Before the announcements began coming through from Capcom that we were going to get a new Resident Evil game, many players found it believable that the story of Ethan Winters was over after Resident Evil 7. To the surprise of many, we learned that Resident Evil Village was, once again, starring Ethan Winters, but I doubt anybody was expecting the journey that they would lead us through this time. Caught off guard and confused with a lack of intel, we once again find ourselves caught in the role of being the hero to fight against some crazy bosses and learn what’s really going on in this quaint little village.

Story

After coming to believe to live our his days in a quiet, normal life with Mia and his newborn baby, Rose, Ethan Winters gets a rough welcoming back into the world of chaos and madness. Witnessing Chris and his team kill Mia and kidnap Rose, he tries to find what is going on, but is soon knocked out and taken by the team as well. Shortly after, he awakes on the side of the road - the only survivor from an apparent car crash that he was being transported in.

Traveling away from the crash site, in search of some shelter and help, Ethan finds himself in an abandoned village where things quickly dive into chaos. Driven by his desire to save his daughter, Rose, he presses forward to search the village and find answers to what is happening and where his daughter has been taken.

Gameplay

Many of the controls are the same as they were in Resident Evil 7. You have your gun swap, reload, basic movement controls, so on. They did include some new weapons, such as the mine and pipe bomb, which are pretty handy and easy to use. All in all, the controls were pretty smooth and easy to use, even for someone playing on the PlayStation 4 console.

The first enemy you are going to come across is a Lycan, which will turn out to be a pretty common enemy in the game. But what I thought was pretty interesting is that each boss area will feature their own main common enemy to face off against. Heisenberg has the Lycan’s and Lady Dimitrescu has these vampire zombies, but both Donna Beneviento and Salvatore Moreau sections are quite different from the standard Resident Evil approach.

Sure, there will be plenty of horde killing and area clearing so you can solve puzzles, explore, and collect items, but that isn’t all this game offers. With the way the game is laid out, you can think of it as being set up in sections. The majority of the game is action-focused, but there are two sections that stand out differently.

In Beneviento’s dollhouse, you will get to experience something pretty unique for this series. Without spoiling anything, I will just say to get ready for a defenseless horror twist on your otherwise action, survival horror.

In Moreau’s water section, you will face a more time-based puzzle pathway. Personally, I think this section was a bit rushed and didn’t match the value that the rest of the game offers, but the boss fight is pretty fun.

Probably one of the best features in the game is the return of a salesman for our weapon upgrades and gear. They added a character that goes by ‘The Duke’ and through him we can upgrade our weapons, purchase ammo and gun parts, or have a few recipes cooked up. While most of his stuff is straightforward, the recipes were an awesome concept where if you bring enough meats to make a recipe, he will make you something that gives a permanent boost as a reward. This could be a boost in health or defence, but it was up to you to supply the meat to make whichever boost you wanted happen.

Once you beat the game, you are given some menu credits to use on some optional items. This ranges from concept art and models to weapon cheats, like infinite ammo. You also have to use these credits to unlock the extra “Mercenaries” mode, but it only cost 10 credits, which is practically nothing and worth the purchase. The return of the Mercenaries mode is a bit different from the original version, but still entertaining nonetheless.

Visual

While I wish I was able to play on the latest, next-gen platform, the graphics quality was pretty well done. The environment was well put together and I like how it seemed that they went all out to bring out the expansive atmosphere that went with the chaos within each scene. I can only imagine that it is even better when comparing the PlayStation 4 version, that I played, to the PlayStation 5 version.

Sounds

I definitely recommend using a 3D audio headset when playing this game because they are spot-on with their sound effects. Even when nothing is going on, they add enough ambiance to make it sound like you are really around a bunch of broken-down and abandoned houses. Not to mention how vicious the enemies and bosses sound.

Replayability

With the Mercenaries mode, various unlocks to use in future runs, a harder difficulty unlocked after your first game completion, and plenty of secrets and unlockables to find throughout the game, I would have to say that there are plenty of reasons to replay this game. The majority of Resident Evil games have always had replayability for multiple reasons and the team behind the series seems to keep that going for their titles.

What Could Be Better

The entire water section felt like it was rushed to put together and just doesn’t match the quality of the rest of the game. You have the cool castle, creepy dollhouse, giant factory, the village itself, and then just some water-filled area for the game’s main sections. Plus, the water-filled area isn’t very challenging when it comes to getting through and solving its puzzles. They made everything about it straightforward and it felt like the only thing actually entertaining about that area was the actual boss fight.

Conclusion

Resident Evil Village shows promise for the series’ future! This game was an epic chapter and is going to guide Resident Evil in a direction that will change the games. Just as when they introduced the parasites in Resident Evil 4, the introduction of Lycan’s and that whole dollhouse section shows that the developers are interested in bringing some more variety to the series. I can’t wait to see what they do next as the options are open for quite a few different paths to be taken and I am ready to venture down each pathway that lies ahead!