Resident Evil Requiem is like a tightrope of captivating horror and exhilarating action, which Capcom is masterfully walking across with all the grace of a highwire acrobat.
I went into my preview with astoundingly high expectations. Bar a few lacklustre spin-offs Iāve followed every mainline Resident Evil title and the road leading up to Resident Evil Requiem has been one of my favourites to walk down.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was an intense deviation of what weād come to expect from this gaming icon. Fear was back on the menu and while Resident Evil Village re-embraced some of the absurdity and silliness it was still deeply rooted in terror and perturbation.
When it was revealed that Leon Kennedy would be returning as one of the protagonists of Resident Evil: Requiem however it did feel like cause for concern. Everything weād seen and heard from Capcom prior to Leonās glorious return told us that this upcoming game would deliver unprecedented dread the likes of which we havenāt seen before in a Resident Evil game.
Grace Ashcroft is our new avatar of anxiety and trepidation and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her in my preview, but before sitting down for my session I kept wondering how Capcom would dial up the despair for Leonās parts of the game. The man is borderline superhuman after all. Turns out I neednāt have worried as Capcom presents Leon as some sort of sick reward after traumatising you for two hours.
Youāre Never Too Old For An Unnecessary Backflip
My preview began with Leon doing what he does best, chopping, kicking and blasting his way through zombies like he isnāt 50-years old by this point in the timeline.
Quick side-note, I came away from my preview thinking less about Leonās story developments and more about what kind of products he must be using for his hair. Seriously, how does it still look that good at 51? Whatās his secret?..
Anyway, Leon played exactly like he does in Resident Evil 4 (2023) but the old dog has learnt a few new tricks. One standout part of my gameplay was stealing a chainsaw off one of the zombies, which must have been cathartic for Leon after his several run-ins with Dr. Salvador in Spain.
My spinkick-spree was short-lived but heaps of fun, to the point where I actually forgot this game was supposed to be a horror. Donāt worry though, the game reminded me of what I was playing very quickly.
Welcome To The Survival Horror Miss Ashcroft
The bulk of my preview session followed Grace not long after waking up in the hospital/asylum sheās whisked away to. The third-person camera in Leonās segment changed to first-person, but these arenāt set in stone and can be easily changed based on your preference. I left them as they were and felt like the tone and gameplay benefitted greatly from it, but thatās just me.
Something about being behind the eyes of a horror protagonist enriches the experience in my opinion and Grace ticked all the boxes for what Iād expect from a Resident Evil protagonist without the experience and training of its veteran characters. I loved Ethan Winters but Iāve also said he adjusted far too quickly to his situation in Biohazard. He was an average joe who came face-to-face with horrors beyond his comprehension but it really didnāt take long for him to start kicking ass and quipping like heād already seen it all.
Grace on the other hand is one of the most endearing protagonists weāve had up to now, as despite being FBI she ultimately has no experience on the field, especially for a situation like this. Her voice trembles when she speaks, she gasps and shudders at foreign noises, and her hands shake as she draws her weapon. You can feel the fear radiating from her soul and it makes you more nervous as a result.
My time with Grace was the typical Resident Evil experience at first. Exploring the safe room, saving at a typewriter and seeing a locked door that required three keys to open. Standard stuff. Wandering down the first open hallway I expected one, maybe two enemies to ease me into things but I was immediately caught off-guard by a buff butcher who gave me Mr X flashbacks.
Sprinting through the only available door I caught the attention of several zombies tucking into some rotting corpses and several more when I booked it into the next room across. This went on for a good couple of minutes until I finally found an empty room for a bit of respite.
It pulled no punches and was another stark reminder that I wasnāt playing as Leon anymore.
Itchy, Tasty, Still Working That 9-5-y
The sheer number of infected wasnāt even the scariest part, it was how they responded to my presence and the environment around them. For whatever reason this flavour of zombie still retains some of the memories and personality of the people they used to be and while that led to some intriguing gameplay encounters it also made the whole thing an even more tense affair. My investigations in a study were underscored by one zombie singing a lullaby, whereas another was obsessed with turning out the lights in one of the hallways, muttering how it was ātoo brightā¦ā Some even have unique attack animations to coincide with this odd behaviour, like a cleaning lady who tried to scrub Graceās face off with a brush. Itās funny to think back on it now but at the time I was horrified.
What followed was run-of-the-mill exploration and puzzle-solving. It harkened back to my first time exploring the Raccoon City Police Station and while the map was much bigger the back-tracking never felt egregious.
Iāve always loved putting on my detective hat for these games and reading all of the notes and working out which safe or puzzle box they were referring to was as rewarding as itās always been. Coupled with the unique twist on the zombies and Grace never having a chance to relax it was altogether an incredible experience. It was authentic survival horror and Iāve never been more on-edge.
The only part I didnāt quite vibe with was the crafting. Resident Evil Requiem does things a little differently this time and makes blood, yes thatās right blood, a vital crafting item. Eventually you acquire a sort of extractor and can either suck blood out of downed zombies or from other sources like buckets overflowing with the stuff. You can then combine it with scrap or herbs to create better healing/buffing items, or even offensive tools like an injector thatāll cause zombies to burst into a red paste, like in Blade.
As fun or useful as the consumables were, I wasn’t crazy about the crafting mechanic, but Iām going to give it the benefit of the doubt and chalk that up to not enough time with it. Adding blood into the mix, literally, felt like an overcomplication but Iām sure as you unlock more crafting recipes itāll eventually make more sense.
From Hunted To Hunter
After one final story beat for Grace gameplay flipped back over to Leon, and like I alluded to at the start of this preview, playing as the emo power ranger again felt like a reward. As if the game was patting me on my shivered spine and saying āwell done champ, hereās a shotgun and some grenades, go nuts.ā
Condescending tones aside, my second spin with Leon was even better than the first. The zombies that were so intimidating to me before dropped like flies to my small assortment of firearms and Leonās sharpened utility axe, which also had a secondary use of opening cupboards that Grace was unable to previously.
Again it was short-lived but boy was it fun, and I cheeky pondered the idea of asking to play it for a second-time before setting off.
Final Thoughts
Like I said at the beginning of this piece my expectations were high prior to playing Resident Evil: Requiem. Capcom has very rarely missed with its last few survival horror titles but I was curious to see how the team would strike a balance between the fear of Biohazard/Village with the fun of Resident Evil 4 (2023).
As it stands though the developers have united these two flavours of Resident Evil into what could very well be the best game yet. Iām expecting it to equally cater to fans who love the traditional games as well as those who love it when things get a little goofy, and I canāt wait to play more.
Capcom if youāre reading this please tell me what products Leon puts in his hair, asking for a friend.
