Leon Kennedy’s triumphant return forces Resident Evil: Requiem to straddle the awkward line between all-out motion and methodical survival horror. To be trustworthy, earlier than I received this recreation and noticed the change in motion, I used to be very skeptical that Capcom would be capable of create a constant expertise that included each Leon and Grace, the sequence’ latest and really susceptible protagonist. Switching between diametrically opposed kinds sounded jarring, which is hardly an excellent factor. It has been some time, however that does not imply we have not been fired up by Capcom’s want to push the sequence in the direction of motion up to now. However from the three very quick hours I spent with Resident Evil Requiem, I am joyful to share that not solely does this design really work, however there’s extra happening than simply an amalgamation of Resident Evil’s largest hits.
My playtime started with a brief take a look at drive of Leon, and instantly muscle reminiscence of Resident Evil 4 started. Make no mistake, this performs precisely just like the current remake, enhanced with some intelligent new additions appropriate for veteran unhealthy guys. Leon has added a lethal ax that may be wielded mercilessly to his common weapons, making it extra helpful than ever. Leon also can carry out new ending strikes relying on the scenario, equivalent to selecting up an ax discovered on the planet or capturing a handgun into the jaw. Lastly He wields a ferocious chainsaw. As soon as Leon was afraid of chainsaws, now Leon is the destroyer of chainsaws, ghouls. After a brief quarter-hour, the gameplay perspective shifts to Requiem’s ββsecond protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, whose journey begins shortly after the occasions of the earlier demo I wrote about final August. Grace and Leon have reverse personalities. Gone had been the tense gunfights and ahead momentum of Resident Evil 4, and I used to be instantly thrust into what felt like a sterile, white, clear model of Resident Evil 7. For the subsequent two hours, I explored Rose Hill Persistent Care Heart. Rose Hill Persistent Care Heart is a considerably conventional Resident Evil mansion, with its rooms and hallways containing most of what you’d count on, however with loads of new surprises. Surprises that almost all usually happen due to Grace’s skills, or reasonably, the shortage thereof.
Just like the earlier demo, Grace’s part centered virtually solely on survival horror. she tooth She’s armed with a small pistol she finds within the surroundings, however her firepower and fight abilities are nothing in comparison with our favourite floppy-haired icon. Leon could do a roundhouse kick to the zombie’s face, however Grace overcomes with an ungainly push. Leon is an all-out assault, however Grace’s finest plan of action is sluggish and deliberate stealth. do In the event you meet a brand new enemy head-on, you may be in bother.
Final 12 months’s demo revealed a brand new, much-hyped stalking enemy, the towering, hunched, bug-eyed Overseer, and through my quick three-hour session, two extra had been launched, leaving me with the impression that Resident Evil Requiem would characteristic not only one persistent menace like Mr. Essentially the most notable factor was an enormous mass of fats referred to as a bit. He adopted me very slowly however absolutely via hallways, stairs, doorways, via partitions and into my coronary heart. Uniquely, the chunks fill the whole area, so your solely likelihood of survival is to seek out and navigate the loops constructed into the extent design to outwit the strolling Larders. It is a intelligent design that generates (to some extent) a residing, respiration wall of horror you could’t simply dodge or struggle whereas rolling round.
Very similar to The Stalker I Escaped final 12 months, Chunk is cleverly carried out in a conventional secure room context. Whereas the room’s shiny lights prompted the previous stalker’s misery, Chunk is unable to bodily push his large mass out the door, confirming {that a} logical justification for a room for relaxation exists on this world.
Along with the chunks, I additionally encountered a 7-foot-tall large masquerading as a chef, however he was fully centered on his chopping activity till he seen me. This soon-to-be stalker wasn’t in search mode but. If something, I believe he was fulfilling his pre-infection obligations. This sort of habits is not restricted to cooks, as in Resident Evil Requiem, conventional zombie bait seems to be the star of the present as properly. Zombies not solely speak, but in addition have their very own personalities.
Undead are not unlucky and customary misplaced souls, however empty husks that retain a small a part of a residing persona and hand around in the area they as soon as occupied. There are some lounge shrieks within the bar space, having enjoyable loudly earlier than being warned. Some zombies, who had been initially convalescent sufferers, insist on strolling round IV stands, and naturally brandish them as weapons when attacked. Some zombies hate loud noises and can yell at you time and again when you do one thing like break a vase, whereas others love to show lights on and off till you rudely disturb them.
