Mar 04, 2026
3 min read
Resident Evil Requiem's new haunted house goes back to the series' 30-year-old roots, cleverly improving the timeless formula.
This article contains mild spoilers for the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center episode of Resident Evil Requiem.
With Resident Evil turning 30 this year, it's no surprise that Requiem leans towards nostalgia.Leon S. Kennedy is back in his starring role, and our game trailer features ominous shots of the police station in the crumbling Raccoon City - a labyrinthine haunted house that our bald-haired hero had to fight back in 1998. But while this latest edition of Resident Evil presents many new ideas of the past.nostalgia
The early chapters of the story, where you play as new character Grace Ashcroft, are Requiem's best return to the early days of Resident Evil.While the series defaults to a modern first-person perspective, this is classic '90s survival horror in its truest sense, down to the ink ribbon, if you will.The building Grace explores is a brand new treatment center for the sick Rhodes Hill, echoing Resident Evil 2's next-gen Raccoon City Police Department, complete with a puzzle-locked exit and a deadly stalker roaming the halls.While building on the triumphs of the past, this RPD tribute showcases the timeless qualities of Resident Evil and how old hits can feel like modern breakthroughs.
With just a few steps, it's clear that Rhode Mountain takes all of its cues from RPD.The first locked door only provides a fancy key.Around the corner, metal shutters prevent access to a wide machine, an empty box nearby indicates that you will need to find an opening to proceed.Beyond waits the reception desk flanked by a sweeping staircase, the luxurious HQ of Raccoon City itself.for example.And like the old location of Resident Evil 2, Mount Rhodes is divided into two parts, the western and eastern wings, through which you must clear the horrible rooms, many of which must be opened with a solid collection of valuable cards to find the way out.
Resident Evil 2 owes less to Resident Evil 2 than it does to him.Developer Capcom does have an original bank of ideas, but unfortunately it's not a big deal, but sometimes it moves a little dangerously between remake and reimagining.For example, the final exit from the center is opened using three quartz cubes, each of which is scattered by decorative machines when solving a three-symbol puzzle.done.Yes, the RPD locket puzzle is in the wrong guise.
But this approach never feels like a creative failure or cynical nostalgia.In part this is because the original Capcom survival horror formula has stood the test of time - the basics of Resident Evil 2 felt as fresh in the 2019 version as they did two decades ago - but mainly because Rhodes Hill is the strongest version of this environment format the series has offered since we visited RPD.More expandable and interesting than Baker Estate and Dimitrescu Castle with road loops and shortcuts.and many of them, navigating its corridors is quite an engaging experience, regardless of whether or not you are familiar with the grim plot of the Raccoon City police station.
The layout of the facility and how you engage with it is undoubtedly classic Resident Evil, but Capcom isn't afraid to inject a subtle modernity into the proceedings.Requiem introduces a trick I haven't seen before in Resident Evil: many of the zombies in the middle are original characters, rather than regular enemy animals.turn it off.Elsewhere, the rotting maid continues to scrub the floor, moving from room to room to clean up all the blood I spit up.An opera star vibrates from a balcony above the dining room—a shrill sound that drives one of the center's noise-sensitive patients into a murderous frenzy.
Such unique personalities are what make Requiem possible thanks to its emphasis on old-school survival horror.Despite the homage to Resident Evil 2, playing as Grace feels more like exploring the Spencer Mansion in the daring 1996 Capcom original.It's a brutal environment where avoiding confrontation is the smarter move (especially since, in a nod to the 2002 remake, defeated zombies can respawn as much more aggressive "Blister Heads").But while the relatively simple original Resident Evil often saw you dodging threats and running past zombies, today's RequimyemAI systems are the most advanced, RequimyemAI systems are even more aggressive.it encourages you to carefully tiptoe around your enemies, something horror games have generally accepted over the past decade.
