Darkness conceals every corner of Resident Evil Requiem. An ornate lighter flickers toward the middle of the screen. The floors are awash with blood, glistening against the struggling flame. Footsteps ring out, intrusively denying any sense of calm as the first-person camera seems to revel in concealing as much of the environment as it reasonably can. I catch myself and realize that for the first time in more than 25 years, I'm scared of a Resident Evil game.
The identity of the Resident Evil series has been subject to vast experimentation over its near 30-year lifespan. From its survival horror origins back in 1996, the franchise mutated into third-person shooter design when 2005's Resident Evil 4 dropped, before going full bombastic army action in 2012's much-maligned Resident Evil 6.
Child's play
Resident Evil 9 – although there's no number in the official title – puts the player in the role of Grace Ashcroft. A timid FBI agent, this offspring of Resident Evil Outbreak's Alyssa Ashcroft (who is now deceased), winds up strapped to a hospital bed, suspended upside down and receiving a dubious blood transfusion. A promising start, huh?
After breaking free, Grace begins to investigate her dark and bloody surroundings. Locked doors requiring keys and circuit breakers in need of fuses lie in wait, with Grace loudly whimpering while exploring.
During the hands-off demo, it was revealed Grace can equip glass bottles to be aimed and thrown, although whether as weapon or distraction was left to the imagination. The main thing that strikes me is the absence of a firearm. It's one thing for Grace to not be packing the wide array of guns Leon S. Kennedy had in 2023's Resi 4, but to not even possess a simple pistol is a big surprise. Resident Evil Requiem is not going to let us shoot our way out – at least not always.
As Grace inches through the hallways, we're given hints of unseen company. There are signs of a struggle and suffering, leading to a deformed corpse falling through a doorway. Grace handles this as well as you'd expect a greenhorn to, comically surprised that a grey, non-breathing person is dead.
This moment of humor was clearly no accident, instead highlighting how grace is not of the cynical, hardened position long-time series fans are. This is baby's first Resi in the best way, and it took me right back to who I was when I ill-advisedly loaded up 1996's original Resident Evil on my first PlayStation. I have never been happier to be terrified.
Take me back
The first time I saw Kenneth J. Sullivan eaten by the now iconic Turning Around Zombie, I was frozen to the spot. I was a young kid, but for the first time ever a video game left me unable to respond. I was in awe. Nothing had ever sent my senses into overload, and I needed more. Sadly the gruesome scene set a precedent the series could never again live up to – until now.
In Resident Evil Requiem, Grace comes face-to-face with a huge, misshapen, gray monstrosity resembling the unholy child of Lisa Trevor from 2002's remake of Resident Evil and the Tyrant from Resi 2. It announces itself by taking a bite out of a dead body, giving a spine-tingling view of its gargantuan teeth and soulless eyes in the process. The grotesque being then becomes Grace's pursuer, appearing seemingly at random and driving our hero into hiding.
As Grace holds up in a quiet room, I catch my breath and the game's capacity for inflicting terror dawns on me, hammered home when the electricity cuts out and Grace is forced to rely only on a lighter to chase away the imposing shadows. The sense of being smothered by darkness is overwhelming in Requiem, creating a claustrophobia that transcends even the hallowed halls of the RPD from Resident Evil 2.
While it would be easy to attribute this to the first-person perspective of the RE9 demo, this notion was soon quashed when at the climax of the session, a pause menu opened and the camera was changed to a third-person, over-the-shoulder position. It was a glorious moment, and one that compounded how Requiem is able to create a sense of feeling trapped regardless of perspective.
As the session came to a close I realized I'd been holding my breath for extended periods, genuinely frightened Grace wouldn't survive the ordeal. But there was no bait and switch like in the Village demo years ago where our character kicked the bucket: Grace lived, and we'll get to spend more time with this new Capcom hero when Resident Evil Requiem releases on February 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Look ahead to more future frights with our roundup of upcoming horror games.
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