Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Review

      

   I beat Resident Evil in little over 12 hours on normal, and easy took me less than five. The game  itself is good, not really what I was expecting, nor is it a game that seems to tie-in to the series until the very end. However, the story uses the E-series of the T-virus, and I won't give spoilers, but the end of the game reminds me of a House of the Dead vibe, but it is still quite a fun game to play through. I'll be doing madhouse mode eventually, however, I'll not assume it is going to be one that I want to run through right now. I am looking forward to the DLC, and I'm definitely questioning if these add-one will take us away, or add more to the story, because there wasn't much in-the-way of information that I wanted, especially from the end of five and six. 

     The game follows Ethan, searching for his wife, Mia (pronounced Me-a not Mi-a) who had been missing for the better part of three years. You receive an e-mail from her with her coordinates, and you're off to the Baker farm in Dulvey, Louisiana. The game takes you off-the-grid to a home that is very backwoods. The Baker Mansion is a sophisticated structure, diliapidation is settling in however, from years of maltreatment. Still, I found the experience of seeing the mansion for the first time, along with graphics being incredibly well-done, it makes me appreciate the PS4 even more. The VR is something I must try with this game, as I'm sure it enhances the entire experience to a level that a television screen simply cannot provide.

     After roaming around not the guest house, the game unofficially starts, and you're able to enjoy yourself for a moment of taking in the uninhibited beauty of the pond behind the house, and even the gorgeous rendering of the grossest parts of the game are almost clean and pristine in-nature. Happenstance that the disgusting bubbling viscera in the game is still amazingly well-designed that it is literally sickeningly beautiful. Once you're inside the dark house, and darkness is important for this game,mint comes with a great deal of the horror instilled in the NPCs, and simply makes the game scarier. The isolationism is terrifically done that you feel no peace with a NPC, either friendly or not present, or even by yourself. 

     After doing a couple of tasks, you discover Mia; who is surprised to see you, denying she ever made contact. She tries to then lead you out of the home, but something is different, let's say even...sinister with your wife. Let's just say wifey has been keeping secrets that are deadly, and become very dangerous for Iraq official fight begins, and you're given the standard handgun that has been a staple of the series since 1997. Even at the start, the game is far more terrorfying than the past few titles. Still, the game feels dire at times, and this is a very, very good thing. Especially when you're first introduced to the Baker family for the first time. We are now in the scene where you are surrounded at the dinner table by the family, as they're trying to feed you....what can only be described as other people. There's a knock, and this allows you to escape your bonds. By-the-way, the cutscenes are all in-game, which means it's seamless from going from a cut right back to the game. Flawlessly designed, this is by-far the best looking introduction to the series, and one of the most gorgeous games on the PS4/XBone. 

       The game is mostly spent inside the mansion, but you do escape from it, and yes, you do come back to it at the grand finale, very much like past games in the seekers,mint all comes full-circle. The Baker family are truly terrifying, but they're not randomized, as I hoped they would be. Because they cannot die, or take a hell of a lot to kill, they continuously come back at you without mercy. I would've hoped that in this design that the characters would chase you far more often, but it's apparent that they only spawn at certain points, and takes away from the game. I assumed before playing that the characters would chase you freely about the game, and they do to a point, but in reality, their spawns are quite predictable, unless Madhouse Mode is different, I found their fights repetitive and predictive. On the upside, the fights with the Bakers are indeed fulfilling, and the one with the matron Marguerite's fight was the tougher of the three. At the end of the game, I did pity the Bakers, it's a tragedy more than a horror, but the best scares are based in tragedy, are they not? 

     The controls are a bit wobbly, but you can turn off head wobble, and it'll play more like a traditional FPS, and not feel like P.T. With that realistic delay. The game is what P.T. could've been, but I think this game being entirely first-person was a mistake to the fans that love the third-person perspective...but it's impossible to have done third person in any way, because the scares wouldn't be the same if they weren't up-close and personal. The sound is perfect, especially the ambience, it sounds like the Bayou, and it feels like you're right in absolute isolation. If not for all the murder and violence, I'd say the experience would be more pristine. As I personally live in the countryside, I get that there's that somber silence, and van the occasional cricket or wild animal Wilhelmina howl of a she wolf. 

