Game Review: Resident Evil 7 Biohazard

 

Resident Evil 6 was for a long time, the nail in the coffin of the Resident Evil franchise.  Despite touting an ambitious tiered campaign system which followed recognizable characters, the general consensus on the game was that it dived even deeper into the action-gameplay and ludicrously over-the-top set pieces. Even with it being a commercial success, the game was rated badly by both critical and general audiences, with many people worried the franchise was never going to return to the survival-horror genre it so easily mastered upon its inception.  Capcom clearly noticed the concern in their review of the feedback to Resident Evil 6 and agreed it was high-time to go back to formula. 5 years after the release of Resident Evil 6, Capcom set out to remind the industry why they were once considered the kings of survival-horror when they released Resident Evil 7 unto the world.

Development on Resident Evil 7 began in 2014 in which Koshi Nakanishi of Resident Evil Revelations fame took up the helm of creative director for the project alongside the rest of the team at Capcom Division 1.  With a primary desire to take the series back to its traditional roots, the team opted to take inspiration from classic American horror movies like The Evil Dead, Saw and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the next entry and establish the game in one key location in the Louisiana Bayou. The team also broke tradition by hiring a Western writer in Richard Pearsey to help them design the narrative to ensure it emulated a similar tone and vibe to those movies.  The biggest example of Capcoms ambition to revitalize the series however was in the funding and creation of a brand-new propriety engine in the RE Engine which would allow them to utilize advanced features like anti-aliasing, volumetric lighting and photogrammetry.  Resident Evil 7 had an interesting marketing campaign tied to its reveal as Capcom kept its identity a secret for the longest time, even going so far as to hide a tech demo for the game in plain sight at E3 2015 titled KI7CHEN. It was at E3 2016 where Capcom finally opened the curtains on the title through a feature-length presentation which smartly revealed in the ending shot the title as Resident Evil 7.

It wasn’t too long after the E3 reveal that players got to grab their own copies of the game as Resident Evil 7 released in January 2017 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The focus to take the franchise back to its survival horror roots clearly paid off as well, considering the game received critical and commercial success which arguably pushed the franchise back into the mainstream. Opencritic showed the critical aggregate score at a solid 86 which is a considerable improvement from Resident Evil 6’s 62 average by comparison. On the commercial end, Resident Evil 7 wasted no time in climbing on top of the sales charts when it debuted. Only a few days after the official release and Capcom were reporting they had sold a total of 2.5 million units; by April, the game had sold 3.5 million units. What was always an odd sticking point though was Capcom constantly noted that those numbers were short of their unreasonably high expectations. It all worked out in the end though as by May 2026, over 9 years after its release, the entry has amassed a grand total of 17.40 million copies sold across all consoles.

Following another break in tradition for the franchise at the time, the narrative of Resident Evil 7 follows an entirely original protagonist by the name of Ethan Winters.  After the mysterious disappearance of his wife Mia over three years ago, Ethan had all but given up hope of ever seeing her again. It’s only after a randomly short message is sent from her email that Ethan dares to hope he might have finally found her. Mia’s email tells Ethan that she currently resides in the Baker family farm in Dulvey Louisiana and that she wants him to come and get her.  Upon his arrival to the Baker family farm Ethan soon discovers things are well and truly messed up on the property when he finds rotten food and a mysterious mold-like substance littered all over the place. Finding Mia makes even less sense when she randomly attacks him and severs his hand with mad glee.  Ethan soon learns that the root of the madness stems from the Baker family themselves who are responsible for kidnapping and holding Mia hostage. Jack Baker is the head of the family and despite his old age and witty demeanour, Ethan soon learns he’s not a force to be messed with.  Alongside Jack is his wife Marguerite who is particularly foul-mouthed with a temper to boot. Capping the trio of lunatics off is Lucas Baker, the pair’s masochistic son who takes great joy in designing death traps for his unsuspecting victims. Trapped and running out of time, Ethan must confront the crazy redneck family and put an end to the nightmare before it’s too late, but the deeper into the swamp he goes, the darker the secrets he’ll discover.

One of the biggest strengths behind Resident Evil 7’s story for me was how self-contained it felt.  This is very much a standalone entry in the franchise which doesn’t require you to be well-versed in the deep lore of all the prior games leading up to it. The decision to base the game in a southern Louisiana setting and rotate it around the Baker family as an entity keeps the story centred from start to finish as well. You can immediately feel the inspiration the writers took from those iconic American horrors with how much the Baker family exudes their defining characteristics every time they pop up on screen. Ethan as a central character is admittedly one of my favourite additions to the latest entry of Resident Evil games, but I feel his development is found more so in Resident Evil Village than it is here.  Ethan is intended to be a conduit for the player to experience the story through but that often comes at the expense of his actual character with how little personality he offers throughout the course of the game.  The problem is only exasperated by how much character the Bakers showcase by comparison.

