00:00Grace Ashcroft cannot run to save her life.
00:03I'm about 25 minutes into my hands-on Resident Evil Requiem preview,
00:07having swapped to third-person mode shortly after dying once at the hands of my grotesque,
00:12towering pursuer, and it does nothing to change the fact that she's still among the most inept
00:16Resident Evil protagonists I've ever played as. If anything, she's worse. Instead of swiftly
00:22rounding the corner to break line of sight like Leon, Claire, Jill, or Chris might have done in
00:27a similar situation, Grace slips on a pool of blood and face plants dramatically. She takes her sweet
00:32time getting up to her feet, and no sooner have I walked three paces to hide behind a bookcase,
00:37she's blubbering and sobbing in a way most unbefitting my attempts at stealth. I want to reach
00:43through the screen and shake her, tell her to pull herself together, but I'm not playing as the stars
00:49studded heroes of old. I'm a scared young woman who has zero combat experience, let alone a trusty
00:55Matilda handguns strapped to her upper thigh. Resident Evil Requiem left me wailing for my life
01:01in an abandoned hospital, and not even third-person mode could make me feel like an action hero.
01:11Our introduction to Resident Evil Requiem back in June was scary enough, but getting my shaking
01:16hands on the controller has taken it to a new level. For starters, I was fascinated to learn that
01:21Requiem's third-person perspective comes with exclusive animations. The little slip and slide
01:27moment I mentioned above, you only get to see that in third-person. Her clumsiness is compounded by
01:32her constant shaky breathing and intermittent choke sobs as I explore this tiny section of the
01:37Raccoon City's Rhodes Hill Care Centre, showcasing just how different Grace is compared to every other
01:43Resident Evil protagonist we've seen so far. It's definitely why I actually prefer third-to-first
01:49person, despite playing the bulk of my hands-on session in the latter. Grace's introduction to the
01:54Care Centre's hospitality comes at the start of my demo, where, strapped to an upside-down gurney,
02:00she must gruesomely rip a venal cannula out of her arm to break free. From there, in true survival
02:05horror style, I have to guide her through the dark corridors in search of escape, but to power the
02:10gates, she needs to find a fuse. My initial 10 minutes with Resident Evil Requiem are spent cowering
02:16in the shadows. The first-person perspective makes the oppressive darkness stretch out for miles.
02:21I start to experiment with lamps, flicking them on and off to see how sources of light might alter
02:26the spaces. At one point, I start to get concerned that Requiem might have an amnesia-like sanity
02:31system, and try to stay as close to the odd lamp or ominous red emergency light as possible.
02:36Later, when the chained Lisa Trevor-like horror reveals herself by chomping down a putrefying corpse,
02:42I decide that perhaps she's drawn to light. I neglect my handy lighter for a while to test this theory,
02:47skulking around in the darkness until a hard-coded incident foils my plan. A glass bottle falls off
02:53a wheelie trolley with an almighty shatter as I attempt to move it toward a shelving unit,
02:58a vain attempt to reach an out-of-reach toolbox. Immediately, the chained monster is drawn to my
03:03location. She moves slowly, so I'm able to flee to the nearby room I started in. I cower behind a
03:08pillar, awaiting the inevitable as she shambles after me, and watch with dawning realization as the
03:14creature screams as soon as her skin touches the fluorescent light. She crawls through a gaping
03:19hole in the ceiling to escape it, and I curse myself for being so wrong about the role of light
03:24in this game. Learning that light is a friend rather than foe in Resident Evil Requiem changes
03:32everything. It also helps that when she barreled into the toolbox room to find me, she opened a
03:37previously locked door. My Dead by Daylight know-how kicks in. I now have two access points to that room,
03:43creating a loop I can use to escape the creature next time. Of course, the fact that the creature
03:48can climb up into the ceiling and drop down whenever she wishes is something to factor in.
03:53There's a pervasive feeling of claustrophobia in Requiem that feels most comparable to the
03:58Baker House in Resident Evil 7. Stuck in a tiny corner of a care facility, this is certainly no
04:03Raccoon City Police Department, with all its winding passages, staircases, shortcuts, and safe
04:09streams. And the creature is not simply stomping around like Mr. X. The smallest creak and shuffle
04:14overhead stops me dead in my tracks, as I start checking the ceiling obsessively for telltale
04:19hidey holes. I need to be smart to skirt this beast, which is especially tricky given that Grace is
04:25really not cut out for Herodom. The restrictive field of view in first person mode is great for
04:30anyone who wants to play Requiem as a straight up horror game, but I find it much more effective
04:35to play in third. I miss far fewer items this way, only realising that I'd done so after making the
04:40swap and returning to the toolbox for a second, almost foiled attempt. My guess is that you need
04:46to be looking directly at an item in order for the pickup prompt to show up in first person right
04:51now,
04:51which is likely something the Capcom team is still working on ahead of the February release date.
04:56Ultimately, whichever mode you pick will come down to your own preferences. I like to see as much of a
05:00given room as possible, even if Grace keeps slipping and sliding all over the place in fear.
05:05Unlike in some of the best survival horror games that limit your defensive tools,
05:09fear mounting as your bullets dwindle, Grace seems to have absolutely nothing at this stage.
05:14The bottles I throw in an attempt to distract the creature seem pointless,
05:18since it reacts to the slightest of movements. Maybe I was supposed to throw them at the monster.
05:23So all I can do is bolt for the nearest light source and pray. It's an unexpectedly outlast pivot,
05:29one that asks for stealth gameplay while in control of the least stealthy character in the whole
05:34Resident Evil timeline. And that in itself speaks to Capcom's desire to change the very image of a
05:40Resi protagonist, if Grace's indeed are one and only hero. For what it's worth, I still think Leon will
05:45be in Resident Evil Requiem, despite Capcom's thin attempts at batting away player suspicions.
05:51My leading theory is that Leon could easily be Grace's dad, and after playing Requiem for just 35
05:56minutes, I'm all the more certain he will make an appearance one way or another. While I can see Grace's
06:01ineptitude making for some powerful moments of weaponized frustration, the player's pleading
06:06get up Grace, creating a strong sense of urgency to fuel our already shattered nerves, I just can't
06:13imagine playing a whole game as someone so petrified of everything. To me, this demo has a similar feel
06:20to Sherry's portion of Resident Evil 2 Remake, or Ashley's in Resident Evil 4. Moments where the
06:26power fantasy is dismantled and the player gets a brief taste of disarming terror. Perhaps that's exactly what
06:31it will turn out to be in the final build, or perhaps I'm wrong, and I'll take it on the
06:35chin if so.
06:36Either way, my appetite for Resident Evil Requiem has been well and truly wetted, and I can't wait
06:41to experience the full effect come January 27th. So, will you be picking up this long-awaited
06:47Spookfest sequel? And what are your thoughts on the new protagonist? Let us know in the comments,
06:52and be sure to stick with GamesRadar for the latest news, previews, and more.
07:02Thank you .
Comments