Resident Evil Village is a first-person shooter survival horror developed by Capcom. The game is set in the present time, three years following the events of RE 7. Once again, the player assumes the role of Ethan Winters, who, after an unfortunate series of events, finds himself separated from his family and stranded in a remote Romanian village. Here, he will set himself on a journey to save his family and, at the same time, survive the dreadful and unforgiving place.

By far, its story is my favorite in the entire series. The writers have surprisingly taken the Resident Evil narrative to a whole new level, and that’s something I didn’t think I’d ever say. Ethan’s arduous journey to rescue his family is convincing, immersive, and full of mysteries and twists, with memorable moments and characters — definitely an experience that will stick with me for a while.


The game’s heavy, bleak, and terrifying atmosphere is remarkable. Wandering within the various bewildering and interconnected rooms of Castle Dimitrescu, exploring decrepit sheds, and running in the claustrophobic corridors of a colossal factory definitely felt like a dose of adrenaline. At all times, I couldn’t help but feel this eerie and disturbing feeling of vulnerability and anxiety — always expecting a jump scare or something of the sort at every turn and corner.

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Gameplay-wise, this title is beyond excellent. From frantic combat to exciting exploration, everything is fluid, well-crafted, and entertaining. Once again, Capcom opted to deviate a little from their last iteration and give Village a more significant focus on the action. At first, I was slightly skeptical about it, as the last thing I wanted was this to be just another mediocre title, with some cheap Michael Bay-style sort of action segments and uninspired gameplay — yes, I’m talking to you, RE 6. Though, to my surprise and satisfaction, it wasn’t anything like that. In Village, they flawlessly attained the precise equilibrium between action and horror, essentially creating the perfect incorporation of RE 4 and 7 into one. Hence, even if you are not fond of this slightly more action-focused turn the game took, you shouldn’t be all worried; because, in the end, the game still manages to be a true survival horror, truthful to its roots.

The pleasant combat mechanic is one of the key features that made this title stand out the most. Whether gunning down a crowd of enemies who dare stand in your way, or just trying to protect yourself with a mere knife, Village’s combat plays fluidly and actually strives to keep the player engaged at all times. In order to stand your ground against the myriad of repulsive monstrosities, you can count on an immense and diversified arsenal that will help you send your foes to the other plane of existence. I’m really fond of the game’s large weapon assortment and how the guns work; each weapon in the game, from shotguns to hand cannons, is unique and feels totally authentic and pleasant to handle and shoot. And things don’t end there: during the journey, the player can additionally find a plethora of attachments to enhance their guns, these varying from extended magazines, barrels, foregrips, and even scopes.

While the game indeed recycles some of its predecessor’s core gameplay mechanics, it also brings plenty of additional features to the table, as well as tweaks to pre-existing ones. One of my favorites is that Ethan can now parry basic enemy attacks in addition to blocking them — which can be pretty useful; it certainly saved my life countless times. The crafting system was also further improved, and it is much simpler and quicker to craft your items this time. Instead of the old mechanic of “combining items” present in pretty much all previous iterations, here, crafting has its own exclusive tab where you can quickly assemble your items by pressing one mere button. And, surprisingly enough, Village has a pretty interesting hunting and cooking mechanic — which works in a very simplified manner.

Scattered throughout the map, you can find a variety of animals to hunt, ranging from pigs to fishes and even goats. Once you kill any of the animals, it will drop a piece of meat, which can be delivered to the merchant to brew your selected desired meal. Eating certain dishes will highly improve Ethan’s overall stats permanently, such as health, movement velocity, and even how much damage he can take in fights. This cooking mechanic is indeed a very welcomed feature; even with its simplicity, it still is one of the best additions to the title.

One aspect that the RE series is well known for and nearly constantly delivers in great fashion is, definitely, the boss fights — and here, it’s no different. Village has some of the most charismatic bosses and thrilling battles of the series. Every boss encounter plays uniquely, with each one of them having their own distinctive move sets, attack patterns, and weak spots the player must exploit to prevail in the fight. Even though I didn’t find them very arduous opponents (besides the final one), standing your ground against all the daunting monsters on the hardest difficulty certainly made me break a sweat.

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To my surprise, the optional bosses are back in Village. There are five of them you can encounter as you progress in the narrative. Even though they aren’t as creative or their fights as unique as the main villains, I still had lots of fun facing them.

The revamped level design is one of the best aspects of the game. Most areas are much more open now — with a surplus of broader sections to explore and secrets to unravel. This novel approach regarding the levels is excellent and also refreshing to the series. Though, what caught my attention the most, was the much more extensive exploration system. Fortunately, that mechanic is excellent, and very much worthwhile. Similar to various horror titles, exploring each part of the map is essential for your survival. Here, investigating and exploring the various intriguing and breathtaking areas in search of crafting resources, ammunition, and all sorts of supplies can be the only thing that determines whether you die or stay alive to fight another day.

