I don’t like to do this, but indulge me for a moment please, dear reader. It’s around April 1996, and I’ve imported Resident Evil from the USA. It wasn’t due until later in the Summer in the UK, and I don’t recall the how or the why as to my knowledge of the game at such a young age. Put it down to me being a massive nerd, I don’t mind. Regardless, picture a younger, way thinner version of me, playing the hottest video game on the planet. I’m not ashamed to say that I absolutely shat myself when that dog jumped through the window.
I could recount moment after moment of that original game that felt like a new dawn for scary games. The first meeting with Hunters, the bastard spiders, or even the daft-as-you-like shark encounter. Resident Evil was bloody scary, and while the series has become more action oriented in recent years, the move back to first-person has reinvigorated it. Resident Evil Village had its moments (mostly early on), and the VR version is terrifying.
But where does that leave us with Resident Evil Requiem, a game that you can play in first-person or third-person? I’ll tell you where: back to being terrifying.
I’ll set my stall out and say that I generally prefer third-person to first. But the demo I got to play of Resident Evil Requiem absolutely plays into creating fears that a first-person viewpoint is definitely better for.
Here, you’re playing Grace Ashcroft. For those not as into the “incredible” Resi-lore as myself, Grace is the daughter of Alyssa, an almost forgotten character from maligned but actually ahead of its time title, Resident Evil Outbreak. The demo starts with Grace hanging upside down, sweating profusely, and having her blood slowly drained. As Grace you have no context for what is happening, but you break free after a struggle, and are in a strange mansion with no weapons. In fact, you’ve no inventory at all. As starts go, Grace seems pretty fucked.
What follows is fairly standard for what we’ve come to expect from a modern Resident Evil game. I managed to find a key to open a door, therein I found a fuse box that needed fixing, but no fuse. You quickly find a zippo lighter, meaning you can illuminate your way and move around the posh setting, before the horror starts.
The first jump scare got me a bit. It wasn’t full-on pant-filling time yet, but it was enough to remind you what you’re playing. Cut-scenes transition to first-person whatever way you’ve chosen to play, and it’s clear that zombies are back, and part of Resident Evil Requiem. Just as you start to settle back into that idea, though, the monster appears.
A hulking monster at that, creeping forwards slowly enough to be possible to outrun, but fast enough to make your palms sweaty, with this seemingly female monster’s tendril-like fingers stretching toward you. Muscle memory sets in and I remember a quick turn from previous games, and I’m away. There doesn’t seem like anywhere that’s safe, but there’s a beacon of hope thanks to an illuminated room from earlier. Racing towards it, the monster tries to give chase, but cannot stand the light. She smashes the ceiling and disappears into the rafters: you are being hunted, but like Mr X before her, it seems there are rooms this monster cannot enter.
Investigating the scene where it all kicked off, it’s clear this is where the fuse is hiding. You’re tasked with moving a gurney, which has all manner of noisy metal items falling off, then she reappears, her fingers stroking the dimly lit window as you realise you’re stuck in a one-way room and she’s coming round the corner.
This scene serves two purposes. First of all, it’s to make you evacuate your bowels. Secondly, it’s to showcase the stunning lighting and visuals Requiem contains. As the mysterious monster creeps round the corner, you hide under a table and you close that zippo lid. Total darkness envelopes you now, aside from a blinking green LED near the door, where the monster appears. Hiding under a table, the monster investigates but doesn’t find you. You’re alive, and you’ve made it.
Fast forwarding a little, another chase and the demo is over: appetite fully whet for Resident Evil Requiem. Sound design is, of course, on point. But I want to draw attention to what Capcom has done here with the first and third-person design. There were numerous things I spotted even in this short demo that show an incredible attention to details.
In that first chase sequence, I initially wondered what was wrong with my run speed. Switching to third-person, however, and I could see Grace was stumbling and panicking as she tried to escape her attacker. The fact these animations could be entirely missed if you never played in third-person is quite something. The fact they are present and affect your motion in first-person is even more impressive.
Secondly, of major note, is that even for the RE Engine, Resident Evil Requiem feels like a visual step up. I was playing on PS5 Pro, so eventual mileage may vary, but the lighting effects from the zippo (especially when illuminating Grace’s hair) were astonishing. This is an incredible looking game already. It feels more frightening in first-person, but the third-person mode really highlights the visual fidelity and design, with legible notes on walls littering the strange house you’re trapped in.
But more than anything, this is a return to the horror of Resident Evil fans first fell in love with. My entire demo was played out with no weapon, and only some glass bottles I could throw as a distraction technique (and yeeting them at the monster does nothing, unsurprisingly). I don’t know how the rest of Requiem will play out, nor do I know the scale of the game on the whole. What I do know is that February 2026 can’t come soon enough, because Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be something very special indeed, and I can’t wait to play more.
Resident Evil Requiem is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X on February 27th, 2026.
