Capcom’s revolutionary horror gaming franchise, Resident Evil is observing its 20th anniversary this year, and so far, that’s amounted to several current-gen remasters of older games in the series, plenty of teases surrounding the vague full remake of Resident Evil 2, and the multiplayer-focused shooter spin-off, Umbrella Corps. arriving later this month. Tonight however, at Sony’s E3 press conference, Capcom finally broke its silence on a proper new entry in the Resident Evil series, and as promised, it’s going back to the series’ terrifying horror roots, and abandoning the action-flavoured focus of the much-maligned Resident Evil 6 from 2012.
Appearing to function as both a sequel and a reboot for the series, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard, as it’s fully known (referencing the series’ moniker as ‘Biohazard’ in its native Japan), is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, but it’s packing several key incentives for PlayStation gamers! Going along with a gameplay overhaul that sees the creepy, unsettling focus of the game unfold from a first-person viewpoint, a first for a mainline series entry (though not for a spin-off, as games like Resident Evil: Survivor unfolded in first-person), Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is fully compatible with the upcoming PlayStation VR headset in its PlayStation 4 incarnation, though players can opt to play the game without it, if they’d rather keep the experience on their television.
That’s not the only big perk for PlayStation 4 owners that are interested in Resident Evil VII: Biohazard either. The game is offering an exclusive PlayStation 4 demo to PlayStation Plus members, and it’s offering it as soon as tonight! You obviously won’t be able to test the PlayStation VR capability yet, but PlayStation gamers will still be able to see if they can handle an early taste of the scares ahead of the Xbox and PC crowd, which is fitting, considering that the Resident Evil series first rose to prominence on the original PlayStation in 1996.
Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is now available to pre-order, and will be released early next year, on January 24th, 2017. While this means that the game just barely misses the 20th anniversary tie-in, it’s also being timed with the big screen movie release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which arrives in theatres a few days later, on January 27th, 2017.
Keep creeping to Eggplante for all major news and updates on Resident Evil.