Right, well.....I decided to be brave (not often I admit!) and to play a rather scary game, which came out earlier this year and that game is part of a very well known survival horror franchise known as Resident Evil. So, yep I manned up and bought the game and have just finished it, so this review will be on Resident Evil 7.
So, is it that scary???? And is it that good???? Well brace let's ourselves and take a look....
And yep I will say a bit about the plot (but not too much!) so the usual warning is coming up...
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD (BUT NOT TOO MANY!!)
STORY
Well, the story follows Ethan Winters, who receives an email message from his wife, Mia, who disappeared three years ago and Ethan follows her trail to a derelict plantation in Louisiana. Ethan then makes his way into a seemingly abandoned house and eventually finds Mia imprisoned in the basement. Mia then tries to lead Ethan out of the house but she suddenly turns violent and tries to kill him and he manages to subdue her briefly, however she soon comes back to life and cuts off his hand with a chainsaw. Ethan then desparately tries to leave the house but is knocked out by another man, Jack Baker, who drags him and Mia to another house.
At the house, Ethan comes around to find that his hand has been stapled back on and has been strapped into a chair as he is surrouned by the Baker family (of which Jack is the head) alongside Jack are his wife, Marguerite, his son, Lucas and daughter, Zoe and an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Jack subjects Ethan to torture as he force feeds him food that has gone off but they are interrupted by someone outside, so all they go off to investigate. This let's Ethan break free of his bonds and he tries to find his way out, however he is soon attacked again by Jack, who it turns out has regenerative abilities that prevent him from being killed.
Ethan eventually manages to escape the house and makes it to a trailer where he is called by Zoe, who tells him that she, Mia and her family have been infected by a virus but they can be cured by a special serum. So, its from here that Ethan must try and find a way to locate the serum ingredients to make it and also defeat the demented Baker family and save Mia and also find out just what's behind all this. Is it the Baker family who are to blame??? Or is there something else sinister at foot here????
THOUGHTS
Well after the Resident Evil series had just started to undergo a certain identity crisis with Resident Evil 6, which was a very mixed game and a bit of curate's egg, Resident Evil 7 firmly sees the series back on track. And I think it would be no exaggeration to say that this is by far the scariest RE game yet, as it get's back to the real roots of the series survival horror where the player is thrown into a situation where they must explore a creaky old house and watch out for the creepy horrors that might be just round the next corner. So, suffice to say this game really delivers when it comes to jump scares and it certainly got me a dozen times or so throughout playing it!
GAMEPLAY
As for the gameplay itself unlike the other games in the series, RE7 takes on a first person perspective and it really helps enhance the horror aspect and ramps up the fear factor for the player. The gameplay mechanics despite the perspective change are not entirely dissimilar to the previous games as the player still has access to a number of weapons and they have an inventory menu system from which you access items, weapons and other accessories. You also have access to various storage boxes that spread out through the game and save rooms where you save your progress via the use of a tape recorder.
Some of the new gameplay aspects however include the use of video tapes, which are used to playback footage of previous events, which will act as a clue to certain puzzles in the game and these sections are playable. Other new aspects include certain puzzles where you need to acquire items that have to be examined under a spotlight against a picture, which will give access to secret passages. The player can also use item such as psychostimulants that allow Ethan's senses to be enhanced that will enable him to see items in the dark that can be picked up.
As for the game's weapons well they are still pretty varied and the player can hold four weapons at once for instant access (using the PS4 controller's D-Pad) and the weapons include handguns, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers and of course magnums. There are also melee weapons that include knives, chainsaws and ammo can also be picked up by breaking boxes or finding them lying around certain areas.
In regards to the game's enemies well your main ones are of course the Baker family (namely Jack, Marguerite and Lucas) but there are also monsters such as the "molded" which are very creepy walking piles of bacteria with claws. And next to the Baker's themselves, its the molded, who are bound to give you the biggest jump scares given the way they silently creep around corridors, you are sure to find yourself screaming out loud when you first see one! There are also mutated flying insects that attack you and you encounter them while you are seeking out Marguerite.
As for the Baker family however its Jack and Marguerite that will give you the biggest scares, as there are several sections in the game where Jack will repeatedly attack Ethan and go after him to kill him off. Marguerite however is arguably the scariest thing in the whole game as she really is truly creepy and she reminds me of the junkie female character that appeared in Breaking Bad season 2 (the one that said "I ain't not skank!" shortly before killing her lover!). And there is one sequence in the game, which I won't say too much about but it involves Mia hiding from an enraged Marguerite, who tries to seek her out and when she does...let's just say a change of underwear might be needed!
