While Resident Evil has definitely erred on the side of having too much action with the last few installments, having no action in a mainline game in the series would be a bit of an overcompensation- especially since action has been such a core component of the series ever since its inception.
But so far, we’ve never gotten to see any combat sections in the upcoming Resident Evil 7, including in the two demos that have been made playable for it until now. This has naturally led to some apprehensions among fans that the game might not have any action segments at all. Which is why Resident Evil 7 producer Masachika Kawata stressed in an interview with Metro GameCentral that the game is going to have combat of some kind after all, contrary to appearances.
“Combat is obviously something that’s really important in a Resident Evil game, we’re just kind of showing a little bit at a time with different aspects. Beginning Hour was really just the feeling of atmosphere and exploration, which is another classic Resident Evil element, and now you’ve been able to see a little bit more of the fear of escape from an enemy. And also we’ve had a little bit of puzzle element in it,” Kawata said, discussing the game’s two demos so far.
“So we’re taking it one step at a time here. Some people have got the impression that combat is missing from this game, because of the content we’ve shown so far, but actually combat is definitely in there. The main character is not one of these gun-toting heroes that we’ve sort of gone towards in the recent entries. It’s very much a normal person, a normal guy who’s put in an extreme situation and has to survive.
“And we’re going to be showing off some more around that, but for the time being we haven’t got around to that yet. But rest assured we know what people want from Resident Evil: it’s exploration, puzzle-solving, managing limited resources, and combat in a horrifying situation. And you know, we’re gonna get there.”
It will definitely be interesting to see how Capcom will translate the series’ penchant for action into the first person viewpoint. Resident Evil 7 is due to launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in January 2017.