You reach the door at the end of a dark, upturned kitchen. With the flicker of your cigarette lighter the only illumination, you twist the knob to open it, only for a petrified corpse to slump out and collapse at your feet. A gruesome find, but not a threat. A sigh of relief. Then, a giant, gnarled hand reaches past you from the shadows, lifting the corpse into the air, and feeding it into the blood-stained mouth of a hulking, ogre-like woman. Now, it's time to run. I may have only seen around 20 minutes of gameplay for Resident Evil 9, or Requiem, but this moment has been etched in my brain. That's good news for those hoping for some properly heart-pounding horror from Capcom's beloved series; it's bad news for my sleep pattern.
Having attended Summer Game Fest's opening showcase in person, I can confidently say that Resident Evil Requiem got the biggest fanfare of the show. Having also now gotten a first look at some extended gameplay during SGF Play Days, I can say it's seemingly doing what needs to be done to meet everyone's lofty expectations.
From the first moment, Capcom is keen to show the tenacity and resourcefulness of RE9's new(ish) protagonist, FBI agent Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil Outbreak. Initially strapped down to a gurney, her blood being extracted into a glass jar, she utters to herself to stay calm and uses what's around her to break free.
Dark corridors, blinking bulbs, ominous red lights, flashes of lightning pouring through shutters. The clank of a bottle falling from a shelf, tapping on the floorboards above, the rumble of thunder, Grace's shaky breaths. If, for some reason, you were worried that Capcom forgot how to create haunting and atmospheric environments, don't be.
The gameplay presentation I saw shows Grace predominantly exploring in first-person, hunting for keys, tools, and fuses to reach new areas.
However, in a surprise mic-drop moment at the end of the preview, Capcom confirms that there will be a third-person mode as well. You can switch between perspectives at any stage, but you will have to pause and change the setting in the menus. Only a very brief moment of third-person action was shown, but of both tribes will be catered for.
The aforementioned giant woman that Grace encounters is grotesque and brutal. While she is quicker in straight, open corridors, door frames and corners will slow the lumbering beast's progress. At one point, Grace is swiped up by the monstrosity, who then takes a massive bite out of her shoulder. It's alarmingly savage.
There's not much in the way of fighting back, though - my brief glimpse into Resident Evil 9 lacked any combat, but given this is a return to the deep survival horror roots of the series, that's not entirely surprising. Grace is an FBI agent who's no doubt a dab hand with a firearm, but it's clear that for some (maybe, the majority) of Requiem, she's going to have to rely on cunning, perseverance, and the ability to run faster than whatever terrifying creature is pursuing her.
It'll be interesting to see if the spectacular, immersive audio and visuals from this small snippet can carry across to the other locations we'll explore in a seemingly devastated Raccoon City. If it can, then I think we're on course for a top-tier survival horror game from Capcom - one that justifies the fanatical whoops and hollers it received at SGF.