    The setting is a great exchange from Raccon City, which I've always assumed was modeled after Chicago for all the tight corners, and back alleyways. The Louisiana bayou is not as exploratory as the house, but you will see a great deal of this on the walls of the house. The house is really the star of the game, it has history, hidden doors, oddball keys, and screams Reisident Evil. The story could be longer...but we all know that today: DLC equals an end to the main story. In-truth, most stories simply do no "end" anymore. Even the older games with their respected prequels/sequels had a definitive end. I'm  okay with this ending, because it really feels like a beginning. Will there be an eighth installment in the series, or just a lot of add-ons/DLCs? 

     Personally, I want a sequel, because this cannot possibly be the last game in the series,  or should it be.no, if I had to make an educated guess,,this feels more like a relaunch than a co cousin, and I'm starting to believe that this may become the new st dared for the Resident Evil franchise, despite if VR succeeds or fails. Not to disregard the series' past titles, but most will agree that 4 was the last good title, and one of the better stories, and five,Merle five was s doomsday to six. Now that seven is out, and most people have officially beaten it by now that we have seen the game in-full, and will make most of our harsher judgments on the three (at minimum) tie-in DLCs. By-the-way, for your first playthrough, I highly recommend watching all the videotapes, it's worth the side quest information, and is vital to a part of the game. 

      Resident Evil 7 was a serious question for me, because: 1) I was always more a fan of Silent Hill, and was very upset...at first at least, that this game was more a joyous celebration to Konami committing career suicide, and 2) that I've not played a Reaident Evil game in years. I enjoyed the game,,however, and I love that if you're not a long-time fan, or someone like myself that has played almost all of them except five and six, I found it to be a fairly fun game to play, and it was an excellent reintroduction to the series, and one of the best-designed games I've ever seen on current gen systems. It was worth the $90.00USD, and I could say that it was fun to play, and still has quite a few surprises, like finding the Mr. Everywhere Man, that's, well everywhere, and all the antique coins that are around the house...though I still don't know, or have found/destroyed everything already, so I don't know what secrets/rewards you receive for finding them all. I didn't read spoilers, so I don't know what it does for you, but I will state that there is always a reason behind things in Resident Evil, and that means nothing is ever benign. 

      Overall, the game is fun, a nice creepy return, and one of the first true survival horrors on the current gen systems. The graphics are wonderful, and there is room for sequels to sprout from out of it, but I'm not certain we will see one for unite a few years, and another console cycle will come-and-go by then. If there is a need, I'll do s review of the DLC, and that, as with other DLCs, will be with greater description, because most times, there's no serious spoilers within them. 

Thank you for reading the Malacast Editorial, feel free to follow me on Twitter: @mcasteditorial 

I'll be doing several posts in the upcoming months, as I've given an update post, and none of those are likely to change yet. The first one starts next week, as it'll be the first full week of February. 

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard- First Impressions

                          

        

       We're just days away from joining the family, and the supposed hype is still thinly-veiled in its accuracy. I'm honestly looking forward to playing Resident Evil VII: Biohazard, mostly because it looks to be an unofficial revamping of the series, which was long-overdue. They are saying, and by they, I mean fans of the ser is who claim the game is going back to its original style of horror. Let's be realistic, the original games weren't really horror, more like the first Underworld film was horror. Yes, it had its scary parts, but in-reality, the series is nothing more than an action-adventure with zombies.

    This game, however, looks absolutely scary, and it is heavily influenced by one of the Ferreira, scarier games I've played in s long time: P.T., which would've redefined the genre. Well to the motivated go the spoils in this case. Know I snoozed, so they lost, and I think that Camcom has unofficially defeated Konami, as they're not even in the game. There was a huge backlash when P.T. Was let go, however, this new rendition of Resident Evil appears to be aimed at the fans with their wants and needs in-mind. 

     Hence, I preordered the game, and I'm looking forward to playing it, because I love horror, and there hasn't been yet a classic AAA title horror title on this generation. At first, I thought games like Everyone Has Gone to the Rapture, and We Happy Few were going to be the only type of horror noir we were going to have for this console cycle, take that statement as you will, but I'll sum it up by saying thank goodness we have a new, horror-style Resident Evil. 

