Is this the scariest Resident Evil yet?
A new era of survival horror arrives with Resident Evil Requiem, the latest and most immersive entry yet in the iconic Resident Evil series. Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core.
The Resident Evil series has always had its fair share of jump scares or feeling of dread, either by being pursued by the likes of Nemesis or later enemies like any of the Baker family or Lady Dimitrescu. The switch to first-person from RE7 continued into Village, but later added a third-person mode, while Requiem gives the choice of both throughout the entire game for both Grace and Leon’s sections. You can change them at any time, but both characters’ sections are very different in their tone. The game recommends first person view for Grace and third-person for Leon, but it’s really up to you.
Grace’s sections will have you walking around more carefully, not trying to bring attention to yourself as you will attract certain large roaming nightmare-fuelled enemies, while Leon’s are more akin to Resident Evil 4’s high-action. Grace will get to use Leon’s Requiem revolver and eventually even craft ammo for it, the gun itself packs a hell of a punch and can make short work of some enemies, so understandably ammo is scarce for it.
The story itself has some great moments, introduces new and interesting protagonists and antagonists, while setting up things for future story content either through the announced story DLC or through a sequel. There is a good bit of fan service as the story takes us back to the ruins of Raccoon City, but its well-deserved and doesn’t compromise the overall plot. I personally think it’s the best told Resident Evil story and the switch of atmospheric tones between Grace and Leon is handled really well.
The traditional survival horror experience is still here as you solve puzzles with limited resources like health and ammo. You’ll still have to do things like gather 3 of a certain item like keys to progress. There are some high-octane moments along the way, but ultimately this is Resident Evil at its core. It’s controls and combat are more refined, with parrying being essential for some encounters.
The visuals are without a doubt the best of the series. I played both the Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 Pro versions, and while the latter is obviously the higher end version, I was seriously impressed with how the Switch 2 version held up in comparison, especially on the go. Load times between the two were fairly similar as well thanks to the SSD in both machines. I was really impressed with the ray-tracing in the PS5 Pro version, which didn’t seem to compromise the resolution or framerate at all. Though that could be part of the updated PSSR support.
While I enjoyed RE7 and Village, Requiem feels like a happy balance between maintaining that level of horror but also pleasing long-term fans of the series who are naturally looking for more familiar characters and lore tied to Raccoon City, Umbrella and so on.
The Verdict
Resident Evil Requiem is a nice return of sorts for the franchise, adding in fan service for veterans but also finding a nice blend between old-school Resident Evil and the past few entries. It has a great story throughout and I can’t wait to see where they take it next, if the next game will have even more familiar faces or not and to see if any of the new plot threads go anywhere…
