Crave a bit of in-your-face terror? We’ve just the thing...

Riaz Naqvi looks at how the first-person horror show will kill your sleep

H iding from a madman with a shovel instils a primal fear, especially when you’re running unarmed through narrow halls and crouching behind a sofa, praying he doesn’t come.

Guns and combat do play a role in RE 7 though. The zombies are vile — developer Capcom scanned cuts of rotten meat to bring in a sense of degradation. You can head-shot them, but their swaying movement and bursts forward make it disorienting to quickly aim — and one bullet isn’t enough. Scarce ammo means every shot counts, but damage you take can be reduced by parrying. Bosses require a smarter strategy than simple firepower. The fear slightly reduces as you progress, thanks to upgrades of health, arsenal and inventory.

Puzzles are a classic RE element and abundant in the old Louisiana mansion of Biohazard. You’ll need to hunt for clues and objects, backtrack and prioritise inventory. In classic RE logic, a photo and key take the same room as a shotgun. Thankfully, the lockers of the old games make a return — store an item in one and it can be collected from any other. Chemical fluids can be mixed with other items to craft first aid and ammo.

The game takes narrative cues from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead in an older

RE flavour. Its backstory is revealed through videotapes. Pop these into a VCR to step into another character’s shoes, replaying their experience in VHS quality. The Banned

Footage DLC has four tapes: A fiendish card game of 21; the allaction, arcade-style

Nightmare; a series of puzzles on a tight deadline in Bedroom; and Daughters ,a shocking prequel to the main game focused on the Baker family.

After a decade of third-person action,

Resident Evil 7 takes this survival-horror series back to its terrifying, puzzlesolving roots.