Resident Evil Village Review

Village is a compilation record and knows it. The castle is Resident Evil doing a haunted mansion, the doll house is a ten minute masterclass in helplessness, the reservoir is a slow monster hunt, and the factory is an action game with a wrench. Held together by a village hub with a merchant, an upgrade bench and a chicken coop, it should feel like four demos stapled end to end, and instead the pacing is the best the series has managed since Leon went to Spain.

First person was the right call: Ethan's hands take real damage, the healing animation hurts to watch, and Lady Dimitrescu is genuinely frightening for the twenty minutes before she becomes an internet event. The RE Engine renders wet stone and candlelight at a fidelity that made this the showcase for new hardware. The story goes fully operatic in the last act and its explanation for everything is worse than the mystery it replaces, which is the one grade holding it back. As a haunted house, it delivers something new every ninety minutes and never repeats a trick.