Adventure Corner ~ Resident Evil Requiem
Welcome to Adventure Corner, a column where members of the RPGamer staff can give their thoughts, impressions, and pseudo-reviews for various adventure titles that don't come under our usual coverage. Adventure Corner is aimed at delivering opinions on a wide range of titles, including visual novels, point-and-click adventures, investigative mysteries, and so forth.
In this edition of the column, we take a look at Resident Evil Requiem , the latest entry in Capcom's long-running survival horror series.
Resident Evil Requiem
Platform: PS5 (also available on Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC)
Release Date: 02.27.2026
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Official Site
Growing up in the 2000s, Capcom’s Resident Evil was a series my mother forbade, but I couldn’t help absorbing at least some information through cultural osmosis. Alongside Silent Hill , not only did its earlier entries define the survival horror genre, but Resident Evil 4 carried a wide, lasting influence on third-person action-adventure titles and solidified Leon S. Kennedy as one of gaming’s most iconic characters. When I finally got old enough to try the series out, I picked up Resident Evil 5 , and my lofty expectations were hugely let down; at that point, it became sort of an afterthought for me, until Resident Evil Requiem caught my eye, and I decided to give it another go. Featuring survival horror, action combat, and, yes, the return of Leon, it seemed like a good bet to see what Resident Evil and the horror genre are all about. Fortunately, Requiem delivers on every front.
Requiem opens with Grace Ashcroft, an FBI agent, owl-perched on her office chair in a messy cubicle. Titter-tattering at her keyboard, she is drafting up an investigative report on a series of murders while also researching a seeming connection to bioweapons and a massive mass-casualty incident in Raccoon City. Suddenly, her boss strolls up, calls her to his office, and explains that there has been another body found – this one at the Wrenwood Hotel, where Grace witnessed the murder of her mother, Alyssa, just eight years ago as a teenager. He tells her it might just be time to face the past, but that he also won’t force her to go. Noticeably apprehensive, she stands stiffly, avoiding eye contact, but she eventually acquiesces and sets off.
The opening juncture at the Wrenwood Hotel immediately and brilliantly establishes Requiem ’s stakes and its survival-horror atmosphere, primarily through Grace’s character. She’s quite thin and wiry, speaks with an audible stutter, and is clearly not well-adjusted to either socialization or combat. These elements seep into the gameplay experience extraordinarily well; for example, when creeping around in the dark, she breathes with a quiet, pathetic, and obviously terrified shudder, and it’s details like this that keep the tension sky-high. Near the end of the hotel, she discovers antagonist Victor Gideon, a large, scarred man in a trenchcoat and mechanical mask, who speaks ominously of her being some sort of "chosen one," before strangling her unconscious.
[caption id="attachment_185982" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Victor Gideon, the hulking evil scientist with a mechanical headpiece.[/caption]
Just as this happens, the perspective shifts to Leon S. Kennedy, the iconic protagonist of Resident Evil 2 and 4, who is conversing with a woman over the phone. They talk about bioweapons, viruses, and Raccoon City, but it’s also clear that Leon is after Victor, who is somehow tied to all this. Pulling up outside the hotel, he sees Victor whisking Grace away, and Victor begins shooting random civilians with syringes, turning them into zombies and causing mass chaos. It’s here where Requiem quickly and firmly establishes Leon as the complete antithesis of Grace: he pulls up in a fast, sporty Porsche and instantly begins kicking ass and taking names. He’s got a pistol, a hatchet, and a big gun named Requiem, and he mows down zombies like nobody’s business, doing so all the way until he finds where Grace is being held: the Rhodes Hill Care Center.
Rhodes Hill is easily the scene for Requiem 's highest points. Focusing mostly on Grace and survival horror gameplay, it sees her attempt to escape the center largely through evasion and wits, scavenging every item she can find and solving puzzles along the way. While she has a pistol and combat is an option, it is never the best option, and there are several large, skulking mutant zombies who will terrify, punish, and kill impatient players. Instead, Requiem offers many interesting opportunities and rewards players for diligent searching, smart crafting, and astute observation of the environment. For instance, there are some zombies who have particular fixations – be it to sound, light, or objects – and Requiem greatly rewards players for observing and manipulating these.
Item management is also key, and Requiem does an excellent job at terrifying the player by making them feel weak, but it gives them sufficient tools to survive by interacting with the environment. For example, Grace can craft hemolytic injectors by collecting infected blood and scraps, which can instantly kill and permanently remove almost any zombie. Additionally, after briefly meeting Leon upon his arrival at Rhodes Hill, she also gets to borrow Requiem, her only reliable source of potent offense in an emergency. However, players must think long and hard about where to strategically use these, as injectors and Requiem bullets are extraordinarily limited and hard to craft. When paired with her limited inventory, this creates a palpable, heightened, and constant sense of apprehension and thrill. Thorough exploration gradually gives additional tools, including buffs and inventory slots, that ensure a satisfying sense of progression, but it never overextends and staunchly refuses to let players breathe easy or feel too comfortable.