     Naturally ill be bringing a full-on review for the game, as I've done with several others over the years, but I will also do s review of the Season Pass DLC with it, and perhaps the special Hard Mode that comes with the preorder, although I'm not sure if that will be disc-or downloadable content. Whatever the situation, I'll be sure to do w full-review when applicable. The game also comes with a plethora of extras if you get the special edition, and preorder: such as a film, I think it's Reaident Evil: Retribution, or one of those terrible films that are absolute shit. The first one was okay, and even that was garbage. Some people love those films...and that's fine, but for me, they're treacherous. 

      On the game itself: the look and feel is creepy, although many of those uses get are cliché in the manner. However, the creepy Baker Family being the same-old backwoods "cannibal"-like people are still rather intense, as they'll be hunting you down throughout s great-deal of the game. You'll also have to collect VHS tapes (VHS tapes for you kids, was the format film was recorded on, played on a VCR, or videocassette recorder.) 

    The story is likely to unfold with you trying to solve the mystery of what the hell is going on, and survive the creepy family before they murder you in a grueling way. The rest of the game plays unorthodox to most other Resident Evil titles. I've been playing Resident Evil since 1998, missing some titles, but playing most, and this series really needed a reboot. There's something special about this one, however, there's a great deal of painstaking love and affection put into the game that entails a great deal of work. In-truth, I've been holding onto the notion that this game may very well reinvigorate a dying genre of surviva horror. Indeed the genre has been shaping itself into diving forms, it's been changing into something else, but I'm hoping this will restart the franchise, or incite innovation to create a new horror franchise, which will freshen the stale medium. 

    The argument for this genre is that it pushes the limits of creativity, it enforces a melancholic feel that is both artistic and emotional, as though s third-person perspective is of s tragedy, which is essentially where horror stems. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard will come full circle, and if it isn't the tome to the finale of this controversial series, it is likely the origin point of s new series. I could site games like The Evil Within, met by mixed reviews, (but what game isn't?) as a true sequel/continuation of the series, and the game did look lovely in its sheer horror, and mixed well with the action-adventure, yet somehow I feel like Rsident Evil VII will be the quintessential game for the series. I wouldn't have preordered it if I felt that it would screw the fans. I wouldn't have bought the DLC either, and I so-far do not regret making that decision. 

     What will the point of the story be, and how will it tie into the rest of Resident Evil? Will it be only First-Person Perspective, or will we see a plethora of different perspectives? The game is developed for VR, so it seems that the rumors of third-person perspective will be null. If I had any concerns with what has been said/revealed, it would be that the game isn't going to be timed properly, meaning not enough time between settings,mic they change a great deal. I also feel the story will be rudimentary, meaning you will need to do more legwork than needed to in a great deal of the storyline. I feel it's lazy to have the story spread out through audio/video logs, rather than tell a cohesive plot. That could be the writer in-me, or someone that finds it lazy to throw little tidbits that mean absolutely nothing to thecurrent  circumstances in the game. 

      Regardless of how I personally feel, I believe that Resident Evil VII will be an enthusiastic endeavor for Capcom, who now has little-to-no serious competition in the way of this genre. The market will speak, and I believe that Capcom can now invest in w golden opportunity where Konami left a huge gaping hole, self-inflicted by not gauging the market properly. I believe in that old axiom: "if you snooze, you lose", and Konami has taken their death rest. Capcom will also be releasing another fighting game come mid-Spring in Marvel Versus Capcom Infinite, and that is too shaping up to be an intelligent move. The horror genre is slowly returning,mans the fighting genre is alive and well with eLeague competitions spanning outward from the FPS titles. 

     I could very well see 2017 being the launchpad for one of the greatest times in video game history. I'll put it this way: I was excited for E3 2016, I'm now counting down the days until E3 2017, and it cannot get here soon enough. Capcom was smart, and could have a good year, but I'm looking forward to Resident Evil VII being one of the few post-have Lindsay season games that will add quality to  the survival horror genre. On January 24th, like many of you, I'll be excited to play this game, and be welcomed to the family.