When they first announced a first person Resident Evil game, I was taken aback. I like first person games, mainly stemming from my love of Breakdown as a teenager. Don't remember Breakdown? It's fine, not many do but anyway, I'm not always the biggest fan of the first person horror games, only because in most of the ones I've played, you're pretty defenseless so the true horror comes from not fighting back. I get that is what SURVIVAL horror is suppose to be, but games like Dead Space 1, RE4 and Bioshock have scared me even when I felt all powerful. Amnesia, Soma and Outlast are all fantastic first person horror games but still, I feel like you can be scared while still being able to defend yourself. RE7, thankfully, has a nice balance of this aspect,
Ethan, RE7's protagonist, is not a fighter. He's not a cop or a mercenary. He's a regular guy looking for his wife so there are no crazy melee moves, epic knife fight or uppercuts to a boulder in this game.
While you do get the usual RE weapons in the game, knives, pistol, the traditional shotgun, grenade launcher, etc, you never feel truly safe in this game. There's always an uneasy feel in the air throughout its 10 hour journey. The only time I did feel somewhat safe was near the end, when I had a massive 90 bullets for my pistol and even still, I died multiple times on my way to the ending. Speaking of which, the game has two different endings. There is a choice late game that will decide what fate you get. Good to see a return of the multiple endings for the franchise.
The game is genuinely scary. Yes, there are the obvious jumpscares that got me a couple times but the entire atmosphere is creepy. I hate giant bugs in games. It's a phobia and RE7 has them in hives. They are disgusting. Some of the most tense moments I had with the game was trying to open doors. You never know WHAT is waiting for you on the other side and with the first person view, it makes it that much scarier. The creatures, which aren't many, are disgusting mutations and seeing them up close and personal sent shivers down my spine every time. IGN said that RE7 is like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series and the comparisons are undeniable. There's a real backwater feel to Dudley, Louisiana and the areas explore give off that glow. Bayous, woods as far as the eye can see etc. It doesn't feel like a traditional Resident Evil game and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It does start to get that feel near the end as you figure out exactly what is happening in the game. The ending was good too. You are saved by an unknown group of people and the leader refers to himself as Redfield and the helicopter they're in as the Umbrella logo on it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?! Well, there is going to be DLC coming out starring Chris Redfield soon so we'll find out soon.
Resident Evil 7 was a fantastic horror ride, filled with a great story, a likable main character and more scares than the previous three main entries. Don't let the first person change fool. This is still a great RE game at its core and one of my favorite in the series. Granted, I haven't delved into the originals as much but as a person who's played each game, this is definitely one of the shining points for the series. I would rank this up there with 3 and 4 as my top games of the series.
What did you think of Resident Evil 7? Too much change or did you welcome it?
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