The Resident Evil series, known for its surprises, got the drop on players with a new PS5 demo that became available during Capcom’s Resident Evil Village showcase that gave us our first look at RE8's gameplay.
The demo, Capcom says, won’t have much in the way of combat or blocking, but will instead introduce you to the spooky environments you’ll be traversing when the game comes on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X on May 7 2021.
Capcom didn’t divulge all the details of the demo but did say that, rather than playing as Resident Evil 7’s protagonist Ethan Winters for the demo, you’ll play as a character called The Maiden, as they attempt to escape one of the game’s settings, the castle. Think of it like an experiential short story set in Resident Evil: Village’s world with hints and Easter Eggs about the main game, according to a PlayStation blog post – which also revealed the demo supports ray tracing and 3D Audio.
Don’t worry – there’s a bigger demo coming in Spring (Q2 2020) that will almost surely showcase all the mechanics we’ve seen today, and maybe introduce some characters and environments revealed in today’s showcase.
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Resident Evil Village screenshots
Resident Evil Village borrows heavily from fan-favorite RE4
One of the most striking and memorable parts of Resident Evil Village’s gameplay and setting is just how much it reminds us of Resident Evil 4, widely regarded as one of the franchise’s best games.
Unlike other entries in the franchise, there aren’t any zombies, and instead brings in Grimm fairytale creatures. RE8 will reintroduce the Tetris-based inventory management system of RE4 with green herbs in tow, and a weapons vendor named The Duke will fill the role of The Merchant.
You can see more in the game’s latest trailer:
Resident Evil: Village’s spooky village and baroque castle environments also hearken back to similar scenes in RE4, though instead of a decrepit Napoleon, players will face off against the towering dame in white, revealed to be named Lady Dimitrescu, and her daughters, who will hunt Ethan inside the intriguingly-named Dimitrescu Castle.
Capcom says the game will have a slew of collectibles to encourage you to wade into the deepest and darkest parts of the village, similar to the ones found in RE2.
Celebrating 25 years of jump scares
Resident Evil Village will release two months after the franchise’s 25th anniversary, recognizing the first game's release in March 1996 on the Sony PlayStation.
Alongside RE8, Capcom says it will also release a spin-off game, Resident Evil Re:Verse, with an online competitive multiplayer component.
According to the game’s website, matches will be four to six-person deathmatch battles and, when your character is taken out, you’ll transform into a powerful bioweapon that can be used against other players.
In the promo art for the game, we can see franchise staples like Leon Kennedy, Ada Wong and Claire Redfield, as well as The Nemesis which could be the aforementioned bioweapon that you’ll take control of when you’re out of the match.
So far there’s no release date set for Resident Evil Re:Verse outside of a generic ‘2021’ release window, but it’s one we’ll keep our eyes on as we get closer to Resident Evil Village’s May release date.
And for fans of The Division 2, players will soon get access to outfits and weapon skins to look like iconic characters from the series – Jill's beret, Leon's weird cop body armor, and HUNK's special ops outfits, to name a few. The in-game extras are coming in a crossover event happening in February.
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