Resident Evil Requiem Review – Victory Lap

Resident Evil has never been afraid to experiment and take risks. It has swung back and forth between action and horror, switched perspectives several times between fixed cameras, first-person, and third-person. With Resident Evil Requiem, the developer has attempted to undertake a monumental task- crafting an experience that celebrates the franchise’s history, in all of its different forms, by melding together all the things that it has succeeded at over the years. Happily enough, the game does that confidently, delivering an experience that boasts bone-chilling horror and heart-pounding action in equal measure.

Having wrapped up the Winters family saga with Village, Resident Evil returns to franchise’s main, overarching story with Requim for the first time since Resident Evil 6 (or Revelations 2, if you want to get into the semantics), and does so to great effect. It shines the spotlight on two protagonists- Grace Ashcroft, a young, nervous technical analyst working for the FBI, and returning fan-favourite Leon S. Kennedy, who is still working for the DSO and is more adept at kicking zombies and dropping corny one-liners than he has ever been. Swapping and weaving between the two, RE9 tells a captivating story that simultaneously serves as an excelling jumping-in point for newcomers through Grace, and as a satisfying and long overdue return to the series’ main story through Leon.

"The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center is easily among the franchise’s best ever settings, and this is where the game delivers the classic survival horror experience that Resident Evil has been synonymous with since its inception."

Grace, the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak protagonist Alyssa Ashcroft, is thrown into the fray when she is dispatched to investigate a grisly murder at the Wrenwood Hotel, which also happens to be where her mother was killed eight years ago. It’s not long before she has a horrifying run-in with Victor Gideon, a man with ties to the long-defunct Umbrella Corporation, who kidnaps her and takes her to the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center.

Leon, on his own investigation surrounding a mystery disease blowing through Raccoon City survivors – which he happens to have as well – arrives at the Care Center on Gideon’s tail, and the story that follows may very well be one of Resident Evil’s best ever.

The game expertly balances being welcoming and accessible to newcomers and being a proper follow-up to past entries. Beloved and iconic players and plotlines return, from Umbrella and the bombing of Raccoon City to the t-Virus and more that are best left unspoiled, and push the overarching narrative forward in meaningful ways.

Not only does Requiem pull in familiar elements from a number of past entries that longtime fans will be ecstatic to see, it also builds on them with surprising revelations and bold turns, taking things forward in significant ways, so that it almost never feels like just vapid fan service. Also at the core of the game’s narrative strengths is an excellent cast of characters, each of whom are smartly written and well-performed, with the likes of Leon, Grace, and Gideon being particular highlights. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Gideon one of Resident Evil’s most compelling antagonists.

But as strong as Resident Evil Requiem’s story and storytelling are, that is predictably not where the game’s biggest strengths lie. The latest entry in the long-running franchise expertly combines the pure horror gameplay of the likes of Resident Evil 2 and 7 with the more action-fueled design of Resident Evil Village, and delivers an impressive final product on both fronts, with some minor stumbles here and there. The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center is easily among the franchise’s best ever settings, and this is where the game delivers the classic survival horror experience that Resident Evil has been synonymous with since its inception.

The Care Center boasts classic lock-and-key design, laden with puzzles and notes, maze-like paths and shortcuts to unlock, and of course, an overwhelming boatload of terrifying enemies. With the bulk of this section being played from Grace’s perspective, Requiem is at its most horrifying best here, delivering tense atmosphere and scream-inducing horror. A lot of that is thanks to the extremely limited combat capabilities of Grace, with gameplay relying primarily on stealth and other ways of avoiding combat, and ammo, weapons, resources, upgrades, and even inventory space constantly being in short supply.

Incredibly, Requiem also manages to make zombies legitimately scary again. The undead roaming the halls of the Care Center are not the typical mindless, shambling zombies that we have been used to across Resident Evil (and so much else beyond). The zombies that Grace encounters retain vestiges of their past, human selves, and that reflects in their behaviour. Some are sensitive to light, so they roam the halls turning off any switches they can find.

