Resident Evil Village Gold Edition Gameplay Demo by developer Capcom and publisher Capcom USA—Sony PlayStation 5 preview written by Pierre-Yves with a copy downloaded from the PSN.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Resident Evil for me is a series that I constantly find myself coming back to. Not a fan of horror on its own, as I am very much a scaredy cat, the action is normally enough to keep me going. Having originally released last year, Capcom's Resident Evil Village (our PS5 review) has just received new additions this past Friday such as a DLC continuation of the story, more mercenary content, and finally, a brand new third person mode for the core game.
And if you're interested before picking up the Gold Edition, or the DLC Expansion if you already have Resident Evil Village, Capcom have released a demo of what it looks like!
So that's really what this article is about. I'll be taking a look at Capcom's Resident Evil Village Gold Edition Gameplay Demo. While pretty short, clocking in around 10-20 minutes, the demo showcases what we really need to know. The comparison of the new third person mode to the original first person mode.
Having originally been a third person action horror with locked camera angles, Resident Evil eventually graduated to more accessible camera designs and environments. Having changed all of that with Resident Evil 7, gone was an over the shoulder look at your character. Instead, you now saw the world through their eyes which I thought at the time was scarier than the third person view... I think I was wrong...
Recorded off of the PS5, the video above is a quick look at what the third person mode looks like in Resident Evil Village. Disclaimer, I completely forgot about going to the vendor and buying something handy, like say, a shotgun perhaps? Maybe even an upgrade or two for my Pistol. So unfortunately poor Ethan, and my heart, only had access to a knife that looks a lot less useful in third person and a pistol that wasn't packing much of a punch.
That said though, after having recently played through the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3, it felt natural to return to this world, even if I was looking at the protagonist. The controls were smooth and there was an eerie feeling that settled in as I explored as for some reason, I felt less mobile and more vulnerable. Funny enough though, if you try to look directly at Ethan's face, he'll look away.
Going in for another go to see how the new third person mode first compared to the first person mode, the first person mode felt more natural and faster paced. I wasn't as worried about exploring, regardless of knowing that something is or is not there. Searching for "loot" also felt more natural as you're literally seeing things in cases and are like, ah yes, break glass.
Aiming weapons and combat also felt smoother… but that's always the case when comparing a third and first person view. In a third person, and probably upping the horror, you have to take aim and constantly make finer adjustments. First person? Look where you want to shoot and pull the trigger.
In either case, I feel like this new mode may make Resident Evil Village more accessible to players as there's going to be an option that suits them better. The third person mode also doesn't feel like it was simply thrown together as a gimmick but something that's been thought through. That said, only the full version will let us know for sure on that one.
Score: N/A
