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REVIEW: “Resident Evil 7” isn’t afraid to get in your face

Built with pieces inspired by sources like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “American Horror Story,” this latest “Resident Evil” video game aims for a slower, cree...
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REVIEW: “Resident Evil 7” isn’t afraid to get in your face
  • reviewed on PlayStation 4 / rated M / $59.99 / released January 2017
  • OFFICIAL SITE: residentevil7.com
  • PURCHASE LINK: Amazon
  • FINAL: You NEED this game. 5 out of 5 stars

Start with a character making a sketchy decision, put them in an obviously terrible location, and you have the start of most horror movies. Add in a collection of magnificent weaponry and you have the start of most horror video games. Now take those guns out of there, but add in a first-person camera perspective, and you have the surprising start of “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.”

Built with pieces inspired by sources like “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “American Horror Story,” this latest “Resident Evil” video game aims for a slower, creepier pace than most games. You’re not here to machine gun your way through a zombie horde, you’re pressed flat against a wall, hiding as a pitchfork-toting murderer to pass by.

REVIEW: “Resident Evil 7” isn’t afraid to get in your face

“Resident Evil 7” mostly takes place in the rundown house of the Baker family, a collection of Southern hillbilly genre castoffs that crow about family and tradition. You know what to expect: they’ll tie you to a chair as a “guest” for a dinner of decaying pig organs, and then wail about your manners when you refuse to eat the gruesome meal.

Then they’ll wave a knife dangerously close to your face. And because this is a first-person game, that knife is pointing at your actual face, not the face of some rugged video game avatar. (In fact, if you get the chance to play “Resident Evil 7” in virtual reality, do it. It’s ten times as scary and worth the occasional stomach dip to find yourself immersed in the Baker household. The virtual reality mode for “RE7” is only available with PlayStation VR hardware at the moment.) “Resident Evil” toyed with a first-person camera perspective in some older games, but never as impressively and dramatically as found here.

All of this is not to say that “Resident Evil 7” is a shivering-in-the-corner simulator, you do collect a few weapons and the game is punctuated by fights against grotesque monsters that just plain need shot to pieces. However, the scarcity of ammunition (depending on what level of challenge you prefer) means running from enemies is often the smarter play.

Leaning on the “flight” part of “fight or flight” gives the game a gripping intensity. Even at the easiest difficulty settings – where enemies can swipe at you plenty of times before you die in defeat – the claustrophobic setting is full of suspenseful scares.

REVIEW: “Resident Evil 7” isn’t afraid to get in your face

Initially it is, anyway. Eventually the “video gameyness” wins out, and you learn to dispassionately expect scares rather than cringingly anticipate them. The mysterious, inhuman Bakers give way to plodding mud monsters as you get stuck hunting down ever more ridiculous puzzle solutions. It’s still a fun ride as the game’s mysteries are revealed in those final acts, but the momentum of the opening hours simply can’t stay in place forever.

“Resident Evil 7” takes a big risk by focusing on slow-burn horror, but the gamble was worth it. This is an early “Game of the Year” contender and a high water mark for horror video games.

 

“Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. This review based on product supplied by the publisher. Images courtesy CAPCOM.

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