Village Mashes Up 25 Years of Survival Horror History
The eight installment of Resident Evil releases as an exciting mix of old and new for players.
By Riley Fink
The eight installment of Resident Evil releases as an exciting mix of old and new for players.
By Riley Fink
With Resident Evil, the series that popularized survival horror, reaching its 25th anniversary, the newest main installment in the franchise, Resident Evil Village, has finally released to mostly universal fanfare from both the hardcore horror niche and the wider gaming community at large. But in order to explain why this game has been so heavily anticipated, we need to take a trip back to 2005.
Resident Evil 4, or RE4, had one of the most arduous development processes in the history of the industry. It’s first iteration was deemed too action heavy, so it was split off into its own franchise, Devil May Cry. Over the years, the public was shown two other completely scrapped versions of RE4 before the final version released in 2005. The team seemed to seriously struggle with what Resident Evil should play like in the sixth generation, so it’s all the more impressive that the end product ended up being one of the best and most influential games of its time. Third person shooters with an over the shoulder camera, flashy action sequences, quicktime events, and escort missions were all heavily popularized by RE4. The game did so well that it was quickly ported to all other systems despite their initial exclusivity deal with Nintendo’s GameCube.
Though it’s very unlikely that Village will reach the same levels of influence, it's no surprise that after the insane success of Resident Evil 7, Capcom would try to recreate that lighting in a bottle with its sequel.
The story has never been the focus of RE, so the setup is simple. You, Ethan Winters from RE7, have to get your daughter back from the 4 lords of a gothic horror-inspired village, one of which being the newly internet famous Lady Dimitresque, a 9 foot tall immortal mutant woman. The settings are definitely different from your typical RE fare, ranging from the titular snowy village, to an old lavish castle, to a run down factory. The ending is controversial, but the characters and presentation of said plot is unanimously seen as some of the best and most creative in the series, as can be seen by Lady D’s sudden popularity. Even if you think the story is complete trash, there’s a lot of fun to be had seeing it all unfold.
Unlike the original trilogy which focused solely on pure survival horror, RE4 was more of a tense, arcade-like shooter with a handful of action heavy setpieces. After RE7 returned to survival horror, Village tried to capture the same audience, but unfortunately a lot of the resemblance is surface level.
The core gameplay is similar to RE7, with exploration and puzzle solving taking precedence over gunplay, the exact opposite of RE4’s structure. The inventory system, merchant, gun upgrades, sellable items, and a few other mechanics are lifted from RE4 to good effect, raising the fun of the combat slightly above RE7 in exchange for tension in place of fear. The mix between the two drastically different styles and a much more interesting setting then either of them creates a very unique feeling comparable to a rollercoaster, going between quiet, tense exploration, adrenaline pumping combat, and visually impressive set pieces that make you feel like you’re at a gothic horror-inspired Disneyland. Overall, I’d say that the core experience is definitely fantastic, with a crazy fun ending sequence, and though it isn’t as consistent as previous modern RE’s and is a bit misleading if you go in expecting more of RE4 or 7, it’s more than worth your time and money in this dry release year.
With the gameplay out of the way, I can confidently say that this is the most creative and visually interesting RE to date. I was a little afraid I had seen too much from the game’s trailers, but was pleasantly surprised with how much of the environment, characters, and gameplay Capcom kept hidden. It may not live up to the brilliant simplicity of RE7, but that was clearly sacrificed for the sake of a much crazier setting and a very unique feel, not to mention the reinclusion of Mercenaries, a randomized arcade style mode that was originally introduced by RE4. Even if the overall package is a bit messier than RE7 and RE2 Remake, Village offers more bang for your buck, and definitely lives up to the expectations of a core Resident Evil title.
Resident Evil Village is available now on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.
Resident Evil 4, or RE4, had one of the most arduous development processes in the history of the industry. It’s first iteration was deemed too action heavy, so it was split off into its own franchise, Devil May Cry. Over the years, the public was shown two other completely scrapped versions of RE4 before the final version released in 2005. The team seemed to seriously struggle with what Resident Evil should play like in the sixth generation, so it’s all the more impressive that the end product ended up being one of the best and most influential games of its time. Third person shooters with an over the shoulder camera, flashy action sequences, quicktime events, and escort missions were all heavily popularized by RE4. The game did so well that it was quickly ported to all other systems despite their initial exclusivity deal with Nintendo’s GameCube.
Though it’s very unlikely that Village will reach the same levels of influence, it's no surprise that after the insane success of Resident Evil 7, Capcom would try to recreate that lighting in a bottle with its sequel.
The story has never been the focus of RE, so the setup is simple. You, Ethan Winters from RE7, have to get your daughter back from the 4 lords of a gothic horror-inspired village, one of which being the newly internet famous Lady Dimitresque, a 9 foot tall immortal mutant woman. The settings are definitely different from your typical RE fare, ranging from the titular snowy village, to an old lavish castle, to a run down factory. The ending is controversial, but the characters and presentation of said plot is unanimously seen as some of the best and most creative in the series, as can be seen by Lady D’s sudden popularity. Even if you think the story is complete trash, there’s a lot of fun to be had seeing it all unfold.
Unlike the original trilogy which focused solely on pure survival horror, RE4 was more of a tense, arcade-like shooter with a handful of action heavy setpieces. After RE7 returned to survival horror, Village tried to capture the same audience, but unfortunately a lot of the resemblance is surface level.
The core gameplay is similar to RE7, with exploration and puzzle solving taking precedence over gunplay, the exact opposite of RE4’s structure. The inventory system, merchant, gun upgrades, sellable items, and a few other mechanics are lifted from RE4 to good effect, raising the fun of the combat slightly above RE7 in exchange for tension in place of fear. The mix between the two drastically different styles and a much more interesting setting then either of them creates a very unique feeling comparable to a rollercoaster, going between quiet, tense exploration, adrenaline pumping combat, and visually impressive set pieces that make you feel like you’re at a gothic horror-inspired Disneyland. Overall, I’d say that the core experience is definitely fantastic, with a crazy fun ending sequence, and though it isn’t as consistent as previous modern RE’s and is a bit misleading if you go in expecting more of RE4 or 7, it’s more than worth your time and money in this dry release year.
With the gameplay out of the way, I can confidently say that this is the most creative and visually interesting RE to date. I was a little afraid I had seen too much from the game’s trailers, but was pleasantly surprised with how much of the environment, characters, and gameplay Capcom kept hidden. It may not live up to the brilliant simplicity of RE7, but that was clearly sacrificed for the sake of a much crazier setting and a very unique feel, not to mention the reinclusion of Mercenaries, a randomized arcade style mode that was originally introduced by RE4. Even if the overall package is a bit messier than RE7 and RE2 Remake, Village offers more bang for your buck, and definitely lives up to the expectations of a core Resident Evil title.
Resident Evil Village is available now on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.