Resident Evil Village

Developer/publisher Capcom Format PC, PS5, Xbox Series Origin Japan Release 2021

Elsewhere in this issue, Siren creator Keiichiro Toyama suggests that large budgets are at odds with what makes for good horror – though there are always exceptions that prove the rule. That said,

Resident Evil has been more of a horrorinflected action thriller for a while; the Southern Gothic-themed Resident Evil 7

was supposed to be a return to the series’ spine-chilling roots, but even that couldn’t resist bringing out the big guns.

Capcom is taking that game’s canonical ending (in which naïve everyman Ethan Winters and wife Mia both survive their ordeal at the Baker plantation) as the starting point for this new adventure. The couple aren’t able to put their traumatic past behind them for long, with the arrival of series regular Chris Redfield – seemingly carrying some extra lockdown weight – setting Ethan on a path that sees him wind up in a village in Europe. We all know what happened the last time Resident Evil

began in a sleepy hamlet, of course – and there’s an oddball merchant here, too.

Yet with a remake of Shinji Mikami’s extraordinary Spain-set blockbuster apparently already in the works, it’s no surprise that Capcom is striving to set

Village apart. Early rumours hinted at a swerve into folk-horror territory, though its murky palette and vicious enemies don’t exactly suggest Midsommar. Rather, you’ll face off against groups of werewolves that work together intelligently to overpower you. Sounds like we could do with those big guns, after all, in what reports suggest is the most substantial Resi campaign since… well, take a wild guess.