Resident Evil Requiem takes all the best bits of Resident Evil 4 and most of the best bits from Resident Evil 7 to create a fantastic yet lopsided experience.

A sequel to both and the series as a whole, it unites the survival horror gameplay of Capcom’s classic remakes and its more action-focused hits for one cohesive campaign. Franchise newcomer Grace leads the former while Leon S. Kennedy is all about the latter.

The story often switches perspective between them to facilitate the two styles, allowing preposterous puzzles and item management one minute and then all guns blazing firefights the next. The game builds a satisfying back and forth in the first half… and then all but abandons it.

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Resident Evil Requiem is brilliant, both when you’re avoiding zombies as Grace and cracking their skulls as Leon — but, eventually, there’s slightly too much of one and not enough of the other.

Besides the epilogue of the Resident Evil Village DLC Shadows of Rose, the game chronicles the latest and most up to date events in the series. Grace, an FBI agent, is investigating a series of murders, all of which link back to the Raccoon City incident of 1998. Separately, Leon is doing the same while battling some kind of infection.

Their paths cross after digging deeper into the mystery, leading to them both visiting the remains of the infamous city to learn more about something called Elpis.

Despite her position as an FBI investigator, Grace is a scared and timid character. She fears anything out of the ordinary, making her perfect for the survival horror tension and frights of the franchise. These sequences are in first-person by default (a third-person option is available) and harken back to Resident Evil 7.

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Grace only has a few weapons, her inventory and ammunition are limited, and she focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving. The highlight of this is the Rhodes Hill care centre, which covers all the facets of a classic Resident Evil location: ludicrous brain teasers, elaborate layouts and locked doors, and dangerous enemy encounters.

You tour its hallways and rooms searching for a means of escape, all while Leon is off somewhere else in the facility having a much easier time dealing with its threats.

The perspective changes at set points, determined by story progression. When playing as Leon, you’re encouraged to get involved with an assortment of shotguns, rifles, and grenades. It’s a stark contrast to Grace’s arsenal, and it’s how the title creates effective breaks in tension.

Leon uses the third-person camera by default (a first-person option is available), which helps to neatly distinguish the two gameplay styles. With a better view of your surroundings, more guns, and a significantly bigger inventory, Leon combines his vast loadout with stylish melee moves and judo throws.

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There’s little in the way of puzzle-solving or stealth at this point — it’s action, action, action. Zombies go down quicker and the game becomes more about immediate progression than explorative dillydallying. There’s little time to lose when playing as Leon; you must push on.

Bouncing between the two methods forms a satisfying loop that keeps gameplay fresh and engaging. If you prefer survival horror over action, or vice versa, then it won’t be too long before you’re back to it. The timelines of the two characters’ journeys synchronise to let the plot continue moving, setting a nice pace for the title.

Then it almost completely stops, however. Capcom said the roughly 15-hour campaign will be “almost equally split” between Leon and Grace. This is not true.

The second half of Resident Evil Requiem — when the narrative moves to Raccoon City — is very heavily focused on Leon. While Grace remains an important character, her appearances are mostly kept for cutscenes. Having left the Rhodes Hill care center, you won’t spend much more time playing as her.

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By the end, the playtime split feels much closer to two-thirds as Leon and one-third as Grace.

The action in Resident Evil Requiem is the best in the series; it truly comes into its own having made it to Raccoon City. The nostalgia of searching the ruins of its iconic locations combined with fulfilling and intense combat is an utter joy. However, it loses some of its charm and intensity when that’s all you’re doing for the entire back half of the experience.

It leaves the title in a slightly awkward spot because, at every turn, the act of playing the game is a delight — that cannot be denied. No matter whether you’re playing as Leon or Grace, or in first or third-person, it offers an excellent Resident Evil experience.

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Action sequence after action sequence start to become a drag, though, when there’s nothing to break them up. The first half of the game strikes a perfect balance between the two styles; the second leans so heavily into action that it becomes a detriment.

At least the scenery and structure of Leon’s return to Raccoon City are kept fresh. Taking a page from The Last of Us 2’s playbook, it features an open-ended level where you’re left to explore and complete multiple objectives in your own time.

Optional locations flesh out the area with extra tasks to complete and hidden collectibles to find, while the main goals provide unique combat sequences that mark many of the title’s overall highlights.

You can’t have Raccoon City without the Raccoon Police Department, either, and its return in ruins is a memorable one. Without spoiling anything, long-time fans will get a kick out of the references and easter eggs left behind.

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Story spoilers prevent us from going any further, but Resident Evil Requiem continues to build with some fantastic concluding sequences in the final hours.

If only the overall narrative wrapped around those events made an impact. The game’s story is surprisingly tame, given the fact it brings back Raccoon City and some of the fan-favourite places within it. You’ll be hooked in the moment, but by the end of it, the throughline and revelations don’t amount to quite as much as you might be hoping for.

Visually, it stuns: this is the best work the RE Engine has done to date, producing a beautiful game from Capcom that impresses during both cutscenes and gameplay. It’s able to highlight little details in the enclosed spaces of the Rhodes Hill care center, then go big for wider playspaces in Raccoon City.

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You get a smooth 60 frames-per-second on PS5 Pro with ray-tracing enabled, or 120FPS if you opt to turn the feature off. Devoid of bugs and glitches, it’s an incredibly smooth experience with no technical drawbacks.

Conclusion

On paper, Resident Evil Requiem is essentially a two-in-one package that delivers both excellent survival horror and action gameplay. It is that in practise, too, but the playtime imbalance between the two is enough that you’ll get too much of one and not enough of the other. At the end of it all, it’s another fantastic entry — you just might not get everything you’re looking for out of it.