Review: ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ captures three eras of a landmark franchise
“Resident Evil” has introduced several heroes across its 30-year history, but its main villain has lived in the shadows. It’s not Albert Wesker, but rather, the man pulling the strings behind the evil corporation Umbrella — Lord Oswell Spencer.
The billionaire virologist has his fingerprints all over the series. He built the zombie-filled mansion in the original game. He was behind the Wesker Project that created a major antagonist. Spencer learned his trade under the Mother Miranda, whose experiments with mold were at the center of the first-person “Resident Evil” projects starring Ethan Winters.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXVy4mALHLYTWO HEROES IN ONE ADVENTURESpencer’s actions have created a world obsessed with bioweapons and that legacy is at the heart of “Resident Evil Requiem,” a brilliant celebration of the landmark survival-horror series. The project features two protagonists: Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst whose traumatic past catches up to her, and Leon Kennedy, a survivor of the Raccoon City incident and hardened veteran of several “Resident Evil” campaigns.
Kennedy, working as a Division of Security Operations agent, is on the trail of Dr. Victor Gideon, a former Umbrella researcher who has set a trap and kidnaps Grace. Over the course of several hours, the fates of Leon and Grace intertwine as they both explore Gideon’s Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center and return to the nuked ruins of Raccoon City after a zombie outbreak decades ago.
With “Resident Evil Requiem,” Capcom blends the best ideas of the past three decades into a campaign that’s thrilling while introducing innovative touches that deepen the experience. It’s a game that can be played in the first-person perspective of the newer chapters or the third-person behind the shoulder view that began with “Resident Evil 4.”
A METHODICAL GRACEBy default, “Requiem” switches between the perspectives. Grace, the new protagonist, has her sections in the first person, and the game begins with her as she navigates a hospital after an outbreak occurred. Her gameplay focuses on pure survival horror. She begins with no weapons, just a flashlight. As she ventures through the building, she’ll have to be stealthy and outsmart a near-indestructible creature stalking the halls.
In this chunk, the developers ratchet up the tension because Grace has limited resources. She’ll eventually acquire a gun, but bullets are scarce. She’ll find makeshift knives, but these deteriorate with every use. As Grace, players have to read the environment and decide whether a confrontation is worthwhile or not.
The pace is slower and more methodical as players figure out puzzles, and they even have to figure out the infected people’s behaviors. In “Requiem,” the zombie-like creatures have memories of their past lives and go about their routines in the hospital. Nurses will chase after disorderly patients. Cooks will chop flesh in the kitchen. It’s a clever way for the developers to add environmental storytelling while also creating smarter infected.
Although Grace is weak at the start, she gains firearms to defend herself, but the more improtant mechanic is the crafting system that Capcom built into her gameplay. By analzying special blood vials, she gains recipes for crafting all sorts of tools such as Hemolytic Injectors that can make the infected explode. With rarer pieces, she can even add permanent stat boosts to her firepower or health.
Toward the end, crafting becomes vital as she MacGyvers solutions to harrowing scenarios.
LEON’S VISCERAL GUNPLAYThe other parts of “Requiem” puts players in the shoes of an ailing Leon Kennedy. His levels are more action-oriented and echo the gameplay that began in “Resident Evil 4.” It’s a different take on survival horror that creates tension through combat and an overwhelming horde of foes. Players will need to keep an eye on ammo and conserve resources, but they also have to be aware of the infected swarming around him while eyeing escape routes so they aren’t cornered.
In these visceral scenarios, players will have anxiety as they try to keep Leon alive through ambushes and relentless pursuits. They may also have to sharpen his ax, which is an indestructible melee weapon that can be reused.
What’s notable about “Requiem” is that though Leon and Grace will visit the same locales. They don’t share inventory, nor will leaving one item help the other. This isn’t “Resident Evil 2.” Grace and Leon play so differently that their weapons and styles are incompatible.
That’s emphasized in the second act of the campaign when Leon snaps on a Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance bracelet that tracks how many infected he kills. For every foe eliminated, he gains credits that are used at Supply Boxes to buy new weapons, ammo, armor and weapon upgrades. It adds a more arcadelike element reminiscent of the extra modes in other “Resident Evil” titles.
Although it feels gimmicky, the boxes add strategy and survival elements. That’s because Leon lacks a traditional storage container. He can’t empty out his supplies in one and pick it up elsewhere. Leon has a massive suitcase, and players will have to craft more bullets or use up ammo to gain more space. They can also sell weapons if need be. Players have to be smart in how they spend their credits.
With a game celebrating the franchise’s 30th anniversary, “Requiem” could have easily felt like a greatest hits compilation that recycles old ideas. Instead, Capcom masterfully weaves two characters and gameplay styles into a narrative that’s satisfying as a standalone adventure for newcomers, but for fans, this entry will mean much more. It’s a work that encapsulates three distinct eras of the franchise into a coherent whole and shows a team that’s at the top of their survival-horror game.
‘Resident Evil Requiem’
Four starsPlatform:PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, PCRating Mature