I love this game, and I hate this game. You see, Resident Evil 7 is all about emotions, both of your own making and those orchestrated by the game. Every hallway you walk down, every corner you turn, and every window you tentatively sneak past is brimming with horrible, ugly, and terrifying possibilities.
It takes Resident Evil back to a time long before you could kick every zombie you see, mash buttons to jump out of helicopters, and grasp hands with your partner to deliver an elbow drop on a fallen zombie’s head. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard strays so far from the last few games in the series that it’s hard to even fathom that they’re from the same franchise and developers.
It takes the eerie atmosphere of the first couple of games, adds in a dose of the unrelenting Nemesis creature that tracked you down in Resident Evil 3, and isn’t ashamed to borrow a few mechanics and tropes from recent indie horror successes like Outlast and Amnesia. Don’t think that this is just Capcom copying ideas, though, as Resident Evil 7 is strong enough to stand on its own despite the nods it gives elsewhere.
A New Perspective and a Terrifying Setting
Now set in first-person, you play the role of Ethan Winters, who has tracked down his missing wife and is on his way to find her. He’s narrowed the search down to the small town of Dulvey, Louisiana, and more specifically, within the confines of the Baker Residence. It’s within these walls that you’ll play out Resident Evil 7’s plot.
The Baker household is the closest thing to the Spencer Mansion from the original Resident Evil. At first, when you’re learning the complex, you’re wary of every turn and every door for fear of what lurks beyond. The initial opening hours don’t help matters when you’re quickly being chased around by Jack Baker—a giant of a man who hunts you down within seconds of getting acquainted with your new surroundings in the Baker house. It quickly gives the player a panic-induced state, and on more than one occasion in Resident Evil 7’s opening hours, I felt desperate, frightened, and panicked all at the same time. A position I never envisioned myself being in whilst playing a video game.
Battles with Jack are what will probably stay long after the credits roll for many who play through Resident Evil 7. He leaves you feeling totally helpless. The typical methods to damage and hurt enemies, which past Resident Evil games and other shooters teach you, are quickly thrown out of the window, leaving you scrambling for ideas. Once you’ve worked out the correct method for the boss fights, you’re quickly able to dispatch your nemesis accordingly. But in those moments when you’re left feeling helpless, it’s a wonderful experience to think, just for a moment, that you’re powerless to do anything.
Shifting Gears: A Strong Start That Fades
Eventually, though, I got used to the madness and the creepiness of the Baker house and found myself getting comfortable with its surroundings. So by the time the game was forcing me to move on to other areas around halfway through, it was a bittersweet moment. Sadly, the second half of the game is nowhere near as strong as the first, quickly dropping the intuitive ways to surprise and interact with the player in favor of more natural gameplay tropes that you’ve seen before. It’s not bad, but compared to its strong start, I have to wonder if the developers felt like they had to wrap the game up in a certain way with its narrative.
The game took around ten hours for me to complete, and upon finishing, you’ll be given a New Game Plus option to revisit the Bakers with new items and a new ‘Madhouse’ difficulty mode. It was a good length of time for the tale that it wanted to tell, and any longer may have overstayed its welcome.
Combat and Resource Management
Combat is restricted early on to knives and the standard handguns and shotguns that Resident Evil games often provide. However, you’ll need to conserve ammo and try to take enemies out with melee combat to save your ammunition for the bigger boss fights that come later.
In between boss encounters, you’ll be treated to the ‘Moulded’—a black, fungus-like creature that you’ll quickly become accustomed to as they lose their scare factor pretty early on. They’re not plentiful in the same way zombies are from previous games, but they’re regular enough that you can manage one or two at a time pretty easily. As you progress, other variants of the standard ‘Moulded’ creatures introduce themselves, but again, it never feels like you’re on the back foot like the rest of the Resident Evil 7 cast makes you.
Puzzles and Exploration
Throughout the game, you’ll encounter classic Resident Evil puzzles, like needing three items to fit into slots that open a door or completing a weight-based puzzle to get the shotgun. These puzzles present you with a focus and an objective throughout, helping the game transition smoothly. Thanks to an easy-to-use map and menu, you’re never left wondering where to go or what to do next; just how you might do it, depending on what or who is in your way.
In a world where games are trying to be as big as possible, it’s great to see a fully fleshed-out smaller space filled with interesting nuances and surprises in most places.
Technical Issues and Load Times
Resident Evil 7 does suffer from some long load times, with an initial load taking a good few minutes. Thankfully, the game runs seamlessly throughout, and I hardly encountered any graphical or technical issues. One other section where Resident Evil 7 takes a while to load is when loading an in-game VHS tape. Like the demo beforehand, this allows you to play moments in the past, and the load times between these are, unfortunately, longer than they really should be.
A New Chapter for Survival Horror
What Resident Evil 7: Biohazard does best is reestablishing the franchise’s identity. By stripping away the over-the-top action and focusing on horror, atmosphere, and tension, it creates an experience that feels both familiar and refreshing. While the latter half of the game doesn’t quite live up to its opening, the overall experience is a chilling and engaging return to form.
For fans of survival horror, this game is a must-play. It’s a love letter to the franchise’s roots while also paving the way for its future. Despite its minor flaws, Resident Evil 7 reminds us why we fell in love with the series in the first place: the fear, the challenge, and the unforgettable moments of terror that stick with you long after you’ve put down the controller.