Resident Evil has been a staple series for as long as I’ve been gaming. Seriously, though; one of my stand-out childhood memories involves being afraid to run through my living room at night because the game was on a shelf in the entertainment center (it was that face on the case that got me *shivers*). Yet like any real horror fan, being afraid of the game didn’t stop me from playing it.
Of course being a little kid meant I could only do so when nobody was home to stop me… And yet, I still managed to beat it before my older brother did. That makes Resident Evil not only one of the first games I’ve ever beaten, it also means I’ve followed the series since I was only 7 years old.
And what a journey it has been.
Famous now for a lot of things, the series in most recent years gets a lot of back-and-forth from its fans. It seems that with a possible VR era on the horizon this year, Capcom has taken the opportunity to really try something different with their flagship, for better or worse. It’s hard to say what that really means just yet, but here’s what we know.
“The Lantern” Gameplay Demo: Looking Promising
Resident Evil 7 is still in the final stages of development as of me writing this, but with E3 ’16 just recently passed and with its presence at Gamescom a few days ago, we have a pretty good idea about what is coming our way. And it looks… different from what we’re used to in a Resident Evil game.
Without a doubt, the most common critique is that the game has strayed far from its roots in horror– instead focusing more on action and presentation– since the fourth entry famously altered the style of gameplay in the series. The demo certainly shows us that they are at least acutely aware of this critique and there are things they are doing here that prove it.
For starters, the game is confirmed to be entirely (or at least nearly entirely) in the first-person perspective seen in this demo. This is a sharp contrast to the tank controls in the first 3 entries in the series, and still an equally sharp contrast to the over-the-shoulder third person controls of more recent entries. We know from games like Amnesia, Outlast and the famous P.T. demo for (the now canceled *sadface*) Silent Hills that first-person does a lot to immerse the player in horror games– and then scare the crap out of them– in ways that third-person just can’t.
It’s definitely not a bad demo from any stretch, either; the graphics are really realistic and well-done, with extremely careful attention to backgrounds and atmosphere, the sound and lighting and overall use of dynamic camera angling–which lends itself surprisingly well to first-person, actually– and even what appears to be an unrealistic but well-thought out puzzle, are all featured. These are the things we know Resident Evil does well.
But if you’re one of the people who worry the whole game will be this almost carbon-copy of an Outlast “hide or run” scenario instead of a more traditional RE experience, you can rest assured that this won’t be the case.
Cause for Concern: Gameplay and Combat
In a recent interview from GameCentral, it is confirmed that this demo is a type of “found footage” scenario that the player can discover in their explorations. These things are meant to be an optional collectible that gives some insight into events taking place before those of the game, in the same settings the player visits. It also appears to sometimes give a clue that may help the player solve a puzzle in these areas.
But the important thing to note is that this means the player controlled in this demo is not the same character(s) the game will be focusing on. Capcom assures us that combat, inventory management and sometimes fighting for your survival are all remaining staples in this entry, so I would say you shouldn’t take this demo as any indication of what main gameplay will be like.
You can, however, use it as an example of what to expect from the game’s atmosphere and emphasis on cinematic horror elements. I would say Capcom definitely has tried to listen to fan reactions to the last entry in the series, which many players found to be more of a darkly-tinged sci-fi action game than true horror.
Cause for Concern: Virtual Reality
Another big selling point for this game is it is meant to be one of Sony’s forerunners for the launch of the new Playstation VR, which means this entire game will be playable using virtual reality. This is an optional feature, however, and Capcom has taken every liberty to mention that players will not need it for the full experience.
During E3, many people had a chance to try out this feature and found that it made them extremely motion sick; many participants theorized it was the camera (which moved dynamically with the player’s turns in real time) and low frames per second that was causing this.
Luckily, Capcom was also taking this feedback quite seriously it seems, because in the interview with GameCentral it is revealed that the VR has been overhauled in the game, and features manual camera mechanics as well as improved frame performance (it wasn’t clear fps was changed, however). Allegedly, the amount of motion sickness experienced by players has been greatly reduced, but this remains to be seen for certain.
Returning to its Roots
As a fan for decades now, I can say that I personally think the series is heading in a good direction with this game. What people really want from Resident Evil (for the most part) has for years been a return to its roots in horror, and it seems like Resident Evil 7 is doing its best to do just that. It is always a highlight for interviews and presentations, and we can see in the newest demonstration that the focal point for at least this point of the gameplay is grounded in suspense.
This along with the onset of VR are great reasons for Capcom to do something different with the series. What better use for VR than to scare the crap out of us the same way RE1 could do for me as a seven year old?
It seems like the opportune time for them to give fans what they want and go back to being about scaring us instead of giving us undead things to kick, shoot at and blow up with conveniently located rocket launchers. It’s too early to know for sure, but I’m optimistic that the days where I was afraid to run through a room in the dark may be returning, finally.
Only this time I won’t have to wait for nobody to be home to yell obscenities at my Playstation system for scaring me (even if I probably should).