Resident Evil 7 biohazard

I love Resident Evil. I've cited the original (Gamecube Remake that is) as my favorite game of all time now. I love characters, the goofy lore, the tank controls, everything about it. Hell I even love the movie franchise that everyone else hates. That being said, I was extremely concerned about Resident Evil 7.

Now I'm in the camp of people (there's very few of us) that didn't hate Resident Evil 6. I think I even gave it a five star review on here at the time of it's release. I still stand by that while 6 wasn't a great game, it was a very good game that I did enjoy despite some flaws. But we aren't here to discuss the past of Resident Evil, we are here to discuss the present and the future of this franchise, and that started with quite a bang, and that bang is Resident Evil 7.

It's easy to notice the similarity between what Capcom decided to do with Resident Evil's direction after the phenomenon that was P.T. They took a great concept and made it their own, especially since we probably will never see what Silent Hills would become. Scaling back from all of the bombastic action was a bold move for the franchise, but I feel that it pays off in this entry.

The most important thing to note about Resident Evil 7 is that it feels like a Resident Evil game. It feels more like a Resident Evil game then the previous incarnations of the game, and I think it is probably more true to the original core concept of the franchise than any game after the original. The team responsible for this game had a real love for that original game, and it truly shows through. Item management and exploration of the house are nice returns to the franchise, as is playing as character that doesn't feel like a damn superhero. Don't get me wrong, I love Chris Roidfield as much as the next person, but it was time for a change, and they did a fantastic job with putting you in the shows of a character who feels like an everyman.

You play as Ethan Winters, a man who is in search of his wife Mia after she disappeared three years prior to the events of the game. He receives a mysterious video message from her confirming that she is still alive. So he sets off on his adventure/nightmare in finding her. I'll admit I was concerned about this release for months before it was released for several reasons: the lack of information about the story and characters, and all of the "supernatural elements" shown in trailers and mentioned. Resident Evil has never been about supernatural, it's always been grounded in science, so I was concerned they would try and change up a major plot point of this franchise, which would be a difficult task considering this is the 7th game in the core franchise and continues after the events of 6. I give Capcom mad props for continuing this franchise story after 6, instead of just rebooting it completely. Even though this game plays more like a reboot. It is to this franchise the jump between 6 to 7 as the jump from 3 to 4 was.

However the game isn't without some flaws. The first flaw would be within a big part of this game: the characters that are The Baker family. Simply put: I didn't care for any of them. It was too obvious that they were just the victims of a great accident and that none of them meant to do the things that they were doing. But they aren't really well thought out characters, they just play more as a second rate Hills Have Eyes hick family than they do a menacing force that you should be afraid of. I found myself laughing at them more than having an actual fear of them. There is a specific scene later in the game involving Jack Baker that made me laugh out loud while it happened, and I simply exclaimed "Yep, that's Resident Evil". Secondly, the enemy variety is extremely lacking. Resident Evil is known for some of the best creature design in recent gaming, and yet their are only three versions of "The Molded" in this game. The normal walking molded, a "fat" version that will throw up on you, and crawlers, whom crawl on the ground and are extremely fast. That's it. They made a damn Resident Evil game that doesn't actually have zombies in it. Even Resident Evil 6 had a version of zombies in it! It's kind of shocking. My final complaint about the game is the second half of it, or the big reveal after the house. This is a major spoiler, so move on from this paragraph if you don't want to know: this game transitions to the site of this outbreak, which is a giant tanker ship. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the house isn't the entire focus of the game, but the problem is that the house is such a great and well developed part of this game that when you get to the tanker it starts to fall apart. There is also a part of the game where it becomes a run-and-gun first person shooter essentially, and while this game plays well in a first person perspective, the shooting isn't stellar. It works, but not as well as your typical FPS. With that aside, the final thirty minutes of this game are a gigantic love letter to fans of the original game. And I applaud Capcom for this.

Putting a few complaints aside, I loved every minute of my time with Resident Evil 7. It surprised me that Capcom was able to pull off the impossible and create a fantastic entry into the long running franchise, while bringing back some of the core concepts that made the game great. It's one of the few games that I actually indulged in buying the season pass, and I actually don't feel disappointed with the content released thus far. And I eagerly await that free DLC that addresses the returning character and what exactly is going on with that Character. I don't want to spoil who the returning character is, but it is a fan favorite.

Should you buy Resident Evil 7? Yes. If you are a fan of this long-running franchise, especially one that felt burned out after recent entries, there has never been a better spot to return to this franchise. I'm excited to see what Capcom does with the next installment, and I'm even more excited for more info on Resident Evil 2 Remake, but I just glad everything worked out here. The gigantic Capcom gamble paid off for them well. A great way to start of 2017 in gaming.