For the last 20 years, the Resident Evil franchise has become a staple in survival horror. Each new entry tries to break the mold with something new. The original Resident Evil placed you in a creepy mansion, exploring corridors, uncovering secrets and fighting whatever disgusting monster or zombie lurked around each corner. Resident Evil 2 brought that same gameplay and atmosphere, but on a massive scale, while Resident Evil 3: Nemesis offered more of the same. Other spin-off entries — prequels like Code Veronica and Resident Evil 0 — achieved more or less the same success.
But it wasn't until Resident Evil 4 when the main series took a drastic turn. Changing up the gameplay, style and even the narrative to up the ante for players to experience something new. The result, most consider, is the best entry in the series, as well as one of the most influential horror games ever made.
Unfortunately, after RE4, future installments grew messy. Resident Evil 5 took away a lot of the horror elements that made the series exceptional in the first place. It focused more on action and co-op gameplay. While I personally enjoyed RE5 and don't necessarily think it's a bad game, I really missed the horror. And of course, lets not forget Resident Evil 6, a game that veered so far away from what the series is known for, it got way too far up its own ass. Thankfully, Capcom finally grew a pair of balls and went back to the drawing board with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
This latest installment brought back many of the classic Resident Evil elements that made the older entries great while doing something new to keep it feeling fresh. Up until now, the overall story of the franchise had gotten to be pretty ridiculous and convoluted, with some of the later entries making little sense — with the only familiar and understandable aspects being the returning characters. This time, you play as new character Ethan Winters. His wife Mia who went missing three years prior was eventually presumed dead. But when he receives a mysterious message from Mia herself saying to come to the fictional town of Dulvey, Louisiana, he has no choice but to investigate.
With his search, Ethan comes to meet the dreaded Bakers, who are akin to that crazy-ass family from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You make your way through the narrative, trying to solve each mystery, you are constantly pursued by this tribe of cannibalistic, zombie, crazy people — kind of like the Nemesis from RE3.
Another big change in this entry is the introduction of Virtual Reality. As of right now the only available version of the game that supports it is the PlayStation 4 with the PlayStation VR. I myself don’t own the PSVR so I was able to go to friends house to try it out for this review. (I mean, yeah I really wanted to play the VR in general, but that's besides the point) I played roughly about 40 or so minutes of the early parts of the game with it and I have to say, I really wanted to play more and possibly even the rest of the game with it as it takes the game to a whole other level with jump scares and moments like I mentioned before when confronting the Bakers.
Even just atmospheric elements that are generally creepy are heightened. If you don’t have access to the VR I still highly recommend playing this game with headphones on or surround sound. The controls work a bit different than playing on a television set. While moving your head with the headset is essentially how you aim as if you would be using the right analog stick normally, the actual function of the right stick for VR is turn or pivot your body to the direction you are moving, it took a little to adjust to after initially playing the game without it, but I was fine after a couple of minutes. If you do have the chance to play it in VR, even for a little while, I highly recommend it.
While all of these great aspects add up for an enjoyable experience, it doesn't come without a few drawbacks and frustrations. While the controls and shooting feel great, the melee combat can feel a bit awkward at times, especially during some of the boss fights that require you to do a certain thing, as well as the first person perspective during those said boss fights can feel a bit clunky with navigation. Another great thing that I should mention is the absence of the frequent load times from past entries when going to new areas and such, but unfortunately the load times from bringing up a save and few parts here and there throughout the game can be pretty lengthy.
The performance and design is top notch with only experiencing a few hitches here and there, but nothing extremely noticeable or game breaking. (Note that I played this game on a launch PlayStation 4, I can't say anything for other versions.) When all is said and done, Capcom has finally brought the series back to it's roots. It brings back the traditional formula while mixing in some modern elements to make it feel new again. I was very skeptical with how little of the game was shown prior to release, but that only made the experience better since I did not know what to expect. The controls are great. The atmosphere and setting are fantastic. The straightforward narrative is much more enjoyable than in previous games of the franchise. All of this combined, results in what is the best entry since RE4, possibly the best in the series, as well as one of the best survival-horror games I've ever played.