The overall mystery behind the plot is nicely layered, as the game smartly pulls back the curtain inch by inch as you explore the environments and pick up on notes and items scattered around that helps frame the plot prior to key reveals. I do feel however that the pacing of the game loses a bit of steam by the point you move out of the Baker farm.  I appreciate the 2nd half of the game is devoted to delivering a lot of the key plot points that help contextualize the narrative as a whole, but I never found it did it in a way that felt as natural as the first half.  What really cements the narrative’s key impression for me though was the theme and tone. There’s a reason many people consider this game to be the scariest entry in the series so far, as it really hones in on the themes of hopelessness, isolation and overwhelming oppression. Ethan is for the most part, on his own throughout the story and the game utilizes that isolation to constantly emphasize the horror that lies behind each door you open and around every corner you turn.

One of the biggest shifts in terms of gameplay was Capcom’s decision to design the game with a first-person perspective in mind rather than the traditional third-person perspective.  Apart from the rail-shooter spin-offs, the series has always featured a third-person perspective so Capcom were taking a big gamble framing the gameplay in this new format.  Thankfully the shift in perspective actually works to give the game a distinct flair while continuing to provide that iconic Resident Evil gameplay we all know and love. Ethan being more of an every-man works to justify the return to survival horror gameplay as well, as the game’s core gameplay works to constantly remind you that you’re out of your depth and combat is something to be avoided if at all possible.  It helps that the new enemies you will face as Ethan pose a severe threat as besides our maniacal Baker family, Ethan will also have to contend with The Molded. Taking the bodies of their helpless victims, the Baker family have found a way to infect their tissue with the infectious mold substance which soon mutates and animates their bodies with nefarious purpose.  These enemies will take multiple forms as you progress through the game with unique features that add to the overall difficulty later stages aim to put you through.

Whenever you’re not fighting for your life though, you’ll be actively exploring the grotesque and dilapidated Baker family farm to find objects and keys to advance your escape. It helps that each of the key areas you find yourself in within Resident Evil 7 truly represent the core puzzle-based exploration that the franchise was so well known for. While Resident Evil 4, 5 and 6 did away with the exploratory puzzle elements as they progressed, 7 feels much akin to the older Resident Evil games in the way you have to memorize locked doors and puzzles that you’ll find key items to progress through later on. The risk/reward element tied behind looping back to previously explored areas is so addictive as well. The game will smartly recognize that you’ll have something to advance you past the puzzle too and will use your sense of expectation against you by sneakily deploying enemies in your path to surprise you. It’s in the exploration that you’ll come to see the true threat each of the Baker family members pose as well.  Jack Baker constantly stalks you akin to Mr X during certain segments and while the guy may not seem as big, he’s certainly as determined and chases you persistently. Marguerite Baker has her own dedicated segment in which she’ll patrol and attack you with her flying bugs if she catches you.  Lucas Baker relies more on his Saw-like traps to try and kill you which makes for an interesting change of pace to the regular gameplay when he pops up.

On the presentation end, you really see the RE Engine on full display in Resident Evil 7 and for the first-time it’s utilized; Capcom did an amazing job redefining the visual impression of this series. For a game that came out in 2017, it still looks and feels like a modern-day title a whole generation later.  The RE Engine is able to render environments with so much realistic detail and lighting which really goes a long way in instilling each section of the game with all the appropriate elements to visualize the horror that lies in wait.  The first-person camera will have you up close with character and enemy models and that too works to highlight the impressive animation work the RE Engine is able to output. Every model is filled to the brim with detail and realistic expressions and movement that it goes a long way to help immerse you in this horrific experience whether you want to or not.  Akiyuki Morimoto, Miwako Chinone, Satoshi Hori, Cris Velasco and Brian D'Oliveira all have credits on the composition and score for the game which I also think goes a long way in embedding the game with all the necessary emotions and tones to realize its bleak horror.  Go Tell Aunt Rhodey is synonymous with this game for good reason and I also want to give a special nod to the safe room theme in this game specifically, which I would argue is my favourite safe room theme in the series. 

I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to say Resident Evil 7 saved this franchise. If Resident Evil 6 was the potential final breath, then I think it’s fair to call this game the much-needed resuscitation at the hands of Koshi Nakanishi and the rest of the development team at Capcom.  At every opportunity, Resident Evil 7 showcases a bold and confident return to the survival-horror genre that defined so many people’s adoration for the series so long ago. By utilizing its uniquely realized plot and setting, the game delivers a captivating horror experience that can be appreciated by both new and old fans alike. Even with my minor complaints, I still think there’s so much this game gets right in delivering a truly engrossing experience that utilizes every second of its runtime to terrorize you in the best ways possible.  As time has gone by and the Resident Evil franchise has moved back towards its core series narrative and characters, I will always appreciate this game’s efforts to deliver a self-contained story through the lens of the terrifying Baker family and our faceless hero Ethan Winters.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