A legit full review of RE7 has come out before embargo; 9/10! (Non-PC version)

[PCgamerbydefault]

Read up before it gets potentially pulled.

http://pureplaystation.com/review-resident-evil-7-ps4psvr/2017/01/

Edit: A transcript of the article is below because it was pulled shortly afterwards lol.


It feels like I’m beating a dead horse but the Resident Evil franchise has gone downhill as of late, at least according to fans. The sixth main entry in the franchise, Operation Raccoon City, and the spin-off game, Umbrella Corp, have all been panned by critics and gamers alike. Resident Evil 5 did fair better on the market and review front but it still took away the survival horror that started the franchise. However, since Resident Evil 7 was announced back at E3 2016, the series looks to be returning to its roots. Not only can I assure you that it has, but number seven shied away from being shadowed in obscurity ala P.T. The game is scarily accessible for newcomers and veterans alike.

Resident Evil 7 puts you in the shoes of Ethan, an ordinary citizen whose wife went missing three years prior. Out of nowhere he receives a video from her, in distress, telling him to stay away. Naturally he goes to investigate the video’s upload origin and stumbles upon a plot of land in the Louisiana bayou. As he investigates the unkempt series of houses, tunnels, and trails, he happens upon the repulsive Baker family. They are certifiably insane yet keep some semblance of unnerving sentience. It won’t take them long to make you feel uncomfortable and transfixed from their demeanor, weird abilities, questionable motives and persistence to not die. Luckily, one of them has retained some part of their humanity and guides you through their demented manor off-screen. All the while you’re trying to find your wife and make your way through obstacles.

The drive, as you the player, to figure out how all of this is connected to the Resident Evil universe is extremely gratifying. For the longest time there were no indications that this belonged to the series except in name alone. There are no traditional zombies and the Baker family act like something from classic horror movies. They’ll let you escape because they know you won’t, they’ll harm you in ways you’d never expect, and they offer some of the best boss scenarios in recent Resident Evil memory. When you’re not contending with them, you’ll have to face off against beings known as the Molded. They’re slimy, weird and grotesque creatures who come in four variations. Two of them are extremely tall humanoids that take inspiration from The Creature of the Black Lagoon. They can strike at you from afar with stretchy limbs and bite down with they’re morphed mouths if you let them get too close. The second monstrosity is a pale, agile, deformed being on all fours with extremities at weird angles. Then you have the ones that appear to be melted in human skin. These nasty buggers vomit something fierce and nasty, so you’re best off staying out of their way. Also, as you venture headlong into the story…let’s just say that Alma from F.E.A.R. will have some competition. My first playthrough clocked in at about nine and a half hours but boy did I appreciate all of them.

The gameplay is thoroughly enjoyable as it is terrifying. You explore areas from a first-person perspective and can interact with furniture, items, and objects as the game deems fit. More than half the time you have to find your way through locked doors or blocked-off passageways. Gamers who like to explore everything they can will be greatly pleased in this endeavor as the collecting and puzzles are sensible yet gratifying. None of them are anywhere close to the obscure levels from the demos. They rewarded logical thinking and because of it the backtracking you do doesn’t feel tedious. It never feels like your going above and beyond what you should but it’s in no way an easy feat to accomplish. You’ll be dogged by enemies, frightening atmospheres, and excellent use of sounds and lighting.

Along the way you’ll slowly pick up weapons (or you won’t if you don’t explore or figure out puzzles) that never reach true effectiveness against Resident Evil 7’s difficulty scale. I felt that the ammo finds were just right and allowed me to plot equal ways combat and retreat. I won’t lie and say that going in circles wasn’t helpful. The full list of weapons you’ll hold are as follows: several handguns, shotgun, flamethrower, chainsaw, machine gun, knife, homemade grenades, and even a grenade launcher. Don’t worry about the latter weapon. The amount of ammo you’ll find for it are far and few between. You can create ammo, though, through the inventory system. It’s as simple as gathering the required materials and selecting an option. As you’d expect there are only so many things you can carry at any given time and often those spaces will be taken up by mission items. Thankfully, the experience has a universal storage space in the form of green trunks (usually near tape recorders which act as save points). You can put anything within it and retrieve the stowed away object at another trunk. I advise you to stash things here often.

