A frightened girl named Mia is walking through a grim labyrinth only lit by fragile candles. Wooden doors and boxes trap her inside. Voices escape through the cracks of the walls and make her see. She needs to hide, but she is stuck. That is what Capcom’s Resident Evil VII: Biohazard showed with its new, unconventional gameplay trailer and demo to celebrate the Gamescom 2016.
The Lantern Demo is available on the PlayStation Store for anyone with a PlayStation Plus membership. It follows Mia, who emerges from a swamp into a decrepit shack, hiding from an elderly woman whose titular lantern lights the ground around her.
Channeling a Silent Hills atmosphere, the found-footage like horror trailer is a part of the game’s finale. But Mia it’s not the main character, it’s a recording.
One game, many storylines
In VII’s main narrative, the character will find numerous VHS tapes that function like notes and audio logs in earlier entries. When the hero plays the tapes, players control the people in the videos which gives them the chance to play multiple mini horror stories.
Players got a first taste Beginning Hour Demo, which is proving quite popular as it reached more than 2 million global downloads at the start of July. It set the record for the most downloaded single-player PS4 demo in its first week of release in the U.S.
Resident Evil VII is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC on January 24, 2017, and it will cost $59,99. The game will also be compatible with PlayStation VR. Playing on a regular TV might not be scary enough.
The Resident Evil franchise turns 20 and celebrates with an old-school game
Capcom is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the franchise this year. For the occasion, the company is re-releasing Resident Evil 4-6 in current-gen consoles and is also developing a remake of Resident Evil 2.
If there is anything fans have seen in the previews is the return of the franchise to its roots. Claustrophobic and grim environments present in titles as Resident Evil 1, Resident Evil 2, and Code Veronica, will be the main set for the new title.
Horror and survival will prevail over the shooting sequences, a flavor the series has abandoned since it became a third-person adventure game in the very successful Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil 7 demos will feature no fighting, only survival
Sadly, fans have not seen any actual combat gameplay in the demos. Not to worry, at E3 2016, producer Masachika Kawata said Biohazard would have combat and gunplay. Fans can only speculate about Capcom’s intention to create something sinister with slow-paced raising tensions.
For those keeping count, the game’s sets will be on a plantation within Dulvey, Louisiana. The disappearance of Jack (whom players meet in the Beginning Hour) and Margarita Baker (Mia) seems to be the catalyst that kicks off the plot in the game.
No Umbrella, no Claire Redfield, no Racoon City, no plagues, no zombies and especially no Albert Wesker have been shown. It is very unlikely Resident Evil 7 will be a stand-alone title. However, the game could change protagonists. Resident Evil is a complete universe, and the company could try to pull out something similar to The Walking Dead.
Source: Engadget
