Gaming: 13 Years After The Disappointment Of Resident Evil 6, Capcom Is...

Resident Evil Requiem is in fine forms, both new and old.

Leon Kennedy has a chainsaw. I'm three minutes into Resident Evil Requiem, and my first fight with a crowded hospital hall full of zombies is already shouting what seems to be the game's guiding principle: the stuff you love in old Resident Evil, plus the stuff you love in new Resident Evil, smashed together into one decadent Resident Evil sandwich. Hope you're okay with zombie guts, because the cafeteria's all out of pastrami.

The three hours of Requiem I played, swapping between a grizzled-but-still-got-it Leon and more fragile newcomer Grace, deftly tiptoed the line between fan service and light touch reinvention. Last time we saw Leon in Resident Evil 4 Remake, Capcom had given him the ability to parry a chainsaw-wielding zombie with his knife, and he's got the same move here with a hatchet—only now when the mad doctor drops his whirring saw it goes skittering down the hallway, blade bouncing off the tile floor. Another zombie picks it up, which is when I realize maybe I can do the same.

There's an elegant marriage of character and combat in this short section that introduces Leon: He immediately cracks a corny joke, is completely unfazed by an orderly being chainsawed in half, then uses the moves honed in his last starring role to wrench away what used to be his enemy's deadliest weapon to slay half a dozen infected shamblers in seconds.

When Grace and Leon meet, he uses a magnum to pop the skull of a monster that she'd been avoiding in a game of cat and mouse because it could rip her to pieces. Just another Tuesday for Leon.

Capcom has declared Leon is just too cool and confident to go back to being scared of zombies, so he brings with him RE 4 Remake's excellent parry, spacious attaché case inventory, and a hearty health bar. For the first time since 2012's Resident Evil 6, action star Leon finally gets to do something new, but this time in a form that pairs much better with the tense, puzzley bits of the older games.

The next two hours I played as Grace unfolded in that more classical Resident Evil fashion. The hospital—think "movie insane asylum," not sterile modern facility—has the same twisting lock-and-key layout of Raccoon City's police department or the original Spencer Mansion, with the decor to match. The lobby, a welcome safe zone, is flanked by gleaming marble staircases leading up to the second story. Upstairs the halls are lined with old fashioned wood paneling, while downs

Source: PC Gamer