From spine-tingling terror to unabashed disgust, the scares are here in mushy buckets. Angles, darkness, lighting, dialogue, voice acting, sounds, and atmosphere will contribute to the horror and confusion. Characters willingly harming themselves while delivering their lines eerily well, hearing a threat before it slowly makes its way into frame, walking through halls of dripping black slime, your screen filling up with blood indicating your health is low, being chased by deranged rednecks, and splashing yourself with first aid liquid/eating a herb as your life depends on it are all perfect examples. Not to mention the straight out gore-fest in some scenes. I highly recommend not playing this game if you’re squeamish because the impressive graphics bring everything to the forefront. The same is true with the bone-chilling dread the voice acting performances will give you. Seriously, how the actors/actresses did not go mad while portraying their parts is astounding.

There aren’t a lot of loading screens in Resident Evil 7 but they last forever when they happen. Most notably when coming in and out of a VHS tape. When you find these tapes, the game lets you put them in one of the property’s many VHS players and control someone else tied to the story. The subplot within these recordings will reveal some minor backstory and exposition but you’ll be waiting for minutes as you enter and exit them. Another small problem was with the inventory system. A few times in the heat of battle, you’ll discover your inventory is full and can’t pick up more helpful items. This is par for the course as you’d have to weigh what should be gotten rid of. Sadly, there were a few non-story related items that could not be dropped and caused a bit of frustration when I had to dump precious ammo or health ingredients. Even more reason to utilize that trunk storage I mentioned earlier. I also brought up that the graphics were impressive, and they are. It’s just that sometimes the animations can appear a little “doughy”, though they didn’t take away from the experience at all.

Summary

Resident Evil 7 didn't just take the series back to form, it perfected it. Sure there will be satisfying combat but not before running around for your life filled with dread. The story and plot twists were entertaining as they were interesting and all the scares that came along with it. The voice actors did a phenomenal job and so did the level designers. There was never a time where I felt safe and ready to take on the next challenge. Old schools fans of the franchise will love this outing and is a perfect opportunity for new fans to hop on board. Just don't burn the midnight oil alone. 9/10

Review Disclaimer: This review was carried out using a physical version of the game bought at retail at the expense of the reviewer. It was reviewed with the latest patch available and was played on a base PS4.

Note: The official review embargo is January 23rd. We did not get our copy of the game from Capcom so we’re under no obligation to adhere to the embargo or any other conditions placed upon those who agreed to Capcom’s terms. This does not affect the content of the review or the final score awarded.

[The Fabulous Slayer]

When is embrago lifted though?

[PCgamerbydefault]

Originally posted by The Joker:

When is embrago lifted though?

Sadly on the 24th, the day of release. This is going to become the standard now.

[L-sama]

Sounds good. I'm not the biggest fan of the series (although I've played every main instalment thus far), and I actually had to force myself to play through 5 and 6, but I was genuinely hoping for this one to turn out well since it looked like it had a lot of potential, being a return to its horror roots and all.

[PCgamerbydefault]

Originally posted by L-sama:

Sounds good. I'm not the biggest fan of the series (although I've played every main instalment thus far), and I actually had to force myself to play through 5 and 6, but I was genuinely hoping for this one to turn out well since it looked like it had a lot of potential, being a return to its horror roots and all.

Same here, Im not a fan of the overall series, but a fan in general of the more popular RE games. The thing that has pulled me into this game is the first person horror experience. Myself having played Alien Isolation for 300+ hours has me generally excited about this RE experience. Everything is looking good so far.

[Captain Flappy]

Cheers for that dude, been looking for leaked reviews.
Can't wait for this. so glad RE is changing the formula again, it woreked really well when they changed to OTS for 4, This looks to have worked again.

[Sephiroth]

sounds like it has a good balance for 1 or 2 playthroughs. i just hope it is good for more than that. the thing about the old ones and even the newer ones is that it was fun to play more than once. re5 even though it wasnt the best i actually played the most because it had good replayability. re2 is a close second.

[metal_hamster]

I'll bet it doesn't have the replayability of RE6. "But it was crap" Oh be quiet short minded pee on.

[Crusta]

Originally posted by metal_hamster:

I'll bet it doesn't have the replayability of RE6. "But it was crap" Oh be quiet short minded pee on.

Great. Post a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ opinion and then try to refuse any replies is that what you're trying to do in a public forum? Hehehehe. No matter how many times you tell people to shut up the fact still stands -> RE6 is GARBAGE. It is so much garbage that it cancels any replay value.

