Oh man, where to begin?

For the record, I never really paid much attention to Resident Evil. I vaguely remember the days of Operation Raccoon City and wrote it off as just another franchise being run into the ground.

I'd played a bit of the first game and found it clunky and annoying to play, mostly because of the fixed cameras. I did manage to finish RE4 and, at risk of being crucified, it was pretty forgettable with painfully cheesy writing and an arcade-style gameplay loop that'd well and truly forgotten its supposed roots in survival horror.

So, life story aside, I was never a big fan of Resident Evil - or horror games at all, for that matter - and didn't exactly have the series on my radar. Until quite literally a week ago.

I was bored and had heard good things about the new one, so I decided to check out 7. It was good. Really good. The change to first person was a huge improvement, gameplay had nice progression and damn, did they nail the atmosphere. Not to beat a dead Lycan or anything, but the reboot has proven to be the best possible thing for a previously stagnating series.

Capcom should be applauded for throwing away the established formula and experimenting. As we've seen with Demon's Souls, Spec Ops: The Line and similar titles, creativity rather than overbearing executives and enough of a budget to back it up leads to some fascinating and memorable games.

And so we come to Village. Going into it with little knowledge or expectations beyond what I'd played of 7, I was interested to see what all the fuss is about.

Ethan Winters just can't seem to catch a break. Now out in the backwoods of Europe, an attack on his family has brought you to the titular village where shadowy forces have overrun a once tight-knit, if reclusive, community. Desperate to find Rose and get out alive, it soon becomes apparent that things aren't quite what they seem.

Looks like you'll have to do this the hard way.

"Just go out and kill a few beasts.
It's for your own good."

In terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, not a whole lot has changed from 7. Ethan no longer feels like the bumbling idiot that could barely hold a gun at the start of the previous game, but if you're expecting this to be a bombastic, run-and-gun affair, Village is very much its own beast.

You'll scavenge for supplies, craft items and slowly navigate the township as the cramped spaces of the Baker house have been traded in for roads full of bloodthirsty maniacs. Speaking of which, there's a nice range of enemies on show here, with many of them acting erratically and forcing you to time your shots carefully.

Looking at the screenshots, it should comes as no surprise that RE8 is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The art team deserves serious props for the attention to detail they put into each of the locations. If you're lucky enough to be playing this with ray-tracing, the lighting is really something else as Ethan travels through dark crypts, opulent halls and ruins caked in muck.

Backtracking is sometimes a necessity, but thankfully the environmental puzzles don't affect the pacing that much and there's good incentive for players who are willing to explore off the beaten path. Duke signals the return of the merchant; a likeable character that gives you a reason to trade all that hard-earned loot and upgrade your arsenal of weapons.

Sound design is also great and the whole cast did a great job with their performances, although Lady Dimitrescu seems to have taken centre stage in the game as much as she has in marketing. I can't really speak to how effective the scares are because I find horror very predictable. There is one moment, however, that was insane. If you've played the game, you know what I'm referring to.

But what about the story?

This is difficult to talk about without getting into major spoiler territory, but I've seen a lot of talk around Village becoming too focused on action over horror. Even ignoring the RE4 in the room, I disagree with the idea that it's lost sight of what the new trilogy was meant to be.

The whole point of 7 was to build Ethan up from basically nothing. At the beginning of the game, you were brutally beaten into submission and shown just how laughably outmatched he was in comparison. Jack shrugged off gunshots and, even when he was killed, would quickly regenerate.

By the end of the previous game, Ethan had been forced into becoming a hardened killing machine. Even the quips in dialogue reflected this, as he went from being a scared survivor to just pissed off, before ultimately facing down far more than a zombie or two.

As Village is a continuation of his storyline, it makes sense then that he wouldn't be back in the same disempowered position he was previously because it would completely ignore the growth of his character.

Sure, a lot of this depends on the difficulty you play on, but I enjoyed RE8 a lot... specifically because it rode that line between action and horror so beautifully. I don't want to spoil anything but the final part of the game in particular was brilliant.

I was psyched up as things began to converge for some much-needed payoff. One twist might not sit well with longtime fans of the series, but Resident Evil always seemed kinda bonkers anyway with the viruses, Umbrella and a certain boulder so it didn't bother me that much.

The game itself is very polished, only a few visual bugs like hair jumping a bit when loading in or some clipping but nothing significant enough to detract from the immersion. In the age of half-baked ports and Early Access, it's nice to see a game that has clearly had so much love put into it by a team that genuinely cares.

"Fear the old blood."

As a whole, Resident Evil Village is well worth a look with a good chunk of gothic horror to really sink your teeth into. Or claws. With the potential left open from its ending, I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes next, but for now, I reckon I'll be checking out the remakes.

Someone give Capcom a hand. Or Ethan, I guess.

