Probably the greatest online game franchises of all time returns this week with the outstanding “Resident Evil: Requiem,” a sport that takes how this franchise shifted its character with 2017’s “Resident Evil: Biohazard” and marries that type to what followers cherished concerning the latest remakes of “Resident Evil 2” and “Resident Evil 4.” It narratively echoes these early video games with the return of fan favourite Leon Kennedy whereas additionally interesting to those that fell in love with the collection by way of “Biohazard” and 2021’s “Resident Evil: Village.” It’s a bit shorter than it ought to be—it might have used a couple of more durable, intense boss battles late within the sport—however it’s persistently satisfying, riveting, and typically even terrifying.
“Requiem” opens with such a confidently conceived and directed prologue that it will get its hooks in you from the beginning. You start the sport as FBI Agent Grace Ashcroft, daughter of reporter Alyssa Ashcroft, a personality from 2004’s PS2 sport “Resident Evil: Outbreak.” The writers of the 30-year-old lore of “Resident Evil” have cherished to drop Easter eggs and references into their storytelling with growing frequency—Alyssa Ashcroft is even referenced in “Biohazard,” for instance—however “Requiem” sees them most aggressively weaving mythology from previous video games, most notably 2-4, into their new storytelling.
It options so many characters and places that Capcom has requested that we maintain most of them underneath wraps, however it’s been revealed that you just’ll be going again to Racoon Metropolis and going again to the origins of how all of this started. That alone ought to be a draw for followers of the collection, and it’s all dealt with extremely effectively narratively, not feeling like an inexpensive connection to the beloved video games however a brand new option to admire what you liked about all of them these years in the past.
Earlier than Racoon Metropolis, Grace goes to research a collection of murders at a decrepit resort known as the Wrenwood. These early sequences are gorgeous for his or her ambiance, with wind blowing by way of damaged home windows and rain on the road beneath. As your flashlight barely illuminates its method across the Wrenwood, the writing flashes again to Grace’s childhood, revealing that she could also be extra related to Leon and Umbrella than she is aware of. The whole sport could be performed in both first- or third-person, however the builders suggest enjoying in first-person for Grace’s tense story of survival and in third-person for Leon’s action-driven narrative. It’s actually like alternating between the stress of “Biohazard” and the explosivity of “RE4 Remake,” two of essentially the most beloved video games within the historical past of the franchise.
Grace’s story takes her to a medical facility known as Rhodes Hill Power Care Middle that’s been overtaken by a number of the most spectacular nightmare gas in online game historical past. There’s the large dude with a machete who stalks the halls, the factor that appears like an unlimited zombie child, after which there’s “the woman,” a creature who hunts Grace in darkness, avoidable by luring her into the sunshine. Grace’s half of “Requiem” facilities on puzzle-solving and stealth because the story strikes this sturdy new protagonist by way of a facility that brings again reminiscences of her darkish previous.
If we’re all determining how Grace obtained right here, together with the sport’s co-protagonist, Leon Kennedy’s journey has been well-documented. “Requiem” options an older Leon, dealing with each bodily degradation and the ghosts of his time in Racoon Metropolis. The gameplay on Leon’s aspect is similar to “Resident Evil 4 Remake” with considerably stronger weapons and an axe that matches effectively into enemy skulls.
There’s one thing remarkably satisfying about efficiently avoiding enemies in Grace’s chapter, solely to introduce those self same enemies to Leon’s shotgun in one among his sections of the sport. At occasions, the arcs intersect actually, comparable to in a sequence through which Leon gives sniper fireplace for a fleeing Grace. You get to know each of those characters not simply as cogs within the plot machine, but in addition how they transfer and the way they succeed or fail. Whereas it might have simply been clunky—two video games by no means merging into one—it’s the other, a fluid option to distinguish two essential halves of this story that retains the sport contemporary.
The characters and their related gameplay are unbelievable, however the environments of “Requiem” are simply as essential to its success. The Wrenwood units a bar for setting that the remainder of the sport matches. Most of all, Rhodes is a surprising location by way of design, a spot that features every thing from well-stocked libraries with a “Shining” vibe to medical services out of “Re-Animator” to an underground facility that homes stuff you’ll quickly need to neglect. The return to Raccoon Metropolis has a desolate isolation that nearly feels just like the desert setting of “Resident Evil: Extinction.” On that be aware, when the sport returns to a sterile, white Umbrella facility, it has echoes of the primary “Resident Evil” movie, once more reminding one among how intently the video games and movies are culturally intertwined.
One thing it’s best to know: My in-game completion display screen confirmed a playtime of simply over 8 hours (although the PS5 welcome display screen confirmed 13—I believe the full is probably going someplace in between). That’s going to be a sticking level in an period of $70 video games. I have to say that I sped by way of the sport in a short time, doing much less exploring than regular and barely dying. Those that take their time will simply add a couple of hours to that quantity, however I’d be mendacity if I didn’t say that I hoped for an additional main chapter or two within the remaining act, one which comes on fairly abruptly.
I believe the sport size debate is basically overblown—there are nice brief video games and unhealthy lengthy video games—however my principal grievance about “Requiem” could be that it looks like there’s a bit much less meat on its bones narratively than the most effective on this collection, and that it lacks a number of the large, big, boss set items that folks have come to like.
However that’s actually it. There will not be sufficient literal sport time for some players, however what’s right here is undeniably nice. It’s fluid in each design and gameplay; its environments really feel genuinely three-dimensional; the puzzle design is top-notch; the voice work and sound design are good. It is sensible that I needed extra, and also you most likely will too, however that doesn’t diminish what’s right here.
The place does “Resident Evil” go now? With this sure-to-be-hit and a brand new standalone movie from Zach Cregger of “Weapons” fame forthcoming, 2026 goes to be an excellent yr for followers of the Capcom franchise. With out spoiling, “Requiem” unsurprisingly ends in a method that means this sport might herald a brand new future for the collection, one which employs this hybrid type in subsequent adventures.
As somebody who has performed each single “Resident Evil” sport, I’m joyful to report that this one is close to the highest—not fairly “RE4,” however few video games are. Finally, it’s a reminder of how efficient these video games could be at their greatest, rollercoasters of rigidity to motion, suspense to execution. I simply hope it doesn’t take them 5 years to make one other one.
The Writer offered a evaluate copy of this title on PS5. It can even be out there on PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Swap 2 this Friday, February 27.