Thank you Capcom for making RE7 the complete opposite of that finacial failure crap.

[Azure]

I do hope this game flops and they abandon first person. It was a stupid move to change from a 3rd person to first person perspective. Puzzles can never be the same in depth with such a limited view.

[PRAET0R1AN™]

Originally posted by Azure:

I do hope this game flops and they abandon first person. It was a stupid move to change from a 3rd person to first person perspective. Puzzles can never be the same in depth with such a limited view.

I disagree, First person is way better than the over-the-shoulder 3p view previous installments had in them.

Personally I am a fan of the original resident evil games, re1, re2, re3 and re : code veronica.

I grew up playing re1 on the sega saturn and later re1 directors cut on the ps1 and both were a joy to play.

The puzzles were complicated enough to get you thinking and the bosses were great.

I have skipped over a few re titles and even though I have RE6, I got it from humble bundle a while ago as I didnt deem it worthy of the RRP price tag.

I think capcom are moving in the right direction with this game and I hope to be pleasantly surprised with the first person formula that capcom have revisited.

The last time RE had a first person game it did not do too well but I think capcom are well aware of their failings with the last attempt and it can only improve from hereon out.

[Azure]

Originally posted by PRAET0R1AN™ ︻デ┳=ー:

Originally posted by Azure:

I do hope this game flops and they abandon first person. It was a stupid move to change from a 3rd person to first person perspective. Puzzles can never be the same in depth with such a limited view.

I disagree, First person is way better than the over-the-shoulder 3p view previous installments had in them.

Personally I am a fan of the original resident evil games, re1, re2, re3 and re : code veronica.

I grew up playing re1 on the sega saturn and later re1 directors cut on the ps1 and both were a joy to play.

The puzzles were complicated enough to get you thinking and the bosses were great.

I have skipped over a few re titles and even though I have RE6, I got it from humble bundle a while ago as I didnt deem it worthy of the RRP price tag.

I think capcom are moving in the right direction with this game and I hope to be pleasantly surprised with the first person formula that capcom have revisited.

The last time RE had a first person game it did not do too well but I think capcom are well aware of their failings with the last attempt and it can only improve from hereon out.

You can disagree all you want but it won't make the gameplay any better in first person only clunkier if puzzles are introduced as you will never have a clear enough picture on what to do, unless the puzzles involve pick up square slot it in square shaped hole, now pick up circle etc etc. Not to mention having unkillable enemies constantly around will just become more and more frustraiting after you die for the first time, thanks to your limited view and the fact that there are unkillable enemies consistantly around. Gone are the times with Resident Evil 4 where you had to work out ways to dispatch enemies quickly without head shots, gone are the days where you encounter the first regenerator and you having no idea where to shoot it (At least there was a method to kill a regenerator.). Now the game is dumbed down to shoot guy till guy stops moving, oh guy gets back up anyway, oh look a dark corridor full of black root things, oh the horror...

[Blackghost]

Why would you embargo an awesome game?

ummm...

[Gamefreak]

Originally posted by metal_hamster:

I'll bet it doesn't have the replayability of RE6. "But it was crap" Oh be quiet short minded pee on.

RE6 has no replayability. That game is so bad that even the co-op wasn't worth playing for more than a couple of hours.

[Azure]

Originally posted by TLBA Judas:

Originally posted by Azure:

I do hope this game flops and they abandon first person. It was a stupid move to change from a 3rd person to first person perspective. Puzzles can never be the same in depth with such a limited view.

Fun fact: Resident Evil was really good when it was fixed camera angles, and it was also pretty good in RE4 and not bad in RE5 with the shoulder camera. It was, however, total garbage in RE6 with the exact same camera angle as RE4. Camera angles aren't really critical to or indicative of an RE game's quality.

Except RE6 went pure action at that point. RE5 at least tried to evolve the gameplay with Co-op puzzles but the transition to action in RE5 was all too apparent. But from Resident Evil 4 and up they countered the lower amount of puzzles with action and larger enemy groups and types. Resident Evil 7 almost looks like its gonna suffer from FF13 syndrome where everything is so compact tight and empty, once you've seen the scene of getting your hand chopped off it will never be effective again. At least with Alien Isolation the AI learned to ignore distractions if you try something too many times, it will take a different path to find you each time you die and load the game up. I just havent seen it with this game.