The presentation is scheduled for the afternoon, but it is now night with us. It is a rainy winter day outside, just to make the scenery even more picturesque. He keeps us company a countdown marked by the solitary and ghostly ticking of a heavy clock, which reverberates in the silence of the room. However, the thrill we feel down our spine isn't terror, it's hype: we are finally about to see the reveal of Resident Evil Village.
A little chat, a lot of substance: the showcase prepared by Capcom to show us the eighth iteration of the KING of survival horror is a condensation of information, images with a high adrenaline rate and confirmed (and at times exceeded) expectations. The few seconds of the crackling start leave no doubt: we are faced with the Resident Evil 7 system improved in many aspects, first of all a RE Engine that on the next gen promises a lot of satisfaction on the technical side.
The frames follow each other quickly, but we can already see the snowy village, the eerie - and spectacular - interiors of the castle and a roundup of terrifying antagonists. The terror is partly mitigated by the appearance of Britney Brombacher, who introduces us to the heart of the event, promising us great things.
We are then offered a video, in the initial part of which we discover that Ethan Winters, the protagonist of Resident Evil 7, is being held prisoner inside a castle. This is revealed by the attractive landlady, intent on a telephone conversation with a mysterious "Mother Miranda", who in turn mentions a ceremony that should involve Ethan who, in fact, must be captured alive. Not even the time to fantasize about this information - which suggests a turn towards the paranormal of a plot for a long time linked to Umbrella and its bacteriological weapons - and we immediately find ourselves in front of the macabre undergrounds of the castle and the enemies that inhabit them, to then get an overview of some opulent rooms and, once again, the creepy hostess and her vampire friends. But it is one scene in particular that strikes the heart at the conclusion of this video: while Ethan is captured, a mysterious figure (a soldier from the revived Umbrella?) Hands over the daughter of Ethan and Mia to none other than Chris Redfield. We already know from the previous trailer that the "good" Chris seems to have gone over to the dark side, and we can't wait to find out what motivations led him to behave in this very unusual way for the character we all know.
But, once again, there is no time for reasoning and deductions, because it appears on the screen Pete Fabiano (Producer of Resident Evil Village) ready to give us two great news: first of all, the confirmation that Resident Evil Village will be available - as well as for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series s X and PC - also for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; secondly, the announcement that Resident Evil Village will be released worldwide on May 7, 2021, and that it is already possible to pre-order from today of one of the many editions available. In fact, a Digital Deluxe Edition, a collector's edition with Chris Redfield action figures, and a bundle edition also containing the previous Resident Evil 7 will be added to the standard edition, proving how Capcom intends to develop the plot of this new course of RE around the events of Ethan giving way to interested players to recover both chapters that see him as the protagonist. Pre-ordering any of these editions will grant access to a bundle of bonus content such as extra bullets, medkits and a lockpick, which players can use to take advantage of the adventure. For digital pre-orders on the PlayStation Store, however, the ability to download the game soundtrack will be reserved.
Do you think it ended here? Oh no, because it is now that we get to the heart: just the time to write down all the contents of the various versions and we realize that the beautiful Britney is introducing us to a Resident Evil Village gameplay session, during which Pete Fabiano us will be the guide.
As we witness the walk that takes Ethan through the village to the gates of the castle, Pete confirms that the game will be in first person like RE7 and that this choice is intended to favor immersion and allow the player to enjoy the attention to detail that Capcom has put in the realization of the settings. And how to blame him? The gameplay we witness, captured on PlayStation 5, shows a RE Engine in splendid shape which, except for a sporadic pop-in effect in a scene, takes us into a world that is alive and credible, as well as being treated in a truly impressive way. Everything holds up surprisingly well even when the first antagonists are revealed, an opportunity to show the new possibilities of parrying attacks and kicking to ward off dangerously close enemies.
It is immediately clear that the monsters will be more numerous than in RE7, and with them also the weapons. From Resident Evil 4 will return - in addition to the setting in the village of Eastern Europe - also the inventory at Tetris, in which to better reposition the objects to optimize the available space, and the merchant, from which to buy objects, weapons and upgrades . Objects can also be collected in the game world and, as we understand, there will also be drops from killed enemies. Finally, a brief mention is made of the Resident Evil Village puzzles: Capcom's promise is that there will be several in the game and that, as the style of the older Resident Evil dictates, it will be essential to solve them to open passages and access the subsequent areas of the 'adventure.
We have just finished witnessing a scene in which Ethan tries to fight helplessly against one of the antagonists turned into a swarm of insects that, once again, we are not given time to take a breath: Pete Fabiano is ready to unhook the last one bomb of the evening, and surprisingly announces that Maiden, a Resident Evil Village demo, will be available on PlayStation 5 today set in a different time than Ethan's story and that will put us in the shoes of a girl. The demo will allow sol to explore certain areas of the castle and solve puzzles. No combat and few additions to what we have just seen, in short, but certainly the worthy conclusion of a showcase that we can easily define perfect in all its parts.
The decision to focus on PS5 is motivated by the fact that Maiden is an experience designed to let players try the application of spatial audio, an exclusive feature of the Sony console. On our side, we are convinced that such a feature, if well exploited, is fundamental in a horror title, just as we can't wait to experience firsthand how the adaptive triggers of the Dualsense will be able to return the feeling of using the various weapons, of block and repel enemy attacks, or simply interact with the elements of the scenario in the puzzles. Next gen does not just mean graphics, and Capcom's choice seems to want to underline this assumption.
In the spring, however, a demo will be made available for all platforms (who knows if maybe on this occasion we will be able to test a bit of the combat system). The occasion could be the March 22, second day of spring and 25th anniversary of Resident Evil, whose first chapter hit shelves in 1996. For the time being, on the occasion of this showcase, Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda appears on video to announce the release of Re: Verse. The numerous leaks circulated in the last hours are confirmed, or that it will be a frenetic online competitive game in which the players will face each other by impersonating the various protagonists of the Resident Evil universe (yes, there is also the Nemesis! -ndr). The cel-shaded graphics, some doubts about post-launch support, and the fact that we personally would have preferred something more like Outbreak leaves us with a bitter taste.
However, as happened with the recent Resistance, Re: Verse will be released for free and, even if for a few games before boredom sets in, putting ourselves in the shoes of Jill, Claire, Leon and company still seems a good way to ease the tension of the waiting that separates us from the release of Resident Evil Village. If RE.Verse is not enough, however, know that There is also an expansion for Tom Clancy's The Division that will allow you to wear the iconic skins of the historical characters of the first three REs.
There is just enough time to remind us of Infinite Darkness, Netflix CGI movie starring Leon and Claire set a few years after Resident Evil 4, and here Britney Brombacher greets us, leaving us soundly stunned but equally astonished by the amount of succulent content that Capcom has managed to condense in this presentation of scarce twenty minutes. There is no denying: we are ready, we are loaded and we are now sure that this Resident Evil will be able to terrify us as much as its predecessor, confirming that the survival horror par excellence is now reborn and will keep us company for a long time to come. Needless to say, although the PlayStation Store is at the moment understandably overloaded with download requests, we are already working hard to download Maiden and show you live this demo that, we are now sure, will not fail to stir our desire even more. by Resident Evil.
► Resident Evil Village is an Adventure-type game developed and published by Capcom for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, it will be released in 2021