Oh man, where to begin? For the record, I never really paid much attention to [i]Resident Evil[/i]. I vaguely remember the days of [i]Operation Raccoon City[/i] and wrote it off as just another franchise being run into the ground. I'd played a bit of the first game and found it clunky and annoying to play, mostly because of the fixed cameras. I did manage to finish RE4 and, at risk of being crucified, it was pretty forgettable with painfully cheesy writing and an arcade-style gameplay loop that'd well and truly forgotten its supposed roots in survival horror. So, life story aside, I was never a big fan of [i]Resident Evil[/i] - or horror games at all, for that matter - and didn't exactly have the series on my radar. Until quite literally a week ago. I was bored and had heard good things about the new one, so I decided to check out 7. It was good. Really good. The change to first person was a huge improvement, gameplay had nice progression and damn, did they nail the atmosphere. Not to beat a dead Lycan or anything, but the reboot has proven to be the best possible thing for a previously stagnating series. Capcom should be applauded for throwing away the established formula and experimenting. As we've seen with [i]Demon's Souls[/i], [i]Spec Ops: The Line[/i] and similar titles, creativity rather than overbearing executives and enough of a budget to back it up leads to some fascinating and memorable games. And so we come to [i]Village[/i]. Going into it with little knowledge or expectations beyond what I'd played of 7, I was interested to see what all the fuss is about. Ethan Winters just can't seem to catch a break. Now out in the backwoods of Europe, an attack on his family has brought you to the titular village where shadowy forces have overrun a once tight-knit, if reclusive, community. Desperate to find Rose and get out alive, it soon becomes apparent that things aren't quite what they seem. Looks like you'll have to do this the hard way. [i]"Just go out and kill a few beasts. It's for your own good."[/i] In terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, not a whole lot has changed from 7. Ethan no longer feels like the bumbling idiot that could barely hold a gun at the start of the previous game, but if you're expecting this to be a bombastic, run-and-gun affair, [i]Village[/i] is very much its own beast. You'll scavenge for supplies, craft items and slowly navigate the township as the cramped spaces of the Baker house have been traded in for roads full of bloodthirsty maniacs. Speaking of which, there's a nice range of enemies on show here, with many of them acting erratically and forcing you to time your shots carefully. Looking at the screenshots, it should comes as no surprise that RE8 is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The art team deserves serious props for the attention to detail they put into each of the locations. If you're lucky enough to be playing this with ray-tracing, the lighting is really something else as Ethan travels through dark crypts, opulent halls and ruins caked in muck. Backtracking is sometimes a necessity, but thankfully the environmental puzzles don't affect the pacing that much and there's good incentive for players who are willing to explore off the beaten path. Duke signals the return of the merchant; a likeable character that gives you a reason to trade all that hard-earned loot and upgrade your arsenal of weapons. Sound design is also great and the whole cast did a great job with their performances, although Lady Dimitrescu seems to have taken centre stage in the game as much as she has in marketing. I can't really speak to how effective the scares are because I find horror very predictable. There is one moment, however, that was insane. If you've played the game, you know what I'm referring to. But what about the story? This is difficult to talk about without getting into major spoiler territory, but I've seen a lot of talk around [i]Village[/i] becoming too focused on action over horror. Even ignoring the RE4 in the room, I disagree with the idea that it's lost sight of what the new trilogy was meant to be. The whole point of 7 was to build Ethan up from basically nothing. At the beginning of the game, you were brutally beaten into submission and shown just how laughably outmatched he was in comparison. Jack shrugged off gunshots and, even when he [i]was[/i] killed, would quickly regenerate. By the end of the previous game, Ethan had been forced into becoming a hardened killing machine. Even the quips in dialogue reflected this, as he went from being a scared survivor to just pissed off, before ultimately facing down far more than a zombie or two. As [i]Village[/i] is a continuation of his storyline, it makes sense then that he wouldn't be back in the same disempowered position he was previously because it would completely ignore the growth of his character. Sure, a lot of this depends on the difficulty you play on, but I enjoyed RE8 a lot... specifically [i]because[/i] it rode that line between action and horror so beautifully. I don't want to spoil anything but the final part of the game in particular was brilliant. I was psyched up as things began to converge for some much-needed payoff. One twist might not sit well with longtime fans of the series, but [i]Resident Evil[/i] always seemed kinda bonkers anyway with the viruses, Umbrella and a certain boulder so it didn't bother me that much. The game itself is very polished, only a few visual bugs like hair jumping a bit when loading in or some clipping but nothing significant enough to detract from the immersion. In the age of half-baked ports and Early Access, it's nice to see a game that has clearly had so much love put into it by a team that genuinely cares. [i]"Fear the old blood."[/i] As a whole, [i]Resident Evil Village[/i] is well worth a look with a good chunk of gothic horror to really sink your teeth into. Or claws. With the potential left open from its ending, I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes next, but for now, I reckon I'll be checking out the remakes. Someone give Capcom a hand. Or Ethan, I guess.