Leon S. Kennedy has crossed the threshold into middle age in Resident Evil Requiem, but like the series he’s become the poster child for, he’s aged like a damn fine wine.
The ninth entry in Capcom’s zombie-slaying series is a tale of two halves. Unlike 2021’s Village, which attempted to make survival and action-horror work in a single campaign, Capcom decouples the styles and hands them off to Requiem’s dual heroes.
Leon and Grace’s individual sections are wildly different, but one doesn’t suffer at the expense of the other. Both heroes’ roles are so well-defined that Requiem often feels like two games in one.
This is Capcom’s biggest achievement, marrying Resident Evil 4’s arcade action-horror with the methodical, drip-fed dread of classic Resident Evil.
It’s an ambitious undertaking worthy of praise, despite the cracks that start to show in the back half of the game.
Resident Evil Requiem screenshots
What is Resident Evil Requiem about?
Tasked with investigating the latest in a long line of deaths that could be related to the murder of her mother, jittery FBI agent Grace Ashcroft returns to the site of her parent’s death.
Grace quickly discovers that her presence has been masterminded by crusty former Umbrella scientist Victor Gideon, who believes she holds the key to a long-lost company secret and abducts her.
Clearly inexperienced and terrified, her fear quickly rubs off on the player. And just like all modern Resi games, the RE Engine makes it all sing with gorgeous graphics.
As soon as Gideon has taken Grace, the perspective switches to the former RCPD rookie, who promptly parries and blasts his way through a crowd of freshly-made zombies, providing a brief reprieve before confronting Grace’s next nightmare.
Best of both worlds
Grace’s sections are where Resident Evil Requiem feels most confident, delivering the purest survival horror Capcom has produced since Resident Evil 7. Stripped of Leon’s firepower and experience, Grace’s vulnerability forces you to think about every encounter, turning even short walks through dim corridors into exercises in tension rather than combat.
I was sceptical about the decision to make Grace’s campaign default to first-person, but it proved to be the right call. You can switch perspectives for both characters at will, but Grace’s sections benefit enormously from the more claustrophobic viewpoint that third-person never quite matches.
The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center itself, a front for Gideon’s human experiments, serves as Grace’s first prison and is Requiem’s strongest location. Dense with locked doors, hidden shortcuts, puzzles, and environmental storytelling, it rivals the original Resi’s iconic mansion in personality and anchors the entire first half of the game.
Capcom having Leon’s action-heavy sections be a cathartic remedy to Grace’s anxiety-inducing portions works wonders here. Retreading the Care Center’s halls and cutting down the same threats Grace previously had to avoid is a genuine power trip.
Again, it’s a taster for the meat of Leon’s role in the campaign, which kicks off properly with his long-awaited return to what’s left of Raccoon City.
Resident Evil 4’s DNA is inescapable here. From the return of the Attache Case to buying and upgrading weapons, Leon’s gameplay closely mirrors Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake.
It’s not quite as snappy, although this feels very much by design, as withered zombies lack the agility of 4’s enemies. The same addictive feedback loop of roundhouse-kicking monsters, popping heads, and parrying attacks is here, though.
Inevitable fan service is almost wholly limited to Leon’s RCPD return visit, and never outstays its welcome. Barring one particular boss fight, the tribute to Resident Evil 2 feels earned and not gratuitous.
It’s also once you begin the descent into the bowels of Raccoon City that Requiem’s otherwise flawless pacing starts to fizzle out.
Gone too soon
While Grace and Leon get equal screen time in Requiem, the latter absolutely suffers from not being introduced properly until the midway point.
Leon can arm himself to the teeth with all kinds of firearms, but once you’ve departed Raccoon City, Requiem rockets towards its end in a final, much smaller area with low enemy density. This works with Grace’s focus on survival, but for Leon, the justification for all those weapon upgrades never materializes.
These issues extend to the story, too. Our dual heroes go through the absolute wringer emotionally and physically. For Grace, it’s a story of self-confidence and closure over her mother. For Leon, it’s a fitting exploration of the guilt he’s carried with him since the original Raccoon City incident, making Requiem feel more like a direct sequel to Resident Evil 2 than 3 ever was.
This excellent characterization contrasts sharply with the absurdity of Requiem’s final act. Entertaining B-movie cheese is Resident Evil’s bread and butter, but not even Leon, the king of one-liners, saves Requiem’s final act from devolving into nonsense. Its weak ending is compounded by a final boss that’s lifted almost one-to-one from a previous game in the series, to boot.
Verdict
Resident Evil Requiem keeps Capcom’s winning streak going, even if, at times, it does buckle under the weight of its own ambition. The overriding feeling after seeing the credits roll after the 10-hour mark was surprise that the adventure was over so soon.
I wanted more, especially for Leon, whose sections felt like they weren’t afforded enough opportunities to shine. While post-game weapon and difficulty unlocks provide replay value, Requiem feels like it could have benefited from a longer runtime.
For as long as it lasts, however, Requiem is fantastic. It feels like the culmination of Capcom’s learnings from years of indecision over whether the series should be full-on horror or action, delivering the best of both worlds.
Resident Evil Requiem is the best of both terrifying worlds