Resident Evil Requiem Review - A Lasting Marriage Of Horror & Action

Resident Evil has one of the most complicated histories of any big IP. It's been around for decades and has reinvented itself multiple times. Now with Resident Evil Requiem, it's attempting to appeal to multiple audiences at once.

With the horror-fueled Grace sections and the action-oriented Leon sequences, the game straddles genre conventions in many ways. Thankfully, it all comes out on top.

Grace's Sections Are Immaculately Tuned

Especially If You Opt For Classic Mode

Having played every game in the series, coming into Resident Evil Requiem blind was a treat. Aside from a roughly 15-minute demo of Grace's gameplay, I had no idea what to expect and was generally happy with the series' direction after the credits rolled.

Without spoiling any narrative specifics (and there are a lot this time around, especially since it deals with the direct aftermath of the Raccoon City incident), Grace represents the survival-horror aspect of Resident Evil's history. Her sections are meant to be played in first-person, though you can swap to third-person at any time.

If you can, though, stick to first-person, especially if you're wearing headphones. The limited view helps elevate the Grace sequences, and I never once felt like I needed to swap to third-person mode. What I'm most elated about, however, is the old-school strict adherence to limited supplies.

Grace isn't going to be popping off every enemy she sees with a magnum. Instead, you'll have more limited amounts of ammo, a string of breakable, smaller knives (as opposed to Leon's beast of a hatchet that can be repaired in real time), and more of a reliance on crafting for supplies. If you select the optional classic mode (which forces players to use ink ribbon items to save), it feels even more like a classic Resident Evil, much more so than 7 and 8.

The enemies Grace will be squaring off against equally heighten the tension. Although zombies retaining latent memories of their past lives isn't particularly new (especially for creators like George A. Romero), it works exceptionally well in Requiem and is bolstered by Grace's vocal performance.

There are some seriously creepy foes to tango with this time around, and Grace's limited combat abilities help keep the stakes high. Sometimes you'll need to completely run away if you're low on ammo, or you can take them out for the glory. There are surely going to be some amazing speedruns and tech coming out of these portions of the game shortly after launch.

Leon Is Still A Beast Of An Action Hero

He Has Some New Tricks

Given that my favorite Resident Evil game of all time is still the Resident Evil 4 remake, it stands to reason that I'd like Leon's sections as well. Here, he's gotten a massive superhero boost in terms of his mechanics, mostly centered around a perpetually available hatchet, which can be upgraded throughout the game and sharpened in-game to hack and parry with.

Adding a proper parry mechanic to Leon is a game-changer and really makes you feel like a special forces member taking on hordes of creatures. There's a dance to his combat, and utilizing all the weaponry he has available, plus these enhanced melee options, allows for some of the most fun action-specific combat the series has ever done.

To counteract Grace, who rarely gets game-changing weapons, the Leon sections keep players on their toes and introduce new wrinkles and playstyles. The more you acquire, the more strategic options Leon has, and by the end of the game, you're a one-man army.

Leon's portions of Requiem are also where the more absurd sections lie. Because he's so highly trained and grizzled at this point, the things he goes up against match nicely to his talents, and halfway through, it's hard to predict where Requiem is even going to go. On a first playthrough, that's exactly the kind of feeling you want out of a Resident Evil game.

There's a large hub section later on in the game that really tests the boundaries of what a Resident Evil game can be, and Leon is the perfect character to encroach on those limits.

A Well-Executed Combo Of Genres

Everything Gels Pretty Well

One of my few complaints about Requiem is how it handles the transition between the Grace and Leon sections. While most transitions are rarely jarring, the third act has some pacing problems. This isn't new for the Resident Evil series, but I felt like Requiem could have used another hour or so to tie things up in a neater package.

My playthrough took roughly 8.5 hours with moderate exploration. In some ways, that's a perfectly reasonable playtime, especially when you consider that there are extra costumes, museum bonuses, and items to unlock with bonus points. But when the credits rolled, and I reflected on how much gameplay each character got, I felt like the back half could have used a tad more tweaking.

Still, playing as two characters that are this starkly different from each other is an experiment that paid off, and worked out far better than it did with Resident Evil 6. Capcom has thrills down to a science at this point, and Resident Evil Requiem delivers. Long-time fans are going to get more out of this entry than the previous two, and the development team seems to have mastered the first-person perspective. Here's hoping a VR mode comes eventually.

Pros & Cons

• Grace's sections are tuned well.
• Leon is a blast to play.
• There are replay and exploration incentives.

• The final act is too abrupt.