Review round-up: Resident Evil Village blends elements of 7 and 4 but doesn’t reach those heights

Resident Evil Village reviews have gone live ahead of the game’s release this week.

The 10th main game in the Resident Evil series and the sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard will be released on May 7 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

A 60-minute playable demo was released on Sunday, allowing players to explore the Village and Castle areas for a total of 30 minutes each.

VGC’s Resident Evil Village review calls Capcom’s horror adventure “a deliciously hammy hybrid of past glories, with some real series highs”.

Critics are largely positive in their write-ups, with many saying the game successfully blends elements of Resident Evils 7 and 4 without surpassing either of its biggest inspirations.

On review aggregation site Metacritic, the game currently has a Metascore of 84 on PS5, 82 on Xbox Series X, and 85 on PC.

Further reading

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Resident Evil’s producer says Village was balanced based on feedback that ‘RE7 was too scary’

"It's always our goal to create something that anybody can feel comfortable playing"

Resident Evil Village review round-up

• VGC (4/5) – “Resident Evil: Village is a powerful monster, bolting together parts from Resident Evils 7, 4 and more besides. The downside of its eclectic approach is some unevenness and less tension, especially in a relatively weak opening act. But its eventual blend of parts is gloriously big, daft and fuelled by the finest of nightmares.”
• GameSpot (9/10) – “The sequel to Resident Evil 7 leans heavily on Resident Evil 4‘s brand of action, but adds its own sensibilities to the mix.”
• Push Square (9/10) – “While the Resident Evil series has been on a high for a number of years now, Resident Evil Village sets an entirely new standard.”
• Wccftech (9/10) – “Resident Evil Village is a wild, thrilling ride across seemingly every horror genre and idea that happened to pass through the mad minds at Capcom.”
• The Guardian (4/5) – “This is a game that does nothing really new, that looks constantly backwards, that doesn’t really make any sense – but does it all incredibly well. It’s a sublime puzzle box dripping in blood, gore and truly abysmal dialogue. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
• The Telegraph (4/5) – “Most of all, it is a tremendous, and tremendously terrifying, video game in its own right.”
• GamesBeat (4/5) – “Resident Evil: Village is going to make fans of the franchise happy, especially those who aren’t cowards like me. But even if you also find yourself shying away from horror, I’d encourage you to screw your courage to the sticking place and consider a look at Capcom’s latest survival horror stunner.”
• GamesRadar (3.5/5) – “A strong start and okay finish makes this average out as decent but not amazing installment.”
• Window Central (4.5/5) – “Resident Evil Village is a celebration of every incarnation of the legendary franchise in one slick package.”
• Videogamer (5/10) – “Reaching the credits, I sat back, exhausted and disappointed at where the series had ended up.”
• PC Gamer (85/100) – “A grimly beautiful collection of killer horror set-pieces, with some of the most memorably grotesque enemies in Resi history.”
• VG247 (4/5) – “Taken alone, any one slice of the game – like a single house, the village itself, even the way combat handles – has its issues. But combined, it merges into something that’s still special – even if it isn’t quite as brilliant as Resident Evil 7 or 2 Remake.”
• TheGamer (4/5) – “Village is drenched in excellence throughout, but the occasional fumble stops it from reaching the heights of both its predecessor and the seminal masterpiece it is so desperate to imitate.”
• Ars Technica (no score) – “Play RE7 first. If you want more of the same, lower your general expectations and revel in RE Village’s improved gunplay. If not, skip.”
• Game Informer (9.25/10) – “Village doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to horror, but a consistent rollout of new weapons and tools makes it hard to walk away from these terrors.”
• TheSixthAxis (9/10) – “Lady Dimitrescu’s towering presence is just the tip of the iceberg of what Resident Evil Village offers. This game takes everything you know about the iconic horror series and dials it up to eleven!”
• Destructoid (9/10) – “It’s going to definitely spark some conversations as to how it stacks up against the current darling of RE7, and it has a long hill to climb to match its success financially. As for me, I think it complements it quite well, and then some.”
• IGN (8/10) – “Resident Evil Village is a genuinely engrossing and increasingly combat-heavy continuation of the Ethan Winters story.”
• Eurogamer (no score) – “Capcom’s follow-up to its first-person Resi reinvention is a fantastic horror romp – for its first half, at least.”
• PCGamesN (8/10) – “Resident Evil Village pulls the best bits from the series’ past and recombines them into something fresh and surprising.”
• Rock Paper Shotgun (no score) – “Resident Evil Village felt like it wanted to provide something for everyone, but to its own detriment. Those early bits which serve horror fans more were so, so good, and it was such a shame it lost sight of what made things engaging as it careered towards the end.”
• EGM (4/5) – “Still, despite its handful of missteps and missed opportunities, Resident Evil Village truly does feel like a culmination and expansion of what RE7 promised us as a reinvention of the series.”
• Kotaku (no score) – “While Resident Evil Village still falls prey to the series’ most pernicious problems, notably the inevitable swerve from horror to action and bosses that don’t quite match the strong moment-to-moment gameplay, those shortcomings don’t overshadow the frequency with which the game hits on all cylinders.”
• Polygon (no score) – “It’s definitely an action game, and despite all the shooting, it’s also a horror game. And while it induces both creeping dread and righteous fury, its biggest triumph is in not-so-quietly arguing that horror and action aren’t that different after all. They’re both just ways to get your blood pumping.”
• The Verge (no score) – “Resident Evil Village is a good game worth playing, and I think it’s very much a solid numbered entry in the series even if Capcom doesn’t want to call it one. But by transparently blending elements of 7 and 4, two of the most dramatic overhauls in series history, it feels less noteworthy than either.”
• Xbox Achievements (60/100) – “Enjoyable in a mad, pantomime sort of way, Resident Evil Village feels like a pretty significant step back from Resident Evil VII, and a toe back into the absurd. It’s a game you’re unlikely to forget in a hurry, for entirely the wrong reasons.”
• PlayStation Lifestyle (8/10) – “The new setting, creatures, villains, and story are engaging additions to the Resident Evil canon, even if the gameplay doesn’t seem to have evolved all that much and the scares have been pulled back.”