Resident Evil Requiem is Capcom's attempt to reconcile the various types of gameplay the series is known for. The first third or so of the game is a tense survival horror experience that evokes creeping around the Police Station in Resident Evil 2, albeit from a first person perspective like Resident Evil Village. The rest of the game is more akin to Leon Kennedy's adventures in Resident Evil 4. Both parts are great, however the earlier sequences involving Grace, a stammering FBI agent way out of her depth, are the stand out sections. Having been assigned to investigate a disappearance in the same hotel her mother was killed in (man, what a dick her boss must be), Grace finds herself kidnapped and taken to a crumbling hospital full of freshly-turned zombies and grotesque monsters that defy description. The Girl, a giant hag that tries to get the drop on you from vent shafts, in our Mr. X-like big bad. The Girl is creepy as hell, and she thunders around and wheezes through the darkened ruins, making circumnavigating her quite the thrill. She is heavily indebted in behavior to Alien Isolation's xenomorph, but there are no desks or lockers to hide inside, which is disappointing. As you wander through the hospital, you'll collect tools to help you unlock more of the place, and you'll struggle to manage your inventory. Every run outside the safe room is like a survival expedition, and it's classic Resident Evil. So when the game basically turns into Fallout 3: Leon Kennedy Edition, you might be a tad disappointed. It's not that these parts are bad--I actually really enjoyed upgrading Leon's arsenal while headshotting zombies--it's just such a difference from the earlier sections with Grace that it'll likely feel discombobulating. However, Leon's parts have their own highlights, including a tense climb through a falling apart skyscraper that evokes the bridge section from Half-Life 2.
Graphically, Resident Evil Requiem is a Triple-A title that earns its budget. Ray-tracing is used to great effect, and lights reflect convincingly on gleaming surfaces. All together, it's a really nice-looking game. I did encounter some stuttering during the Racoon City parts, but turning down Mesh Quality to low fixed it, and visuals didn't noticeably suffer.
Requiem is good, but it's about a fifteen hour game that lacks replay value and whose best parts come early. If you're a veteran of the series, it's probably worth it, but if you're looking for more than a mid-length single player adventure, then perhaps wait for a discount.
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