Resident Evil: Village (PS4) Review

The survival horror continues.

 

 Resident Evil: Village (or just Resident Evil 8) is the latest in Capcom's hit Resident Evil series. The sequel to the 2017 soft reboot Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Ethan Winters is back in a new, more gruesome adventure to save his only family from a new threat. As a big fan of Resident Evil and especially RE7, I was excited to hear that it was finally getting a sequel. Taking inspirations from both Resident Evil 7 and the iconic Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Village aims to deliver another unique experience. So does it live up to expectations?

 We follow Resident Evil 7 protagonist Ethan Winters as he's seemingly moved on from the events of the Baker Incident, though he's dragged back into another gut-punching adventure when his family is torn apart by series hero, Chris Redfield. Now in a remote village in Europe, Ethan must save his daughter, Rose, from the clutches of a religious cult while uncovering the reason for her kidnapping. Along the way, he'll be mercilessly attacked by a wide-bunch of creatures and put in some deadly situations, which means that Ethan just can't take a break.

The story was neatly written and got me engaged into finding out what's next in the adventure. It was full of twists and surprise revelations, with the ending being a sad one too. It's worth noting that you'll need to have played RE7 to fully enjoy the story and get the big picture. As for the characters, Ethan steals the show for me as I loved seeing him grow into more of a bad-ass compared to the last game and fight through hell to save his daughter, which was relatable. The supporting cast were fine and Chris' motivations get explained late into the story, despite him getting few screen-time. The villains are one-dimensional as their stories are told in story files and audio logs, though each of their chapters were pretty cool. 

Ethan will fight through more
trouble this time around.

 Resident Evil: Village continues the first-person gameplay introduced in RE7 while keeping the series survival horror roots intact. You'll be controlling Ethan as you explore the village, battling enemies and looking for treasures. You'll come across a wide selections of guns ranging from pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers to use--though being a survival horror game-- ammo is scarce and should be used sparingly. In addition to shooting, Ethan can block oncoming attacks with his arms, though I personally felt that a dodge button would've helped a lot more than just bracing for an attack. Crafting makes a return since you get to craft health kits and ammo when you're in a bind. While the game does a great job at making you feel vulnerable at all times with the limited ammo and hordes of enemies, it strangely went full-on Call of Duty with its action during the last chapter. 

The first-person gameplay is back
and better than before!

 The game's village is semi-open world since you get to explore lots of houses for treasures to sell, resources to use for crafting, and diary entries that offer insight into the lives of the villagers. It also takes heavy inspirations from Resident Evil 4. Most of your progress is impeded by locked doors early on, meaning that you'll backtrack later in the story to unlock them once you've gotten the right keys. You also get to explore other areas like castles and factories, which were equally interesting and deadly as the village. Throughout your journey, you'll come across the Duke, a morbidly large merchant who'll sell you guns, ammo, and even upgrade your equipment in exchange for Lei, the game's currency. He's a lot like the merchant from RE4 as you can sell him treasures and get to hear some cool lines from him too. Also to complete that RE4 touch, typewriters and the suitcase inventory make a return as well!

The village is packed with enemies and they include the likes of werewolf-like Lycans, ghouls, vampires, oversized bats, and mechanical soldiers to name a few. They were varied and I always enjoyed seeing what was around the corner when exploring. The boss fights were fun and in series fashion, you'll be fighting some seriously grotesque and disgusting-ass creatures. It ultimately comes down to figuring their patterns and using every weapon in your inventory, which was satisfying when you finally take them down. 

You'll be fighting a bunch of
unsettling monstrosities.

 RE: Village took me over 10 hours to beat and that included searching for nearly all secrets and thoroughly exploring the village. While relatively short, the game is high on replay-value as you get to unlock higher difficulty levels upon beating the game alongside the Mercenaries Mode, which has you clearing waves of enemies using limited funds and weapons. Also, the game's achievement system encourages you to speed-run the game in the quickest time possible, unlocking some neat rewards. Sadly, the game has a few flaws like the puzzles being very easy to solve and overall being few in quantity. That and the village wasn't that special as the marketing made it out to be, it was cool to explore sure, but I wished that there were a few NPCs and activities that you can actively come back to, which could've made it feel more alive and interesting.

 Utilizing the now-famous RE Engine, RE: Village looks fantastic and more visually interesting than its predecessor. The village, character designs, and backgrounds were detailed and distinct, even on the PS4. Speaking of that, the game ran great on the PS4 Pro as I chose Frame-Rate Mode, which ran at a smooth 60FPS with little issues. There were slight pop-in textures in the backgrounds, however. The voicework was commendable and packed some standout performances, namely Ethan and Lady Dimitrescu. As for the soundtrack (and also sound design), the team at Capcom did a fine job of creating tense moments and nailing the game's unsettling atmosphere.

Resident Evil: Village doesn't disappoint
with its presentation.

 Overall, Resident Evil: Village was a fun and solid experience all-around. While it doesn't reach the heights of its predecessors, it's easily one of the best in the series. The story was great and the characters were enjoyable, the gameplay's fun and more engaging than before, and the production-values is terrific, which is no surprise from a big-budget Capcom game. The throwbacks to RE4 were awesome and I can't wait to see whats next in store for the series. RE fans and newcomers alike will find a lot to enjoy in RE: Village, provided both have played the predecessor.