Resident Evil Village review: A must-play experience, even if it isn't perfect
Lady Dimitrescu: one of the cast of the new Resident Evil game, Village.
Imagine a parallel universe, where Tim Burton was a game designer. Influenced by Metal Gear Solid and the great Hideo Kojima, Burton would lean more heavily into horror, creating a game where Kojima’s legendary cinematic flair would merge with Burton’s macabre imagination.
That game might well have been Resident Evil Village. Designed like a fairy tale, Village is a work of exceptional imagination and a completely new take for the iconic series. Gone are the trope zombies and Umbrella Corporation, replaced by a wicked witch and her four supernatural lords, each one representing a different form of horror.
One lord represents vampires and the thirst for blood. Another represents the loss of childhood and innocence. Another lives in the dark and damp of underground caves, hiding from the world. Another stands for industrial horror and the combination of man and machine.
The joy of Resident Evil Village lies with these immensely rich adversaries, each one with their own different twist on what people might consider horrific. If one lord of the village doesn’t send chills down your spine, then the next surely will.
It feels like Capcom took a leaf from Metal Gear, allowing each boss character to have their own ‘calling card’ and theme for us to uncover. Overall, the world of Resident Evil Village feels just like a true fairy tale should – dark, twisted and deeply absorbing.
Your reason for hunting these enemies down could not be stronger. Playing as Ethan Winters, the main character from Resident Evil 7, your sole motivation is to rescue Ethan’s infant baby, who has been kidnapped by the wicked witch of the village. In true Resident Evil style, the story goes much deeper than that, connecting to Ethan’s ordeal in Resident Evil 7 and the complicated lore of the series overall.
For a while, Resident Evil Village appears like it will draw upon God of War or even Resident Evil 4, in becoming a sprawling epic of 20-30 hours, where the world will open up into a huge web of interconnected design and depth.
This is re-enforced by a combat system that almost exactly replicates Resident Evil 4, which itself took dozens of hours to finish, with a heavy emphasis on weapon upgrades and building your arsenal over time. About five hours in, we felt like Resident Evil Village was set to become an all-time classic for this reason.
Instead, Village was completed in under 10 hours total, and none of the combat depth or world-exploration ever really built on that initial promise of scale. There was very little variety in enemy type and not much reason to switch between weapons or change strategy. In that sense, we get the feeling that Village ended up smaller than Capcom originally intended, or that it was built more with multiple replays and expansions in mind.
In addition, the plot, even by Resident Evil standards, loses all sense of coherence by the very end, which lessens the impact of the otherwise incredible journey that Ethan undertakes.
For that reason, we can’t help but think Village should have lessened the emphasis on gunplay and focused more on Ethan’s journey through the world. Ultimately, by shoe-horning in a combat system that never really takes off (at least in the first playthrough) and by finishing the story poorly, it doesn’t excel on either count.
Despite that, Resident Evil Village is a must-play experience. The lack of scale may be disappointing, but the quality of imagination and presentation is some of the best gaming has ever seen. If this is what we can expect from Resident Evil going forward – well, it’s a fairy tale come true.
- Resident Evil Village is released on Friday, May 7
Meanwhile, with Resident Evil Village looking great on a PlayStation 5, some people will be disappointed they can’t stream the game to friends and others on Discord. Typically, Sony consoles haven’t played nicely with the popular streaming and chat service.
Well, starting next year, that is set to change. This week, Sony announced a partnership with Discord that will see the chat service integrate with PlayStation better from early next year.
This follows Sony’s purchase of online fighting game tournament Evo, indicating they may be trying to expand their social gaming side into new areas.
