Game review: Resident Evil Village (PS5 and PS4)

The Resident Evil franchise has been scaring gamers ever since the first game of the franchise hit the PSOne back in 1996. Over 25 years later, we now get the latest part of the series with Resident Evil Village releasing on PC and home consoles.

We at FutureFive NZ were lucky enough to review Resident Evil Village on both the PS5 and the PS4 too. Don't worry if you are stuck with a PS4 though, because I thought the game looked decent compared to the PS5 version when I played it on PS4 Pro.

The only huge benefit that the PS5 version has is that it can be played in 4K at 60fps. Not to mention the game looks far smoother compared to the rougher textures that I noticed from the PS4 version. However, I don't think the differences are too huge to worry last-gen console owners.

Anyway, Resident Evil Village takes place after Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The main character Ethan Winters now lives with his wife named Mia and their daughter Rose. Things seem to be going well for the couple until Rose gets kidnapped and Mia is seemingly killed.

After that traumatic experience, Ethan Winters has to enter a dodgy looking village in order to get his daughter back.  It's not going to be an easy task for him because the village is festered with a lot of monsters and crazy looking people!

While the story takes a lot of twists and turns later on, Ethan will first try and find his daughter inside Castle Dimitrescu. This is a castle owned by the giant vampire named Lady Dimitrescu and her three daughters haunt the place too.

What I like most about Resident Evil Village is the fact that it goes back to the franchise's survival horror roots. While the game has more action sequences than Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, it's not action heavy like the polarising games of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.

Here in Village, you are encouraged to look around and see the horrific sights that await you inside the castle and other areas. It goes without saying that this is one of the freakiest games I have ever played. The character designs are hideous for some creatures and I'm sure many gamers will be shocked when they see the ugliest ones!

The game is also a scary experience if you manage to play the game with quality headphones. There were numerous times I jumped with fear when an enemy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It is also frightening when you think you are safe, but then more enemies come to surround you.

Even though the game is heavy on survival horror, the game does have some decent action sequences as well. There is a decent amount of ammo that you can find throughout the game as Ethan has access to a variety of awesome weapons.

Much like Resident Evil 4before it, Ethan has access to many guns including a pistol, sniper rifle, shotgun and even a grenade launcher. You will need to conserve some ammo for boss fights because you'll be useless if you are only armed with the default knife.

The only thing I didn't like about the combat is the knife itself. The knife is pretty useless because it barely damages the enemies at all. There is also a block button which I think is pretty redundant because it rarely protects Ethan from enemy attacks.

If you are not engaged in combat, another huge part of the game is puzzles. There are many puzzles that you will have to solve in order to collect keys and unlock doors. I'm glad to say I managed to figure out all of the puzzles on my own as I was lucky enough to play the game a few days before launch.

Puzzle solving is also fun if you know what you are doing. For those that might be struggling, there are a ton of guides and walkthroughs that you can use now that the game is out. I remember I had to help my brother out a few times while he was playing the PS4 version of the game.

Aside from normal enemies, there are about five or so major boss fights that Ethan has to endure. The boss fights are quite epic and grandiose, although some people might say they are a little on the easier side. I felt the bosses here were easier to kill compared to the boss fights from Resident Evil 4.

Speaking of easy, another minor flaw of Resident Evil Village is that the game is on the short side. It's not as short as last year's Resident Evil 3 which was six hours long, but I did complete the game just over 10 hours. This is shorter than the 15 hours it took to complete Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Despite the slightly short length and easy boss fights, Resident Evil Village is still a good entry to the franchise. It features a decent blend of action and survival horror to satisfy both new and old fans of the series. This is a must play!

Verdict: 9.0/10