By changing the setup process from a simulation model to a dynamic one, the environment requires fewer enemies, allowing developers time and resources to show the uniqueness of each zombie.frequent the same zombies, contributing to the feeling that you're sharing space with real (albeit very dead) people rather than a busload of recycled video game goods.
This method gives Rhodes Hill a very different atmosphere from other Resident Evil locations, including what awaits in the second half of Requiem.While it's admitted that there's an element of humor with these creatures that retain elements of their living personalities, it's still surprising, and the idea of fighting an individual rather than a faceless enemy is even more terrifying - that's part of what makes the series' stalker characters, like Jack Baker and Mr.X, so terrifying.He might be wearing that funny little hat, but you never dare stop and laugh at him.The overhaul of the atmosphere here is proof that honing that symbolic survival game is more about the substance found in the physical things you do.
Of course, Capcom knows that character enemies are no substitute for terrifying stalkers, and so Rhodes Hill has some of his own.First, there's "The Girl," a tall, brooding, bug-eyed stunner who makes sure your first impression of the Chronic Care Center is terrifying enough.Next, you'll have to contend with the guardian of the East Wing, "Chunk" - a huge, baby-faced, hallway-filled mass of flesh that moves faster than its weight logically should.allowBoth operate in the classic stalker fashion of roaming the corridors and dynamically blocking your progress.There are interesting changes to the formula, with The Girl using Alien: Isolation-style hidden passages to surprise you in a way that Mr.X can only dream of it, but these enemies undeniably stick to the horror playbook originally written for Resident Evil 3 in 1999 and its relentless Nemesis.
Unlike Nemesis and its more modern cousins, Requiem's Stalker is not an insurmountable obstacle.Against all odds, this gigantic chess piece can be knocked off the board and killed.At least for Grace, such a challenge... well.Leon is better equipped to take down all the zombies in Rhodes Hill, not just Chunk and Grace.Arriving on the scene after a long campaign are the most beloved classic features from Resident Evil: Dual Playthrough.
The first series of games mainly focuses on playing the story twice to see the same environment from two different perspectives.Exploring the first game's Spencer Mansion is a different experience depending on whether you're playing as Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield.Capcom combined this method with Resident Evil 2, using an "A/B" gameplay process to provide an interesting difference in Leon and Claire's progress in RPD.Although Requiem doesn't care about this idea and sells everything, its shape is already visible after Leon's arrival.After walking around Rhodes Hill as Grace, carefully choosing your battles and holding weapons, you will be able to look at the place again as Leon with great powers.With a new move that seems to be inspired by John Wick, Agent Kennedy can shoot, kick and slash through all the zombies he has seen before and escape to the safety of a well-lit safe room.
This transition is definitely cathartic.Since the stage stays in place, all your problems as Grace can now be solved in front of Leon.Those blister heads that made you take the long way around the gym?A shot to your face makes you feel better about any problem.Leon's lethal weapon makes short work of that cow cook, turning Chunk into a missile pool for Grace.It can break through unreachable lockers.In short, Requiem can use the same space to provide a completely different and more immersive experience by changing the perspective and instrument set.
If it wasn't for the fact that Leon's time on Rhodes Hill was so short, I'd say this was the best version of Resident Evil's Dual Playthrough idea.As it stands, it's simply the best idea - it still means that his quick, bloody crusade through what previously seemed like the scariest place on Earth is one of Requiem's best points.A top based on a classic idea, but elevated with a modern twist.interpretation
That's the idea that makes Rhodes Hill's Chronic Care work so well: this is Resident Evil at its most nostalgic, but it appears with the knowledge that the past isn't enough to create real magic.From Leon's work to turn buildings into zombies and enhance the thief's side, the injection of modern ideas enhances the most important points of the series, as if experiencing them for the first time.Rhodes Hill may bring back your memories of RPD, but by mixing the old with the new, Capcom celebrates the past: something new.
Matt Purslow, Executive Features Editor.
