Resident Evil: Village: Gold Edition: PS5 Review 

Released by Capcom
Platform: PS5

If you strip away the internet fervour that devoured Lady Dimitriscu, and the Resident Evil edges, Resident Evil: Village offers the same kind of vicarious horror thrills that you'd come to expect from genre.

Picking up after the end of Biohazard, the game that seized on VR and the first person horror experience with verve and tenacity, Village plops you back in the fray.

You're back as Ethan Winters, fresh from surviving the Baker house of horrors, and now living with your wife and baby daughter somewhere in Europe. However, within moments of an idyllic scene playing out, your wife is seemingly slaughtered in a spray of bullets and your child is abducted. To make matters worse, you're kidnapped by Chris Redfield, who apparently helped save you at the end of the last game - and then things take a further turn, when after a crash, you stumble into a village that's deserted and full of potential supernatural threats.

With more of a balance on scares as well as action, Resident Evil: Village is a solidly packed tautly woven horror outing that entertains as much as it enthralls.

On PS5, it's largely helped by the fact the game looks stunning.

Every decaying area of the Village and the surrounds looks pristine, adding to a sense of both the European and the Gothic. Creatures, demons and whatever's hunting you are delivered in a polished fashion, their fangs glistening as they're bared, ready to bite.

The game delivers smoothly too, with not one moment struggling to load or play, thanks to the power of the PS5. (Which is as expected.)

But it's this next-gen sheen that really does make Resident Evil Village the experience it is - much like Until Dawn's Rush of Blood VR Efforts, the game knows that providing a strong mix of survival skills with jump-out-of-your-seat moments is what the RE fans - and even non-fans want.

It does however lead to a feeling of a carnival funhouse at times, and is more invested in jump scares and chases than a serious horror would, but Village never claims to be massively deep in its plot and its machinations.

While combat is chunky, defence is relatively pointless as even blocking will still see you attacked. Crafting is easily done, but as ever resources in Village are scarce, so the pain of collection has to be measured against the levels of potential success.

At the end of the day, Resident Evil: Village more than delivers on its eerie promise to fans and non-fans alike. Sure, there's a bit of chopping and changing between action, horror and puzzle solving, but when you're caught up in the middle of it all, this is one Village you'll have trouble leaving.

Added in to this release are Re: Verse an online fighter brawler that's more a novelty than a necessity and a third person version of Village.

The third person element is a nice touch for the game, as it gives more of a perspective on incoming enemies but it does rob the atmosphere of some of its peril as the game progresses. 

If you're after frights, then it's still first person that works best for this franchise, but for those looking to lessen their imminent demise, it's a solid touch.