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Capcom has disproved everything I said about the Resident Evil series with Resident Evil 7. Since Resident Evil 6, the beloved horror series has battled to remain relevant to its audience since it was so out of touch with its own fans. The Revelations spinoff series has continued to be successful, and it has received a few good HD remasters, but the calamity of the last mainstream installment of the franchise has remained.
For me, a Resident Evil enthusiast since the release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998, things became so awful that I virtually conceded defeat. Although I claimed that Resident Evil Revelations 2 “provides a road map for where to take [the franchise] forward” in my review, this felt more like a surrender than anything truly revolutionary. It wasn’t particularly fearsome or ambitious, but at least it wasn’t terrible. This felt like the best Resident Evil could provide, which is damning.
Ethan Winters, the bland protagonist of Resident Evil 7, ends up in the Louisiana bayou while looking for his missing wife. Once there, Ethan discovers himself being kidnapped and tormented by the Bakers, a family of murderous cannibals. Much of Resident Evil 7 deviates from the zombie outbreak foundations of the franchise as a whole, both in the specifics and overall tone of its seeming stand-alone tale.
I won’t reveal whether or how RE7 might eventually connect to the larger Resident Evil universe, but I will say this: You don’t have to be interested in the game’s 20-year background to start playing. Resident Evil 7 contains echoes of the series’ past, despite Capcom not requiring a degree in Resident Evil lore to play. Although Dulvey, Louisiana is not Raccoon City, RE7 takes set in and around a single big mansion like the first Resident Evil.
Resident Evil 7 review: System Requirements
CPU: AMD or Intel Core i7 3770 3.4GHz or above
CPU Information RAM: 8 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 280X or above required for video card
Dedicated Video RAM: 2048 MB Pixel Shader: 5.1 Vertex Shader: 5.1
Resident Evil 7 review: PC Performance
Return of Resident Evil. You should absolutely read our review of Resident Evil 7 if you missed it. But the focus of this section is computer performance. Not only is Resident Evil returned, but it also features a brand-new graphics engine. What about performance? The RE engine is made to lighten the workload of others engaged in the same project.
We reran our X99 test system using the most recent Radeon (17.1.1) and NVIDIA drivers (378.49). Both drivers are suggested for Resident Evil 7 and are accessible to the general public. The game is still in production, thus all gaming PC requirements are subject to change, according to the fine print from Capcom. Nevertheless, this ought to provide prospective PC players with a solid notion of what they’ll need in order to enjoy Capcom’s next first-person horror game. You can buy this game from its official website.
Resident Evil 7 review: Fighting Evil
One of your first enemies will be the Baker family, who are unstoppable tyrants with terrible dispositions. They are also by far the most intriguing. I found myself giggling uncontrollably and looking desperately for a means to defend myself during the initial fight with Jack Baker, a winning combination that made the surprise encounter one of Resident Evil 7’s highlights.
Even once I had more than just a knife in my possession, Jack’s roaming of the mansion—at one point even breaking through a wall, Mr. X-style—felt like a genuine menace. In order to survive, I had to either run away or shoot him with my firearm, which is a choice that can come back to bite you.
Contrary to what people may assume given its first-person horror aesthetic, Resident Evil 7 does not feature any gameplay that strongly emphasizes concealment or stealth. Because it’s still Resident Evil, you still have to shoot opponents to eliminate them; otherwise, they’ll stay where you left them and wait to attack you the next time you go back.
However, this time around, you can’t rely on the security of load screen doors to keep bad guys out, which just heightens the stress when running out of ammo or health and having to flee. Since even safe rooms are no longer safe, you’d better get particularly skilled at closing doors behind you.
Final Words
Resident Evil 7 adds a new layer of fear while maintaining the atmospheric survival horror series’ core elements. The first-person perspective was employed in the frightening door-opening scenes in earlier Resident Evil games to frighten gamers.
With an immersive first-person perspective and a photorealistic graphic design, Resident Evil 7 intensifies this tension. Thanks to the new exclusive, in-house RE Engine, which includes VR-oriented capabilities, Capcom is able to reach a better level of visual quality.
In Resident Evil 7, you’ll be able to see every gruesome detail up close because of the RE Engine and other breakthrough audio and video technologies. The eerie sense of presence intensifies to a level that horror fans have never previously felt when playing the game in PlayStation VR mode.
The bundled PlayStation VR mode offers the complete gameplay experience from beginning to end. You cannot be prepared for this by any Resident Evil you have ever encountered.