Dr. ThurmThurms Resident Evil Village Review
Resident Evil Village is now my second favorite entry in the series and a strong contender for my personal game of the year. I loved almost every minute of this game. I had high hopes and I’m pleased to say they were surpassed. If you’re an action horror fan you owe it to yourself to check out Resident Evil Village.
While it’s still very much a Resident Evil game this entry feels a little different than everything that’s come before it. A little grittier, and little more intense, maybe even a little weirder which is saying a lot for this franchise. The tone is decidedly reminiscent of Resident Evil 4 which just so happens to be my favorite game of all time, so I really appreciate the victorian dread on display here. Village is also the second entry in the series that is a first-person shooter following the last entry. This is way more action heavy as opposed to the scarier Resident Evil 7. Less walking around and more shooting which is exactly what I’m here for. Those looking for a scarier experience will prefer Resident Evil 7 over this. The first-person perspective really makes you feel in the action as enemies are often in your face ready to take a bite out of your flesh. The guns feel powerful, and every shot has a real kick to it adding to the intensity of every moment.
The presentation over all here is just awesome. The enemies are varied, interesting to look at, and fun to fight. Each boss has their own visual flare and personality. Each new area feels like a different slice of horror, clearly dividing the different sections of the game. The attention to detail is stunning. You come across a big pot of soup early in the game and you can see the individual layers of the soup coagulating and shifting. That level of detail is seen all throughout the game from the blood dripping from werewolves’ mouths to the veins popping in an old ladies’ eyes as she maniacally laughs. Everything is appropriately nasty in all the right ways.
My complaints are few really. Resident Evil is known for its weird puzzles and confusing areas to navigate and this entry is no different. I don’t enjoy running circles around an area over an over looking for some weird item to attach to another weird item but that’s what I’ve come to expect from the series and it’s pretty minimal overall. The story is also very weird but again why would you expect anything else from RE at this point.
I loved Resident Evil Village. I’m going to play this game again and hopefully get the platinum trophy for it. Action heavy, visceral, and bloody this game delivers everything I want from a Resident Evil game with an incredible level of polish and flare. If you want something scarier this may not be the entry for you. But if you’ve missed the white knuckle, fast paced shooting of 4 and 5 this one is going to make you very happy. Resident Evil Village gets a very strong recommendation from me for causal audiences and horror fans alike and will be very high on my game of the year list this year.
