Survival Horror is back, and boy oh boy, you are in for a world of tense horror gripping experience.
Some key points that this game offers:
- Terrifying horror experience
- VR Mode
- Photorealistic visuals
- Updated Mechanics and gameplay
- Debuted the use of the RE Engine
Gameplay & Controls:
You’re going to want to get the hang of these real quick… Your life will literally and constantly depend on you being able to outrun the Baker family… Fortunately, the game handles like a dream, character movement is smooth and reactive. I would like to say that Ethan’s running feels more like faster walking instead, but that might just be the nerves talking… Papa Baker doesn’t let up, and he is on you like a wolf that’s got your scent…
The game doesn’t really feature much in terms of stealth mechanics, but that’s what adds to the terrifying atmosphere. We have this random civilian with no training whatsoever that is thrown into a situation he wouldn’t have imagined himself in even in his wildest nightmares… You don’t shoot yourself out of every encounter; ammo is way too scarce for that! You either run like hell, faster if you can, and hope that you don’t get grabbed from behind… Or, you avoid the encounter entirely if you can, crouch and stay hidden, silent, and hope and pray that you’re not spotted.
This is the terrifying atmosphere that RE7 creates and maintains and it is absolutely beautiful. Over the years the RE franchise moved heavily away from horror survival, but they are back and it’s never looked or felt as terrifying and horrific as it does now.
Three years have passed since your wife has been presumed dead, and out of the blue, you receive a strange email that she is alive and waiting for you… Upon arriving at the plantation where she is, it is evident that things are not what they seem. Before you know it, you find her alive and well… Things go to hell properly soon after that and you’re in a fight for your life. Trapped now in this house of horror you need to find your wife Mia and escape, but your biggest task is to survive to be able to accomplish those things…
The majority of the game takes place in the Mansion which has been cleverly cordoned off forcing you to find alternate routes throughout the mansion to get to where you need to go. Save rooms are back and with them a tape recorder and item box. A variety of items can be found throughout the game to aid you whilst some can be combined to create stronger variants or new recipe’s all together. Puzzle-solving is back with some witty new puzzles to test your skills and with them some true Spender Mansion key hunting to access specific doors. The game heavily and I mean heavily forces a constant fear on you. Throughout your game exploring the mansion itself, Jack skulks around, and if he spots you, you can try and fight and temporarily incapacitate him or run and hide…
It’s worse than it sounds, and as terrifying as it is, it’s also one of the true beauties of RE7! That constant fear gripping is what we have been missing from the RE games, and now that it’s back, it’s an unforgettable experience! The inventory screen received an update of sorts, we have a grid screen and items take up block space. Larger items such as the shotgun takes up two spots. Just like with previous titles, accessing the inventory screen does not pause the game, so be sure there is no one around before daring it.
Graphics:
The new engine did an absolute marvel of a job rendering the game. From the shadows and lighting to the actual objects that fill up the room spaces. Every single item looks realistic in appearance, size, and colour. I have yet to see another game offer this much realism in its visuals.
I will note that RE7 does require you to tweak your settings. The game may look fuzzy or blurry, but I assure you once you’ve gone over your settings, you too will enjoy the visual master that is the nightmarish RE7.
Level design and the environment are simply works of art. The layout and design of the game is truly gorgeous to look at. Yes, the game looks horrifying. Windows boarded up; a decaying house that has been left to rot away along with everything that inhabits it for years now… This has been beautifully implemented. Every single object, be it something you interact with or something that just sits there on the counter. It looks as real as the one you would have on yours. Sizes, shapes, everything shares this realism, and all of that adds to the scare factor of the game… It looks and feels so real, you easily lose yourself in the beauty and horror of the game.
Character design is quite normal-ish and then it turns hellish soon after. The Baker family once looked like a happy normal family, but you can clearly see this is no longer the case. Something is wrong, something very big!
