Welcome To The Madhouse – Resident Evil VII Biohazard Review

Resident Evil has been synonymous with the horror genre for over a decade now, and while some of the recent entries in the franchise have less than lived up to expectations, the name itself has made a reputation for itself that is highly regarded.

Resident Evil VII takes inspirations from the best game in the series, and strips it down to the basics. What we have here is a horrifying effort to escape with a loved one from a seemingly haunted house. But, before I get ahead of myself, let me talk about the story first.

You play as Ethan, who’s looking for his wife, Mia, who had been presumably dead or missing for almost three years. A cryptic message from Mia leads Ethan all the way to the fictional town of Dulvey, Louisiana, and eventually to the Baker Family house, the evil residents.The plot goes places from there on, and while the writing can get cheesy at time (specially some bits of the intro video), it’s packs enough intrigue and surprises to keep you wanting to see more.

The Baker Family clearly has issues, and are the main villains in the game. It good to see a Resident Evil game with all new characters, since it does away with the convoluted mess from the previous games. Also, it makes it easier for newcomers to get into the game with minimum baggage.

The gameplay is the key refinement in Resident Evil VII. It’s completely in first person, and is played across, for the most part, tight narrow corridors and confined spaces. A majority of the game, specially during the beginning sections is spent trying to hide or get away from the horrors of Resident Evil, specially the members of the Baker family. Ethan has a very limited arsenal and ammo at his disposal, but some of them really do pack a punch

The first person camera makes the weapon in your hands feel even more closer to your person, and it adds a lot to the overall scare factor. Oh, and scares in the games are plenty, from some really clever jump scares to outright repulsive monstrosities. There’s a great pacing to the game, and the way it slowly drip feeds new information to you, be it via things in the environment or cutscenes and story dialogues, feels very organic. There’s also a bit of character progression, but nothing too deep, and that’s actually a good thing since you’re better off focusing on finding a way out of the house, than how to get better at staying in.

The game takes some clear inspirations from other popular games in the horror genre, like Silent Hills PT, Amnesia, and Outlast, but at it’s core it is a Resident Evil game, and makes that abundantly clear as you piece together clever puzzles, scrape together ammo and necessities to survive, and fight or hide to find your way through the place.

When it comes to visuals, Resident Evil VII looks extremely polished. There’s a nice level of detail even in the detail packed in and around the house. There’s a shine to most surfaces, lending a icky and slimy look overall, adding to the repulsive vibe. Also, Mia’s hair looks damn good, so good in fact that I may have taken way more screenshots of her than I want to admit.

The game also supports PSVR at launch, but since I did not have one, I only played the regular PS4 version. I have heard good things about the PSVR version, and hope to experience it first hand myself this coming week.

There are times when the camera and overall movement can feel sluggish, specially when trying to quickly navigate your way around some of the boss fights, and that would be my biggest complaint against the game. It’s not a major one, and did almost nothing to ruin my enjoyment of the game overall.

Resident Evil VII is a fantastic game, and a definite leap in the right direction for the series. If you’re a (apprehensive and skeptical) Resident Evil fan or a fan of horror games, Resident Evil VII has tons of horrors to throw your way, along with a decent story and surprisingly good gameplay.

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