RESIDENT EVIL REQUIEM PREVIEW BRINGING HORROR BACK TO THE FRANCHISE

Get Ready For Dread, Helplessness, and Psychological Terror

- Justin Wood

Resident Evil Requiem, possibly the scariest game in the series, replaces action with anxiety, offers first- and third-person views, introduces a terrifying new monster, and delivers a deeply personal return to Raccoon City.

Capcom has never been afraid to push the boundaries of horror, but with Resident Evil Requiem, it seems they're aiming to make us uncomfortable in a way that's less about combat and more about raw, unfiltered fear. After watching a thirty-minute presentation, it's clear: this isn't just another return to Raccoon City, this is a descent into something colder, more anxious, and far more personal. And I can't stop thinking about it.

Set to release next year, Resident Evil Requiem is already positioning itself as one of the most disturbing entries in the series, and not just because of the grotesque monsters or the return to nuclear-blasted Raccoon City. The fundamental shift comes from the perspective, not just the literal camera perspective, which you can toggle between first and third-person on the fly, but in the narrative tone and how Requiem wants you to feel. The operative word here is helpless. And it's doing a damn good job of bottling that into every breath and misstep from protagonist Grace Ashcroft.

Grace isn't a gun-toting action hero. She's no Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield. Instead, she's a scared FBI agent who wakes up strapped upside down to a hospital bed, injured and utterly disoriented. Her breathing is ragged. Her footsteps pound like someone dropped an anvil on the ship deck. Her voice trembles, constantly on the edge of panic, as if every step is a mistake. It's unnerving, and at times, exhausting, but that's the point.

Yes, the heavy breathing and pained groans might grate after a while, and yes, the booming footsteps feel like they were mixed to shatter eardrums, but there's a method to this madness.