Resident Evil Requiem is the latest entry in Capcom’s iconic survival horror series, filled with nostalgia and driven by emotion.
On 29 September 1998, a rookie cop by the name of Leon S. Kennedy was on his way to begin his first shift at the RPD. Little did he know that he’d soon crash into a sinister government cover-up caused by the pharmaceutical company, Umbrella, that unleashed the T-Virus, created for Bio-Organic Weapons.
28 years later, Leon returns to the place where it all began for him in Racoon City, along with a new protagonist of the series, Grace Ashcroft. However, Raccoon City is in ruins following the US government’s attempt to cover up the conspiracy by dropping a nuke. Yet, in the world of Resident Evil, nothing truly ever stays dead and buried forever.
Resident Evil Requiem is the first game in the series to be exclusive to the ninth-generation console, meaning that there’s no PlayStation 4 or Xbox One release. While this might be unfortunate news for those who have not adopted current-gen consoles, it has undoubtedly worked in the game’s favour from a visual, performance and technical perspective.
Resident Evil Requiem Looks Gorgeous
Visually, Resident Evil Requiem looks fantastic. The character model detail on Leon and Grace, as well as its horrific creatures, is the best the series has seen, and that includes the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4.
Leon is now older, wiser and more ruthless. The pain can be seen on Leon’s face, as well as the aggressive satisfaction of brutally kicking zombies in the head against a brick wall. His glorious hair flows like a L’Oreal male model, and he moves with more swag, knowing that he’s ready to take on whatever comes his way. Subtle details, such as reloading a weapon while holding a torch, is an immersive detail I appreciate. He’ll gently rest the torch against his chin as he pops in each new bullet. Sometimes, it’s those smaller details that can add a greater level of immersion.
As for Grace, she’s quite the opposite of our seasoned veteran. She may be an FBI agent sent on a mission to investigate a series of gruesome murders at Renwood Hotel, just on the outskirts of Raccoon City, but to put it mildly, Grace is a nervous wreck. The constant terror can not only be seen on her face, but also on her body. The term “a fish out of water” comes to mind. This terror can be seen even better when playing in a third-person perspective, one of two perspectives that players are able to choose in-game.
Grace is constantly breathing heavily, and she’s constantly muttering worries to herself. In the third-person perspective, when Grace is being chased by that giant female monster that we’ve seen in the trailers, her terror is highlighted further by how frantically she sprints and stumbles all over the place, something that does not happen in first-person.
Put it this way: when being chased, there’s a good chance that she’ll run past a door in sheer panic, which only adds to the tension. So, if you thought that third-person might be a little less strenuous than first-person, think again. Don’t get me wrong, I find Resident Evil Requiem scarier in the more up-close and personal first-person perspective, but in its own way, especially with its panic factor, the third-person perspective has its own kind of fear. No matter which you prefer, I love that we can experience the game when and how we want.
One thing I particularly wanted to draw attention to is the lighting effects in Resident Evil Requiem. They are fantastic. It moves beyond the simple illumination from a simple lamp – the shine of the moon beaming through a slightly closed curtained window and even the dusty daylight of a crumbled Raccoon City all work almost as another character. The shadow effects can also work to your advantage, as you can hear a zombie shuffling down the hallway, and see its shadow increasing in size with each footstep.
Zombies Have Evolved
Speaking of zombies, they look more grotesque than ever, sure, but they have more personality. For reasons suggested in the story, a lot of the zombies, especially during the early parts of the campaign, will have snippets of human memories. For example, a surgeon might mutter about a recent operation, or a cleaner might frantically clean a blood-stained window. Until they see you. Then, they snap right back and let their cannibalistic tendencies consume them. It’s gory, gruesome and glorious.
