The RE7 influence is most evident with its first-person traversal and combat (more on those in a bit), but it additionally seeps in during an early plot sequence where various villains argue about the fate of protagonist Ethan Winters. Ungreased metal doors squeak, spooky sounds linger in breezes, and monsters and zombies snarl in various hard-to-discern directions. Various homes and shacks appear in a countryside (this time snowier and more mountainous), connected by fields of tall grass, ancient architecture, creepy gothic stuff, and rubble left behind by the town's once-thriving population. The newest game's titular village certainly resembles the downtrodden Spanish villa from 2005's RE4. Resident Evil 8? (In the newest game's logo, "Village" has its letters mocked up so that "VIII" appears in bold. I say this because it's easy for well-versed series fans to look at RE Village promotional materials and make up a great-sounding math equation: Resident Evil 4 plus Resident Evil 7 equals. (Think '80s cheese, not '00s torture porn.) But as both a video game and an interactive horror film, RE Village is best served by lower expectations. RE Village is still a solid experience, and at its best, it doubles down on RE7's "front-row seat to horror" twists in terms of giddy, silly horror-violence entertainment. The more I think about its elements, the more I'm left wondering what got cut, changed, or compressed to get this game out the door, because it largely fails to surpass RE7's scope. Sequels like this sometimes turn out well-ain't broke, you know the rest-but that's often because the game maker in question uses lessons learned from the prior game to make something bigger, badder, and crazier, or executes concepts that couldn't quite fit into the first attempt. His tribulations are once again framed within a first-person perspective, and they're once again controlled by a certain set of moves and weapon types. The same protagonist returns to contend with zombies, monsters, and creeping dread. Its direct sequel, this week's Resident Evil Village, earns serious "direct sequel" stripes. The resulting 2017 game is still a series highlight-which is likely why Capcom hasn't yet let go just yet. After the series lost its way over the years with unwieldy blockbuster aspirations, Capcom's horror team wiped the slate clean and scaled everything down to a creepier, tighter, personality-driven scope. Platform: PS5 (reviewed), PS4 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, StadiaĢ017's Resident Evil 7 was one of the greatest gaming comeback stories of all time.
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