Review: Activating Your Fight Or Flight In RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

For a franchise that has been making scary games for years, I’m impressed with how well Resident Evil Village feels fresh, unique, and finds new ways to scare, create dread, and surprise players. While this game doesn’t have the same amount of visceral and mortifying terror as Resident Evil 7 had, the survival combat and lush roster of characters and story make for quite the gripping experience.

Let’s first talk about the story. I have not followed the Resident Evil franchise as closely as others, but it was great to go through this intense journey and appreciate the nods to past games. There is a lot of deeper explanation of the lore through big reveals and hidden bits of text. It is safe to see that this game plays well with newcomers and veterans alike. Players must make their way through the creepy village and stumble upon far more than they could ever expect. I was happy with the length and pacing of the cut scenes and game in general. I thought the missions and gameplay in between were just long enough to make players feel involved while never losing sight of the narrative. I do wish that the boss fights were a bit more involved and creative instead of running from a giant, impossible-to-defeat enemy until a cut scene dictated that I could shoot and kill them. As much fun as it is to run from scary monsters and hide or solve puzzles, having more creative boss fights and direct involvement with story beats would take the base gameplay up another level.

The gameplay shines just as well as the story. The variety of enemies, level design, and weapons create a well-rounded playground of death. But it also suffers from the lack of separation or lack of deeper involvement with the story. Sometimes I was unsure if I was walking around to find pieces to solve a puzzle or if I was wandering around waiting for a cutscene to happen to progress the story and campaign. That slight lack in direction never ruined my experience, it just made my involvement with the game was a bit more passive than active. But aside from that, the action set pieces and survival elements were top-notch and were some of the best that we’ve seen in Resident Evil games.

There is a lot to be said for this game, but I find it simply sits as a solid mix between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 7. If you enjoyed both or either game then this will probably be another great addition to your library. If you are unfamiliar with either one, that’s fine because this has more than enough baseline story and suspense for any horror fan to enjoy. It may feel a bit passive at times or vague in its objectives, but Resident Evil Village stands well with the other great Resident Evil game from the past.

Authors Note: This was played on a PlayStation 4. The performance was great and it looked surprisingly good for being on the “older” generation.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.