Resident Evil: Village
Excellent!
“Your right hand is unusable”
I found unintentional comedy out of some poor communication from the game. After Lady D slices off Ethan’s hand, she stalks him in a relatively small corridor. There’s only one possible exit, but I was baffled that I couldn’t open it as the screen was filled with the message, “Your right hand is unusable.” Cue several minutes of me running in circles, looking for secret walls or levers, all while Lady D endlessly taunted me.
I was pressing my mouse, so the game was actually telling me that Ethan couldn’t use his gun. I was supposed to do what every Resident Evil requires: stand near the door, open the inventory, and select the key. Then Ethan opens it.
That message would benefit from some grammatical revisions. I accidentally turned the situation into a big-brained puzzle.
Heisenberg fight
Why is it so satisfying to control the tank during this segment? It hits the dopamine generator like a snappy arcade game.
Donna’s basement
Unfortunately, I spoiled this part of the game from watching a Twitch stream, because I originally wasn’t expecting to play it. However, I still appreciate its setup and atmosphere. The cramped rooms and oppressive darkness accumulate into the strongest horror-themed segment in Village.
Even though I knew the giant bloody fetus was going to crawl up, I still felt tension building as Ethan slowly followed the twisted umbilical cord across the floor.
It’s a shame that the sequence is short-lived, but I suppose it’s a quality-over-quantity thing.
Lycans + the infinite spawning grounds
The generic “zombies” in this Resident Evil are a huge improvement over RE7’s. Previously, the Molded were boring, slow-moving enemies that moved like… well, sludge. In Village, Lycans are highly aggressive and prone to zig-zagging around gunfire. I may have whined about the game being too easy, but I had several tense encounters backed into a wall because of these guys.
On the way to Heisenberg, there’s a gauntlet inside a chasm full of Lycans. They’re relentless and infinitely spawning. It’s one of the game’s best action sequences, because the player has to run through the bloodthirsty crowd, and is pressured to make split decisions on who eats those precious ammo reserves.
Chris gameplay
I neglected to bring up this point in the main review, mostly because it’s a brief side excursion. I found the gunplay satisfying while playing as Chris, even if his kit is overpowered on Medium difficulty.
Also, there are multiple instances of nuking everything with a giant laser. Pure awesomeness.
AWFUL
Donna’s doll hunt
Creepy possessed dolls are a classic horror trope, so Village made sure to check off that box for its quota. This is a particularly dull “walking sim” section that does nothing to shake up the formula. It consists of playing hide-and-seek with Angie, while other dolls giggle and rattle their heads at Ethan. It’s impossible to miss Angie, because she looks entirely different from the others, and she likes to sit in plain sight.
Ethan stabs her in the eye a few times, and then it’s revealed he actually stabbed Donna in the face! Cool, glad that dull haunted house is over with.
Mother Miranda’s fight
I severely over-thought the final boss fight. I wasted time running away from her, waiting for a “vulnerable” state to reveal itself. Turns out you just shoot her. Nowhere specific on her body, simply unload a clip and call it a day. What a pathetic ending for the big baddie of the game.
