The ninth mainline Resident Evil is trying to split the difference between the series’ action-heavy entries and the stress-inducing hide-and-seek episodes. During a four-hour playthrough of some early parts of Resident Evil Requiem, I spent time with both of the two main characters, Grace and series mainstay Leon. They offer distinctly different playstyles, talents, strengths, and weaknesses. While it isn't an entirely new premise for the survival horror series (in the original, playing as Chris Redfield offered more challenge than playing as Jill Valentine) it’s never been this pronounced.
I started playing as Leon, entering a medical facility he seemed to have been invited to. With a cavernous main hall, it feels like yet another iconic Resident Evil hub, immediately reminding me of Raccoon City's Police Precinct and even the original's cavernous manor. Wings to explore? Check. Suspiciously quiet and empty central area that will almost definitely get overrun by zombies at some point? Probably.
Both Grace and Leon’s parts can be played in either third- or first-person perspective, though Leon’s segments seem better suited to the third-person view, since there's just a lot more shooting. Grace's segments were tense and demanded my full attention, more akin to Resident Evil 7. During this early part of the game, there is a lot of hiding, plenty of ammo conservation and a lot more learning from dumb mistakes. The parts of the game I played with Leon reminded me more of Resident Evil 4 (or 5 or 6 – but let’s gloss over those).
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Once you take control of him, Leon is immediately attacked and has to fend off roughly 15 infected doctors, nurses and patients. It’s a significant tone shift from Grace skulking around the facility, hiding behind plants and sometimes just hoping for the best.
Leon faces off against a chainsaw-wielding doctor zombie. Best cut that arm off. (Capcom)
Leon, fortunately, arrives with several weapons, including a new melee option, a hatchet. Using this, he can make targeted attacks to lop off limbs and aim at the head to deliver more damage. At least on these basic zombies, I found relentless slashing more effective than more targeted efforts – I’m sure future enemies will demand more… nuanced approaches. A later enemy must be decapitated to kill it.
After a set number of swings, you will need to retreat and sharpen the blade, which adds to the jeopardy while not disrupting the chaos. The hatchet can even be used to parry attacks – if you get the timing down.
Leon even gets to wield a chainsaw during this initial encounter, but only after claiming it from one particularly industrious zombie that seemed to find it inside a hospital. It was crucial to both disarm this zombie and grab the chainsaw before another corpse could take a turn on it. However, just because the chainsaw gets dropped doesn’t mean it’s turned off. I suffered significant damage when I repeatedly rushed into the spinning power tool.
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