Zombies have more attack abilities than ever before. Chainsaw-wielding zombies are nothing new in Resident Evil, and typically, they’d stand out with a different design and take more damage. However, in Resident Evil Requiem, pretty much any standard-looking zombie can wield a chainsaw. When the zombie is killed, the chainsaw will be dropped, and you can pick it back up, something not possible in previous mainline entries. But other zombies can also pick up the chainsaw, so you might want to prioritise getting to it first.
A Campaign of Two Halves
The story of Resident Evil Requiem is essentially split into two halves, one for Grace and the other for Leon. Grace’s campaign is much slower-paced, as she makes her way through the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Centre hospital, desperately trying to avoid enemy detection, whether it’s sneaking by or throwing an object to draw attention.
Grace can wield a handgun, but in my experience, not only is ammo more scarce than for Leon, but she’s also not as capable in attack as Leon, with her nervous hands shaking. In a lot of cases, combat might be a last resort. For the most part, you will play as Grace about 80% of the time during her campaign, with the occasional short switch to Leon. I’d compare Grace’s segments to the slow-paced Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
As for Leon, with the assistance of Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2, they are trying to find a cure for the Elpis Virus, a mutated strain of the T-Virus that they contracted in 1998. Without giving anything away, their investigation leads to Dr Victor Gideon of the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Centre, who also has a strong connection with Grace.
Leon’s campaign is high-octane, like Resident Evil 4 on steroids. Leon will punch and kick zombies in the face and perform brutal shotgun blasts at close range. He handles weapons more expertly, after all, he’s a seasoned veteran, and he has a lot more inventory space than Grace. I was worried that his segments would too closely resemble Resident Evil 6 by overdoing it with silly action sequences; thankfully, that is not the case, largely due to Resident Evil Requiem having a direction and knowing exactly what it aims to achieve by offering the best of RE7 and RE4 remake. If anything, the two contrasting styles of Grace and Leon help to break up the pace, rather than being all in one way or another.
Playing into Leon’s action-oriented shenanigans, there’s even a cool in-game rewards mechanic that gives you points for each enemy that you kill. It added an extra layer to its combat by encouraging me to attempt to be more creative with kills to earn maximum reward points. The tougher the enemy, the more points you’ll receive. Those points can then be spent on new weapons, attachments and upgrades. Though it is a shame that Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t have its own proper merchant.
If you’re concerned that the action segments will remove a lot of horror, fear not. Sure, Leon’s campaign is nowhere near as scary as Grace’s, but Leon will be overwhelmed by larger groups of enemies and, in some cases, larger enemies. I’ll leave it at that. I only wish that the destroyed RPD was more explorable, but it was still a goosebump moment nonetheless.
Final Thoughts
Resident Evil Requiem is everything that I hoped it would be and a little bit more. It knows when to ramp up the tension and when to bring it back down, aided by the two contrasting, yet entwined styles of Leon and Grace.
I heard that the developers have said that anyone can use this game as a starting point to the series, which is technically true with almost every game. That being said, I would at least recommend the remakes of Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 as it would serve as a disservice, robbing you of the emotions felt when returning to the RPD.
Resident Evil Requiem looks fantastic and performs at a stable framerate (at least by my eyes), and it encourages different approaches to certain sections of the game, whether it be stealth or action, increasing its replay value, amongst other factors. It has classic puzzles and inventory management, and most importantly, at least with Grace, feels like a proper survival horror game with something extra for the high-octane Resident Evil 4 fans.
As a horror game in its own right, Resident Evil Requiem is a very solid nine out of ten, but as a passionate fan of the series, it earns an additional bonus point thanks to the attention to detail and craft that’s gone into every pore of this game.
Resident Evil Requiem is my Game of the Year so far and has earned my very first 10/10 in my three years at GAMINGbible.
Now, if you excuse me, I have a game to replay.
Pros: Feels like a survival and action horror while maintaining series identity, looks gorgeous, gripping story, zombies have character, I love Grace
Cons: I wanted more RPD
For fans of: Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 remakes
10/10: Perfect
Resident Evil Requiem releases on 27 February 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
