Resident Evil Village

Developed By: Capcom

Published By: Capcom

Price: £49.99 /$59.99

Action, Survival Horror

Let us all rejoice, for Resident Evil Village is here. Marked as the next installment in the famed survival horror franchise, Village boasts a similarity to fan favorite Resident Evil 4 with a returning inventory system and similar gameplay structure. Being as Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite Resident Evil games, Village has a lot to live up to. 

A Father’s Journey

Resident Evil Village takes place three years after the events of Resident Evil 7, where Ethan and Mia are living comfortably in Europe with their six-month old child Rose, the scars of the past game still apparent. Everything seems fine until Chris and his team busts in, shooting down Mia before taking Rose and Ethan. However, on the way to whatever location they were transporting them, their convoy crashes, and Ethan finds himself in a small European village, where, once again, things have gone awry. And Ethan’s hands…will never be the same. 

My overall views on the story are thus: this is so damn stupid, but I love it. This game has a bit of a uneven balance of silly and serious, but I don’t mind it. So much weird crap happens in Resident Evil Village, and some characters don’t act rationally, but it all morphs together to create this crazy as hell plot that kept me interested the whole way through. The writing can be so cheesy and campy, but it fits with Resident Evil‘s silliness so well, that it only makes it all better.

I would say there are some problems with pacing, though. The first hour of this game is quite slow, which makes subsequent playthroughs a bit more tedious as you spend the beginning walking towards the village and getting all the first time scares out of the way. There is also a part nearer to the end that, while fun, did feel a bit too long compared to every other area.

As for the characters, Ethan himself becomes a better character than his RE7 iteration. He actually has moments where he is just dead tired of all this, shows genuine terror, and even talks back, not to mention his feelings for his daughter motivating him.

The villains themselves almost steal the show, especially Heisenberg, who is just a well of enthusiasm and charisma. Though the voice acting could use some work in areas, it didn’t detract from the overall amazing experience. It’s a dumb fun story with set pieces that I will never forget.

Surviving The Wild

So the gameplay in this is fairly similar to RE7, where this is still a first-person shooter with survival horror mechanics. Most of the time you’ll be shooting to kill while saving as much ammo as possible, though the crafting system does lighten the load of having to scrounge by utilizing other materials you find such as scrap and chem fluids to make bullets and health items. 

The shooting actually feels pretty decent, as it did in RE7. Also like in previous games, you need to wait to utilize the full accuracy of the weapon, which does provide that sense of actual thought into positioning while you wait for the perfect shot. Also the guarding mechanic is back and with new perks, because when things are getting hectic, you can parry monsters and push them away when they attack to get another shot in. The impact of the monsters getting hit by bullets, especially shotgun rounds, is always satisfying and it will never get old. 

The game also feels pretty great with the sound, vibrations, and animations working in conjunction. Despite Ethan not seeming like as strong as boulder-punching Chris Redfield, I still felt rather strong and badass in some of the more action-intensive moments. Small thing I want to note: I appreciate the additional detailed animations of reloading, where Ethan now keeps the loaded magazine if he reloads before emptying the magazine. I love those little details, and I want them to be noted. 

Of course these aren’t important until you encounter the enemies. Village has a wide variety of enemies compared to that of Resident Evil 7, which only had 3 or 4 different enemies besides the bosses. Lycans, ghouls, and more stalk these lands, awaiting your approach to make themselves known. The first appearances of some of these can be unexpected, especially when you get into late game. Finding that next new enemy was always exciting.

Familiar Feelings

Being as this game does borrow aspects from RE4, the inventory and merchant system is back. The inventory comes in Ethan’s suitcase, which you can move items around for better organization. However, I never felt too compelled to organize it as much as I did in 4, as you get plenty of space to work with. Only very few times did I need to start thinking about the space I had left.

The weapon variety is appreciated as well, with several different firearms to choose from as you go on, each with their own modifications and upgrades. Me being such a gun nut, I love the amount of detail they put in them. Examining them is so much fun as you look at how well they were decorated and designed. They also give you guns to cover all your bases, from close, to mid, to long range. Even the classic grenade launcher and magnum are in, with stylish new designs. They only get better as you upgrade.

Upgrades for this case, as well as other mercantilism, is provided by the most mysterious Duke. Duke sells you supplies, buys your treasures, upgrades your guns, and even cooks you food with ingredients that will provide permanent buffs. You can find these ingredients around by hunting the animals that populate the village. However, I wish they told me what I could do with them when I first got the ingredients. By the time I knew what they could be used for, I had already sold them to the Duke. They even told me to return to the Duke to show him the ingredients, but they still didn’t tell me I could cook until later. 

