Review - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

G'day there guys and gals!

Being frightened is a natural response to the danger of a perceived threat, ever more so to that of an unperceived one. This is why jumpscares work so well on some, and barely at all on others - and why many games, movies and novels fail.The Resident Evil series, in my opinion, has had its fair share of terrifying and chest-clutching moments, and many moments that fell flat overall. It is here we come to Resident Evil 7, where a completely new style and twist on the series has set fans new and old abuzz in theorising, discussing and jumping at every little crook and nanny.
In fairness, the game does offer a lot of creep/scare moments, where the atmosphere is perfect for a horrifying moment of tension, but in others it does offer nothing more than a cheap jumpscare to grad at the player.

First and foremost, the story; set in current year of 2017, players take control of Ethan Winters who is travelling to a plantation in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana, after receiving a message from his supposed dead wife Mia three years after her disappearance. Upon arriving, things begin to take a turn as the disturbances become abundantly clearer as he progresses to the house on the hill and beyond.
Overall, the story in a whole is very well fleshed out, with the exception of the obvious inspirations from other horror tropes (such as Blare Witch Project, Saw, F.E.A.R, etc) present in the game. Old fans of the game will see small hints towards the older titles and will be incredibly confused at a lot of them, whereas new fans will become immersed in this new form of virus taking over this small plantation. There are a few small holes and issues in the story overall; the unexplained absences of certain characters by the end, choices made during gameplay and how the game ends overall, but we'll get to that in a little while.

Sound effects and musical score is superb; every little piece of moment in the game generates a clean, crisp noise and sounds incredible. I want to give a special mention to the sound effects surrounding Ethan; going from running and walking is smooth and works well, but its the attention to detail into his equipment that makes it work so well; your weapon equipped at the time will generate a different noise whether you run or walk. There is also less noise when having less things in your inventory, but these background noises may be determined by the backpack you find midway through the game.
Graphics looks very well done in the Xbox One version, but tend to look off at a few moments, especially when it comes to objects on the wall and hair physics, especially Mia's. There is also the keypad in the Lucas segment with Ethan that looks somewhat odd and unrendered, but its such a small detail that it can be overlooked.
Voice acting is fairly good, but can be lacking at times as well. Ethan is fairly well voiced, but can sound odd at times (especially after reuniting with Mia for the first time), but it most notable in Clancy during the video tape "Happy Birthday" segment. Without giving away the plot, there can be points where the voices sound perfect or just a tad melodramatic.

Finally, gameplay, which in a single word is fantastic. The mixture of first person fighting, both with guns and knives, makes a lot of difference when it comes to your tactics of crafting weapons, healing items and so on. The major choice in the game is also a little one sided, and one of the choices ultimately ends up ruining your choice in the long run and derailing the gameplay and plot worse than the first option. The ending discovery, and the boss battle, was a tad underwhelming. The discovery about one character was true to form, but the overall person behind the attack was predictable and eventually came down to whether or not you had been paying attention, as by the time you find the information to confirm this, its shock factor is lackluster. The same can be said about the final boss fight; while it is grand and over the top (somewhat like Dead Space's ending fight), has less action than the Jack boss fights.
There is also the small issue of the game ending with (although free) DLC promoted, furthering why a specific character has made a return, as if it may have been cut from the game for time reasons. However, if this does finally solve the unresolved endings of the Bakers (depending on your choices), and it remains free, it may be excusable. However, as a reviewer, I review a game at launch, as that is the end product they're satisfied with.

So is the hype worth the excitement from the new and old fans of the game? Is it everything we want from a horror title? Not entirely. What it does offer is a scary experience with player-controlled scares and many puzzles that need to solved on your own. There are a few questionable choices in the design, but for a horror game to take my notice and keep me playing until the end is a hard task to pull off. The team behind Capcom have created a terrifying game with a lot of promise, and despite flaws, the replayability and its merit is well worth your time.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 8/10