[ENG] Resident Evil 7 - Review

(I think I don't have to tell this but - review contains my feelings and thoughts about the game, and after reading this - reader should decide if the game sounds cool or not really)

(Minor spoilers ahead, any major will be marked)

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (or to be precise - RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard / BIOHAZARD 7 resident evil) is another entry in a long time franchise. Released in early 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Both developed and released by Capcom, RE7 was supposed to be a 'test' for their new RE Engine and... It passed the test, as games such as Devil May Cry 5 or Resident Evil 2 Remake used this engine. Does it bring Resident Evil franchise to it's former glory? Let's find out...

(Baker residence is a place, where you will be spending majority of the game)

This time, the story doesn't seem to be very connected to the previous parts - except some end-game reveals that tie this game to a Resident Evil timeline, it looks like they were going for somewhat fresh start in the series. The story begins when our protagonist, Ethan Winters is on his way to Dulvey, Louisiana after he received a message from his long lost wife Mia. Of course she was telling Ethan to stay away, but can you imagine how boring it would look if he actually listened? 

As Ethan arrives at designated place, things quickly take a sinister turn as he tries to both save his wife and find a way out of the Baker residence, who are the Bakers? Well...

The Bakers - Jack, Marguerite and Lucas are family living in a house where Ethan is supposed to come and get Mia. They are the main enemies (and bosses) of this game, each one of them is different but each one of them gives similar amount of stress - technically you can fight them off, but considering scarce resources, it's often better to just try and outrun them (which also isn't that easy because they're able to quickly catch up to the player if he stops for even a second)

Although I love the climate of the residence and the stress of avoiding the Bakers, there are few jumpscares in this game (By jumpscare I also considered an enemy suddenly walking around the corner and a loud sound followed by it - just for clarity) which... Are a very cheap 'scare' factor, because it's a short one. It makes you jump, but after a few minutes you forget about it, whereas the climate is scaring you throughout the whole game.

You have limited equipment slots and many of the resources are 'scarce', stay with me on this one - although for the first hour or two it may look like the game is raining with resources... It's really not. I admit, I had like 4 or 5 full healing items after an hour, but if I weren't careful with using it - I know I would have quite a big problem on the late/end-game sections. The same goes with ammunition, sometimes it's just better to try and fight off the enemies with a knife instead of wasting away your precious bullets (Trust me, you will need at least a bit of them on boss fights). 

Of course you can expand your equipment area by finding backpacks, but that helps partially. And (in opposition to Resident Evil 2 Remake which I played before RE7) the game does not pause when you open your equipment to use or change something. I lost count how many times I got hit or even died because of it, but it's good - it forces you to play around enemies before rushing in.

After very controversial Resident Evil 6 which was more of a action-shooter game rather than survival horror, don't get me wrong - it's wasn't a bad game, it was just bad Resident Evil. And after 5 long years, we received another sequel - but this time - a stunning one. There are a lot of changes, but probably the most important one is change of perspective. What Capcom called as an 'isolated view' is a first-person camera view, which makes the whole experience much better and scarier. Although, around two thirds of the game I felt there are a lot of enemies, way too lot for shooting them out so it was more efficient to run past them (plus... For some reason it's very easy to avoid/run past certain enemies in this game) I unfortunately haven't played the VR version, but I can only imagine how it enhances the overall experience.

The music is climatic, it offers a lot of quicker tracks during boss fights or escaping from enemies, but also calm and slow during exploration or entering new places. The most recognizable one is probably 'Go Tell Aunt Rhody' (I mean, it's the main theme after and it was played during the initial E3 trailer so... It would be a bit weird if it wasn't good or recognizable)

The game received two story DLCs after launch - Not A Hero and End of Zoe - Not a Hero is free but for End of Zoe you have to pay a bit. I can't really tell that much about them because I haven't played them (and even if I did, telling anything about them probably would be a huge story spoiler so...)

(As Resident Evil 6 has it's famous 'giraffe' on the logo, many people think RE7 logo resembles the face of confused bear which... I can't un-see it right now)

Resident Evil 7 is a great return of the series, I think it's safe to assume that this part saved the collapsing franchise by going back to inducing fear through the climate and enemies, by changing your perspective and limiting your resources quite a lot. It's probably the most revolutionary part in both terms of gameplay and graphics since Resident Evil 4 and it's transition to third-person camera. The story takes a solid 7-8 hours to complete and most of this time is filled with climate and fear. 

If you haven't played a solid horror in a while, or if you want to experience the revival of Resident Evil franchise - I truly recommend you try this game, it's not perfect. But it's definitely worth a shot.

Find your way out of the accursed residence, and don't let the Bakers catch you!

Kind Regards,

Wing.