Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil, the name always puts a smile on my face. I'm a massive fan of the Resi series, the PlayStation original is still one of my favourite games of all time. The tension and terror I felt exploring the mansion for the first time has stuck with me throughout the years, it was, and still is, a classic in every sense of the word. Resi 4 was the high point in the series for many, but for me I enjoyed the coop play in 5 more, I've gone through it a few times and it is a lot of fun with a friend. The less said about Resi 6 the better, It just didn't do it for me at all.
So now on to the latest adventure in the Resi series, Resident Evil 7 was showcased to the world during Sony's press conference at E3, the following day Capcom released a Demo on the PlayStation 4 for PS Plus subscribers. Thankfully I have a PS4 and I downloaded the Demo as soon as I could. First impressions are always important and this completely blew me away, straight away. This looks to be a massive return to form for the survival horror series. This is tense, very bloody scary and that's coming from a 36 years old man, it absolutely drips atmosphere from every pixel, if i wasn't so terrified, I would of been smiling from ear to ear.
When Resi 4 arrived on the GameCube way back in 2005, it did so to enormous critical acclaim, the camera had shifted from the fixed positions of the old games, to a new third-person perspective, it worked, it was a masterstroke. The game was brilliant to play, even though it was now in third-person, it still maintained the tension that its predecessors enjoyed, but because of the new perspective, the combat was far more in your face and all the better for it. Resident Evil 7 changes the perspective again, now we are in first person, and yet again the change in my opinion is mind blowing. In the Demo, there are no guns, no real weapons at all in fact. You can't sprint, you can only walk, the only light you have is your flashlight, so you can only see where its pointing, the only sounds are those made by your footsteps, the only instruction from the game is to get out of the house, this was reminding me of my very first tentative steps through the mansion in the PS original, tense and terrifying.
Having the game in first person really puts you there, moving through the house, searching for items, it works. I've only gone through it once but I believe there is way more to find in the house, lots of secrets to uncover and apparently there is a second ending to it, so I'm definitely going back for another look. Resi 7 is also being built for VR, this might explain why it's from a first person perspective in the first place, Resi 7 was actually showcased by Sony on their upcoming PSVR system. There are some mixed reports coming out about the experience, not as sharp in the visual department as it is on a TV and some people were left feeling a little nauseous afterwards. In the VR game, the flashlight is controlled by your head movement and the right stick on the joypad, controls were your looking. So basically, you can be shinning the flashlight in one direction and looking in the other. Maybe on a more powerful VR system, the experience might be enhanced, I think it was running on a current PS4 at E3, so maybe on the NEO it will preform much much better, time will tell.
Resident Evil 7 is being developed and published by Capcom, it's set for release on the 24th of January next year. For me, it's not a question off, will I buy this, but a question of what i'll buy it for, my Xbox One takes front and centre in my sitting room, but if this works on PSVR, well then I'm already sold on buying Sony's new VR baby. It's also my understanding that the gameplay in the Demo itself, is not actually going to be in the final game, it was a means to show people which direction the series is taking, and then gauge reaction to it. My reaction is this, get this finished and out on time, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
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