Besides for the Baker family, there are some other monster types skulking about called the Molded. Black fungus looking, humanoid creatures… Staying true to the RE survival horror experience, these will jump out on a regular basis to ensure that you never have a moment’s peace. A variety of types exists and mostly faceless except for razor sharp teeth they do a perfect job of keeping the fear factor high.
RE7 houses beauty I haven’t seen before. It’s not just visuals and lighting, or rendering… It is the amount of detail they invested into all of these objects that cast reflections and shadows… It is the small things that sum up the sheer beauty that is RE7.
They further upped the stakes by using a real model for Chris, and this is step one, I can imagine that come new titles, more and more of this photogrammetry technique will be used.
Sounds:
The game looks and feels scary as hell, you got that more than right. However, a key ingredient that makes it infinitely worse is having those 7.1 ones on your ears pumping that eerie soundtrack into yours ears…
You’re not sure if it’s darker around you or Ethan, there are eerie sounds coming from all over, every moment that goes by feels like someone is breathing down your neck… There is Jack stomping about somewhere that feels like it’s right around the corner … You question your own sanity but there is so much to do and you push forward, not sure if it’s your footsteps or Jacks, or something else’s…
There is quite a bit of voice acting and scripting taking place… I must commend these artists; they did an unbelievably good job bringing their monstrous creatures to life with the fantastic voice over work. The scripting was done just as spectacularly …
Replayability:
Multiplayer did not make it to RE7. But no RE title is ever without replay value. There is completing the game on a normal difficulty to get the lay of the land, and then do it all over again on that harder No Hope difficulty…
RE7 does not feature mercenaries either which does feel strangely odd since most previous titles had one. The game does have two endings, so when replaying it on a higher difficulty you can always choose option B and see how things pan out.
There is already talk of additional content for RE7 so expect more horrific events to follow.
MGR Gaming’s Conclusions:
Spoilers Ahead:
I knew it was going to be totally wild, but not to this extent. The survival horror atmosphere had me on edge the entire playthrough. They went above and beyond to bring Resident Evil back to its original roots. The game does an absolutely marvelous job of creating the horrific atmosphere and then sustaining it throughout the campaign. You never feel safe, and you never know when the seemingly unkillable monsters will appear next.
The deeper in you go, the stranger it gets. The fact that they used a brand new character who has no past dealings with anything zombie in nature makes this so much more memorable… We have this run of the mill guy in search of his long-missing wife, and when he finds her, he finds so much more than he could possibly have imagined. It is a constant struggle and fight for survival against things that don’t die or stay dead…
The dread that is RE7 on VR is indescribable, The sheer dread of exploring that haunted house with Jack patrolling the hallways is out of this world. It’s utterly enhanced by the beauty and realism that VR creates around you, but that just makes the scary that much scarier… I enjoyed the puzzles; they were fun and some were quite the challenge too. This is as close and perfect as you can get to bringing Resident Evil back to its horror roots. Now that it’s here they can only up the fear factor for future titles.
Weapon variety is not in abundance as before, but there is still enough to help you get the job done, and more creative flair was added here. There are no hi tech military weapons lying about, instead, you will find yourself a makeshift rocket launcher and then some… They went the distance to capture every element and ensure that it adds to the overall delivery of the game… Boss fights are out of this world and you will love every second of it, whilst dreading it as well…
A terrific and utterly realistic horror infested experience you will never forget and this they did perfectly… Topping it off so that it takes place in the current timeline of where the story is within the RE universe to boot. They did an absolute marvel of a job here.
The Official trailer for Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.
By: MGRza
Date: 30 January 2017
Additional Info:
Platforms: PC: PlayStation 4: Xbox One: Nintendo Switch: Amazon Luna
Genre: Action: Adventure: Atmospheric: Exploration: First-Person: FPS: Gore: Horror: Psychological Horror: Puzzle: Shooter: Singleplayer: Story Rich: Survival: Survival Horror: Violent: VR: Zombies
Censor Rating: Blood and Gore: Intense Violence: Strong Language
Age Rating: 17
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: 24 January 2017
MGR Gaming Steam Curator:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32364038/
