I was permitted to experience the new Resi for 30 minutes and was met with feelings that I believed I had left in the past.
This is merely the start of our most sinister symphony yet
. This powerful line concludes the Resident Evil 9 demo I tried out. And Capcom appears to be fulfilling that promise, as I witnessed personally.
The atmosphere was heavy and an icy chill crept down my spine. After enduring Resident Evil 7 with VR goggles in 2020, I thought that feeling was behind me. Since then, I’ve felt untouchable in video games, but that sense of security is now shattered.
The cause of this is not only the expert play of light and shadow but also what may be the most intriguing and threatening pursuer since Nemesis.
If you booked this hotel, you’d be wiser to sleep outside
What it’s about: You take on the role of FBI agent Grace Ashcroft, who, despite her gun training, mainly works behind a desk. However, that is about to change. After a string of mysterious fatalities in close proximity to Raccoon City, she is promptly dispatched to the area to investigate.
It’s a double calamity: not only is she heading straight into the epicenter of a nightmarish place where very few manage to escape unscathed, but her mother also perished in one of the local hotels a few years back. An old scar that is now being reopened.
What I got to play: I awaken in the demo in that very hotel – inverted and attached to a blood transfusion. Following a quick rescue operation, I’m now stealthily navigating through the dark hallways in search of a fuse for the electrical box so I can make my escape.
Light? Dark? Irrelevant: creepy!
My ever-present companion is the remarkable use of lighting effects, which generates an atmospheric intensity that is genuinely unmatched. Rays of light, flickering bulbs, and shifting colors have rarely captivated me so intensely.
The atmosphere morphs into suspense, and the suspense evolves into dread. Don’t misunderstand me, anyone with a chandelier knows the anxiety of flickering lights, but the fear in Requiem is of a different nature.
Less tangible, yet more profound and building from within. The entire time I’m thinking: “It’s coming! No, now! Or how about now?†I’m anticipating the climax.
Ironically, it’s the moment I feel a fleeting sense of relief that the horror finally engulfs me. There it is at last, the terror I had longing for all along!
Allow me to introduce: Ms. Fish Head Zombie Orc
As much as the level design and gameplay mesmerize me, the sight of the series’ iconic pursuer makes me want to flee. Visually, she looks like a hybrid of a zombie with fish-like eyes and a ailing orc from The Lord of the Rings. I come across her in the demo after just a few minutes and cannot shake her off until the very end.
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