What is Resident Evil 7?
Resident Evil 7 is a tense, creepy, jump-out-of-your-seat horror game that's not for the faint of heart. The story begins when you receive a mysterious message from your girlfriend - a message that simply says "come get me". The problem is, your girlfriend's been missing, presumed dead, for three years - so why is she messaging you now? And how? Following the details she sent, you find yourself at a remote house in rural Louisiana - a house where something clearly isn't right. Mutilated animal corpses are scattered around, filth covers every surface, and it almost feels like you're being watched. Welcome the Baker family - you'll be lucky if you get out alive.
How do you play Resident Evil 7?
Played from a first person "through the eyes" perspective, Resident Evil 7 is a game that builds an oppressive atmosphere and keeps you on edge - and one that plays very differently to the earlier Resident Evil games. Exploring a terrifying, dilapidated, yet sprawling house by the light of your torch, the game sets out to trick you and keep you nervous throughout - things will go bump in the night; shapes flicker out of the corner of your eye; and objects move when you're not looking, with everything coming together to make you terrified of what might be hiding around the next corner.
However, the house you're searching is nothing if not expansive, with secret passages, tunnels, and even additional buildings to explore. As in prior Resident Evil games, there's many a puzzle to solve here, too, from holding a block in front of a torch, and rotating it until it casts a certain shaped shadow, to messing with the dials on a clock, or simply moving an item from one end of the house to the other. As you'll regularly find yourself coming up against impassable obstacles, the more you explore, the more items (and keys) you'll find, which in turn will slowly open more of the house to you. While there's many a monster waiting inside, the game's limited ammo means you'll have to choose your fights wisely, as you never know when you might need it...
How easy is Resident Evil 7 to pick up and play?
Designed to be terrifying, Resident Evil 7 sets out to ensure you're only a few mistakes away from an inevitable death. Several sections see you being stalked around the house by an enemy you simply can't beat, so staying out of sight - and running when you're spotted - is the only way you'll survive. With scarce ammo, and a compact inventory meaning you often have to make a choice between carrying what little ammo you do have, or an extra first aid kit, Resident Evil is a game designed to make having a stockpile of useful items tricky, as that makes it scarier. While it may be unusual in other games, running from a battle is a totally valid option.
Boss fights, particularly, can be rather difficult. Seeing as you're often up against foes that were invulnerable when they were stalking you round the house only moments ago, you'll often need to think on your feet to figure out how to kill them, keeping your eye out for any useful items that are lying around that you previously didn't have access to - like a chainsaw. Unlike previous Resident Evil games, though, Resident Evil 7 does have a checkpoint system, meaning even if the worst should happen, you'll restart only a few moments ago, without losing too much progress.
Resident Evil 7 is fully subtitled and fully voiced in terms of the main story - however, throughout the game, you'll find text files that offer insight into the backstory, and various tutorials, both of which are delivered through text only.
With strong language, graphic violence and explicit gore, Resident Evil 7 contains substantial and frequent mature content.
Violence
Packed with creep-out moments, Resident Evil 7 is a game that sets out to make your stomach turn. Whether you're putting your hand down a decapitated corpse's throat as it squelches around; removing a screwdriver that's just been thrust through your palm, pinning you to the wall; or clutching your wrist, looking down at your recently dismembered hand, Resident Evil 7 is very, very gory, and often gives you a close up seat of the very worst bits, by design. Any violence towards the protagonist is almost always accompanied by terrified, heart racing screams and shouting, whether it's a character having a word carved into their arm with a fountain pen, or being shot in the stomach with a dart, before slowly pulling the dart out.
Bad language
Bad language is similarly frequent in Resident Evil 7. F**k, sh*t, c*cksucker, and sh*thole all feature regularly, with swearing being a frequent fixture.
Sexual content
In contrast to the violence and language, there's nothing in the way of sexual content in Resident Evil 7.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
