Review: Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PS4)

A Refreshing Take and Back To Basics Approach on Survival Horror. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

It’s been more than 5 years since we’ve seen a new Resident Evil game. It has been quite some time too since I last enjoyed playing one (Resident Evil 5 – no matter how absurd punching a rock is). Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (Fun fact: It’s named Biohazard: Resident Evil in Japan… whut), takes a step to a whole new different direction by making a first-person, um, shooter? (Not quite), popularized by other noteworthy survival horror games like Amnesia and Outlast, and oh boy, I haven’t had this much fun playing survival horror games in years. 

Instead of solving a global bio-terror threat of the last main series game, and without the familiar characters like Chris and Leon, you play as a new character Ethan Winters, who mysteriously receives an email from his wife Mia, who has been missing and presumed dead in the last three years. This takes him to the fictional setting of Dulvey, Louisiana, and finds a derelict mansion, where things aren’t as they seem. 

Setting the game in first person, and having you confined within the tight setting of the manor, is a much welcome change to the franchise, as it gives the sense of dread, suspense and claustrophobia that the original game was known for. The great use of space, corners and lighting keeps you guessing, and alert for any potential jumpscare that’s ready to pounce on your every move. Opening doors has never been so scary.

Indeed, RE7 brings the franchise back to its true genre – the survival horror. The classic Resident Evil puzzles are back, with tons of locked doors in the Baker mansion to open. Supplies and ammo are scarce, and there are sections that are better off played in stealth, such as in sequences where you’re being chased around by the Bakers. This approach gives you that sense of complete helplessness.

The boss fights are insane and can get creative at times, especially the earlier ones. The fights happen in tight spaces, leaving you very little room between you and the boss. Your guns early on are no match against the Bakers, and will rely on you to take advantage of items lying around the room. 

Speaking of the Bakers, storytelling and character development are the big wins of this game. By focusing the setting on the Baker compound, and with very minimal character count, the story is kept focused, tight and with a clear fulfilling resolution at the end (depending on a crucial choice). VHS tapes also aid in storytelling, ala found footage horror film genre, telling smaller stories about other characters in the game. And if you’ve played the the Kitchen VR demo and the Beginning Hour demo, you will find that they are all linked and support the main narrative of RE7. 

RE7 is not without pitfalls though. Since the story is focused on Ethan and Mia, no apparent link to the previous games are established, except for a quick scene in the ending, which left me with more questions than answers actually. (Hopefully this will be closed by an upcoming free DLC story Not a Hero). Enemy variety, like ammo and supplies, are scarce. It’s a tad short, with me clocking in a total playtime of around 7 hours, 41 minutes for my first play through. 

Its inherent weirdness is also a key factor in making this such a fun game to play. Right after one boss fight, your hand gets cut, and you’re forced to watch Ethan continue on, without a hand, and eventually beat a boss.  There’s another where your leg gets chopped off when being chased by Jack, but this time, he leaves you crawling for a nearby first aid he left on the floor, and you can even grab your disembodied limb, and fix it with said first aid. It’s these weird moments that make you want to say WTF. Oh and let’s not even start with that creepy old lady, she stares at you wherever you and just suddenly appears every now and then. 

But the ultimate RE7 experience undeniably is the VR mode. It’s the exact full game, and you can play through the entire game with the PSVR on. It’s a much much more terrifying experience by putting you literally in the shoes of Ethan. But due to hardware limitations, the VR mode’s textures aren’t rendered as beautifully as the basic experience, and suffers from tons of aliasing. And in VR mode, turning requires you to push the analog stick, and with some of the movement sequences cutting to black and back, making it a nauseating experience at times. Lastly, aiming requires you to tilt your head to move the cross hairs, which a hell of tough thing to do. Nevertheless, the claustrophobia-inducing effect ramps up the fear and suspense level way up despite these. 

Overall, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a refreshing, fun, and terrifying experience. Taking a back-to-basics approach on survival horror, RE7 captures the exact same feeling of helplessness in the original games. The constant feeling of dread, suspense, coupled with jumpscares just waiting to pounce on you will keep you on your toes. Plus, strap on a PSVR headset and I daresay that RE7 is the best VR horror experience to date yet, at least for the PS4.

Overall, it's a great comeback, and a welcome step to bold new direction for a beloved horror franchise.