I played Resident Evil Requiem and kept shouting at the protagonist, but the fact that she’s a bit useless is kind of the point

Grace Ashcroft cannot run to save her life. I'm about 25 minutes into my hands-on Resident Evil Requiem preview, having swapped to third-person mode shortly after dying once at the hands of my grotesque, towering pursuer, and it does nothing to change the fact that she's still among most inept Resident Evil protagonists I've ever played as.

If anything, she's worse. Instead of swiftly rounding the corner to break line of sight like Leon, Claire, Jill, or Chris might have done in a similar situation, Grace slips on a pool of blood and faceplants dramatically. She takes her sweet time getting up to her feet, and no sooner have I walked three paces to hide behind a book case, she's blubbering and sobbing in a way most unbefitting my attempts at stealth.

I want to reach through the screen and shake her, tell her to pull herself together – but I'm not playing as the STARS-studded heroes of old. I'm a scared young woman who has zero combat experience, let alone a trusty Matilda handgun strapped to her upper thigh. Resident Evil Requiem left me wailing for my life in an abandoned hospital, and not even third-person mode could make me feel like an action hero.

Stab in the dark

Our introduction to Resident Evil Requiem back in June was scary enough, but getting my shaking hands on the controller has taken it to a new level. For starters, I was fascinated to learn that Requiem's third-person perspective comes with exclusive animations.

The little slip-n'-slide moment I mentioned above? You only get to see that in third-person. Her clumsiness is compounded by her constant shaky breathing and intermittent choked sobs as I explore this tiny section of the Raccoon City's Rhodes Hill Care Center, showcasing just how different Grace is compared to every other Resident Evil protagonist we've seen so far. It's probably why I actually prefer third over first-person mode, despite playing the bulk of my hands-on session in the latter.

Grace's introduction to the care center's hospitality comes at the start of my demo where, strapped to an upside-down gurney, she must gruesomely rip a venal cannula out of her arm to break free. From there, in true survival horror style, I have to guide her through the dark corridors in search of escape – but to power the gates, she needs to find a fuse.

My initial ten minutes with Resident Evil Requiem are spent cowering in the shadows, the first-person perspective making the oppressive darkness stretch out for miles. I start to experiment with lamps, flicking them on and off to see how sources of light might alter the spaces. At one point, I start to get concerned that Requiem might have an Amnesia-like sanity system, and try to stay as close to the odd lamp or ominous red emergency light as possible.

Later, when the chained Lisa Trevor-like horror (upon close inspection, I don't think it is the Resident Evil Remake enemy after all) reveals herself by chomping down a putrefying corpse, I decide that perhaps she's drawn to light. I neglect my handy lighter for a while to test this theory, skulking about in the darkness again until a hard-coded incident foils my plan.

A glass bottle falls off a wheelie trolley with an almighty shatter as I attempt to move it toward a shelving unit, a vain attempt to reach an out-of-reach toolbox. Immediately, the chained monster is drawn to my location. She moves slowly, so I'm able to flee to the nearby, very well-lit room I started in. I crouch behind a pillar, awaiting the inevitable as she shambles after me, and watch with dawning realization as the creature screams and recoils as soon as her skin touches the incandescent glare.

Light actually repels her, something I'd clearly missed in an earlier attempt due to running blindly down a dark corridor instead. The monster crawls through a gaping hole in the ceiling to escape the harsh brightness, and I curse myself for being so wrong about the role of light in this game.

Saving Grace

Learning that light is a friend rather than foe in Resident Evil Requiem changes everything. It also helps that when she barrelled into the toolbox room to find me, she broke down a previously locked door.

My Dead by Daylight know-how kicks in; I now have two access points to that room, creating a loop I can use to escape the creature next time. Of course, the fact that the creature can climb up into the ceiling and drop down where and whenever she wishes is something to factor in.

There's a pervasive feeling of claustrophobia in Requiem that feels most comparable to the Baker house in Resident Evil 7, especially in first-person. Stuck in a tiny corner of a care facility, this is certainly no Raccoon City Police Department with all its winding passages, staircases, shortcuts, and safe rooms, and the creature is not simply stomping about like Mr X. The smallest creak and shuffle overhead stops me dead in my tracks as I start checking the ceiling obsessively for telltale hidey-holes. I'm complimented by a Capcom PR representative for my slow, measured movements ("it feels like I'm watching a Gamescom dev demo") but I know I need to be smart to skirt this beast. Which is especially tricky, given that Grace is really not cut out for cool calm bravery.

The restrictive field-of-view in first-person mode is great for anyone who wants to play Requiem as a straight-up horror game, but I find it much more effective to play in third. I miss far fewer items this way, only realizing that I'd done so after making the swap and returning to the toolbox room for a second (also foiled) attempt. My guess is that you need to be looking directly at an item in order for the pick-up prompt to show up in first-person right now, which is likely something the Capcom team is still working on ahead of the February release date. Ultimately, whichever mode you pick will come down to your own preferences. I like to see as much of a given room as possible, even if Grave keeps slipping and sliding all over the place in fear. It kind of makes her more of a campy B-movie final girl in that respect, an ode to the earlier games' shlocky roots that I can certainly get behind.

Unlike in some of the best survival horror games that limit your defensive tools, fear mounting as your bullets dwindle, Grace seems to have absolutely nothing at this stage. The bottles I throw in an attempt to distract the creature seem pointless, since it reacts to the slightest of movements – maybe I was supposed to throw them at the monster? – so all I can do is bolt for the nearest light source and pray.

I need a hero

The whole demo takes an unexpectedly Outlast slant, one that asks for stealth gameplay while in control of the least stealthy character in the whole Resident Evil timeline – and that in itself speaks to Capcom's desire to change the very image of a Resi protagonist, if Grace is indeed our one and only hero.

For what it's worth, I still think Leon will be in Resident Evil Requiem despite Capcom's thin attempts at batting away player suspicions. My leading theory is that Leon could easily be Grace's dad, and after playing Requiem for just 35 minutes, I'm all the more certain he will make an appearance one way or another.

That's because while I can foresee Grace's ineptitude making for some powerful moments of weaponized frustration, the player's pleading of "get up, Grace!" creating a strong sense of urgency to fuel our already shattered nerves, I just can't imagine playing a whole game as someone so petrified of everything. To me, this demo has a similar feel to Sherry's portion of Resident Evil 2 remake, or Ashley's in Resident Evil 4 – moments where the power fantasy is dismantled and the player gets a brief taste of true disarming terror.

Perhaps that's exactly what it will turn out to be in the final build. Or, perhaps I am wrong, and I'll take it on the chin if so. Either way, my appetite for Resident Evil Requiem has been well and truly whetted, and I can't wait to experience the full effect come February 27.

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