“Have you seen the Shadow Ghost? Because she’s been watching you…”
After it’s reveal at Summer Games Fest 2025, Resident Evil: Requiem is finally here, riding on top of the overall 30th Anniversary of the legendary Resident Evil franchise. Featuring dual protagonists, a plethora of new and returning locations and enough fan service to make Albert Wesker cry, Capcom have taken all of the lessons learned over the course of the franchise and have masterfully curated one of the greatest survival horror masterpieces of the current generation. Returning veteran: Leon S. Kennedy teams up with newbie FBI agent Grace Ashcroft (daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from the Resident Evil: Outbreak spinoff series) in a nightmare fight for survival that will have both protagonists face their demons. Having released for all major platforms (including Nintendo Switch 2) on the 27th February 2026, I’m going to be going over the time I’ve spent with the PlayStation 5 version of the game; detailing the good, deconstructing the bad, whilst ultimately weighing in on whether it’s worth your time and money at the £64.99 asking price (UK PSN Store).
*WARNING – MINOR STORY SPOILERS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THIS REVIEW*
Resident Evil as a franchise has been nothing but gold over the last few years, with Capcom reaching a point with the IP where they can effectively deliver the goods with very little in the way of criticism. Seen by many as a return to form for the franchise, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard traded in the action-heavy gameplay of 4, 5 and 6 and returned to its survival horror roots, to overwhelmingly universal acclaim. What followed can only be described as hit after hit, with the exception of the Resident Evil 3 remake, which isn’t completely irredeemable (see my review of the divisive title here). The remakes of Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4 and 2021’s Resident Evil: Village (see my reviews for the titles here, here and here) are generally considered some of the best games in the franchise as a whole, so Resident Evil: Requiem had a lot to deliver on the homefront, doubly so as 2026 is the 30th Anniversary of the franchise. Whilst I’ll go into greater depth later on in this review, I can confidently say that Capcom has curated a mastercrafted survival horror title that not only comes full circle, but touches upon nearly every previous entry in the franchise. Resident Evil: Requiem takes place in 2026, five years after the events of Resident Evil: Village, and sees us play with two protagonists. Returning veteran: Leon S. Kennedy who is now a grizzled, middle-aged DOS agent who is described as “post Resident Evil 6”, making this the most experienced and world-weary version of the fan-favourite character we’ve seen in the main timeline. The other is newcomer FBI agent: Grace Ashcroft, who is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, an investigative reporter for The Raccoon Press, and more importantly, one of the playable characters in the spin off series: Resident Evil: Outbreak.
The game initially places you in the shoes of Grace, who is tasked with investigating a mysterious death that follows the pattern of other recent case victims displaying black, bruise-like marks on their bodies, leading her to the town of Wrenwood. Whilst in the town, Grace makes her way to the Wrenwood Hotel (which also happens to be the location where her mother was killed 8 years prior) and soon notices something is amiss, with the distinct impression that someone is following her. Her intuition is on point it seems, as after a short investigation at the hotel, it soon leads to her being kidnapped by a mysterious, hulking figure of a man known as Victor Gideon, who strongly implies that Grace is some kind of key to a wider conspiracy. The game soon cuts to Leon, who appears to be looking for a cure for himself that is reminiscent of the the same condition that Grace was investigating on the body found at the hotel. Clearly on borrowed time, Leon pursues the trail of Gideon, which leads him and Grace (albeit arriving separately) to the Rhodes Hill Care Centre, which drags them both into their worst nightmare. What follows leads both Leon and Grace into a desperate fight for survival, uncovering the truth of a long-dormant conspiracy surrounding the Raccoon City Incident 30 years prior and a certain shadowy organisation that was directly responsible. Not much more can be said on the story front without giving away some massive spoilers; suffice to say that Capcom has cooked on this one, giving us a lovingly crafted, tightly-woven narrative that connects the entire lore from the franchise together over the last 30 years, whilst simultaneously delivering a compelling story of the human condition, dealing with subjects such as guilt, unresolved trauma and personal sacrifice, that is arguably some of the best narrative work (and fan service) that Capcom has ever delivered.
Horror comes full circle: Resident Evil: Requiem features a tightly-woven, emotional, character driven story that might be some of the finest narrative work Capcom has ever delivered.
