E3 has to be one of the most wonderful times of the year for me as few things can beat the feeling of waking up to exciting news about games I love. One of the best bits of news comes from Sony’s press conference where Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has been announced and given a release date. I know many have grown tired of the franchise and of the genre altogether but be it nostalgia or something else I always find the next installment in the series irresistible to get excited about.

The trailer has a very Silent Hill P.T. feel to it, and perhaps even a sort of Silent Hill 2 vibe, yet I’m not getting much Resident Evil from it. This in itself is not a bad thing, it's just different, and maybe it's what the series needs to be reinvigorated, although a back-to-roots approach would be welcome as well, give me some darn zombies that make me fear for my life, you know? This new look that we see in the trailer is in part due to the first person view and photorealistic graphics that have been adopted in order to include PlayStation VR Mode as one of the platforms that the game will be released on. The game itself is built using Capcom’s in-house VR oriented engine which in fact was used to create last year’s Kitchen tech demo for the PlayStation VR. 

Story-wise the game will be set in modern day some time after the events of Resident Evil 6. Much like in the first game, we will be taken to a seemingly abandoned and creepy looking mansion in rural America where we will be pitted against countless horrors before we can escape the estate.

After the announcement a free demo titled, Resident Evil 7 Teaser Demo: The Beginning Hour, became immediately available on the PlayStation Store for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Here's the actual demo description:

"You wake up alone on the floor of an abandoned farmhouse. Daylight is quickly fading. You must find a way out."

"A thrillingly immersive horror experience for the five senses. This full model change to the frightening 'Isolated View' player perspective, and photorealistic graphics of the cutting-edge RE Engine mark a new beginning for survival horror. Enter a terrifyingly new world of horror and survive."

Pre-orders for the full game are already open and will include a dynamic PS4 theme as well as a Survival Pack that will serve to unlock hard mode earlier in game and will also include a special item set.

Resident Evil 7 is set to release on January 24 of 2017.