Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Review

Resident Evil 7 returns to the roots of the franchise, but not without taking some big risks. It’s a classic, frightening experience that deviates from the derivative action that the series is now known for. No skill trees or massive battles are present. Instead, Resident Evil 7 recaptures the unnerving feeling of attempting to survive a waking nightmare where monsters are real and you should be afraid of the dark.

The biggest change in Resident Evil 7 comes from the perspective. Instead of having a fixed camera angle or third-person view, players are now given a first-person perspective. Outlast and Amnesia fans will instantly recognize a lot of the similarities, such as backtracking to collect specific items and scripted events. The issue is that the game doesn’t telegraph these situations well, and often, you’ll die because of this. Checkpoints are generous to ensure that death isn’t vexing, but the long load times are infuriating, whereas choosing to retry is instant.

Resident Evil 7 does suffer from a lack of variety, including repetitive enemy encounters, frequent fetch quests, and the solution of similar puzzles. The developers combat this by providing numerous memorable moments throughout the 10-hour campaign. These situations are shocking and come at unexpected moments. When solving basic puzzles and collecting objects began to drag, the game would suddenly throw something else at me from nowhere, quickly renewing any sense of excitement that I had lost.

The charm of Resident Evil 7 comes from your powerless situation. While you gather weapons and healing items, the game finds a way to strip any form of safety. This is further amplified by the fact that the playable character, newcomer Ethan Winters, isn’t a trained soldier like Chris Redfield or Leon Kennedy, but a man searching for his wife, Mia, who has been missing for three years. Ethan finds himself at a manor deep in the Louisiana Bayou, where he discovers the Baker family. 

The Baker family is one of the best antagonists in the series to date. Each of the three family members has their unique personas and style of fighting. The father, Jake, loves to get in your face, the mother, Marguerite, takes to the shadows, and their son, Lucas, sets up traps to keep the player on edge. Each of these people presented a distinct challenge to overcome, especially when they were hunting Ethan.

Ethan, on the other hand, is perhaps one of the weakest Resident Evil protagonists I’ve played as. The lack of shock in his voice during some of the more gruesome events in the game lacks any passion. Where other characters demonstrate feelings of fear, anger, and humor, Ethan’s tone remains relatively the same.

Resident Evil 7 keeps things simple. While it captures the atmosphere of older games in the franchise, Capcom has made the game significantly more accessible, especially when compared to the original Resident Evil games. The game’s inventory and limited supplies still ensure that you never feel overpowered, but I never went into a situation with the bare minimum.

A helpful indicator is also available for key item,s which are a massive help during these scavenger tasks. Capcom removed the separate section for key items and stopped informing the player when these items were no longer needed, unlike in other Resident Evil games, which led to numerous issues with storage management.

The primary issue of Resident Evil 7 comes from the game’s lack of variety. The Baker family is an amazing adversary that kept me on my toes because of their unexpected nature. Knowing when to run or fight is one of the best feelings in a survival-horror game, but this is only made tense due to a healthy mixture of enemies, which Resident Evil 7 lacks. Since you’ll face the same enemies most of the time, you’ll quickly memorize their patterns and be able to handle these adversaries with ease.

Like the enemies, the puzzles serve little challenge. Most of them require simple solutions or collecting specific items. They serve as a meaningful break from running and hiding, adding to the atmospheric tension of being in a hostile Manor. However, due to the game’s lack of direction, some players may find themselves running in circles.

Boss fights are perhaps the best part of Resident Evil 7. Mixing bloody battles with horror is a challenge, but Capcom successfully does this by providing both. In one battle, you're placed into an arena where your opponent can come out of nowhere. I can’t go into detail without spoilin,g but like most of Resident Evil 7, you’re going to remember these fights. Only one fight felt out of place and seemed to break the atmosphere of the entire, feeling more like the infamous action games from the series.

Resident Evil 7 is exactly what fans of survival-horror games have wanted from this franchise for years. The puzzles and enemy variety provide little challenge, but the constant fear that something could burst out kept me alert. I always felt powerless, scared, and it was something I thought impossible from this franchise after Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil 7 is a terrifying journey through a murky, bug-infested version of hell, and it’s one I’ll remember for the rest of the year.