Leon Kennedy has to defeat the chainsaw man and wait for the machine to turn off before he can use it against other enemies in Resident Evil Requiem. (Capcom/TNS)
For Resident Evil, zombies were just the beginning, and the franchise has challenged players with a diverse set of monstrosities. Through its 30-year history, players have fought Hunters, the nearly unkillable Nemesis and an array of gigantic mutated creatures.
Despite all the horrors dreamed up by developers, the series’ workhorse has always been the infected. Those subsumed by viruses or mold have been at the core of the experience, and Capcom has always worked to upgrade them.
The infected don’t just mindlessly follow players as they did in the original. In Resident Evil 4, they learned to use tools and corner Leon Kennedy. Developers made them stronger and regenerative in the sequels after that. The Lycan even have werewolflike traits in Resident Evil Village. Now in Resident Evil Requiem, the infected have evolved even further.
Differing perspectives
In a three-hour demo, I checked out the upcoming survival-horror title from Leon and Grace Ashcroft’s shoes. Interestingly, the default camera perspective alternates between the two characters, though players can choose how they want to play the campaign. They can pick to go through it all in the first person or third person.
As Leon, you see the game from a third-person perspective, a nod to his previous solo adventure. Meanwhile, as Grace, you see the game from a first-person perspective, which echoes that of recent entries starring Ethan Winters. The two characters reflect different aspects of the series. The Leon portions were more action-packed. The demo takes place in a Rhodes Hill hospital full of cameras. The facility embraces the classic Resident Evil architecture. The place looks more like an old hotel than one that medically treats people. It has a gambling den, a bar and other strange places that don’t seem conducive to health care. It also has its share of curious puzzles with doors that need gems to open or unusual keys.
DSO agent Leon Kennedy fights a chainsaw-wielding infected in Resident Evil Requiem. (Capcom/TNS)
Leon vs. zombies
When it comes to combat and fighting zombies in the first phase of the game, players find Leon stuck in a room full of infected. He has a Division of Security Operations-issued large assault revolver called Requiem that packs a punch with 12.7x55mm rounds. The problem players face is that they have limited ammo, and not enough to eliminate the waves coming at him.
Worse yet, there’s a chain saw-wielding infected, and that was my first target, but as I eliminated the threat, the power tool spun on the ground and damaged Leon. I left it on the ground, but that was a mistake because other zombies can pick it up and turn it into another dangerous threat. I discovered later that players can pick up the chain saw, and that solves all those problems. The trick is getting to the machine: Players must wait for it to stop spinning and damaging Leon while avoiding the swarm of hungry creatures.
Eventually, Leon escapes and runs into Grace, who was escaping another problem of her own. It was a creature that appeared in a previous demo. They meet for the first time, but they’re then separated by Dr. Victor Gideon, whose the apparent mastermind of the facility, which focuses on experimental therapies.
Grace Ashcroft kneels over a dead infected patient at a Rhodes Hill hospital in Resident Evil Requiem. (Capcom/TNS)
Surviving with Grace
The second phase of the demo stars Grace. It’s slower-paced and more methodical as players quickly discover she’s not as physically gifted as Leon. The DSO agent hands her the Requiem as they’re split up.
When she fires it, the recoil knocks her back, and the ammo in this part of the Resident Evil Requiem is extremely limited. Eventually, players find smaller handguns that don’t have the huge kick and have plentiful bullets. Despite that, players will still have to conserve ammo, and one of the best ways to do it is to shoot enemies until they’re stunned enough for a melee or shove. With the infected on the ground, players can double-tap them in the head to finish them off. It’s a way to efficiently use ammo because missing a target is painful.
Grace’s section is also where players explore the hospital, and they quickly figure out that the infected have personalities. They aren’t as mindless as they seem, as many go through the routines of their past lives. A cook will mill in the kitchen, blindly slashing at meat. A disruptive patient will chase after an out-of-place sound, and a nurse will chase after him. The zombielike inhabitants aren’t just nameless fodder. They’re pieces of storytelling.
Exploring the hospital, that fact became clearer as I ran across more specialized infected. Dr. Gideon was busy, and players will encounter an enormous creature named Thomas Jackson, one of two brothers who have eaten so much they squeeze through the hallways like a writhing snake, becoming both an obstacle and an enemy. Elsewhere, a lounge singer next to a piano has a scream that can knock Grace back.
Crafting component
Despite their seemingly bosslike status, all the infected can be killed, even the behemoths. One of the most surefire ways is through Resident Evil Requiem’s crafting system. Grace can find scraps and extract blood from zombies, buckets and viscera. These are a few components that players need to craft special weapons and power-ups.
To craft these items, players have to insert special vials of blood into a machine that analyzes it. These act as blueprints and unlock tools Grace will need to survive. The best one I found was the Hemolytic Injector. The issue is that players have to sneak up on the infected and stab them from behind. The tool also prevents the infected from resurrecting into more dangerous creatures.
Unlike Leon, Grace has to use her guile, smarts and stealth to progress through her survival-horror experience. It may not be efficient to kill every zombie in sight. It’s sometimes best to figure out their routine and avoid them or try to lure them into a more advantageous position.
Shades of Resident Evil 2
It seems as though Resident Evil Requiem will feature situations reminiscent of Resident Evil 2. Players will switch off between Grace and Leon, and they’ll discover that some of the actions of one impact the playthrough of another. I suspect that will happen with power-ups and other items.
For example, a key power-up is empty injectors because they can be used for steroids or stabilizers — they offer permanent buffs to one character. Steroids dramatically strengthen muscles and increase max health, while stabilizers boost firepower and stability of shots by increasing focus. In another area, ancient coins can be used at vending machines, and grabbing one item likely means that the other character won’t be able to.
Players will have to figure out which is the best option for each protagonist. I discovered this in the third phase, in which I took control of Leon. He escapes and explores some of the areas that players already explored with Grace. He also has a tool and the strength to open doors and cabinets that Grace couldn’t.
In this third action-packed scenario, Leon had to fight Timothy Jackson, the flesh-eating brother of the other monster. This was a legit boss battle that required more shotgun blasts and careful observation of the environment. He also faces more of the mutated infected that resurrect even after being killed once. If I were Grace facing them, she would have a harder time, but with Leon’s weapons and ax, he had an easier time handling them. Both characters can parry an attack if they have a melee weapon on hand, but Leon’s weapon is more durable.
From what I played, Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be an ideal way to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary this year. It’s an amalgam of some of the best concepts of the franchise, creating a scary-good experience.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, PC and Xbox Series X and S
Online: residentevil.com/requiem/en-us
