Resident Evil Requiem isn’t quite as scary as the waking nightmare that is 2026, but it still offers some of the best thrills you’ve ever experienced in a horror game and will surely be a “Game of the Year” contender once those conversations start happening in a few months.
Requiem is a blockbuster culmination of the series’ output over the past nine years. Combining the immersive first-person scares of Biohazard and Village with the all-out action of Capcom’s stellar remakes of Resident Evil 2, 3 and 4 – especially 4 – Requiem ably divides the narrative between two characters whose stories interconnect in interesting ways. First, you’re Grace Ashcroft, a timid FBI analyst with unexpected ties to perennial franchise baddies, the Umbrella Corporation. She’s in over her head, not quite used to firing guns in the field and definitely not used to zombies trying to eat her face. Then, you’re Leon S. Kennedy, Resident Evil franchise veteran who doles out roundhouse kicks to monsters as effortlessly as he spews pun-laden dad jokes whenever he takes one out. Capcom recommends playing as Grace in first-person mode and as Leon from a third-person perspective to ramp up the terror as Grace and the action as Leon, but you’re free to play from the perspective of your choice. I went with the recommended configuration, and you should, too.
What struck me most about Requiem is that even though it treads similar ground to other installments in the series, including zombies, massive stalker enemies that chase you from room to room and pulsating mutant bosses with very obvious weak points, it still feels fresh. Early in the game, you’re introduced to zombies that are slightly different from the shambling evil residents you’re used to. This time, the undead will actually talk to you, sing to you and even apologize to you, as if they’re clinging to the last bits of humanity they have left. It’s haunting to walk into a room in which zombies are going about their daily routines, rotting flesh and all, all while knowing that they’re doing those things whether you’re there or not.
In terms of non-zombie creatures, the frog-like Lickers make a return here along with some other surprises that fans of the series will recognize. Newcomers include a hallway-blocking “Chunk” zombie with a massive appetite, the calculating and ultra-creepy Dr. Victor Gideon and The Girl, a towering light-averse horror that made me scream out loud more than a few times during my nine-hour playthrough.
Indeed, Requiem is really scary. The last time a video game got under my skin like this was Biohazard in 2017, which introduced the first-person perspective and kicked off the series’ best era yet. In fact, that game was so terrifying to me I didn’t finish it until this past year, when I decided to play through all the recent RE games I never finished – which included everything but Resident Evil 2 – so I would be ready for Requiem. I don’t always recommend playing five horror games in a row, but since this game ties so many of those narratives together, I’m really glad I made the effort. Plus, I think they’re all solid games in their own right.
As far as replayability, Requiem encourages new runs through the game with purchasable weapons and perks that make blowing monsters in half even more satisfying. Since it’s possible to speed through the game in just a few hours if you know what you’re doing and have the right firepower at your fingertips, it’s not a massive time commitment.
Resident Evil Requiem is a fun, over-the-top and satisfying addition to one of gaming’s great franchises, and if this is the last installment we ever get, I would be more than satisfied. However, given that it sold more than five million units in its first week and garnered near-universal acclaim, I suspect that this series is far from (un)dead.
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