–
–
Capcom’s horror serial Resident Evil continues to maintain its newfound form, writes Alexander Ekelund.
After being out and cycling quite a bit, Capcom finally got the ship on the right keel again with the 2017 year Resident Evil: Biohazard, the new start which, via a new first-person perspective, rediscovered the series’ horror and adventure roots. When then brilliant reinterpretations of Resident Evil 2 and 3 followed, the feeling that one had come out of the crisis years was stronger than ever.
And we can collectively draw a sigh of relief – for Village does not mark the end of the triumphal procession either.
Without deviating too much from the marked track, Village takes the series to new visual and game-like places, where in particular the move from the previous game’s dark, claustrophobic setting to a European mountain village in winter garb gives it a completely different feel.
In terms of layout, it is otherwise a kind of cross between the predecessor and most of the older parts in the series – with a number of different interconnected areas that in a typical Resident Evil manner open up as you go. Rustic castle interiors, doll-filled haunted houses, underground factory complexes – the variety, atmosphere and design are outstanding and the character ensemble as colorful as terrifying.
Towards the end of the adventure, the focus is perhaps a little too much on action, especially set against the more taste of the calmer pace of the initial hours.
But for the most part, the atmospheric Resident Evil: Village hits right in the balance – and is another message of strength from a series that was heading towards the abyss, but against all odds got up and regained shape.
–
