Last Updated on Mar 17, 2026 @ 14:27:14 PM.
After 20 years of the Resident Evil franchise creating horror experiences for the world to enjoy, Resident Evil: Requiem has finally been released and brought a close to all kinds of stories that have been lurking within the shadows of the franchise, as well as taking a trip down memory lane for those who have been fans of the franchise since the beginning.
During this review, I will talk about a lot of different sections within Resident Evil: Requiem, such as the two different perspectives you can play as while playing as the different characters, the combat that takes place throughout the game, the game’s story and how it pulled on my heartstrings, and even the game’s overall graphics and world design.
Swapping From First-Person Gameplay With Grace and Third-Person Gameplay with Leon is Phenomenal
One of the biggest and most fun surprises gamers had when it came to Resident Evil: Requiem was the fact that throughout the game’s main story, players would be regularly swapping between the two main characters, Grace and Leon, and if they played the game as intended, they would also be swapping the camera from first-person to third-person.
For those who have been fans of the franchise for years, Resident Evil has always moved between camera perspectives throughout the entire franchise until it managed to get them right, whether it be fixed camera perspectives in the original games; over-the-shoulder perspectives like the remakes and especially Resident Evil 4; or finally, the first-person perspectives of Resident Evil: Biohazard and Resident Evil: Village, but now the camera controls have come full circle.
After years of trying to refine these different camera perspectives, Resident Evil: Requiem opted to have the option to use both first-person and third-person throughout the game to invoke different reactions from the players. For example, for those who were looking for a more daunting horror experience, playing in first-person as Grace was incredibly horrifying, as you could literally see the fear she was experiencing through her hands and actions, whereas those looking for action could play in third-person for both Leon and Grace, making the game feel more like Resident Evil 4 and less horrifying.
For me personally, I enjoyed playing Resident Evil: Requiem as intended with Grace in first-person and Leon in third-person, as both of their gameplays were very varied, as I often found myself crouching around corners as Grace, trying to avoid a fight, while running head-on towards enemies as Leon, ready for a fight.
This was especially fun for me, as I am a big fan of horror, so playing in the first-person mode as Grace really hit well for me, as I massively enjoyed how the first-person camera allowed me to get up close and personal to the enemies that were lunging towards me while also bringing back the horror that Resident Evil: Biohazard perfected within its first hour with Jack Baker.
Don’t get me wrong; as the game went on, I did begin to get a little more confident playing as Grace and wasn’t overly worried about being caught by the enemies, and I was, in fact, beginning to run and gun slightly like I was playing as Leon, but to me, that also adds to how Grace would realistically feel within the game’s story, as when she starts she is afraid and wanting to run away, but by the end she is willing to go in headfirst and fight the enemies if need be.
However, when it came to playing as Leon, I had never felt more joy, as I was able to enjoy similar gameplay to what made Resident Evil 4 fun, with the plethora of weapons at his disposal and the numerous grenades he could encounter; it was just a nice trip down Resident Evil lane to see how Leon could fight back against the enemies with more confidence than Grace could, while even taking on larger numbers of enemies.
Resident Evil: Requiem Pays Homage to the Earlier Games in a Fantastic and Tear-Jerking Way
Normally, when I review a game, I often try to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t played the game, but with this review and talking about the game’s story in a way that gives it justice, I will sadly have to mention a few moments within the later game that will be spoilers for some, so please be warned.
Normally, when people talk about a Resident Evil game’s story, its story isn’t often described as tear-jerking but more horrifying and badass, depending on what game you have just completed. However, Resident Evil: Requiem, being the final game of this storyline, made sense that the developers would go all out to bring emotion to the player with a small trip down memory lane, and it is safe to say that the developers did this and then some.
For me, this was mainly portrayed by the developer through the action of essentially repeating and even calling back to previous games through the new game. There are a lot of examples of this within Resident Evil: Requiem, but I will only mention a few to try to avoid as many spoilers as I can.