Gameplay is where Resident Evil: Requiem both stands distinctly as its own beast, and an homage to some of the best elements from the rest of the franchise. For starters, you’ll be spending a good portion of the initial area (The Rhodes Hill Care Centre) playing as Grace, whose gameplay is very reminiscent of that found in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Grace’s gameplay largely comprises of the classic survival horror formula, think resource management, backtracking, and a fair amount of stealth is involved in her lengthy sections. One of the new features introduced ties directly into the crafting mechanic that returns from earlier entries, albeit this time with Blood. Grace obtains an item called a Blood Collector, which allows her to collect samples of the infected blood from the mutated T Virus zombies throughout the facility. This blood acts as the base component of all of Grace’s crafting recipes, with the most important (and spectacularly fun) being the Hemolytic Injectors, which she can use to stealth kill zombies, making them explode in a gory, blood-strewn explosion (think Deacon Frost in Blade from 1998). The zombies in Resident Evil: Requiem are of great note here, as they’re a lot creepier than in previous instalments. Think of the zombies from George Romero’s 1985 classic: Day of the Dead, and you’ll be in familiar territory; the mutated T-Virus strain has caused the infected to retain memories and behaviours of their past lives, maids will scrub floors, a zombie with a penchant for turning lights off will do so (which is also an effective technique for moving around them unseen) and some even like to sing and dance. The juxtaposition that these monsters were once human, makes them all the more deeply unsettling to boot (if a bit humorous at times). Whilst the zombies are the main rank and file enemies, the real star of the show here is the creature known as The Girl, which Capcom have absolutely delivered on the horror front. In the vein of the terrifying cat and mouse gameplay seen within Alien: Isolation (2014), the sections where The Girl is featured as the primary antagonist are nothing short of blood chilling horror at it’s finest. Grace will need to use light as her primary advantage, as the creature possesses a similar skin effect to vampires burning in the sun within bright areas; the effective use of sound, as well as being aware of your surroundings are key to survival, as The Girl is quite possibly one of the scariest (yet tragic creatures) that Capcom has ever cooked up.
Whereas Grace is all about the horror, Leon is all about the stylish, ass-kicking action-horror that he’s been known for since Resident Evil 4. Whilst Leon does have some sections within the Care Centre, they’re mostly action set pieces/boss fights that tie into the events of what happens with Grace; Leon’s real sections unlock at about the midway point through the game, when he returns to the town that started it all: Raccoon City. Story beats aside, the official story regarding Raccoon City is that it was a thermobaric fuel-air missile that destroyed the city at the end of Resident Evil 3, not a nuclear warhead that many people suspected (myself included, as there were multiple missiles and a mushroom cloud at the end of Resident Evil: Outbreak). Choppy old canon aside, Raccoon City looks about as well as you might expect after a massive explosion and a thirty-year time jump; familiar locations such as the RPD make a return and there’s enough here to make veterans teary eyed at all the nostalgia; key-jangling, but with a purpose is the best way to describe it. Leon’s combat sections in Raccoon City do fall under action-horror, however the atmosphere here (especially in dark subway tunnels) is so thick you could choke on it, doubly so if you change Leon’s perspective to first-person like I did. If you’ve played the Resident Evil 4 remake, you’ll be comfortable with the controls and gameplay style here; Leon picks up a kill-tracker soon after arriving in RC, which gives him access to specific crates of a certain organisation, so that he can spend the points on new weapons and upgrades (the merchant from Resident Evil 4 is very much here in spirit). In terms of features covering both characters, the game features two initial standard difficulty modes, Modern and Classic. Modern is closer in scope to modern RE titles, whilst Classic is the definitive way to play the game in my opinion (juggling those Ink Ribbons as Grace raises the tension!). Another standout feature is the ability to change between first and third person perspectives in the settings menu, and is something that I hope Capcom implements in all of their future RE titles (remakes or not). As a horror purist, I chose the FPP for both Leon and Grace, although they are third and first person by default. All in all the gameplay within Resident Evil: Requiem is nothing short of fantastic, offering a nice tonal juxtaposition between the franchise’s two identities, whilst still retaining its core representation of atmosphere and horror across both playable characters.
Blood Curdling Horror: The Girl is by far one of the scariest (yet tragic) creatures that Capcom have ever conceived; just make sure you stay in the light!
Whilst the narrative and gameplay are nothing short of exceptional, the performance isn’t quite as so well refined. To preface this, Resident Evil: Requiem looks and sounds phenomenal, from the environments to the character models, the RE Engine has never looked so good; offering near photorealistic visuals and strong lighting systems that the engine is known for. In terms of performance, it largely depends what you’re playing Resident Evil: Requiem on to get the best bang for your buck. PC will always be king here (which is a given based on the modularity of the platform) in terms of the PlayStation 5, the game will look/perform better depending on if you have the base PS5 or the Pro. I played on the base PS5, and from my own tests, it’s a targeted 60fps that sometimes dips into the high 50s in demanding scenes. Resolution is a bit disappointing at 1080p upscaled using the usual spatial techniques to 4k output, but I couldn’t help thinking that it was a bit muddy at times on a 1440p monitor (Lenovo Legion R27q-30). The trade off is clear for the game looking this good, but it’s a bit less noticeable on the PS5 Pro, which once again upscales 1080p, but offers a quality mode using PSSR AI upscaling, as well as a performance mode that unlocks the framerate up to 120fps, making the Pro the clear winner here. All in all, Resident Evil: Requiem is nothing short of a love letter from Capcom to fans of one of their longest running franchises; taking all of the lessons learnt over the last 30 years to masterfully execute one of the best survival horror games on the market. Featuring a standout narrative, blood-curdling, survival horror gameplay and enough nostalgia to make even Albert Wesker cry, Resident Evil: Requiem is a must play for both fans of the franchise and horror fans in general.
A PlayStation 5 review code was provided by Capcom Europe.
This review is featured on OpenCritic.