Exploration Is Key

Speaking of, one of my favorite parts of Resident Evil is the exploration, the discovery of hidden items, which RE Village delivers in spades. Each location is brimming with not only visual details, but items, supplies, and treasures, some of which can only be found by the most eagle-eyed of players. Unless you’re diligent, there will be things the player is sure to miss, making a second playthrough more enticing when the credits have rolled. 

However, I wish there were more secret items to find, despite the great way they went about exploration. What I loved about RE7 is that there were items just behind objects, in the tiniest of openings, in the stones of a chimney, places that you wouldn’t expect. In Village, whenever I got the treasure map, I realized I had already got that treasure. It wasn’t even that out of the way, it was actually quite easy to find. So they could’ve done a better job with hiding items, taking full advantage of being able to look closely at things with the first person perspective.

Gorgeous European Countryside

The environments themselves are fairly well done, taking you to as many different places as they could, given the setting. The way you play through it all is rather simple, where you have the hub area, which is the village, and the four areas that encapsulate the personalities and interests of the four bosses you face. As you go on, you’ll even acquire objects that work to open up other paths or find different items in places you’ve already explored, like a key, or a well wheel. If you pay attention, you’ll find new things. If you’re unsure if you got all the items in a room, the UI of the map can help you by telling you what rooms haven’t been fully stripped of items.

Though, some areas were given more time than others, sometimes to an obnoxious degree, like with the last full area, which had to have been the longest one to traverse. In addition, some areas could’ve used a little extra to prop it up. An example of this would be the Beneviento House, which has an amazing segment that lasts 30 minutes at most. Despite that, those moments were still a thrill to go through.

Of course, what you’ll first notice about Resident Evil Village is that the RE Engine is just a piece of magical work. On PS5, this game looks gorgeous and, even with HDR and ray-tracing on, it runs buttery smooth, giving you a truly seamless experience as you explore to your own will. The lighting is fantastic as always, especially with the combined ray-tracing, enhancing the survival horror feels in the darker rooms. Not only that, but every location in this game is filled to the brim with details. This is really just a showcase on how Capcom is using witchcraft to achieve this level of greatness. 

Howls At The Moon

Now, onto the most important part of any survival horror game, the sound. The audio design is what makes or breaks games like this, and there’s plenty of examples of good audio design in Resident Evil Village. Of course there’s the obvious footsteps, creaking wood, wind blowing through the window, we all expect that. Then later on in the game where there’s…definitely some strange sounds that are sure to have an affect on you. That’s what makes this game so refreshing in its use of sound.

On the outside, this game looks to be rather goofy with its pseudo-supernatural feel and campy writing. This does not mean it lacks atmosphere. Quite the opposite in fact, as the sound design makes you dread what every single noise you heard might be. The atmosphere keeps you on edge, giving the proper weight to every moment as needed.  It genuinely felt spooky while exploring the dungeons of a castle, or the empty houses of a village. There’s jump scares of course, but they are quite weak.

To aid in this atmosphere, the music does such a wonderful job to enhance and enrich the experience. It very clearly expresses the intensity of each scene. The way the music ramps up as roaming enemies discover you, it activates your fight-or-flight response. When things start to slow down, there’s the calmer, slower compositions that either creep you out, or soothe you. The safe room music is a good example of the latter. At some points, though, the music did ramp up for no reason, which was strange. 

The Story Is Done

Besides all that, though, there is a lot to enjoy about Resident Evil Village. The crazy story, the superb environments, the engaging gameplay, it’s all there. And most of all, it keeps up the steam the whole way that Resident Evil 7 lost by the 3/4 mark. Plus the Extra Content Shop and Mercenaries Mode to provide ample fun and replayability. I would call this a fantastic Resident Evil game. It has just the right amount of crazy and silly to be comparable to RE4. 

Now I wouldn’t say Resident Evil Village is my favorite Resident Evil game of all time just yet. That title still goes to Resident Evil 4. However, I couldn’t help but feel right at home. Roaming the village, fighting beastly enemies and collecting treasures to sell, it all felt so familiar. This was such a love letter to Resident Evil 4, while also carrying sprinklings of influence from Bloodborne as well. And with the ending it has, it’s safe to say I’m also quite excited for the next installment. 

 

Verdict

Heavily Recommended

 

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Reviewed by Freelance7. Game purchased by reviewer.