Editorial | Resident Evil 7: Reenter the survival horror, Capcom's Redemption.

 

Warning: Graphic Images

By Sam Coles:

Capcom in today’s gaming climate seem to be on top of their game, but it wasn’t that long ago when they fell from grace. In the late 2000’s and early 2010’s Capcom didn’t really know what to do with their properties, they thought everyone wanted Gears of War and Call of Duty spliced into Resident Evil. No Capcom we wanted a Resident Evil game, however around 2017 they redeemed themselves with Resident Evil 7, a return to form and a rather different direction for the series in a good way of course. With Resident Evil Village nearly out, let’s talk about Resident Evil 7 in detail.

In 2016 rumours began to circulate about a new Resident Evil, and it was set to return to its survival horror routes. However what caught people off guard and gave them some trepidation, was the fact that it was going to be first person. This rumour received some backlash as fans were not happy with the perspective change; most at the time wanted a new fix camera angle game. When E3 2016 rolled around Capcom drop the new trailer on Sony’s stage and people’s perception changed, everyone was now excited for the new direction. We wouldn’t have to wait long for the new title, as Resident Evil 7 released in January of 2017, and what we got was tense and claustrophobic.

The story took a different approach this time round as it left behind the bombast and ridiculousness of the previous games, where they got Richard Pearsey to write the story, which if that name doesn’t sound familiar he wrote F.E.A.R and Spec Ops: The Line. The narrative is more subtle and probably explains the whole creepy little girl aspect, where the F.E.A.R influences start to bleed through.

Anyway it takes place in rural America in a swampy and creepy Residence, where the enemies are not zombies but homicidal rednecks which sounds stupid but is more terrifying than you think. They are infected with a mould which takes over their minds, gives them super human healing and gives them the ability to hit as hard as a jackhammer. It’s all very creepy and terrifying, especially when Jack Baker stalks the corridors for him to disappear and comes crashing through a wall.  

Gameplay as I have already said is from a first person perspective; however despite the change of camera it still retains the feel of old school Resident Evil. You still have inventory management which you can expand throughout the game, you have to conserve ammunition for the tougher fights and you are about as fragile as a mouldy peach. It all comes together seamlessly making encounters and exploration feel claustrophobic with the first person view point, which is a great fit for the horror genre.

You do of course get your hands on weapons you have your standard fair and say it with me now pistol, shotgun and machine gun. As you progress through the game you find more exotic weapons such as flamethrowers, trigger bombs (which you will have loads at the end of the game) and a chainsaw when you have a one on one fight with Jack Baker. All these weapons sound great and feel amazing to use especially the shotgun, each hit with melee weapons is heavy and every pull of the trigger feels real as you are not adept with firearms as you are a normal person which adds to the tension.

In terms of the visuals they are fantastic, this was the debut of Capcom’s new engine simply named the RE Engine. Character models look photorealistic with full body performances, bodies get mangled and eviscerated with bloody and giblets flying everywhere. I never thought I could say this but everything looks disgusting and I can almost smell the visuals, but I mean this in a good light as that is part of the grotesque aesthetic. Overall the visuals were and still are joy to look at; Capcom would go on to use this engine in other RE games as well as other properties like Devil May Cry 5.

Resident Evil 7 was a big wakeup call for Capcom as they realised that their audience wanted a traditional survival horror, and that is what we got. It has a tense and creepy atmosphere, heart pounding combat and a graphics engine that wows me with its detail. They would go on to make Resident Evil 2 remake two years after the release of 7, as well as a remake of 3 and of course Resident Evil Village which is set to release on May of 2021. I can’t wait to see how they evolve the first person formula.