Where Fear Meets the Family—Surviving the Nightmare
Resident Evil 6 was considered the lowest end of the mainline series. Not because it was particularly terrible, but because it seemed to have lost all sense of identity. Resident Evil was always a bit heavier on the action compared to Silent Hill, but it still retained its horror elements. Resident Evil 4 birthed a new era for the series but still managed to balance its action and horror aspects. RE5 was a fair enough sequel, but was considered underwhelming and tipped more towards action. RE6 threw all the horror out the window and was just a straight up silly action third-person-shooter; an extremely generic one at that. Resident Evil was again showing signs of fatigue and many had thought the series had run its course and was deader than the pile of zombies outside the RCPD building. 5 years later, Resident Evil 7 would be released. Capcom did what Capcom does best- wiped the palate clean and started over.
Resident Evil 7 finds your average Joe, Ethan Winters, investigating the disappearance of his wife Mia. This leads him to a sinister mansion in the deep rural bayou of Louisiana.. Upon entering the mansion, he quickly discovers something is very off. He finds his wife, but something finds him too. The evil residents of this house, the Baker family, welcome Ethan with open arms as they attempt to open him up like a can of gumbo soup. Evil mutant redneck cannibals, what a mouth full.
Resident Evil 7 is a first for the series to play in First-Person perspective. While RE:Survivor was technically a FPS, that was light-gun shooter, and also a rancid pile of rotten brain matter. RE7 would be the first proper first-person perspective for the mainline games. This helps build terror and suspense as the horror is literally in your face. Ethan will find an assortment of weapons to use against these raging rednecks- shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers and even a freaking chainsaw. However, when papa bear Jack Baker is out and about looking for you, these weapons do fuck-all besides make him hillbilly rage further. While the stealth sections are limited, they are pretty intense. Puzzles make a comeback. They are balanced and clever enough, considering how piss poor they were in the previous game.
One huge welcomed return for this series is that it goes back into horror roots (for the most part). RE7 takes the bloated approach of RE6 and trims all that fatty zombie tissue right off for a nice slick piece of meat. The mansion in this game is equal parts haunting as it is beautiful. Taking inspiration from the acclaimed P.T demo, the hallways feel tight and claustrophobic as you pray a maniac or monster is not behind the next corner. This home feels like something straight out of an Evil Dead or Texas Chainsaw film. The mansion is dank, dirty, and decaying. Open up the fridge to find a platter of human remains or corpses stored in the basement. This is all accompanied by a haunting soundtrack, giving a heavy sense of atmospheric ambience and a Southern-gothic influence.
The bosses in this game are good, but not great. The previous titles, even during the PS1 era, were known for big, bad, and bombastic boss fights. Here, they are much simpler and smaller in scale. They aren’t terrible, just a tad underwhelming. This game does an overall solid job with its gameplay and presentation. However it’s sadly a bit uneven. The first 2 acts of this game are some of the best in the entire series. The 3rd act is the weakest and poorly paced. It seemed like they were really on to something for the first 2/3rds of this game, only to toss it and show its series’ trappings. Not to mention while the previous bosses are good enough, the final boss is just out right bad. The twist they reveal at the end is also half-baked, it seems they just didn’t know how to wrap up the story. It’s not awful, it just falls a little flat and is a noticeable drop in quality.
Even with a shoddy 3rd act, Resident Evil 7 is a great return to form for the series. This game revived and more-or-less reinvented the series. This game has a lot to offer. A solid main story with some great DLC and minigames are a pretty complete package that you shouldn’t dismiss after the main story. This game, alongside RE4, is living proof that you shouldn’t be afraid to try something different; It might just pay off. Enter the mansion, save your wife and show those murderous redneck cannibals some Southern hospitality.
Stay out of the swamps,
Fil