Resident Evil 7 is one of the best horror games in recent years and its VR support is still more than four years later exclusively for PSVR. We look back at the title, analyze what makes it work so well in VR and imagine how amazing Resident Evil 8: Village can be with VR support.
Some cases spoil for Resident Evil 7 follows below
Resident Evil 7 in VR Horror
Let me precede this by saying that I’m a nerd for horror. I like the challenge of a new horror game. There is something so raw and exciting about being terrified, which is why I especially like horror games. With the rise of VR, horrors get more chances to really shine. So on day one, I jumped at PSVR and waited for a real showcase of its appalling potential.
I’m threatened to play horror games in VR in search of the answer to one simple question: Can this game scare me more than I’ve ever been scared before? The launch of Resident Evil 7 VR in 2017 answers the question in a spectacular way.
With VR now solidified as a well-established platform, we have the ability to be intimidated by developers to levels we could only imagine when the first Resident Evil game appeared in 1996. After the glittering ghostly showcase of Resident Evil Village and the internet’s collective obsession with a tall vampire woman, I reflected on my terrifying experience with Resident Evil 7 in VR and what it could mean for the future of the series.
Resident Evil 7 was a big departure for the franchise as a whole. Just as Resident Evil 4 camera angles change for a more personal approach, Biohazard has put you in first person – as close as possible to the shapely and grotesque bakers. After all, it was a giant sidewalk for the series. Not in terms of quality, but in terms of the roots. It was the return of Resident Evil the survival horror game and away with the games that tried to carry out unnecessary macho action.
Following Resident Evil 4, the next two main entries in the series ventured for a daring and larger series of series. Resident Evil 7, on the other hand, was much more focused and offers a more stripped back and a primordial experience. As series producer Masachika Kawata said in an interview with us near the launch of the game, they hoped to “create a more intimate experience that enables higher immersion.” They more than succeeded.
Read more: How Capcom brings ‘Resident Evil’ to VR for the first time
Adding VR to the mix was like holding a magnifying glass to the horror genre as a whole and reinforcing everything. The suspense, the horror, the action and the incredibly detailed environments all came alive like never before. The Baker mansion feels like a character when you are invested inside the walls.
So, what makes Resident Evil 7 and the VR mode so damn scary? As the first game made with the RE engine, Resident Evil 7 is a very nice game. Even the inevitable visual compromises made in VR have very little impact on how beautiful it is. Seeing things in VR enabled me to see many more details that were just not as pronounced when I watched a flat screen TV.
Everyone is aware of the infamous dinner table with the Baker family. The difference it makes when it’s not just Ethan but you too, the player also, letting some kind of horrible rotten meat push into your mouth really increases the intensity and disgust.
Not only that, but every single confrontation is transformed. I have been playing the game without VR ever since and the horror, fights and important moments of high tension, although still powerful, are just a bit flat (pun intended) without VR as a comparison. The boss fights gave me goosebumps, especially with Marguerite in her four-legged form.
Having to physically look around with your head to determine where she can crawl over the walls feels incredible. When you hear those 3D sounds to let you know she’s behind you and you have to look over your shoulder, it’s really chilling your shivers; I never want to do that again.
The moments where nothing happens are probably the parts where VR makes the biggest change, as weird as it sounds. There were two times in my first time that I literally interrupted the game and had to stop due to simply unbearable tension.
It happened as we walked through the water in the introductory section and crawled through the pitch black vent on the abandoned Annabelle ship. The atmosphere alone made these sections so terrifying.
The silence, not knowing if or if something was going to happen, was too overwhelming for me. Since I’ve only played a lot of horror games before knew that something is probably going to happen. Every time I remove the headset, take a deep breath and ask if I am ready to dive in again.
The discomfort of being in VR with water up to your neck is something that cannot be explained; it must be experienced. As someone who is already scared of tight spaces, it was a real nightmare. The rancid water bubbling in front of you as you desperately tried to keep your head up was disgusting. And then, guess what? Aeverything happen. You just drop out and move on. But the sheer weight of do not know in VR meant I could hardly continue.
If you have not already done so and are enjoying your horror, you should simply experience Resident Evil 7 in VR. Despite using only the DualShock 4 and no motion controllers, no other horror experience came close to me. It completely terrified me and I wish I could experience it all over again for the first time.
And now I want Capcom to get it over with. I would like them to scare me more than I was ever scared again. I want to see all 9 meters of Lady Dimitrescu and that beautiful castle of Resident Evil Village in VR. They have not confirmed VR support yet, but I really hope so.
I am ready to be frozen right away and beg again to postpone.