PC Specs
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32 GB

Throughout my multiple playthroughs, I, fortunately, had very few performance problems. I played the entire game on the max settings (RTX On) and had a pretty decent overall frame rate; it usually fluctuated around 85-100FPS with no stuttering. The only time where my PC struggled a bit was in a particular section with a bug swarm. Regarding the game’s performance with the RTX turned off, it ran smoothly, far above the 100FPS mark with no problems whatsoever.

On the topic of bugs, I encountered few of them. Those I came upon were mere collision bugs that caused enemies to clip through environmental props. I also had this weird glitch where every time I’d alt-tab, the frame rate would lock at 20FPS; though it was fixable, however, by just setting the game to borderless.


Resident Evil Village was, undoubtedly, my most delightful surprise this year thus far. I surely had a great time and have solely good things to say about the game — it absolutely has surpassed any expectations I had. Capcom did everything right this time, from the narrative and atmosphere to the gameplay mechanics; everything was made with the utmost care and attention. Therefore, with all that said, even at full price, I can’t recommend this game highly enough. Village is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best survival-horror experiences out there.

The Evil Within (TEW) is a third-person survival-horror directed by Shinji Mikami (creator of Resident Evil) and developed by Tango Gameworks. Here, you fill the shoes of Sebastian Castellanos, a detective, who alongside his partners, is investigating a multiple homicide case at the Beacon Mental Hospital. After getting ambushed at the crime scene by a supernatural force, the protagonist awakens in an unfamiliar and hostile place. Now, he starts a dreadful journey to seek answers and survive this mysterious, fierce world.

While a few similar games tend to provide a confusing and overwhelming plot, this game does an amazing job explaining the story; and making sure the player doesn't feel overwhelmed. The whole plot is well written, with some of the gaps filled by notes, audio diaries, and even DLCs.

Another thing that The Evil Within achieves flawlessly is the deep and macabre atmosphere. Which spans from start to finish, with only a few moments to let the players catch a breath. The whole time, the game will constantly take you to the edge of your seat, not only with its boss fights or combat sections; but, most importantly, by how the ambiance is built up. That led me to an uncomfortable feeling of claustrophobia mixed with angst, where ,at every corner, I always expected a jump scare or something to happen. I had that kind of feeling throughout the whole game, even in places where I knew to be safe.

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Gameplay

Gameplay-wise, TEW is pretty satisfying and fun. However, it overall feels like a mash-up of other survival-horror titles, thus failing in delivering something new and innovative. Some aspects regarding the gameplay can be a little frustrating, mainly at the beginning of the game. For instance, Sebastian has an unsteady aim and is unable to sprint for longer periods of time. Nonetheless, after you get the hang of the thing and commence upgrading the skill tree, the game morphs into a completely enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, TEW has some odd gameplay-design choices. As some actions, like climbing ladders and opening doors, take a lot longer to be performed than they should, they sometimes end up breaking the pace.

The level design is relatively simple, but it works perfectly with the title, as its levels are linear and divided by chapters. The game has a big emphasis on exploration, similar to most games of the genre, with the constant search for resources and ammunition being essential for your survival. The majority of levels works in the same manner: a linear path with interconnected rooms, hallways, and/or small open areas to explore. The exploration is always rewarding, and, unlike many other games, it doesn't feel dull nor tiresome. The search for collectibles is also fun, even for those who aren't seeking achievements - as there is a plethora of them scattered throughout the game. These include: map-fragments, newspapers, documents, posters, etc. Like other games of the genre, The Evil Within indeed rewards the player for gathering all collectibles, thus, it never feels like time wasted.

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As I briefly said previously, the player is able to make upgrades to Sebastian's body. The upgrades range from weapons upgrades to physical enhancements. They can only be performed within the safe zone, accessible by mirrors found on every level. Inside this safe area, you can also save the game and open safe boxes with keys that you can find throughout the levels.

TEW has a really useful stealth mechanic, which works fluidly. After encountering an enemy, a small eye will pop up at the top of your screen, indicating your stealth status. In order to hide from the enemies, the player can crouch and hide inside closets, under cars/beds, and also toss glass bottles to lure them away. The stealth mechanic is seldom required when playing on lower difficulties. However, on higher difficulty settings, it plays a big role. Since Sebastian dies much more quicker, and every bullet can make a difference.

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Technical Details

Visually, The Evil Within still holds up pretty well. Despite its outdated textures, the game has breath-taking art, with an outstanding design and scenarios. Performance-wise, it runs locked at 100Fps for most parts, with only a few FPS drops. Unfortunately, TEW doesn't support ultrawide displays, thus requiring the use of third-party software in order to fix. Regarding the bugs, I only encountered a couple of them - Sebastian spinning when kicking a body on the ground and enemies flying after being hit.

This game was played with the following specs;
GPU: RTX 3080
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
RAM: 32GB (3000mhz)
Display: 3440x1440