Before we get started with this review, here’s a question worth thinking about: how do you follow up one of the most consistent comeback stories in gaming history? It’s a tricky one, because the bar has been set incredibly high in recent years. Between the remakes and the newer entries, Capcom has been on an absolute hot streak with Resident Evil. So when they announced Resident Evil Requiem, the next mainline chapter in the legendary survival horror saga, expectations were sky high.
Read More: Resident Evil Village review – Beautiful. Deadly. Uneven.
The real question is simple: does it deliver? The short answer is ‘yes’. The long answer is far more interesting.
Rebooted Reboot
For starters, Requiem isn’t just another trip through familiar haunted houses and underground labs. Capcom is willing to take risks and experiment to push the series forward while still respecting everything that made it iconic.
The game introduces a brand-new protagonist in FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. She’s young, nervous but technically skilled, and investigating a disturbing series of deaths connected to the Raccoon City disaster.
Fan Service Well Handled
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Resident Evil game without a familiar face. Enter series veteran and fan favourite Leon S. Kennedy, returning to do what he does best. The two characters play very differently, which keeps the pacing fresh throughout the campaign.
Grace’s sections lean heavily into the slow-burn survival horror the series built its name on. Resources are scarce, environments are threatening and every noise makes you second-guess what’s hiding in the dark.
Read More: Resident Evil 3 review – The Difficult Third One
Leon, on the other hand, represents the modern evolution of the series formula, closer to Resident Evil 4. Expect bigger encounters, tighter gunplay and some seriously cinematic moments.
Without spoiling anything, it’s well known that Leon returns to Raccoon City some 30 years after he first set foot there. It’s a very different place, but a magical moment for long-time fans.
Potent Mix
The result is a campaign that constantly shifts gears in a way that keeps you hooked, both in terms of gunplay and storytelling.
Narratively, things are darker and more personal than in some previous entries. Much of the story revolves around the lingering trauma of the events that destroyed Raccoon City, and how its consequences still echo decades later. It gives the game a more grounded tone, even when things inevitably escalate into the kind of over-the-top chaos fans crave.
Read More: Resident Evil 4 Remake – GOAT Ornamented
Gameplay feels like a natural evolution rather than a dramatic overhaul. Inventory management, puzzles and exploration all return. You’ll spend plenty of time sneaking through abandoned hallways, solving environmental puzzles and deciding whether that last shotgun shell is worth using now or saving for later.
Combat feels fantastic. Weapons have real weight, enemies are aggressive and encounters often feel like set pieces in their own right. When things go wrong, and they will, the game forces you to think fast.
Stunning to Behold
Visually, it’s another showcase for Capcom’s RE Engine. Lighting and environments are highly detailed, shifting from eerie silence to full-blown chaos in an instant. One moment you’re creeping through pitch-black corridors with only a flickering lighter to guide you; the next you’re sprinting through collapsing hallways with something very big and very angry right behind you.
It’s tense, atmospheric and at times downright nerve-wracking. It’s Resident Evil at its best.
You can play the full game in first- or third-person view, though for the best experience Grace’s sections work brilliantly in first person and Leon’s in third. This is also how Capcom recommends playing, though you’re free to choose.
Design Evils
If there’s any criticism, it’s that the game may feel a little brief, and the late-game leans slightly too hard into spectacle over its horror roots. But these are minor complaints in what is otherwise a seriously impressive package.
It’s been five years since the last mainline entry, and just as Resident Evil Village mixed things up, Requiem builds on and enriches what a Resident Evil game can be. It pays tribute to the past, brings back elements fans love and still forges its own identity.
Read More: Resident Evil 2 Remake – Compare PS5 vs PS4 Screenshots
Resident Evil Requiem proves the franchise has plenty of life left. It respects its history, pushes the gameplay forward and delivers a campaign that keeps you on edge from start to finish.
In many ways, Requiem had a mountain to climb, but it rises to the challenge and then some. It stands as one of the most important instalments in Resident Evil history, and an outstanding game in its own right, delivering horror and pulse‑pounding thrills in perfect measure.
- No Sleep for Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files [Xbox] review
- Honor Magic 8 Lite – New Kind of Phone
- Grind Survivors review – Dedicated to the Grind
Find TechStomper’s games reviews on OpenCritic.com