Resident Evil: Requiem has its own version of Lady Dimitrescu, but I doubt you'll be thirsting for this hag

30 minutes successful Capcom's horrible hotel

Resident Evil: Requiem's archetypal trailer tied it unambiguously to the wider Resiverse, with sweeping footage of a nuked and abandoned Raccoon City, but the portion of zombie endurance I saw astatine this year’s Summer Game Fest felt similar a pouch fearfulness experimentation successful the vein of P.T. and Amnesia: The Bunker. I anticipation it’s not a one-off. I anticipation the full crippled is similar this.

FBI cause Grace Ashcroft regains consciousness tied upside down to a gurney successful immoderate benignant of sanitarium, midway done the process of being drained of blood. She frees herself with a chunk of glass, and sets retired to analyse the inky sepulchral corridors beyond. Unlike Resident Evil 7, and, pre-update, Resident Evil: Village, Requiem allows you to play successful third-person via the settings, but I consciousness Capcom’s penchant is that you adjacent done Grace’s eyes. All the amended to perceive her panicked, shuddering breaths, each the amended to spot the lighter occurrence shivering successful your fist, and each the amended to perceive the thunder of ogreish footsteps coming up down you.

Image credit: Capcom

The sanitarium country is location to a monstrous hag, and the hag is, I think, 1 of Capcom’s champion munsters to date. A powerfully bastardly confection of traits, whose behaviour appears to beryllium some scripted and dynamic. She’s got Lady Dimitrescu’s stature, meaning she’ll person to stoop to walk done doorways, but she tin besides crawl astir successful the ceiling similar a xenomorph. When she descends, look first, it’s a spot similar Sadako flowing retired of your telly.

The hag is simply a frightful spectacle up-close, her clumpy, gnashing teeth bulging from a look of pickled corpseflesh, but there’s a interaction of the overgrown kid here, a unspeakable hint of "I conscionable privation to play" communicated by the petulant hammering of her feet arsenic you sprint shrieking down the hallway to the area’s evident saferoom, wherever the lamplight and warmer colours if not the shuttable doorway support the entity astatine bay. The sound of the hag’s steps is masterfully calibrated successful specified a mode that you can’t rather judge she isn’t close connected apical of you, which means you can’t rather defy turning to look, which volition astir apt get you slaughtered.

The parallel successful Village is That Basement Section from Donna’s Doll House, with the caveat that the hag won't execution you instantly if she catches you. I don’t deliberation combat is an option, astatine slightest astatine this signifier successful Requiem – successful our demo, Grace had to find a fuse for an elevator to marque her escape. Naturally, the replacement fuse was locked wrong a container that required a screwdriver, which was hidden successful different container determination else, which meant that Grace had to backtrack crossed the layout, repeatedly passing the aforesaid unsighted corners and ceiling holes. In the words of each fearfulness crippled enthusiast: decease to each janitors. I erstwhile worked arsenic a janitor, and you’d champion judge I didn’t fell basal tools oregon seal distant replacement parts similar the Holy Grail.

Conspicuous passim the demo was Capcom’s mastery of airy and darkness. I person occasionally tried to classify the antithetic taxon of acheronian video games are susceptible of, which mightiness dependable similar the bullshit artistry of a writer who inactive thinks a GPU is immoderate benignant of constabulary car, but past you brushwood a crippled similar Requiem, successful which immoderate shadows perfectly swallow thing extracurricular of arm’s reach, forming antagonistic spaces that look arsenic heavy arsenic obsidian.

The sanitarium consists of airy greenish wallpaper and pearlescent airy fittings which, fixed somewhat brighter conditions, occasionally look similar hovering skulls oregon eyewhites. When you find the lighter, it’s a curse successful disguise, due to the fact that present you get to daze yourself each clip you flick it on. Oh, I’m sorry, Madame Champyboots – I didn’t announcement you gurning there. I’m conscionable going to caput backmost to the saferoom for a spell.

Image credit: Capcom

The question is whether this is simply a quarantined Maximum Terror occurrence successful a crippled of frenzied Resi 4-style assemblage power and upgradeable weapons. Our PR handler took attraction to harvester the words “horror” and “action” during the demo presentation, leaving the ratio unclear, but the selling catchphrase "addicting fear" suggests that this mightiness beryllium 1 of the spookier, little trigger-happy Resis.

While the trailer does suggest a circuit of Raccoon City, it besides cites 1 peculiar location, Remnant Hotel, arsenic the absorption of Grace’s story. After all, it was present that her parent died. Which I conjecture explains the hag, from a intelligence baggage POV. I wouldn’t beryllium amazed if the full of Requiem were dispersed crossed the floors of that hotel. Fingers crossed.