In case it isn’t clear but, Resident Evil Requiem just isn’t solely filled with motion and horror, but it surely’s additionally extra entertaining than the sequence has ever achieved (at the very least deliberately). As Grace crawls via the hospital, there is a fixed menace of concern or laughter, or each, ready round each nook. If you hear undead chattering in a room you recognize you want to enter to succeed in your subsequent goal, you possibly can’t resolve whether or not to be scared or to chuckle. On paper, this will likely sound horrible β I do know it’s, however letβs be trustworthy, itβs a fairly good factor. I laughed out loud when a very harmful zombie was caught red-handed (each actually and figuratively) and picked up a big, and importantly pink, can and threw it at me. I am positive you possibly can think about what occurred subsequent.
Nonetheless, zombie bait isn’t just for leisure and fast disposal. For Grace, the undead are a severe menace, at all times transferring a bit of quicker than anticipated. Their fallen corpses additionally pose a major problem, as they’ve the flexibility to reanimate with spherical skulls and rework into “Blister Head,” a reinvention of the Resident Evil remake Crimson Head for a brand new technology that makes them extraordinarily tough to defeat. Happily, Grace has new instruments at her disposal. It is a hemolytic syringe that weaponizes buckets of blood mendacity across the place (critically, it is wherever), creates a deadly injection that can be utilized as a precaution towards blister heads if injected right into a fallen enemy, and as a stealth assault towards transferring objects.
Past the brand new enemy sorts, taking part in as Grace will really feel very acquainted when you’ve performed both Resident Evil 7 or Resident Evil 2, though when you select to play as Grace in third particular person, you may positively lean extra in the direction of the latter. Discover an enormous mansion with locked doorways, remedy tough puzzles, discover vintage cash to improve your tools, shoot Mr. Raccoon, and a secure room with a typewriter for storage and storage containers for stock administration. Nonetheless, Leon can brute power open sure doorways that Grace can not, and is far more aggressive in fight in comparison with Grace’s methodical stealth. you can I additionally selected to play as Leon in first particular person, however after a little bit of taking part in round with it, it felt very unnatural to take action. I am unable to assist however suppose that Capcom constructed this recreation with a third-person Leon and a first-person Grace in thoughts, but it surely’s exhausting to complain about having extra choices, regardless that I do know that deep down the event group positively has a choice.
My demo ended with a second, very temporary stint as Leon. This allowed me to revisit sections of the care middle that I had beforehand skilled with Grace. Curiously, this part presents maybe my favourite factor of this hybrid expertise. Leon can be uncovered to a number of the more durable fight encounters I skilled as Grace, however the perspective (virtually similar to the one I selected) may be very totally different. After I met Chunk as Grace, I instantly retreated and was pressured to play cat and mouse. This menace is intimidating and encourages you to tread evenly. However when Leon emboldens me together with his newly acquired shotgun, I immediately really feel trigger-happy, unloading a shell in Chunk’s face and delivering a hatchet assault to his head as a part of the struggle. It was considerably harking back to the encounter with El Gigante in Resident Evil 4. To Grace, Chunk and his fellow creeps are stalkers. For Leon, they’re targets. This spirit was reaffirmed when Leon and I tackled a wave of Blister Head on the finish of our playtime. Together with Grace, I patiently waited for a possibility for a stealth assault. With Leon, I used to throw grenades and throw axes for enjoyable.
This 12 months marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Resident Evil sequence, so it looks like no coincidence that 2026’s Resident Evil Requiem combines the sequence’ finest concepts and appears like a fantastically constructed homage to all the things that makes it nice. Do you want tense survival horror? Right here it’s. Do you need to go weapons blazing with intense motion and a jokey hero? You get the concept. Do you favor taking part in RE video games in first particular person or third particular person? It does not matter; you are able to do both. Contemplating all of those decisions, and my issues that the disagreeable play expertise will likely be largely negated, it is easy to imagine that Capcom’s daring transfer to have their cake and eat it too will repay in a giant manner.
Dale Driver is videogameaddicted’s Affiliate Director of Video Programming. Observe him on Bluesky and get totally bored. @daledriver.bsky.social