Edit: 6/1/23 Added Franchise Ranking

After two disappointing installments in this franchise, RE has (finally) bounced back. It’s almost as if they read my reviews of RE5 and RE6. They are finally trying something new without any linkage to previous games. “New”, is a curious way to to describe this game though. Sure, the first-person gameplay is new to the RE franchise (unless you are including Resident Evil Survivor or Dead Aim, I’m NOT!!), but Capcom is definitely capitalizing on the successes of the Outlast, Amnesia and Alien Isolation franchises. That’s all perfectly fine. It works in this environment and the story they tell.

The gameplay is well done; players use a combination of running and hiding, shooting and puzzling solving (just like the original games). There’s very little cut scenes, which means the player is playing more and there’s a few throw backs to some of the original mansion puzzles. Remember the crank?

The game succeeds by making ammo scarce, with the exception of the game’s finale, which forces players to choose wisely when to spend that last bullet. The eeriness of the house’s layout adds to the ambiance in addition to the stellar sounds effects and music queues.

Sure, there’s some jump scares. And this element of the game I found most depressing. There’s no need to have enemies teleport near the player for a cheap jumps care. This happens on two or three occasions involving two of the game’s antagonists Marguerite and Jack.
The boss battles are clever, and the ending Boss battle is reminiscent of Dead Space.

Above when I said there was no linkage to past games; that’s not entirely true. Towards the end of the game there’s a newspaper reference of Racoon City, Chris Redfield makes an appearance as he saves Ethan at the very end, and the placard on the side of the helicopter says “Umbrella Corporation”. So it’s a soft-reboot. I for one welcome it. It’s 10 years too late and I’m excited to see where they go from here as well as the incorporation of VR.

Resident Evil Franchise Ranked (After replaying RE4 recently, I’ve downgraded the ranking)
1. Resident Evil 2
2. Resident Evil Director’s Cut
3. Resident Evil 2 Remake
4. Resident Evil Remake
5. Resident Evil: Code Veronica
6. Resident Evil 3 Remake
7. Resident Evil 4
8. Resident Evil 7
9. Resident Evil Revelations
10. Resident Evil Zero
11. Resident Evil Village
12. Resident Evil Revelations 2
13. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
14. Resident Evil Dead Aim
15. Resident Evil 5
16. Resident Evil 6

Edit: 6/1/23 Added Franchise Ranking After two disappointing installments in this franchise, RE has (finally) bounced back. It’s almost as if they read my reviews of RE5 and RE6. They are finally trying something new without any linkage to previous games. “New”, is a curious way to to describe this game though. Sure, the first-person gameplay is new to the RE franchise (unless you are including Resident Evil Survivor or Dead Aim, I’m NOT!!), but Capcom is definitely capitalizing on the successes of the Outlast, Amnesia and Alien Isolation franchises. That’s all perfectly fine. It works in this environment and the story they tell. The gameplay is well done; players use a combination of running and hiding, shooting and puzzling solving (just like the original games). There’s very little cut scenes, which means the player is playing more and there’s a few throw backs to some of the original mansion puzzles. Remember the crank? The game succeeds by making ammo scarce, with the exception of the game’s finale, which forces players to choose wisely when to spend that last bullet. The eeriness of the house’s layout adds to the ambiance in addition to the stellar sounds effects and music queues. Sure, there’s some jump scares. And this element of the game I found most depressing. There’s no need to have enemies teleport near the player for a cheap jumps care. This happens on two or three occasions involving two of the game’s antagonists Marguerite and Jack. The boss battles are clever, and the ending Boss battle is reminiscent of Dead Space. Above when I said there was no linkage to past games; that’s not entirely true. Towards the end of the game there’s a newspaper reference of Racoon City, Chris Redfield makes an appearance as he saves Ethan at the very end, and the placard on the side of the helicopter says “Umbrella Corporation”. So it’s a soft-reboot. I for one welcome it. It’s 10 years too late and I’m excited to see where they go from here as well as the incorporation of VR. Resident Evil Franchise Ranked (After replaying RE4 recently, I’ve downgraded the ranking) 1. Resident Evil 2 2. Resident Evil Director’s Cut 3. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/883710/]Resident Evil 2 Remake[/url] 4. Resident Evil Remake 5. Resident Evil: Code Veronica 6. Resident Evil 3 Remake 7. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/254700/]Resident Evil 4[/url] 8. Resident Evil 7 9. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/222480/]Resident Evil Revelations[/url] 10. Resident Evil Zero 11. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/1196590/]Resident Evil Village[/url] 12. Resident Evil Revelations 2 13. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis 14. Resident Evil Dead Aim 15. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/21690/]Resident Evil 5[/url] 16. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Dukefrukem/recommended/221040//]Resident Evil 6[/url]