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By Griff Griffin
Contributing Pop Culture Writer
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“Resident Evil Requiem” is a game of two obscenely gory halves, and I played both during my extended hands-on at developer Capcom's London office.
The first half stars returning “Resident Evil” legend Leon Kennedy, introduced in 1998's “Resident Evil 2.” Now a veteran bioterrorism agent with flecks of white in his stubble and a few extra lines on his face, he's called to investigate unsavoury rumors at a chronic care center.
He's there for mere minutes before a group of insane patients rushes him with a chainsaw.
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Leon is agile enough to control in third-person combat sequences. You can swiftly dodge and roll, use your combat knife to parry, and deliver thunderous karate kicks to dazed enemies, which sometimes results in their heads bursting. At one point, an assailant drops their chainsaw, and it spins murderously across the floor, spraying blood from nearby ankles.
And there is a lot of blood. After the intense skirmish between hospital beds and IV poles, the beige walls are streaked with crimson. You can't feel too bad for the attackers, though.
They've been turned insane by Dr Gideon, the gold-toothed, 7ft egomaniac who's using the place to conduct ghastly experiments (his eye-catching snakeskin doctor's coat and multi-bulbed night vision goggles promise to make him a permanent fixture for cosplay fans).
During their first meeting, Dr Gideon casts his eyes over Leon using creepy infrared vision, muttering about “the Umbrella curse” and poking out a forked tongue. What are the odds of him turning into a massive snake during the boss fight? Probably quite high.
Dr Gideon is also why enemies feel unlike any zombie you've encountered in “Resident Evil” before. Instead of mindless, flesh-hungry automatons, they now retain habits of their previous lives.
A psychotic cleaner encountered in a bloodied bathroom, for instance, is obsessed with cleanliness, angrily repeating the word “messy” while furiously scrubbing a shattered mirror.
Hulking cooks wielding butcher's knives skulk around moldy kitchens, blindly chopping meat and mumbling “next” before they move onto another food preparation station. This offers a handy hint to their next steps so you can avoid them.
Turn on the lights, and it'll attract sharply dressed building custodians drawn there like deranged moths, chanting “too bright” while fumbling at the switch. That’s a useful baiting technique.
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There are ballroom singers who, as a crumbled doctor’s note details, have ‘main character syndrome’, wandering around in a daze, emitting a ghostly wail. “Show's over,” says Leon when he finally manages to take one out.
These more sentient enemies add a degree of dark comedy, like the demented chairman who mutters “you're fired” as he feasts on a poor secretary in his office.
There's even a section in the car park where a mind-rotted construction worker drives a digger straight through a brick wall, prompting you to make a fight or flight decision.
You can use these individualised behaviours to outsmart enemies, which is more useful with the game's second lead character, newbie FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. Where Leon can make as much noise as he wants, Grace is more limited. She's got less inventory space, a smaller health bar, and zero melee skills besides a last-ditch knife plunge, which unfortunately breaks the knife.
Her sections are also entirely first-person by default - although you can choose to play in regular over-the-shoulder mode. Either way, here's where the terror of “Resident Evil Requiem" ramps up.
Her vulnerability makes the world more hostile, every distant shriek and ill-intentioned whisper catching your ear and quickening your breath.
Grace does have one talent Leon doesn't, however: collecting blood. Using a special extractor, she can take harvested blood to a machine and use it to craft weapons, ammo, and items, from meat-piercing bullets to instant-takedown blades that cause unaware foes to explode.
This incentivizes you to engage with enemies, who become shambling, groaning sources of crafting materials. Also, if you don't, they have a tendency to spring to their feet and transform into even more dangerous variants with bubbling flesh and bulging heads like rejects from “The Fly.”
Deaths are gruesome. Nurses will stick you with dirty syringes, bandaged men towing drip stands beat you down with them, and one huge hostile flattens you under its immense flab.
And this is just the opening four hours. You shudder to think what evil Dr Gideon has in store for what promises to be a typically 15-hour single-player horror experience - and indeed, what other horrors Capcom has cooked up.
This demo suggests plenty.
What is ‘Resident Evil Requiem’?
“Resident Evil Requiem” is the next mainline entry in Capcom’s survival horror franchise and serves as “Resident Evil 9,” following 2021's "Resident Evil Village."
Is ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Official?
Yes, “Resident Evil Requiem” has been officially announced and revealed by Capcom.
As per Capcom’s synopsis: “A new era of survival horror arrives with Resident Evil Requiem, the latest and most immersive entry yet in the iconic Resident Evil series. Experience terrifying survival horror with FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and dive into pulse-pounding action with legendary agent Leon S. Kennedy. Both of their journeys and unique gameplay styles intertwine into a heart-stopping, emotional experience that will chill you to your core.”
Is ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ a Sequel to 'Village'?
“Resident Evil Requiem” is a direct sequel to "Resident Evil Village" and continues the series’ overarching storyline.
Is ‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Open World?
"Resident Evil Requiem" features larger, more open environments than previous entries, but is not a fully open-world game.
‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Leon
Leon S. Kennedy appears in “Resident Evil Requiem” as one of two playable characters, alongside Grace Ashcroft. It marks his first time as a playable character in a mainline installment since 2012’s “Resident Evil 6.”
‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Release Date
“Resident Evil Requiem” is scheduled to release on February 27th, 2026, as announced by Capcom.
‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Deluxe Edition
Capcom has confirmed a Deluxe Edition of “Resident Evil Requiem” that includes the following additional digital content:
• Grace's Costume: Dimitrescu
• Grace's Costume: Film Noir
• Leon's Costume: RE4
• Leon's Costume: Apocalypse
• Leon's Costume: Film Noir
• Screen Filter: Apocalypse
• Screen Filter: Film Noir
• Four weapon skins including S&S M232 Weapon Skin: Apocalypse
• Mr. Raccoon Charm
• DSO Emblem Charm
• Audio Pack: Raccoon City Classic
• Files: Letters from 1998
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