While playing Resident Evil: Requiem, I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the different sequences in the game were essentially massive callbacks to what made the earlier games so great, and especially specific moments in those games that were praised at the time.
For example, at the beginning of the game, Grace is stuck trying to stealth around an enemy that is hunting her down, as Grace only has a source of light to keep her safe. To me, this was paying respects to the beginning of Resident Evil: Biohazard and its early gameplay of Ethan hiding from Jack Baker, but this isn’t the only callback in Resident Evil: Requiem, as players return to the RCPD police station and even get to explore one of the most famous buildings in Resident Evil history, bringing back so many memories.
These are but two of the amazing callback moments within Resident Evil: Requiem that felt like they made me think back to the original games with numerous characters, enemies, and locations making a return to the franchise for one last go-around before it moves on.
For me, these callbacks are what made Resident Evil: Requiem such a good game as it allowed the player to see the franchise ending in a sense with a full rotation back to the beginning and seeing how Leon has changed as a character, while also allowing him to see the end of his own story that started so many years ago in a moment that I can only explain as devestatingly sad.
Resident Evil: Requiem’s Story Was Impeccable From Start to Finish
Throughout the Resident Evil franchise, a lot of the stories that take place tend to be amazing with very few faults, if any at all, with only one or two games having rather messy stories that people would like to forget, but Resident Evil: Requiem massively falls into the category of good stories.
While I played through Resident Evil: Requiem‘s story, I was often very pleased by the game’s pacing of the story and how it wasn’t ignored or just thrown at you all at once, but instead it was slowly drip-fed to the player in a way that allowed you to come to terms with what was happening and why it was happening in the first place.
Along with the good pacing, the constant swapping between perspectives and sharing rather equal time with both Leon and Grace, to me, was a very good decision by Capcom, as it allowed the player to see two sides of the story and fill in the blanks when needed, while also avoiding the question of, “What the hell was this person doing while this person was doing this?” which Capcom often tries to utilize in other game’s but managed to fall short slightly every time with a few minor errors
Instead, players were able to see how the story was able to unfold before them while also seeing completely unique locations specific to each character, which again is relatively rare in a Resident Evil game, as they often share the same locations, but with a few minor changes, Resident Evil: Requiem opted to provide completely new locations for each character to explore, uniquely equipped for their specific character needs.
The biggest and most important part of the game’s story was the conclusion of the 20-year arc that Resident Evil has been creating, and it is safe to say that after all these years, the ending of Resident Evil: Requiem has managed to tell a fantastic story to end this story arc in probably the most perfect and well-rounded way.
I would also like to mention how the game’s dialogue was also incredible with all of the voice actors doing a fantastic job, as they were able to perform at their best and create a story that was able to keep me invested throughout the entire game while also wondering what will happen next, will the characters be okay, and what will happen when the credits roll.
Overall, for me, Resident Evil: Requiem‘s story is one of a kind, as it managed to keep me invested throughout the entire game while also making sure it didn’t massively overwhelm me with information, while also ensuring that many of my questions were answered by the end of the game without me questioning what had happened and whether we would see more.
Both the Gunplay and Overall Game World are Very Detailed and Fun to Use and Explore
One thing that Capcom has always done well within the Resident Evil franchise is to create an incredibly detailed world that players can explore, while also having a fun and responsive gunplay experience that allows players to explore the game’s beautiful world more cleanly and fun, and Resident Evil: Requiem is among one of the best games I have seen in a while for both gunplay and its world design.
First off, let’s talk about the gunplay. Whether you play as Grace or Leon, both characters are able to use various weapons to their advantage so that they can move around the game world with ease. Although Leon has a lot more weapons than Grace and even has more training, Grace does have her own unique weapon set that alters how she interacts with the game world and emphasises the horror aspect that the developers were going for.
For example, during the game, Grace is more expected to stealth around and avoid enemies, while using Hemolytic injectors to try to stealth and take out enemies rather than facing them head-on. This is massively encouraged through the gunplay, as Grace does have some slight weapon training; she isn’t as prepared for a gunfight as Leon, meaning she doesn’t have as good aim or control over her weapons.
