An exceptional, albeit flawed sequel to a series that had somewhat lost its way
Resident Evil 6 was a big disappointment, I say that as an impassioned fan who loves each of the main entries into the series. So I've been anticipating the follow up with some trepidation and hope, the reveal at E3 last year left me curious and excited, but I was also worried about the change to first person perspective. It seemed like Capcom were taking cues from other recent survival horror games such as Outcast and Amnesia. Although I eventually welcomed the change, I was still afraid that it would be one step too far from the series and what I wanted.
But I was wrong, with its item management, save rooms, clever puzzles and backtracking within a contained environment, Resident Evil 7 shares many of the original inceptions of what the series was before the fourth game came along. The story begins when Ethan Winters receives a message from his wife, Mia, who has been missing for three years. The message leads him to a plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana, where he crosses paths with the seemingly manic Baker family, and it's from here that the game begins its twisted journey.
As I said, for the most part, the game's setting is situated in contained environments, where you progress by unlocking doors and solving puzzles, with the obvious enemies stopping you in your tracks. This accommodates the first person perspective wonderfully, not only do you have to be observant (far more than I expected), but it makes the game's atmosphere terrifying (if you think you have the stomach for it, play it with the lights off and the headphones in). Rather than looking in from the outside, you feel like you're playing a bigger role within the game.
As with the earlier games in the series, ammo and health supplies are scant, and have to be managed within a certain limit. The item management is fair and should not cause that much frustration, only twice did I come into any kind of difficulty, and both times it was during boss fights. Veterans of the series will be familiar with the save room and the item box, at certain points in the game they will come to much great relief for the player. But fear not, the game does have a checkpoint system that is pretty generous for this type of game.
It’s only in the last third of the game that the action really ups the ante, from a shotgun to a flame thrower, to a grenade launcher, there is a surprisingly impressive amount of arsenal that will be at your disposal at various points. All of them can used in different ways against different enemies, but as with tradition in a Resident Evil game, try and use them as sparingly as possible.
The shooting works well, don’t expect anything near to the stellar gunplay like that of Battlefield or even Call of Duty. The gunplay in Resident Evil 7 is simple but perfectly fits the purpose of what the game is trying to achieve, in that you’re a character fighting for survival rather than a soldier going into combat.
The sparse but contained way you explore the environments from the early Resident Evil games does return. From the Spencer Mansion to Raccoon City Police Department, one of the greatest and most overlooked aspects of the early Resident Evil games was that the settings were characters within themselves. One half of Resident Evil 7 achieves this, the Baker family plantation is the stuff of nightmares, it’s uninviting and imprisoning, but at the same time you want to know more about it, you want to explore every nook and cranny, not just for the game’s progression but from curiosity point of view as well.
The game’s presentation has a grimy, repellent look to it, the colour palette is dark and devoid of much variety, and it suits the claustrophobic atmosphere that keeps hold for most of the game. However, some of the textures on closer inspection feel dated and very last generation, and while everything is designed proficiently, there is a certain familiarity that makes the game repeat tropes from not only other titles in the series, but other survival horror games in general.
This is most notable in the rather bland enemy designs (sorry no zombies here I'm afraid), which there are far too few of. While the game is more grounded and nowhere near the bombast of some of the other games in the series, it would have been nice to see something a little more surprising and imaginative. In the first part of the game you have to overcome the Baker family, you have the father, Jack, who stalks you with a shovel and doesn't seem like he can be killed. Marguerite, the mother, who you have to stealthily avoid in case you don't want to be killed by the bugs that surround her. And then you have the son, Lucas, to which you have to escape his traps and mind games. All of these are challenging and terrifying, you have very little weaponry, and each of them have to be defeated in different ways, which helps mix the gameplay up.
Which brings me to the boss battles, a staple of the series right from the beginning, and to be honest it's a mixed bag here. None of them are particularly smart or reach their potential, and some are just damn right annoying. However, they do provide a tough challenge and while the premise doesn't always work, the set up and the eventual progression is rewarding.
I completed the game in under nine hours which is about average for a Resident Evil game, but once you have completed it you unlock the madhouse difficulty, in case you want an extra challenge. And if you don't fancy going back for an extra challenge, the chances are you will want to go back for some of the items and files that you might have missed the first time round.
Verdict
Resident Evil 7 is a fantastic game and one that erases the mistakes of the sixth entry in the series and goes back to its survival horror roots, it works well as both a semi-reboot and a continuation within the series lore. But it has to be said that the first two thirds of the game is far superior to the last third, towards its conclusion the game becomes far too linear and a bit of a lull. The final boss is unforgivably bad and the eventual ending is also a bit anti-climatic.
But overall, I'd recommend the game to anyone, whether you're new to the series or a fanboy, it's definitely a buy from me. It's just a few flaws away from being a true classic, but its wet my appetite for what they will offer next.
8/10
8/10
