'Resident Evil' is back with the series' best game to date
Resident Evil 7 is the most perfect game to bear that title.
It is not, however, the bold reinvention you might suspect. Surface-level changes suggest otherwise -- like the shift from a third-person perspective to first-person and the "torture porn" vibe of its backwoods horror tale -- but fans can put their worries aside.
This is a Resident Evil game, top to bottom. It's just a better version of what you know.
The story follows Ethan Winters, who ventures deep into the rural swamplands of Louisiana in search of his three-years-lost wife after she suddenly resurfaces in an email.
Ethan's search brings him to the sprawling Baker family estate, where Mia -- his wife -- may or may not be held captive. There are spoiler-y answers to be found in the game's opening hour, but it's not until the Bakers arrive that the fun really starts.
"Fun" in this case is synonymous with "abject terror."
Something is... not quite right about the Bakers. They live in disgusting conditions and eat what looks like raw chicken innards, and the actual people -- Jack, the patriarch; Marguerite, the mom; Jacob, the son; and the wheelchair-bound grandma, who is apparently catatonic and never speaks -- don't look well. They're filthy and haggard, and they don't seem entirely lucid.
There's also the fact that Ethan's first encounter with them -- which plays out while he's tied to a chair at their dinner table -- sees Jack using a butchers' knife to inexpertly slice off one of his own son's hands. It's a bad scene at the Baker estate.
A question lingers, however: why is Ethan still alive? He's been captured and tortured by the Bakers, but they clearly don't want him dead. Jack even says it outright: Ethan is meant to join the family... whatever that means.
You find out later. Suffice to say: it's not good.
Resident Evil 7 is an all-around success. The pacing alone is dynamite, with gentle valleys giving way to spiked peaks in sudden, frequently surprising ways. It's not just the story pacing, either; every facet -- from the way new threats are introduced to the availability of important tools and upgrades -- feels carefully planned and placed.
Chase sequences rank among the game's most terrifying moments. Eluding the unkillable Bakers is a huge part of Resident Evil 7, and their pursuit forces you to learn every winding passageway and dingy corner as you hunt for resources, tools, hideaways, and answers.
You do bring them down, in epic "boss fight" encounters that fit into the story organically. Only rarely do you find yourself in an arena-like space where the only threat you face is a damage sponge. Instead, boss fights amount to multi-phase encounters where the environment matters as much as the killing tools you've collected, if not more.
Exploration mixes in to break up the tension of these show-stopping chase and combat moments. While you never feel truly safe in Resident Evil 7, these moments allow you to breathe easier and gather resources in preparation for the next horrific Baker encounter.
There are more minor threats to deal with in these moments -- and plenty of inventive scares -- but unrestrained terror gives way to a creeping sense of dread as you explore. Puzzles that task you with locating keys and baubles or manipulating objects to create shadow forms often open paths to new locations or shortcuts back to those previously visited.
Puzzle-solving is a huge piece of the game. Much like the boss fights, Resident Evil 7's mind-twisters feel like an organic piece of the story. You won't find anything as abstract as the "dirty coin" challenge from the Beginning Hour demo -- not for the purposes of game completion, at least.
There's a strong Dark Souls vibe in the way the Baker estate is built as a video game level. Backtracking has always been part of Resident Evil, but it never feels like a chore here. Mostly because the game ratchets tension so effectively that you feel like you're getting a break when you're asked to retrace your steps.
In fact, it's almost always the player making the decision to backtrack. Even the basic act of exploration is tense in Resident Evil 7, worse so as your resources start to dwindle. Retracing your steps back to the last safe room -- when that's an option -- offers a rare moment of respite. The environment still feels threatening, but at least it's familiar.
While Resident Evil 7 taps into more conventional fears -- killer insect swarms, lumbering monsters, gratuitous gore, and direct physical threats -- much of the horror taps into our primal fears of the unknown. This is where the game's first-person perspective and brilliant technical execution come into play.
The first-person perspective constrains what you're able to see at any given moment in a way that no previous Resident Evil game has managed. It's simply not as scary to creep up on a blind corner in third-person when you can just swivel the camera around.
There's also skillful staging of the light and shadow effects, leaving you with the near-constant sensation that threats are moving around at the periphery of your vision. This is a game that makes you jump at your own shadow. Frequently. And that, in turn, makes the actual threats all the more upsetting.
Top-notch sound design further heightens the creep-out factor. Even during the "safe" moments -- hell, you might know for sure that nothing can harm you imminently -- there are creaks and crashes and giggles and groans all around you that effectively shatter any sense of safety.
The soundstage is so complex, in fact, that you'll often find yourself questioning if some noise or another came from the game or from a source in the real world. Noisy neighbors, barking dogs, shouts from the street outside keep you on edge as much as the actual game audio.
Those impressive audiovisual elements go hand-in-hand with the game's more traditional terrors. The tangible threats you face are that much scarier because of the creepy atmosphere. The Bakers, too -- they're always out there, always lurking, and you never know when one will strike.
All of these vital pieces coalesce around a story that -- by its conclusion -- leaves no doubts as to Resident Evil 7's place within the series' larger fictional universe. That does raise questions about how Capcom will sprinkle in more of the convoluted lore moving forward, but this new game provides a template.
The horror in Resident Evil 7 feels homegrown for more of a Western audience, even as it hangs on to the larger narrative that fans care about. There are many answers to be found -- about the Bakers themselves and how this whole thing with Mia fits into the bigger picture -- as Ethan explores the estate.
The scraps of paper, family photos, business documents, receipts, research reports, and more that Ethan can peer at -- all of it optional -- paint an increasingly vivid picture of what's actually happening in this dark corner of the Louisiana bayou. The biggest revelations are saved for the final hours, of course, but good detectives will be able to piece together key mysteries much earlier.
This is absolutely a Resident Evil sequel, but it's also a success as a standalone horror game. The lore is there, but it's presented in a way that enhances your understanding of what's going on without confusing it.
It's a minor miracle that Capcom was able to bounce back from the atrocity that was Resident Evil 6 with a taut, uncompromising horror story that borrows the best bits of the series while pushing forward in welcome new directions. There might be a number in the title, but don't let that throw you.
Whatever your relationship is to the series, Resident Evil 7 is sensational video game horror.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