[caption id="attachment_185983" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A clash of wills? Nay, a clash of chainsaws![/caption]
While Leon gets a few fast-paced moments at Rhodes Hill, his action sequences dominate the latter half of the game, where he returns to Raccoon City of Resident Evil 2 and 3 fame. Though item management is still somewhat important, Leon is a grizzled veteran at this point, and his gameplay segments see him utilizing his wide arsenal of firearms and his trusty hatchet to combat zombie hordes. Even though combat is more of a focus in Leon's segments, Requiem does a fantastic job at maintaining pressure on players, as overly aggressive play will quickly lead to ammo shortages or, more importantly, running out of healing. Because gunplay is so calculated and deliberate, Requiem encourages slower and methodical approaches to its fights. Raccoon City, in all its ruination, has plenty of tight corridors and dark alleys, and the environment does a phenomenal job of making players feel claustrophobic pressure at every turn. Unlike Grace, Leon has a decidedly more empowering progression, earning points for each enemy killed that he can exchange for more weapons or upgrades to his existing arsenal. Nevertheless, the game's reluctance to provide adequate health items prevents haphazardly rushing into combat or shooting with reckless abandon.
As a package, Requiem ’s identity is rooted in this contrast of ideas and gameplay: on one hand, Grace and survival horror, on the other, Leon and action horror. Whereas players may find themselves scampering away in heart-pumping terror in Rhodes Hill, the gradually building anxiety of being backed down a Raccoon City alley by a horde of zombies and dodging tackles is also fantastic. That said, because these two modes are so different, players may experience whiplash and find it difficult to adjust between them, as they are essentially two different games and operate as such. On the whole, though, the contrast does wonders for elucidating their individual traits and driving home some of the game's best themes, especially later in the plot, when they cross paths more often.
[caption id="attachment_185984" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The outward splendor of Rhodes Hill belies darker secrets…[/caption]
Requiem 's plot is quite easy to follow for most of its fifteen-to-twenty-hour runtime, especially early on in Rhodes Hill, when most of the focus is on escaping the care center. There is an eerie air of conspiracy, and Victor serves as an enigmatic, imposing antagonist. Once players get to the latter half of the game, Leon’s segments delve a bit more into Resident Evil series nostalgia and overarching plot threads, which may not be to everyone’s taste, though it still mostly makes sense in a vacuum and remains engaging and interesting. If there are points of contention throughout the plot, they are likely to be from Grace’s decision-making in the prologue and motivations in the latter half. Some of these are classic tropes of horror media, and with some generous suspension of disbelief, it's somewhat ignorable, but the writing and plot's coherence at times struggle to stand out against many other games.
Any good horror game would be thoroughly incomplete without sonically amplifying its most terrifying moments, and Requiem ’s voice acting, music, and sound effects are top-notch. Angela Sant'Alban’s performance as Grace exudes sheer nervousness, and her breathy whimpers, stuttering, and generally timid delivery are enough to make any player feel on edge by extension. Nick Apostolides delivers plenty of Leon’s snarky 2000s-esque one-liners with punch, and Antony Byrne gives a remarkably imposing performance as Victor. Requiem, especially during the survival horror segments, uses silence in perfect contrast to sudden, sharp sound effects, be it crashing thunder or the shattering of glass as it falls off a shelf. When it is present, usually when spotted by an enemy, the music is startlingly great as well, with plenty of orchestral hits and blaring, screeching, out-of-tune clarinets magnifying the terror to incredible heights.
[caption id="attachment_185985" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Raccoon City’s fallen Willis Tower makes Leon battle precariously atop the windowpanes.[/caption]
Requiem ’s visual strength lies mainly in its spectacular set design. Rhodes Hill has all the offerings of a care center and medical research facility, but with the ornateness of a mansion that belies its deeper, more sinister machinations. Leon’s section in Raccoon City is even more visually impressive, with a truly harrowing, dilapidated, and decimated cityscape, with collapsed streets, fallen towers, and rusted architecture abound as far as the eye can see. Scattered across the landscape are missile craters from the city being bombarded after the outbreak from earlier games, giving the city a post-war, apocalyptic, and deeply somber mood.
On the whole, Resident Evil Requiem is a game of contrasts: Grace vs. Leon, panicky rookie vs. grizzled veteran, micro trauma vs. macro trauma, survival vs. action, but all of these contrasts serve one overarching purpose: fear. Whether I was fleeing some horrific mutant or perilously being pushed against the wall by zombie hordes, Requiem scared the daylights out of me. Each is fantastic on its own merits, but put in the same game, the contrast works not only as an homage to the series but as a culmination of its best elements, and I walked away not only having experienced a disturbing, adrenaline-rush of an adventure, but also wanting to learn more about the grander story and roots of the genre. For any RPGamers interested in getting into Resident Evil , horror games, or those who love being terrified, look no further than Resident Evil Requiem .
Disclosure: This article is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
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