There’s a big, hulking brute who was formerly the Care Center’s chef, so he thumps around with a cleaver in his hands, looking for the next thing he’s going to butcher on his bloody table. A former singer dressed in a flowing, white dress shambles around while singing a haunting, ululating melody, while a former cleaning lady still obsessively cleans a bathroom while madly talking to herself about how filthy everything is.

"In fact, enemy variety is easily one of Requiem’s brightest highlights."

Not only do the zombies add massively to Requiem’s incredible atmosphere-building, they also have gameplay ramifications. Those that are sensitive to light can be dealt with by messing with the switches you find (when they work, that is). The spine-chilling singer has the ability to stun you with ear-piercing shrieks, so maintaining distance is best.

The butcher is massive and can take a lot of punishment, but he likes to walk a specific path, so planning your routes is vital. In later sections played through Leon’s perspective, some undead still wield and use machine guns. Through its reinvention of a concept as time-worn as zombies, Requiem not only adds immensely to the potency of its horror, it also throws an interesting wrench into the gameplay, bringing in variety and encouraging players to fully immerse themselves in their terrifying environment.

In fact, enemy variety is easily one of Requiem’s brightest highlights. Not only are the zombies themselves varied in unique ways, beyond zombies, there’s so much more that players have to deal with- a giant, howling baby who thrashes through corridors in pursuit of Grace; Blister Heads, who, much like Crimson Heads from the Resident Evil 1 remake, are dead zombies who can unpredictably come back to life, unless you deal with their corpses before that; and, of course, in true Resident Evil fashion, a variety of bosses.

There’s also a nightmarish new stalker enemy who pursues Grace for a large portion of the game, and is perhaps one of the series’ most petrifying stalker foes to date- maybe even more so than Resident Evil 2’s Mr. X. With the visage of a horribly mutated so-called Shadow Ghost, she is highly sensitive to any sound Grace makes and can get the jump on her through holes in the ceiling, but also happens to be sensitive to certain lights.

"One of the game’s most terrifying sequences sees Grace navigating the Care Center’s basement, where she has to find a way out through darkened, claustrophobic corridors by slowly bringing the power back on."

As you can probably tell, Requiem significantly enhances its horror with incredible use of light and darkness. More often than not, Grace finds herself in poorly lit areas where she has nothing but the dim glow from her flashlight or lighter. Walking through the oppressive darkness always keeps you on the edge of your seat, not only because of how atmospheric it feels, but also thanks to the actual gameplay significance that light and dark mechanics have in Requiem.

One of the game’s most terrifying sequences sees Grace navigating the Care Center’s basement, where she has to find a way out through darkened, claustrophobic corridors by slowly bringing the power back on. It feels like a proper ordeal, with zombies and the aforementioned Shadow Ghost often seeming like unsurmountable obstacles, and probably stands as some of the best and most memorable content in the entire game.

When Requiem switches to Leon – who has intermittent sequences through the game’s first half, before taking over as the primary protagonist in the second – the gameplay takes on a much more action-oriented style, echoing Resident Evil 5 in more ways than one. Leon carries his attaché case, which means he has access to a much larger inventory.

He also carries, of course, a variety of powerful weapons, which can be upgraded, and also usually has access to much more ammo and resources, while also being able to acquire new weapons to add to his arsenal. He has far greater melee capabilities, from vicious attacks and parries with his hatchet to skull-smashing punches, roundhouse kicks, and more. He can pick up weapons dropped by zombies (as can the zombies themselves), allowing him to slaughter foes with pipes, cleavers, and even chainsaws.

"If there’s one issue I have with Leon’s sections in Resident Evil Requiem, it’s that they focus a little too much on action elements."

Sure enough, gameplay as Leon is significantly more action-driven than it is as Grace, where it evokes Resident Evil’s greatest horror highs. Thankfully, it is almost just as effective. If you enjoyed the action gameplay of the likes of Resident Evil 5, and most of Village, Requiem’s Leon sections will very much be to your taste. Combat feels brutal and satisfying, with tight and punchy mechanics and movement, making every kill feel visceral and impactful.

Each weapon feels excellent to shoot, while different secondary ways to deal with enemies, impressive enemy variety, and their unpredictable behaviour and attacks keep the action flowing and varied. It evokes all the tense adrenaline-fueled highs of past action-heavy RE titles, which is cranked up to eleven in many of the boss fights, and high-octane set piece sequences later in the game, when Leon is at the forefront.

