Resident Evil Village
Keep it in the family
The horror evoked by this direct sequel to Resident Evil VII: Biohazard can often give way to the spectacle of blasting holes in hairy wolfmen and escaping the jaws of a giant fleshy blood-baddie that resembles the yawning chasm on the cover of In The Court Of The Crimson King. That’s an old reference, yes, but like that famous album this game is a hodge-podge of ideas, and they all work.
Capcom has its template for these games, and after reminding itself why we love the series with the recent remakes, Resident Evil Village is a beautifully curated compendium of those good ideas. It shows a renewed love of puzzles, for example, and while some run close to being repeats of the series’ greatest hits, for the most part it’s good have statue-turning, light-reacting, music-box-fiddling brainteasers back at the heart of a Resident Evil game.
Likewise the Nemesis idea is rerun here, initially in full view as the meme-hungry Lady Dimitrescu and her vampire daughters chase you about the castle that bears their name, the clomp of heavy heels or buzz of a swarm of insects signalling danger. Later in the game all the enemies take on a Nemesis-like role as werewolves hunt for you amid ancient ruins and Borg-like drill-armed cyborgs shuffle in the darkness at your heels, the glow of their red-lit weak spot illuminating the ray-traced darkness in a striking manner.
Include a return to Resident Evil 4’s strategic item management, a new but similarly tubby and mysterious merchant called The Duke, plenty of treasures to seek out, and a loose sense of exploration, and Resident Evil Village reveals itself to be a game content to wallow in its heritage. So much so it can run the risk of being too familiar, too slick, but late-game plot reveals manage to massage away any lingering doubts.