A bloody good time.
Resident Evil 6 is a mess, but it’s fascinating all the same. A Frankenstein-esque mish-mash of different ideas and gameplay styles, Resident Evil 6 is a prime example of a game that was far too ambitious for its own good – and both Capcom and the Resident Evil brand suffered for it. But fourteen years and a handful of lessons later, it feels like Capcom wants to take another crack at RE6. Or at least its ideas. While there will be obvious comparisons to the remakes and Village, Resident Evil Requiem reminds me more of RE6 than anything else. Like RE6, Requiem is a wild protagonist-hopping blend of gameplay styles and ideas. But with more experience and the benefit of hindsight, Capcom might just be able to pull it off.
Requiem is playable entirely in both third and first-person, and you’re able to swap between perspectives on the fly in both Grace and Leon’s parts of the campaign. However, the methodical horror styling of Grace’s story makes it a much better fit for first-person, while the nail-biting action of Leon is best in third. The key here is that both Leon and Grace, while different, feel like two sides of the same coin. No matter what perspective you play in, the stories are inexplicably linked.
What’s particularly fascinating about playing Requiem is that it feels like there’s been a “plan” to Capcom’s efforts since 2016; the threads of the remakes and the new games are finally being tied together. As Grace, I explored a sort of hospital/research station, skulking down decrepit hallways filled with zombies. This section was bookended by two Leon segments in the same area: one where I fought off chainsaw-wielding zombies and turned their deadly weapons against them, and a second where Leon blitzed through the area I’d previously explored as Grace.
The tonal and stylistic shift between these two characters and their respective sections is genuinely remarkable, the kind of variation that RE6 wanted, but couldn’t quite nail. There’s a real synergy between the two characters and the stories, and gameplay elements surrounding them. I spent two hours wandering the halls of the hospital as Grace, scrounging for ammo and using light switches to trick zombies so I could sneak past them. Once I’d escaped the zombie-infested building as Grace, Leon entered the same area. Any zombies I hadn’t killed were still there, and Leon’s axe and brute strength let me bust open cabinets and break down doors that Grace couldn’t.
Leon is the ultimate Resident Evil power fantasy, chopping up zombies like they’re fruit thrown in a blender, but it’s all the more satisfying because the hulking zombies that felt terrifying before because they could take Grace down in just a few hits now feel like nothing more than toys for you to break.
And it’s quite clear that Capcom has learned how to integrate action into the Resident Evil formula more efficiently; there’s a brutality to Leon’s suplexes and curb stomps this time around. You really feel the weight of each kick as he caves in a zombie’s head, or breaks their leg off at the knee. It’s disgusting, but viscerally satisfying. This older version of Leon still has his boyish charm, asking a mysterious villain when he last brushed his teeth, but mixes that with an undercurrent of real anger, threatening to explode. This is a Leon on the brink, seemingly infected by some kind of virus, and willing to take more desperate measures than he ever has before.
Grace and Leon feel like two separate, distinct experiences, but integral halves of the same game, too. Like with Leon and Claire their stories intersect, but they each also represent an era of the franchise. Grace carries on the spirit of RE7 and Village, while Leon represents the remakes. Their dueling identities and experiences represent Capcom finally uniting the last ten years of Resident Evil into one cohesive package. That’s something RE6 wanted to do with its multi-protagonist format, but there simply wasn’t enough gameplay variation between all of them for it to work. That’s not the case here, as you can see bits of each recent game sprinkled in.
Grace’s section of the hospital feels eerily reminiscent of the Resident Evil 2 police station, with interweaving paths and enemies that stalk you, similar to Mr. X. There’s also that classic puzzle emphasis. I had to use context clues and notes to track down a couple of organs to implant into a body so I could bring it back to life and steal its security wristband. Meanwhile, Leon has a miniature horde mode moment that feels like it could have been ripped out of Resident Evil 4, giving you a wealth of environmental and context-based options that make you feel like John Wick – at one point I ripped a fire axe out of a wall so I could throw it at an enemy. The way it arced into the air before cleaving into his skull was beautiful.
Requiem seems to be filled with these little touches that make the world feel more terrifying, and each grotesque creature you face is unpredictable in its own way. Zombies who worked in a facility before they were transformed into the undead will turn lights off if you switch them, prompted by the habits formed in a life they’ve since shed. It’s a great way to distract them so you can sneak by. Zombies that wander around humming eerie melodies can let out piercing screams that alert other zombies and briefly stun you. And perhaps most terrifying, if a zombie drops their chainsaw, it can spin on the ground like an angry top, hacking at your feet. These dynamic elements are a vital part of the Resident Evil remakes and Requiem doubles down on them.
And that’s the most fascinating thing about Requiem: it almost feels like a greatest hits album packed with Resident Evil’s best mechanics and elements. So many AAA games, even sequels, are obsessed with doing something new or not alienating new players. But Requiem feels like Capcom is deliberately evoking the past, and more than that, revisiting promising ideas that didn’t work before.
The more I replay Resident Evil 6, the more I’ve come around on it. It’s still a mess of a game, to be sure, but the horror vibes in Leon’s campaign are great, the martial arts and shooting mechanics are genuinely exceptional, and the zombie T. rex is one of the series’ truly great boss battles.
Capcom’s willingness to return to ideas that failed and reevaluate what worked about them is commendable, and the Resident Evil team’s willingness to confront the series’ past missteps is something that the video game industry desperately needs more of. It’s clear that Requiem’s gameplay and protagonist split is directly inspired by RE6, and all the little bits and bobs around it come from everything the series has done since.
There are still major question marks surrounding Requiem. Resident Evil games, including Village, are fairly notorious for falling apart in the last act. But bringing Leon back doesn’t feel like a gimmick. It’s an effort to unite the disparate halves of Resident Evil into something more cohesive. And if the gamble works, Capcom might be able to redefine Resident Evil yet again.
