Resident Evil Village is the latest installment in the survival-horror defining series. A sequel to 2017’s Resident Evil 7, the game is a celebration of everything Resident Evil. Forgoing the survival roots of its predecessor, Resident Evil Village amps up the action and remains all the better for it.
The Winters Soldier
Taking place 3-4 years after the events of Resident Evil 7, Ethan Winters has finally settled down with Mia and the newborn Rosemary Winters in Europe under the protection of the B.S.A.A and Chris Redfield. Without going into spoiler territory, Rose gets kidnapped which leads Ethan to the titular Village.
It’s here in this village that you get to meet the towering Lady Dimitrescu and her siblings, as well as the main antagonist Mother Miranda. Ethan has to pass many trials and tribulations throughout this 8-10 hour journey and work through the family hierarchy in an attempt to free his daughter from the clutches of Mother Miranda.
In addition to these antagonists, you will also meet a band of survivors in your travels. Short-lived relationships as they may be, these survivors do provide great insight about the village overlords and how the village got overrun by the Lycans.
Welcome To The Village
Resident Evil Village is set in an unnamed Romanian village, where most of the residents have been turned into Lycans, which serve the four overlords and Mother Miranda. The village itself hearkens back to Resident Evil 4, but this time it’s designed more like a hub world than a linear area.
Players will start the campaign in the village, and return multiple times with new tools that help unlock newer areas to progress further in the story. Exploring the village remains a joy, thanks to great visuals and art direction. There are many side paths that players can choose to explore, and the game is very generous in rewarding the curious with anything from a few handy Lei(the game’s currency) to a powerful new weapon.
In addition to this, multiple treasure chests are spread all across the map. While some require optional keys and items that can only be found during specific points in the campaign, most of the others involve a simple puzzle or a mini boss fight.
There’s also a great deal of environmental storytelling in the form of lying corpses, broken houses, and a healthy chunk of notes and documents. Most of these documents hint towards the solutions of the puzzles, while others give more context to the happenings around the village and the characters at large.
Hunter And The Hunted
As previously mentioned, Resident Evil Village focuses more on action than the traditional survivor horror found in some previous entries. Ethan Winters is now very proficient with his weapons, which can be attributed to his military training with Chris Redfield. This translates well into gameplay, with quicker reload animations and the ability to aim down sights which greatly boosts the accuracy of the weapons. Ethan’s block ability has received a significant boost from Resident Evil 7, and using it can significantly reduce the damage taken from a hit.
Resident Evil Village throws a fair challenge at you right from the onset, with numerous Lycans attacking at you with only a couple of pistol clips at your disposal to fend off the beasts. The variety of enemies in Resident Evil Village helps quite a bit, as you will come across a multitude of enemies that require new tactics which keep the combat consistently engaging and interesting. While there’s always one “recommended” weapon for dispatching a particular kind of foe, the game never discourages you from formulating your own tactics which is great given the scarcity of ammunition at times.
The variety in the arsenal and options in combat extends to the levels themselves, with each of the four siblings of mother Miranda tackling their own themes of horror. Castle Dimitrescu hearkens back to the stalker enemies such as RE 7’s Jack Baker and RE 2’s Mr. X, which constantly follow you as you try to slowly inch towards escaping a mansion. Donna Beneviento tackles survival horror as seen in games like Alien: Isolation. Salvatore’s theme of horror involves escaping against all odds, while Heisenberg is overcoming ambushes of the toughest enemies in the game.
Each of these sections ends in a final showdown with the boss, which didn’t feel as epic or intense as some of the previous entries in the series. Most bosses(including the final boss) remain pretty easy to take down, which can be a bit disappointing when some of these fights have such a long lead-up. Keep in mind that these observations are based on the standard difficulty, and your mileage may vary if you choose to play on the hardcore difficulty.
What’re Ya Buyin’?
Another area where Resident Evil Village takes cues from Resident Evil 4 is in its progression and resource management. There’s a finite amount of slots in your inventory, and you can arrange items in any order you like which works just like Resident Evil 4. However, crafting resources(such as rusted scrap, herbs) and treasures don’t take up any space which can undermine the scarcity of space in many ways.
Resident Evil 4’s merchant is now replaced by The Duke, a hulking mass of a human being who offers you items in exchange for cash. He carries the same aura of mystery as the merchant from Resident Evil 4 but has a far greater role in the story as compared to the latter. You can sell treasures you find across the village to the Duke in exchange for a handsome amount of Lei, which can then be used to purchase item recipes, weapon attachments, ammunition, and the like. You can also upgrade your weapon stats such as damage, reload speed, and magazine size.
Upgrading weapons is absolutely necessary to keep all weapon choices viable, which can help quite a bit in the late game encounters. Last but not the least, players can find various animals throughout the village which can be hunted for meat which can then be used to cook various meals at The Duke’s Kitchen which gives permanent stat upgrades to attributes like health, defense, and movement speeds.
Ooh, Shiny!
Resident Evil Village is no slouch when it comes to the visual department. There’s great attention to detail in every aspect of the experience, and the story is brought to life with excellent motion capture. Whether it’s an old hag chanting away or the mysterious Duke subtly giving away some questionable expression, all of it adds a lot to the overall presentation. Each villain’s house of horror is eccentuated with great art direction. The castle Dimitrescu is a lavish mansion with ages of history surrounding it, while Heisenberg’s factory is a playground for all forms of horrendous experiments.
The sound design is also fittingly great. Weapons have a satisfying punch in their sounds, and each explosion carries the weight that it should. PS5 owners will enjoy some extra features owing to the console’s DualSense controller and 3D Audio technology. The game’s soundtrack might not carry much impact but remains well-composed nevertheless.
The game’s PC port deserves a special mention. Capcom’s RE Engine is very flexible, and games made on the engine have proven to jibe well with low-end hardware. It’s the same case with Resident Evil Village, which reportedly runs at 720p60fps on integrated GPUs such as the Vega 8 without much in the name of tweaking. That’s not to suggest that options aren’t there, as detailed screenshots and memory requirements can help players looking for a more personalized experience.
The End-Game
Once you are done with Resident Evil Village’s 8-10 hour campaign, a special Village of Shadows difficulty is available for players. There’s also a new game plus, which increases the difficulty of enemies while allowing you to retain all of your high-level endgame gear. Resident Evil Village also has a Mercenaries mode, which challenges players to fend off and kill as many enemies as they can in a certain time limit. While not the most feature-rich endgame attraction, it’s sure to serve you for a couple of hours after completing a couple of playthroughs of the short-but-satisfying campaign.
Resident Evil Village: The Verdict
Resident Evil Village is a thunderous ride through and through, constantly mixing up the pot and coming up with new and interesting ways to keep the expanded-upon combat loop interesting. However, underdeveloped villains limit the abilities of Lady Dimitrescu and her siblings from reaching the heights they could.
Despite a few missteps here and there, Resident Evil Village remains a celebration of all things Resident Evil which should be experienced by all fans of the series.
