Resident Evil Village Has the Largest, Most Vertical Environments in the Series’ History

Capcom has said in the past that Resident Evil Village is going to be a much larger game than RE7 was, while the game’s map also suggests that its world is going to be an expansive place with plenty of room for exploration. In the recent Game Informer issue, the upcoming survival horror title has taken centerstage, with plenty of new details revealed about it (summarized by Aesthetic Gamer aka Dusk Golem on Twitter), and new information on the world has also come to light.

According to Capcom, Resident Evil Village’s world has the largest environments ever in Resident Evil history. While that obviously means more expansive and open spaces, that translates to verticality as well, with the developer saying that Village’s environments are also more vertical than any previous RE game. To account for these larger environments, Ethan’s movement speed has been increased, but to ensure that the game is still more horrror than action, Capcom have taken steps to make the enemies a much more intense threat as well.

This verticality, of course, also plays a role in the game’s combat, with several enemy types, such as the Lycans, designed specifically around said verticality. In addition, the village’s larger, more intricate design is also meant to encourage greater mechanical depth, with players now having more options in how to tackle various different scenarios and combat situations (such as using environmental hazards to their advantage, for instance).

Capcom also explains that the titular village that serves as the game’s setting actually has no name- it’s just referred to as the village, and there’s actually a narrative reason for it, which will be revealed in the game. With the village, Capcom have tried to strike a balance between desolate beauty and grotesque sights, with the locale itself being beautiful and vast, but elements such as corpses, goat heads, and dead animals providing a contrast to that. Something else that Capcom wanted to do with the setting was for it to serve as a culmination of the series’ 25-year history, with a balance being struck between horror and action.

Resident Evil Village launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 7.

New details and gameplay footage will be revealed at tomorrow’s Resident Evil Showcase, so stay tuned.