This detail is even more emphasised when Grace uses the Requiem, Leon’s massive Assault Revolver that he can wield with one hand. Grace instead has to hold it with both hands, and every time she shoots it, it essentially flies back, hitting her in the face due to its powerful recoil. For me, this was an incredible detail for Capcom to put in the game, as it shows the difference between the two characters, both in their abilities with firearms and just the general builds, with Leon looking like he can bench press a car, and Grace, who looks like she avoids lifting weights as much as I do.
Due to details like this in Resident Evil: Requiem, players who explore the world as Grace have to deal with the various enemies lurking around corners in a completely different way than when they play as Leon, which is a lot of fun as it allows for players when they turn into Leon to completely let themselves go and shoot to their hearts content annihilating the various enemies that stand in front of them.
This is especially easy, as I mentioned before, as Leon has all kinds of weapons at his disposal that make it easier for him to fight these enemies as the game goes on. Similar to Resident Evil 4, Leon is able to find and purchase weapons later in the game that allow him to survive more easily while taking on tougher enemies, showcasing his years of experience dealing with Umbrella’s nonsense.
For me, both of these characters and their gunplay are a lot of fun, and the incredible details Capcom put into their gunplay, as well as their gun designs and details is something I will enjoy for years to come, especially as this gunplay allowed me to explore the beautiful game world that Resident Evil: Requiem boasts.
From the second players load up Resident Evil: Requiem, and they finally get control of Grace as she walks down a rainy street full of pedestrians, we can already see the phenomenal work that Capcom has put into the game’s world and the details within.
Upon my first time loading the game, I couldn’t help but wander around the game world a little bit to see what a magnificent job Capcom had done, as every drop of rain, every pedestrian walking down the street, every car, and so much more were so detailed it felt like I was actually walking down the street rather than playing a game.
Adding to this, the later sections of the game were also very well detailed as well, as a lot of the time when you play games like this, developers tend to take shortcuts by blocking your path with lazy objects that a regular person would just move, Capcom chose not to do this allowing the player ease of access to all the important locations, while making it clear that locations were not accessible no matter how hard you think you could access it.
For me, this was a good addition to the game as it allowed me to fully get immersed in the game world without feeling as though I was limited to where I was allowed to go, but instead I could go anywhere, do anything, and look in awe at how beautiful it all was as I was adding new coats of paint to the walls with Zombie blood thanks to the fantastic gunplay.
Eagle-Eyed Gamers Will Not be Disappointed by the Secrets Hidden Throughout
Now, this is more of an honorable mention than anything else, but one thing that was very fun for me when playing through Resident Evil: Requiem was how many nods to the previous games were hidden within.
As I explored through the game, I often found myself noticing things from the previous games making a return in Resident Evil: Requiem that just made me both happy and surprised that they showed up, whether it be the secret Tofu character hiding on the outside of RCPD running around making noises to lighten the mood; the original Raccoon collectible platform within RCPD, which has been shot clear; and so many more little secrets that just reminded me of how big this franchise is.
Resident Evil: Requiem
Summary
Overall, Resident Evil: Requiem is a very fun game that blends horror and chaotic gunplay well together, allowing for two different gameplay genres to blend together in a way that doesn’t force the player into a bad situation but allows them to alter their gameplay style on the fly.
The game’s overall story is brilliant, with a lot of memorable moments that will stick with gamers for years, while also bringing back old memories from the original games.
The game’s world is beautiful with so much detail that players will never be able to spot it all, while also being able to use this game world to their advantage within the gameplay loop.
HOURS PLAYED: 16
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Beautiful game world that you will never get tired of looking at.
- Fantastic gunplay that is responsive and fun to use.
- Story is well-paced with a lot of nods to previous games.
- Voice acting is amazing with both main characters doing an amazing job.
- None to mention
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our hands-on preview of the upcoming game Everwind, or check out our review of Romeo is a Dead Man.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