Raccoon City is another one of Requiem’s highlights- Leon returns to the bombed-out remains of the city nearly thirty years after it was destroyed, exploring its streets, ruins, and more. Exploring Raccoon City is an absolute delight, with interconnected paths and plenty of locked doors and obstacles lending themselves perfectly to the classic level design that the series is known for. Leon’s return to Raccoon City also sees him coming across plenty of familiar sights and locations, including what’s left of the RPD building, all of which goes hand-in-hand with plenty of surprises related to both narrative and gameplay that longtime fans in particular will appreciate, but also compelling nuances for the grizzled and battle-hardened Leon’s characterization.

If there’s one issue I have with Leon’s sections in Resident Evil Requiem, it’s that they focus a little too much on action elements. At this point, it goes without saying that the winner in Resident Evil’s long-running push-and-pull between action and horror will always be subjective, based on each player’s individual tastes. I happen to fall in the camp that prefers the series’ horror side, so as much as I did greatly enjoy Requiem’s latter half – especially the time you spend in Raccoon City – from a gameplay and design perspective, I found Grace’s sections more engaging.

"Back to the game’s strengths- the camera perspectives you choose while playing as Grace and Leon also have an impact on your gameplay experience."

In fact, I’d say RE9’s final hour (or thereabouts) as a whole is relatively weaker compared to the spectacular highs of the rest of the game. Gameplay becomes a little too action-oriented for the majority of this section, the level design largely loses the layered and intricate feel of the Care Center or Raccoon City, and progression becomes significantly less important, with gameplay feeling much more limited and prescribed than in the rest of the game.

There are also some narrative stumbles that do leave some slight dents in the overall experience- though I obviously can’t go into more detail there. Don’t get me wrong, Requiem is still a lot of fun to play even when it is at its weakest, and all told, its story is still one of Resident Evil’s strongest, but its final section does feel like a step down compared to the majority of the experience- then again, that is something that the series has often struggled with in the past.

Back to the game’s strengths- the camera perspectives you choose while playing as Grace and Leon also have an impact on your gameplay experience. Combining Resident Evil’s first- and third-person halves, Requiem allows you to switch between the two freely, so you can play from both perspectives as both Leon and Grace.

The developer recommends sticking to first-person as Grace and third-person as Leon, and after my fifteen-hour playthrough, I fully agree with that recommendation, given how well those perspectives enhance Grace and Leon’s horror and action vibes respectively. It’s also impressive just how much time and effort the developer has poured into making RE9 a game that you can legitimately play, from beginning to end, either in first- or third-person, without compromising the experience in any way.

This isn’t like the clunky, post-launch addition that was Resident Evil Village’s third-person mode- regardless of whether you’re playing Requiem in first- or third-person, the game boasts immaculate polish, tight UI design, impressive animations, engaging gameplay, and breathtaking visuals.

"Combined with spectacular audio design, RE9 stands as another impressive visual, artistic, and technical notch on the genre’s belt."

Yes, unsurprisingly, Requiem is an unequivocal visual showpiece. The developer has been known to show off the technical and visual prowess of the RE Engine with Resident Evil titles, and Requiem feels like another jaw-dropping step forward on that front.

Incredible lighting, an obsessive level of attention to detail, gleefully disgusting blood, gore, and dismemberment mechanics, and impressive animations and performance capture come together to craft a visually stunning experience unlike any other this franchise has delivered to date- which is really saying something. Combined with spectacular audio design, RE9 stands as another impressive visual, artistic, and technical notch on the genre’s belt.

Resident Evil Requiem is an important entry in the franchise, and when all is said and done, it stands tall to the herculean task it undertakes. Releasing alongside the series’ 30^th anniversary, it serves as a worthy follow-up to the overarching Resident Evil story, which had been dormant for some time now, while also being both, a meaningful step forward and a great introduction point for newcomers.

We’ll see with time where it ranks among the series’ best outings, but for now, I can confidently say that Resident Evil Requiem is yet another impressive high for the horror franchise.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.