Resident Evil Village PS5 Review-
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard represents a new beginning for the Resident Evil franchise, and this direct sequel to it is also a uniquely designed title. While the first person perspective is back, this 2nd tale of Ethan Winters is a combination of several elements that have been present in the series for years now. Where RE7 was a reintroduction to classic survival horror, this game has layers of horror packed on with action segments. The action is all very reminiscent of RE4, and the games atmospheres even resemble the Arklay Mountains that Leon pursued the President's daughter in all those years ago. Yet at the same time, RE Village manages to feel distinct enough to bear its own identity and therefore should be recognized as another astounding new "layer" of evolvement in the Resident Evil series.
The game begins with Ethan, his wife Mia, and their newborn baby daughter Rose, all enjoying the family life. Even in the early moments when all seems well, the tension can be felt in the air. Mia & Ethan find opposing ways to deal with the trauma that they witnessed at the Baker House in Louisiana. After the Baker incident, Ethan and Mia were immediately given new identity's with the aid of Chris Redfield, and were even moved to a new residence in Europe. The game officially "begins" when disaster strikes again for the family. Chris and his agents suddenly gun Mia down in a violent burst of carnage. Ethan is left bewildered and watches as Chris takes Rose and leaves before subduing Ethan with a kick. When Ethan comes to, another mystery has unfolded and the transport unit that were accompanying Ethan and Rose are found dead and the vehicle crashed in the snowy woods. Ethan quickly realizes that something very sinister lurks behind the scenes of these events, and Ethan sets off on foot to find his missing daughter. It doesn't take very long to discover that the tracks lead to a remote village tucked away beneath the mountaintops. Clueless as to where he is at on the map, Ethan begins his journey, unbeknownst that a new type of evil awaits him in this isolated countryside.
Lycans, or werewolves for a more popular term, are the new addition to the steadily evolving roster of enemies in the series, but Capcom has done an amazing job of making these enemies feel like rabid wolves with human features. The lycans are a very primitive type of enemy, and these creatures behave much differently to zombies or the mold of RE7. They tend to circle and outnumber their prey, howling viciously to draw more members of their pack to feast on their newfound prey, and this can be very intense for the fainthearted. The lycans are a scary, yet believable type of creature, one that differs in both appearance and behavior from most enemies encountered throughout the series in the past. They are a serious threat when encountered alone, which makes the large packs that players will have to face in the early parts of the game feel punishing. It's made clear very early that Ethan is vastly outnumbered, as not only are their lycans but talk of a leader of the village, Mother Miranda.
One thing that this new RE gets major credit for in my opinion is the interesting & mysterious group of villains it introduces. From the 8 foot tall gothic queen, Lady Dimitrescu, to the enigmatic Heisenberg, all the new villains seem to fit perfectly in the story that Village wants to tell. In the village where a lot of the gameplay takes place, each building tells a story. The environments that you explore are both stunning and picturesque, and they all feel like they belong. The locations you will explore can give you a better understanding of what each of these villains goals were and represent what kind of person they were. A good example is Lady Dimitrescu, and her magnificent castle estate. There is a major gothic/vampire feel to the architecture, and the dark corridors that are filled within are all enough to bring the chills to anyone. It is a much prettier game than the drab, swampy terrain of the last game. Each location will give you plenty of ideas or theories of what terrible events presumably took place before your arrival. The PS5 makes every single color pop onscreen and the artwork continues to impress as the game goes on. Even though this will be your first time traversing these dangerous, yet beautiful areas, you will be able to sense the history behind the origins of the villa and its people.
Moving on, there is another huge similarity to RE4 in the case of the Merchant, (no not the same one from RE4) a huge obese man who goes by the name "The Duke". He can sell items and ammo for the majority of the game, making the inventory management of the series past games a thing of the past. While you will still have to manage your inventory at times, it is nowhere close to the recent RE2's Remakes small inventory size. The Duke can also cook meals that will provide permanent buffs to Ethan's health and other abilities. These meals can be found in the form of the cattle and wildlife you may encounter throughout the game. Since there is a merchant to buy ammo from items from, the fear and worry that were always present in play through's of the earlier games in the series does not occur here, and this makes things easier, however I would have preferred that element returning as it does add to the overall experience in a survival horror sim. There are many weapons to be found or purchased from the Duke, and most of them can also be customized for even more firepower or other qualities. The selection of weaponry may be basic but Capcom has done a wonderful job at implementing the haptic feedback into squeezing the triggers of these weapons. The resistance is very much felt when pressing the L2 button to aim and then the R2 button to fire. This effect immerses you in the experience and makes it feel as though you are truly fighting for your life, adding to the overal experience as a whole. It's awesome that this PS5 game fully utilizes the new hardware capabilities and does so very well. Not to mention the super fast load times the SSD effortlessly wields. This is a true marvel of what this generation of consoles is capable of!
As an added bonus, when you do beat the campaign, new modes are revealed as well as unlockable weapons and a very nice gallery of art and character models to view. There are even tidbits of lore and backstory explained in some of the bonuses shown, and I can appreciate the length Capcom has went to make sense of the wild events that will transpire. They still manage to do so admirably, and nothing is left unanswered, well except for one thing that happens before the end credits roll! I won't spoil it but I would not be surprised for future additions. And I most surely welcome that!
RE Village is about a 7 hour journey that you will not want to end. Each of the new characters introduced all pay homage to what has made RE great for all these years, memorable and horrifying enemies, sinister plots that go deeper than initially realized, and still manages to tie up all the loose ends of the past events and bring it up to date to current events. Capcom continues to impress and evolve the gameplay with every new mainline entry in the series. RE Village is a wonderful good time, and is the perfect mish-mash of horror, action and intense shootouts that have become a core part of the identity of Resident Evil for so many years. Hats off to ya Capcom, not only does Village impress on it's own scale, but is a much memorable chapter than RE7 was and proves that once again that Capcom has not lost sight of what we love about Resident Evil!! Go play it!