Plot: FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft is sent to investigate a case at a hotel where she’s ultimately forced to face her past.
Review: Much like a crowd of zombies after hurling a leaking gas tank into the oncoming horde, Capcom is on fire right now. The time-honored game studio unleashed the latest chapter of its Resident Evil franchise late last month, Resident Evil: Requiem, and it’s an all-timer. From the start, Requiem takes a different approach to the hallowed horror franchise by putting you in control of Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst with a traumatic past, an anxiety disorder, and personal demons to exorcise. As Grace, your boss tasks you with investigating a rash of mysterious bodies, the latest body having been discovered at the Wrenwood Hotel, where Grace’s mother met her untimely end several years prior. Gathering her wits and limited expertise in fieldwork, Grace investigates and quickly discovers that the past is far from over, and the reason she’s a walking disaster is that the horror will start again if she doesn’t get her s**t together.
By placing us in Grace’s shoes, Requiem leaves players feeling vulnerable as they explore the hotel, Grace’s labored breath catching with each discovery, and startling revelations about a shadowy organization, Umbrella, striving to create bioweapons out of humankind, living or dead, it doesn’t matter. On a similar path to uncover the truth about Umbrella’s latest apocalypse in the making is Leon S. Kennedy, a seasoned veteran and fan-favorite hero of the Resident Evil franchise. By giving players control of two vastly different characters, Capcom splits the game into two halves. Grace traverses the game’s terror-inducing, haunted-house-like beats. At the same time, Leon tackles the more action-heavy sections like a ’90s action hero on steroids, complete with one-liners and grimdark humor that make him a fan favorite.
Among many stand-out elements of Resident Evil: Requiem is the game’s pacing. The writing team knows exactly when to end a chapter of the game, pushing you toward set pieces involving over-the-top action or the next piece of a dark mystery. At the center of both game types is Requiem‘s villain, Dr. Victor Gideon, a former Umbrella Corporation researcher obsessed with carrying out the eugenicist legacy of Oswell E. Spencer. Antony Byrne plays Dr. Gideon to perfection, introducing a corrupt antagonist who’s oddly charismatic, creepy, and dangerous. Beyond his imposing look, with his infected complexion, Icabod Crane-like headgear, and crooked gold teeth, I love, love, love Dr. Gideon’s voice. It’s strangely soothing, and one of the best voice performances I’ve ever heard in a video game.
Regarding gameplay, Resident Evil: Requiem never stops perfecting old tricks or introducing new ways to fight your way through hell while playing as either Grace or Leon. While not as skilled as Leon, Grace is a survivor, constantly innovating and using her know-how to craft items that give her an advantage. At the start of the game, Grace can barely wield Leon’s Requiem revolver. When she takes aim, her hands tremble, the gun sways, and you essentially need to fire it on a wing and a prayer. However, as Grace makes her way through the game, she becomes more capable, her aim steadies, and by the end, she’s firing that cannon as straight as an arrow. It’s an awesome progression, and we love to see it. In the handful of reviews I’ve seen, critics aren’t giving Grace’s evolution enough credit. She’s a fantastic addition to Resident Evil‘s pantheon of heroes, and I’d like nothing more than to continue her story in another game.
Meanwhile, Leon’s gonna Leon, with his knee-slapping one-liners, no-holds-barred attitude, and fearless approach to reducing zombies to nothing but a pile of mince meat. I played through the game on a PlayStation 5, and the control over both characters was flawless. I never felt the game hitch, my character never misbehaved, and if I died, I knew it was my fault, not the game’s. Capcom has spent decades polishing the Resident Evil gameplay experience, and its efforts have never been as rewarding as with Requiem.
Another outstanding element of Requiem is that the game doesn’t forget its roots. Included in the dread-filled adventure are all the puzzle elements you remember from the game’s past. Find the key, read the document, locate the missing fuse, fill a tank with gasoline. All the stars are here! Still, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and Requiem does an exemplary job of impeding progress through puzzles without losing the game’s killer pace or sense of urgent exploration. Furthermore, while some Resident Evil games tend to dip in quality during the game’s final act, Requiem feels like a game comprised of three Act 1s stitched together for a non-stop injection of fun, action-packed immediacy. In my experience, there are no boring stretches, and, as I said, switching between Grace and Leon and back again feels like a formula Capcom has perfected and should use in RE games in the future.
If you’re looking for Resident Evil: Requiem to do more than play the hits, don’t worry, there’s some cool stuff waiting for you in this game. For example, the infected behave differently in Requiem. Blind zombies, for example, will only react to sound, so if you don’t make any noise, you can usually sneak past them pretty easily. However, if you want to use this quirk to your advantage, you can throw a bottle toward an enemy, and the blind zombie will follow the sound, swinging its IV pole in blind rage, damaging nearby enemies to a significant degree. In fact, if you’re strategic about it, you can get the blind zombie to take out some of the game’s stronger foes, like the Butcher, or Chunk, a massive, blob-like zombie slithering through the halls of the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. There are other enemies with behaviors that could work to your advantage, but I don’t want to spoil all the fun. My advice is to get creative. The game allows for several combinations of combat and antagonism that could turn the tide in your favor.
I remember buying the original Resident Evil sight-unseen from Planet Comics in the Smithhaven Mall on Long Island, New York, in 1996, and having it change my opinion of what horror video games could be. I’ve played every mainline entry in the franchise (and many of the spinoffs and offshoots), with my favorites being Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 7, and Resident Evil Village. If RE 7 felt like an homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Village was a twisted fairytale that was never concerned with taking itself too seriously, Resident Evil: Requiem is a shining example of how dedication, hard work, and imagination can take a decades-old property and make it feel like an essential example of how video games are still capable of blowing our minds. Resident Evil: Requiem is not only an early Game of the Year contender, but it’s also an entry that stands out as one of the best in the RE franchise. I’m already counting the days until Capcom officially announces DLC for Requiem, and I’m the proud owner of Grace Ashcroft’s Fortnite skin. I started my second playthrough of the game last night and don’t plan to stop until I’ve at least gotten all the alternate costumes. Or, until Capcom’s Pragmata comes out next month. Whichever comes first.