GRAPHICS
As for the game's graphics....well what can you say??? RE7 looks stunning from its creepy character models of the Bakers right down to the mega creepy "molded" but its the game's environments is where it really stands out. The visuals of the environments are just incredible as some are super rich with detail (some of which could prove a bit nauseating!) and you could great effects from puddles of water, to dankly candle lit areas as well as the yucky black goo surrounded the molded where ever they go. Overall its just an incredible visual experience although a fair degree of it is in the dark, which means your character's flashlight is never far away(!) but this isn't much of a negative in itself as it just adds to the tense and scary atmosphere.
VOICE ACTING AND MUSIC
As for the voice acting, well its great and it features an excellent cast who deliver great performances for their characters with Todd Soley providing a solid performance as the main character, Ethan Winters. Katie O'Hagan also does very well with her role as Mia, Ethan's wife, who went missing for three years but on the word of an email, Ethan soon finds her and things take a bad turn from there! Jack Brand also stands out very well as Jack Baker, the demented head of the Baker household, who is infected by a virus (as are his family) that brings him special regenerative abilities, so basically he won't stay dead! Brand himself also delivers the game's most notable line "Welcome to the family, son!" when Jack first announces himself as he knocks out Ethan.
Other cast members also include Sara Coates, who sends a shiver down your spine as does the voice of the scary Marguerite, who's most notable scene is where we see the video tape footage of Mia trying to hide from her. Jesse Pimentel is excellent as Lucas Baker, who's character is a bit annoying but his performance is still very good as Lucas provides something of a comic relief for the game. And last of all is Giselle Gilbert who voices Zoe Baker, the odd one out in the Baker family, who wants to actually try and help Ethan and Mia.
As for the music, well it was composed by five different composers although the chief one is probably Akiyuki Morimoto. Regardless of that composers though, the score itself is very good and pretty chilling also as it perfectly fits the tone of the game and these guys know how to write horror music for video games, so your in safe hands with this one.
FLAWS
As for the flaws....well....yeah Resident Evil 7 still has some worth mentioning.
I think for starters that the game's graphics can be just a bit too dark at times as you spend a fair bit of time wandering around in dark corridors and it sure adds to the creepiness but it can also occassionally hinder your visual awareness of certain areas. In fact you will find that Ethan certainly engages his flashlight more often than not throughout this game. There are of course sections that are better lit than others depending where you are but I think there are at times too many darkened areas.
Another issue was to do with the sparsity of ammo in the game as there are some sections where you have barely enough ammo to fight off the Bakers or hoards of molded that come at you. The best idea is to try and conserve your ammo where and when possible but there are definitely moments where you wish there was a bit more to hand than there is.
You could also argue that the game's ending was a bit of a letdown and it left a gaping plothole with one specific character, who just suddenly vanished out the story without appearing again (yep Lucas and I won't say anymore than that!). So, the story finished leaving you a bit disappointed with the lack of resolution in reagrds to that character.
Then there is the issue of the mixed level of boss difficulty in the game as it certainly does feel mixed with Jack being pretty tough to take down (as he appears more than once!) and Marguerite is also not entirely easy. However the final boss (I won't say who!) is somewhat a fair bit easier than either Jack or Marguerite and it leaves you feeling "Is that it???! I was expecting something tougher!".
The game also suffers from a lack of variety in its enemies as you pretty much only get the Bakers, the molded and those pesky bugs during the Marguerite sections of the game....and that's it! So, yeah the game is a bit of a letdown in that department however the enemies that are in it do their job very well and do get you jumping out of your skin at times.
I also felt that certain sections of the game really dragged and there are times where you are aimlessly wandering corridors looking for clues or items to unlock doors to get you onto the next part of the game. So, in this respect it would be better if they were able to tighten up the gameplay in that respect and that's where the horror survival element of wandering creepy dark corridors can threaten to defeat itself and become a bore.
And last of all I would say that the single player campaign is perhaps a little on the short side as it only took me three days of off and on sessions to get through this one and I've seen myself play Resident Evil games that have taken me weeks to do! However the final gameplay tally time for me was 12 hours, which gameplay wise isn't too bad these days and there are single player games that are much shorter than that.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, to sum up Resident Evil 7 is one of the best games in the series and it really sees the franchise get back on form after the disappointingly mixed Resident Evil 6, which couldn't make up its mind if it was an action game or a horror game. But with RE7 we get straight up unmitigated horror and for me it is also by far and a way the SCARIEST of all the RE games with its creepy main antagonists and if you don't brick it the first time you see one of the "molded" then you have nerves of steel!
It is also helped along with its stunning visuals, creepy soundtrack and excellent voice acting, which all just add to the experience of what is easily one of the best games of 2017 so far. And if you are brave enough and are a fan of the Rezy evil series then I strongly recommend you give it a go.
Right, that's it for now and I'll be back soon with another post soon.
Till then its ciao for now and don't have nightmares!
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