Today we are looking at the brand new (as I write this) Resident Evil Village. I played the PS5 version of the game, but it is also available for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. This was my most anticipated game of 2021 and I can tell you right away that after my first playthrough the game has not disappointed.
How to Download Resident Evil Village
You can download the game for your PC or console by clicking on the Download button below this review. Check out also the free demo.
The Game Review
The story of the game is a direct continuation of what happened after the events of Resident Evil VII. Ethan Winters is trying to live a normal life with Mia and his new daughter Rose all the while trying to put the horrors of what happened in Louisiana behind them, but there is something strange going on with Mia.
One night, their house is broken into, Mia is shot, Rose and Ethan are taken and it appears that the series hero Chris Redfield is the one to blame. The whole is Chris a bad guy or not is done very well! The story then has Ethan awaken after a car crash in a strange European village that is overrun by these Lycan creatures.
Most people at this point have seen the trailers and people are aware of the hype around Lady Dimitrescu AKA, the tall vampire lady, and her daughters. I have to say that she did not disappoint, but I was shocked to see that she was only in the game for a short time. She along with the other three lords of this village are who Ethan will be facing off against as he tries to save Rose, figure out what is going on, and deal with the real evil threat.
The story is great. I thought it was a lot of fun and it kept me guessing about what was really going on the whole time I was playing. Resident Evil Village looks great, there are different locations as each lord has their own area they rule over and they did a great job in making sure each one looks like it is from the same place, but at the same time unique.
Now, on the PlayStation 5, while the game looks great, I have noticed that if you turn around and move forward, more often than not you will see textures load in. It is not game-breaking, but it is certainly noticeable. The sound in the game is great, it makes use of a lot of “natural” sounds to add to the creepiness and the music hits all the right notes when it comes in.
The voice acting is also great, but I must admit the guy playing Heisenberg sounded more and more like he was trying to be Nicholas Cage the further into the game I got. Capcom always makes games that have great production values and Resident Evil Village has kept this trend going.
What about the gameplay? Well, this game plays very similarly to the last one. Once again, this is a first-person game and it feels very, very similar to Resident Evil VII, but there are many improvements to the formula. First of all, you now have a storage system like in Resident Evil 4 and it is way better than what 7 had.
The control on general just feels better all around and it gives you a nice selection of weapons to use too. Speaking of weapons, I love the merchant “the duke” that sells you items and weapons, this is another part of the game that feels like Resident Evil 4. I feel that there is a nice mixture of action, exploration, and puzzle-solving.
Exploring each location is great and I feel that they are the perfect size in order for you to never feel too lost. As I said before, each of the four lords has their own area which features different enemies to fight and a fun boss battle. My personal favorite was Donna Beneviento and her creepy doll.
Much has been said about the length of the game. I would say that you are probably looking at 8 to 10 hours which is in line with many other mainline Resident Evil games. It does have a new game plus which I am very thankful for as this is the kind of game that I can see myself playing through many times.
I think that Resident Evil Village is a great game. It builds on what they did with VIII and it has gotten me very excited about what is next for the series. If you enjoyed what VII offered, I see no way that you will be disappointed with what this game is going to offer. I am certain this is going to be on my game of the year list and pretty close to the top too!
