A few years ago this reviewer had a moment of sheer panic while playing Resident Evil 4. There had been a furious sprint away from some Spanish farmers who’d become part of the undead bastion. Barely surviving, our player, or rather our player controlled hero was hiding in a wooden shack. There then came the sound of a chainsaw sputtering into life.
Your reviewer remembered watching Tobe Hooper’s video nasty as a 15yo and was suddenly terrified. Sweating and scared shitless, it became quickly clear...this was an experience not to be enjoyed but rather endured.
It took approx. a dozen restarts to get past that section.
I’ve played through nearly all of the RE games on various platforms and all have brought with them a giddy sense of fun among the dread and despair.
I have no idea how many I will need to get to the end of Village but, if and when, I do get there, it will be a relief.
Ethan and Mia, survivors of Resident Evil 7 (avoid playing the VR edition if you can) head to a remote European village in order to start a new. As is the way in RE lore, the place they have chosen to settle is far from welcoming and Ethan’s once agin thrown into a nightmarish world, this time in order to save his newborn child.
Much of Village blends the familiar style of previous RE games with a more action oriented pacing, so that newer generations aren’t too easily bored by the key finding and puzzle searching.
The graphics are a gothic delight, the level of detail astounding, making you look a little too hard and sucking you in with an unexpected jump scare.
Much of the promo has centred on Lady Dimitrescu, one of the game’s big bads and it is she that commands much of the narrative in the 15 hour so run time (if you don’t count deaths and restarts). There’s plenty of playing to the fans with call backs and returning characters.
Ah, yes, did we forget to mention Werewolves? There’s a bunch of ‘em to help you soil your couch.
Resident Evil Village is rated 18 and is available now on all formats (aside from Nintendo Switch).
