The Hour arrives
GAME RESIDENT EVIL VII / FORMAT PS4 / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / RELEASED 2016
06
After one entry that split opinion straight down the middle (Resi 5) and one that was almost universally panned (Resi 6), Capcom had a lot to prove. Free to download about six months before the game itself, this teaser for Resi VII – while not actually featuring any action drawn directly from the main game – showed players that the beloved series was going to come back with a big, scary, and pretty dirty bang.
Beginning Hour makes it very clear, very quickly, that the pendulum of design has swung violently from action back to horror. For the first time since Resident Evil 4 in 2005 the camera perspective changed completely, turning Resi into a first-person experience. Graphics took a roll down the photorealism road, and your surroundings were pretty dark… and absolutely filthy. It was all very unsettling, something Capcom exploited for multiple scares. Just ask anybody who’s played it about the mannequins.
Remarkably, it’s a demo that has received post-release support. There is now a total of seven endings, and five murders to solve. Nothing happens as such during most of the experience, but that’s precisely what makes it such an effective horror; your mind fills in the gaps. Although it’s not entirely reflective of the final game – there’s no resource management, few enemies, and no combat as such – it does give you a good idea of what to expect, and contains many secrets in and of itself. Whether you have any interest in Resident Evil or not, this is well worth playing through. It just might surprise (and yes, scare) you.
“Just ask anybody who’s played Beginning Hour about the mannequins.”