phenomenal protagonist in this game, and I can’t wait to see where her story goes next.
The Rhodes Hill Care Centre is one of the creepiest settings in any Resident Evil game. The hallways are packed to the brim with zombies, each with their own personality. Due to the nature of this strain of the virus, the care centre staff continue to do their jobs as zombies. The singers, chef, and a few pesky undead creatures that like switching the lights off stood out to me throughout my playthrough. Additionally, a common staple in the Resident Evil series is stalking enemies. This game is no exception, throwing two of them at players in the Care Centre. Details like this help the game stand out from the rest. It’s not often that apocalyptic fiction puts this much effort into it’s monsters, their designs and personalities. It’s hard not to admire the craftsmanship put into this game.
Fans eagerly awaited Requiem for a lot of reasons, none more prevalent than the return of everyone’s favourite protagonist, Leon Kennedy. In Requiem, he’s more like an action hero than ever before. He always has a sarcastic one liner in his back pocket, or a creative way out of every tricky situation. Putting Leon’s section second was the best choice this game made. His segments in Requiem are polar opposites to Grace’s. He is consistently armed to the teeth with a boatload of weapons. You play as Leon briefly in Rhodes Hill, but the bulk of his story takes place in the ruins of Raccoon City. Thirty years after the events of Resident Evil 2, the streets of Raccoon City are filled with zombies and unique enemies. Leon is emotionally impacted by his return, but he doesn’t let it slow him down. In the dilapidated city, Leon fights a mutated spider, enlarged by the effects of the T-Virus, and he can’t help his sassy quips throughout the entire fight. Leon’s segment is heavily focused on the action, rather than the horror. When the game switches perspectives, you are guaranteed a sigh of relief, jumping headfirst into the action rather than the breath-taking horror.
While the game is phenomenal, it isn’t flawless. For instance, the enemy AI is inconsistent. Some enemies carry obvious intelligence and are able to catch the protagonist at the perfect moment, even sneaking up on them at times. Then, the player could be right in front of a zombie and they wouldn’t notice, making for a frustrating guessing game every time you would try to traverse through the Care Centre. Another issue is that the character death scenes were too long. Once the protagonist dies, the game forces you to watch a gory animation of your character being killed, removing your ability to interact with them for at least 10 seconds. This mechanic grows frustrating very quickly, rubbing it in the player’s face that they failed. By halfway through the animation, before the respawn screen even popped up, you already want to hop back into the thick of the gameplay. My final critique lies with the villains of Requiem. While Leon and Grace are both strong protagonists, the same cannot be said for the dual antagonists. The ‘mastermind’ villain, Zeno, who shows up in the second half of Requiem, felt wasted. No boss fight, no backstory, or strong character motivations. Players see his potential, like a flashback sequence we see through the lens of a military field agent. Zeno felt fast, and elusive, but he ended up as mostly wasted potential within the greater narrative. That said, these are small problems only worth complaining about because this is a game filled with so much detail and care, that you can’t help but notice the absence in some elements of the gameplay and story.
After all is said and done, Resident Evil Requiem is more than a worthy entry into the long-standing franchise. It truly delivers on all the scares and action-hero sequences Resident Evil is known for. Every step of the way genuinely impressed me, with every visual model looking hand-crafted with care. It was a miracle my game didn’t crash once or break, surviving with minimal glitches throughout my playthrough. For such a new release, and such a huge project, that is genuinely astounding. It shows what a labor of love this game was for the team behind it. It feels like a gift that players should be ready to receive. With it’s stunning visuals, bone chilling horror elements, iconic characters, and the return to a legacy location, it is hard for anyone to not find something to love about this game and its artistry. Resident Evil Requiem gets an 8 out of 10.
Leave a Reply