Resident Evil Village

The Resident Evil franchise saw a flawed few entries with the release of RE 5 and RE 6. The survival horror aspects took a back seat to the action gameplay. RE 7 changed that, we saw the return of actual horror elements with the Baker family. There was a shift to first person and a fun set of characters. This is what I was expecting with the follow up Resident Evil Village, but what we got wasn't that. Gone are the interesting grounded horror elements. We are back to the weird supernatural aspects, Resident Evil has always had a bit of a goofy side. This is just  amplified here with Village, where as RE 7 had intense horror moments moving inside of the Baker compound, Village has little in the way of interesting characters. There are 4 main bosses but none of them are as interesting as the group we had in the previous game. So lets break down RE Village and see what it has to offer.

Gameplay - 6

RE Village's least changed mechanic is it's gameplay. We see the return of the first-person horror. The game features the retuning inventory management, but I rarely found it full enough for me to care. The game now sorts items into different menus, with the main inventory only being weapons and equipment. There are several new weapons in the game as well, this actually shows an interesting improvement. Ethan our protagonist now has received military, this reflected in the reloading animations training. He will now rack the slide when appropriate, hold the weapon in ways depending on the attachments and more. We see the classic backtracking more prevalent in this game with area unlocking as you defeat bosses. There are lots of collectables and hidden things to find in the game as well as unlockable game modes and weapons. 

Graphics - 7

The visuals for RE Village are both impressive and disappointing in the same breath. The game has stunning views and environments. The trees and wind accompanied by the snow make for a lively yet grim world to explore. However some of the reused assets become apparent quickly, bottles, porps and more are reused frequently. There are also some muddy textures when exploring some of the darker or dimly lit places. To end this section on a positive note, the night vision gameplay with Chris is beautifully done and looks great. 

Sound Design - 5

One of the weaker sides of the game is its sounds. The guns sound down right silly, the reloading and impacts just aren't up to standard. The sound track was uninspiring and I honestly can't think of a memorable track from the entire game. The baddies don't have a ton of varied sounds or dialog. Overall I just was expecting more from the next installment of this revised horror franchise. 

Content - 7

RE Village scored a little higher than I was thinking it deserved but I can't deny that there is a playable game here. The story mode offers a few difficulty modes, one unlocking once you complete the game. There is also an unlockable points based combat game called Mercenaries. This time trial modes puts you in various levels of the game to fight zombies and other creatures earning points vs the clock. Its a welcome edition to the game and further adds content to the game.

Overall - 6.25

The experience of RE Village is a mixed one for me. I liked the idea of the new horror style they were going for, but I feel Village really was a step backwards from what we got from RE7. I like the game and do recommend you try it if you can on sale or on something like GamePass or Playstation Now. Hopefully with the next installment we can get back into the classic but grounded survival horror.

Buy RE Village on Steam: HERE