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Getting started in Resident Evil Requiem might feel a little overwhelming, even if you're familiar with the series. The zombies are a bit different this time, and surviving the horror comes with a few extra wrinkles that weren't present even in Resident Evil 7. The dangers are greater, for one thing, but you also have more methods for dealing with them at your disposal and some other useful tricks to help get you through the night.
Below, we outline nine Resident Evil Requiem beginner's tips to help get you started on the right footing.
Be distracting (and observant)
Image: Capcom via PolygonResident Evil Requiem's zombies react to noises, whether it's Grace throwing a glass bottle to distract them, the sound of gunfire, or another zombie nearby. Use that to your advantage. If you need to reach part of a room where a zombie or two just happen to be hanging out and there's a breakable vase near you, shatter that sucker and move to a place of safety. Most zombies will react to the noise and investigate. Some won't, if they're busy with something else like scrubbing the floors, but you can also use that to your advantage by luring a noise-sensitive zombie to attack a noisy cleaner. Some enemies also have specific fixations and routines you can also make use of. Mess with light switches to move light-sensitive zombies out of your way, and watch how others move and react so you know the best route to take around them without having to fight.
Breaking vases is always a good shout anyway, since the large ones almost always contain something useful like handgun ammo. Just make sure to get close to them and press the prompted button to smash with a melee attack so you don't waste ammo on them. Unlike shooting Mr. Raccoon statues, which doesn't cost ammo thanks to video game magic, shooting vases will use your rounds.
Aim for the head, except when you're escaping
Headshots deal the most damage to most human and zombie enemies, and there's a type of zombie you'll encounter a little ways in the game that you can only defeat by exploding its head. However, sometimes you might not want to spend the ammo on killing a zombie and just need a quick getaway. In those cases, aim for the lower legs or feet. Shots in these areas typically stagger humanoid enemies and give you time to run, or you can approach them and use a melee attack to shove them away and damage them further.
Consider scrapping your knives
Image: Capcom via PolygonGrace can find makeshift knives in the care center and can use them as melee weapons or to counter a zombie if one grabs her. However, they break easily, and it's usually best to just not let a zombie get that close (if you can help it). A better use for these knives is breaking them down into scraps, which you can then use for crafting essentials like handgun ammo.
Leon's hatchet is indestructible
You can't break Leon's hatchet. It does lose some of its sharpness after use, but you can stop for a few seconds to sharpen it again. So don't hesitate to use it to parry zombies at close range, and remember that it's always an option if an enemy grabs Leon or as a follow-up when Leon staggers enemies. This little tidbit might not seem important when you first play as him, but it matters a lot the further you get into the game.
Just don't rely on the hatchet as a gun replacement. It's a finisher and an escape tool, not a powerful weapon in its own right. Rushing in with your hatchet at an enemy that isn't staggered just puts you in danger.
Monitor your health
Image: Capcom via PolygonThis one seems obvious, but Resident Evil Requiem, like its predecessors, handles its death thresholds differently. If your health registers "fine," and you run up against a powerful enemy, you can often take the hit and still run away. If it's showing orange and "caution," though, that same enemy's attack will likely kill you. If you're facing regular zombies, it's okay to stay at orange health and conserve your restoratives, but if you know or think a tougher foe is ahead, make sure to heal up.
On a related note, make sure to have combined herbs or injectors on hand. It saves inventory space, and combined herbs are just more effective at restoring health. You can get by just fine as Grace with a G+G Herb combo (that's two green herbs combined together), though you may want something more potent when you're playing as Leon later in the game.
Missed your shots? Reload and try again
Ammo isn't terribly scarce later in the care center thanks to Requiem's crafting system, but that's later. Until you're a walking arsenal, conserving your ammo is a good idea. That means if you miss a headshot or a footshot doesn't bring the zombie down, and it hasn't been a long time since your last save, you might be better off loading your most recent file and trying again or finding a different way around. There are segments where combat is almost unavoidable, and the last thing you want is to only have five rounds. If aiming is a constant issue, make sure to adjust your aim assist settings in the "Options" menu.
Hold your crafting materials until you know what you need
Image: Capcom via PolygonIt might be tempting to craft heavy ammo every chance you get or to spend all your resources stockpiling medical injectors, but it's a better idea to hold onto your infected blood and scraps until you actually know what a situation calls for. Imagine, for example, you've got 20 handgun rounds and have to decide between more ammo or a hemolytic injector. If you run across a tough enemy and can sneak up from behind, using the injector is going to save you several rounds of ammo and avoid attracting unwanted attention from nearby zombies.
You can open the crafting menu even in the middle of combat to instantly make something, so unless you just don't have the inventory capacity to cart around a bunch of scraps, there's no harm in waiting to craft something. That said, once you unlock the option to craft a Stabilizer injector and a Steroid injector, make sure to craft them as soon as you can.
Clearing an area doesn't make it safe
Safe rooms are safe in Resident Evil Requiem (there's no Resident Evil 3 remake-style surprises here), but with a few exceptions, most rooms have new threats once you return to them later. A dangerous enemy might have moved to a different part of the room or have a new routine. There might just be more zombies shuffling around in general or dead enemies might spring back to life as newer, stronger versions of their old selves. When you're playing as Grace in the Care Center and kill a zombie without exploding its head, there's a good chance that zombie will reanimate when Grace returns later. You can, and should, consider using hemolytic injectors on enemies Grace kills so they don't transform. It just makes things much less complicated later, even if it does use up crafting materials.
Check your map for missed items
Grace and Leon visit some dark and freaky places, and it's easy to miss small items lying around if you're focused on just making it through. Sometimes, if your inventory is full, you have to leave stuff behind out of necessity. Your map will display icons for any missed items like lockpicks or herbs, and even ammo, so you can always return and grab them when you're ready without having to guess where they might be.
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