Game Review: Resident Evil 7

Welcome to the reboot, son.

After a weekend of fighting off monsters, bugs and weird, growth-like bosses, we finally have our review! If you still haven’t played it, and don’t want spoilers, look away now!

So after nearly five years, Capcom have rebooted their most-known series, Resident Evil, with gripping horror and atmosphere. The other games went down a steady slope of just plain wrong, but this one seems to have its head on straight. It went back to its roots. Back to the horror and the choking atmosphere that the first game – over 20 years ago – did.

We begin with a chilling message from our wife, Mia, telling the main character to stay away. Obviously, because it’s a game, Ethan drives all the way out to Dulvey Louisiana. He arrives at what looks like an abandoned farmstead, owned by the Bakers. We walk to the house, and as soon as the door closes, the dust suffocates us, along with the detail put into every inch of the place. The house is filthy – bugs, mould, and even bodies litter the rotting wood floors. Wallpaper peels like old skin, and it really helps with the horror.

We find our wife in the basement, but no sooner have we broken her free, than she’s trying to murder us, after becoming infected by something.

From here, we meet Zoe, the Bakers’ daughter, who talks Ethan through the game. Zoe tells Ethan that the Bakers, Mia and him are all infected, causing hallucinations, and mutations in the enemies we meet during the game.

The monsters and bosses are horrifying. From the relatively tame ‘Molded’, a new enemy type, who are manifestations of the virus that plagues the house, to the bosses, which constitute each member of the Baker family.

Jack is a regenerating psycho with scissor chainsaws; Marguerite is a weird, gross bug lady, and their son Lucas… you don’t even want to know.

But, after defeating the last ‘boss’, the game does not end. We are washed up on the shore of a swamp, where a huge boat has crashed. We play as Mia here, and learn of the cause of the virus.

Eveline.

Mia remembers that she was posing as the girl’s mother, and it’s revealed that all Eveline wants, is a family. Which is why she chose the Bakers to infect, and why there is such an emphasis on family and relations. In the end, we destroy Eveline, as she consumes the house, and we are greeted by Umbrella, the pivotal company in the original RE.

It’s great.

The horror, the combat, the bosses – everything is fantastically scary and I genuinely squeaked at some points.

There are a number of guns and weapons to use, from pistols to the shotgun and even a flamethrower.

The game is a solid new entry into the series. It shines in every way a Resident Evil game should. The bosses, the enemies, the creepy house, the change in scope as the game goes on – it’s a wonderful, refreshing look at the series.

I might even buy the season pass if the main game is anything to go on.

5/5