If you’ve played Resident Evil 7 already, you will already be familiar with the handy protagonist, Ethan Winters, he’s a dab hand at survival and always willing to give a hand to those in need, okay, enough hand puns now.
You might be wondering why I’m obsessing over the word hand here, over the past few days Ethans hands have become something of a meme, but I suggest playing Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village before looking into that, you don’t want spoilers!
How Resident Evil Village has evolved the series
When I first read that Resident Evil 7 wouldn’t have zombies, I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but it quickly became one of my favorite games from the series.
The move to a darker, much more intense first-person horror experience has worked well for the series and Resident Evil 8 has taken that experience to the next level.
Village has taken the Resident Evil intensity level up several notches, with some of the most intense gameplay I have ever experienced in a horror game.
Right from the start, the game has you on the edge of your seat, and it doesn’t take long before you are being bombarded by hordes of Lycans ripping your fingers off and biting at your neck.
Before long, windows are being smashed, with Lycan hands trying to grab you through windows, holes in the ground are formed as creatures crawl out of the dirt to rip you apart and the gentle movement of crops in the fields soon show themselves to be werewolves ready to pounce.
There is rarely a minute to compose yourself, especially in the first 30 minutes of gameplay, I found myself cowering in the corner of a building at one point, knowing that if I went downstairs I would be pounced on, but I simply needed a minute or two to compose myself before facing the incoming onslaught.
The only time you get to compose yourself is when completing puzzles, as you know the game allows you time to work them out, without being attacked.
Resident Evil Village's Bosses
It’s not just werewolves you have to watch out for in Resident Evil Village, there are also vampires amongst the ranks of the villages to bosses too.
There are several bosses and mini bosses to contend with, each of them providing their own unique surroundings and gameplay, which was refreshing to see the game keeping itself from getting stale.
Lady Dimitrescu is a formidable foe, and one that towers above Ethan Winters in height. She and her daughters are vampires and will be one of the first real threats you will need to contend with in the village.
Donna Beneviento is the doll maker and comes with her own sidekick, a creepy walking, talking doll. Donna is always seen wearing a mourning garb and is never without her trusted sidekick doll.
Salvatore Moreau is a disturbing looking disfigured merman. From the first moment I looked at him, he reminded me of the merman from Cabin in the Woods.
Salvatore can shapeshift and vomits green acid, making him one of the most vile villans of Resident Evil Village.
The final and toughest boss Resident Evil Village has to offer, Karl Heisenberg.
He runs a factory of nightmares on the edge of the village and has a unique power which allows him to control and manipulate metal.
His gifts and cunning make him by far the most dangerous of the four lords Ethan must fight.
As well as the four lords, there are also numerous mini-bosses that Ethan must fight too, with Lady Dimitrescu’s daughters being the most memorable of them all in my eyes.
If you keep an eye out for notes on your travels, you will find clues and hints on how you can defeat some of these mini-bosses, which should help increases your chances of survival.
It doesn’t take long before you meet these nightmarish lords, but thankfully you will fight them separately, each of them offering their own unique challenges and environments.
Each of the bosses is not only very unique in their fighting and environments, but also their personalities, but they all share a common goal to please their master.
Resident Evil Village Review Summary
Resident Evil Village is already one of my favorites from the franchise, while I do love the old Resident Evil games, there is something about the modern, 1st person format that I absolutely love.
There are still aspects of the old game that have survived the move to the new survival horror format, but the cinematic experience of watching the hell Ethan winters and his wife Mia endure has taken the series to the next level for me.
Personally I am a massive horror fan and get frustrated that both horror movies and games seem to suffer from lower reviews just because of the genre, but I cannot see how this can be viewed as anything other than a masterpiece.
Resident Evil Village is a powerhouse of horror, with jump scares that are genuinely scary, not just your average, predictable scare, in fact, you spend so much of the game facing terror, even when it should be predictable it still scares the hell out of you.
Resident Evil Village's Graphics
From the trailers I expected mediocre graphics, what we actually got was near on perfection, with some scenes feeling photorealistic.
Resident Evil Village also takes advantage of Ray Tracing and HDR, which produces some extremely good results. If you have a next-gen console or PC with Ray Tracing capabilities you will be blown away by the game’s graphical capabilities.
The PC version of the game surprised me, it’s very rare I come across a game that challenges my hardware, but Resident Evil Village did, with the games highest settings requiring 12GB Video memory.
Resident Evil Village's Audio
I’ve already mentioned that the graphics are great, but the audio needs its own special mention.
If you have surround sound headphones or speakers, use them if you dare, I mentioned above that there are a few moments where you can compose yourself from the horrors you have faced, the audio strips some of those moments from you.
With the sounds of rats scurrying along the floor, or branches snapping outside and even the sounds of Lycans breathing just outside the shack you are hiding in, they all add another layer of terror.
Each environment you are in is very unique in its own way, and Capcom have taken advantage of this with the audio too, except you don’t get used to these sounds, as they constantly change based on where you are in the game.
Resident Evil Village Questions Answered
You might have noticed that Ethan seems to regrow or reattach limbs as if he were some kind of regenerating lizard, but how is he able to do that so easily?
Ethan has regenerative abilities, which essentially makes him a superhuman, he is also able to withstand abnormal amounts of pain.
At the moment, with the game still being in its early days, there has been no official word on a Resident Evil Village VR version, but with the game being very similar to Resident Evil 7 it would be a safe bet to assume its in the works.
Ethan Winters is somewhat of a mystery, with his ability to regrow limbs and take more damage than should be humanly possible, but no matter how much of a beating he takes, I find myself rooting for him and intrigued to see where his story will go next.
