Ahead of Gamescom 2025, I was lucky enough to be among the first members of the public to go hands-on with Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the industry-leading horror series.
Resident Evil has had its ups and downs over the years, but remains one of the most prolific video game franchises in history — a rare feat for the horror genre, which many find too uncomfortable to experience.
Capcom experimented with dialling back the horror in favor of action here and there, but quite firmly took the game back to its roots with Resident Evil 7 and 8 "Village," delivering landmark visuals and refreshed first-person gameplay in the process. Capcom has also been masterfully remaking classic entries in the franchise, with Resident Evil 2 and 4 more than living up to their predecessors, honoring the legacy while modernizing.
Silent Hill has also seen a resurgence in recent years, and even newcomers like Cronos: The New Dawn look incredibly promising, too. But after going hands-on with Resident Evil Requiem last week, I'm confident that this legendary horror franchise will remain the genre's apex predator.
A blinding glimpse into fresh horrors
For our demo, I was put in control of a new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, an FBI Technical Analyst who has very limited experience when it comes to working in the field.
Capcom hasn't been shy about explaining why Grace was chosen as this game's new protagonist, noting that experienced staples like Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield are far too experienced dealing with mutant horrors and undead abominations to convey that full sense of fear. As Grace, you'll feel that familiar sense of vulnerability as she navigates a near-future world of genetic experiments gone wrong and synthetic viruses triggering localized apocalypses.
At the beginning, Grace finds herself strapped upside-down to a medical table, being drip-drained of blood. What will immediately strike you is the visuals, panic-induced sweat beads on Grace's blood-spattered skin with familiar RE Engine realism, running at smooth 60 FPS, complete with immaculate lighting. And that last note in particular — lighting — played a big role in this early demo.
After composing herself, Grace realizes she's in some kind of hospital, which seems very recently abandoned. There's nobody around, and the electricity is on the blink — half the hallways are shrouded in pitch-black darkness, illuminated only by lightning from the storm raging outside.
Early on, I found a lighter, reminiscent of the classic key item from as far back as Resident Evil 1. The lighter is more than a throwback — it offers the tiniest reprieve from the gloom, and allows you to explore the game's detailed environments for crucial items.
There are other ways to light the way. In what I initially thought was just heavy detailing, most rooms in the demo had interactive light sources. Lamps, light switches, and fuse boxes can help you shed light on the situation. And the visuals are truly immaculate here. When playing in Resident Evil Requiem's third-person mode (the first in the series that lets you swap between both), the way the lighter flame illuminates through the textures of Grace's hair is realistic in a way I've not seen reproduced in a video game before.
Capcom cleverly uses the lighting to tease anxiety out of the player, shrouding otherwise innocuous objects in just enough darkness to make you question every shape, every corner, where threats could potentially lurk. Capcom has used lighting this way in previous games, too, of course, but the technical bump seems to have given the horror maestros some additionally panic-inducing toys to play with here.
Why all this emphasis on lighting, though? Well, it seems that Resident Evil Requiem's enemies are eager to use the darkness against you — to terrifying effect.
A new nemesis for a new nightmare
It's not long after exploring that Grace finds her first corpse. A medical researcher, seemingly — endowed with a familiar white lab coat, and wracked with that similarly familiar decrepit, infected, rotting skin. These ones don't have a chance to come back to life, though.
Through the darkness, horrifying digits begin creeping over the poor scientist's cadaver with all the warmth of a hungry tarantula. Grace is then confronted by the jagged teeth of a ten-foot hulking mockery of a humanoid, who proceeds to have a light snack of the chilled brains of the deceased doctor. It's a fittingly horrifying introduction to who (or what) is quite clearly set to be Grace's nemesis.
At this point, you have no weapons. All you can do is run and hide. In third-person, Grace will stumble and struggle to keep her footing, as panic sets in. Luckily for Grace, it seems that Requiem's introductory boss-grade freak has relatively poor eyesight, relying on sound, at least to some degree. Your only defence here is to flee into the light, which sears the flesh clean off this surprisingly agile ,mutated cannibal.
Grace can use bottles and other random objects to lure threats away with noise, but I did find some sneaky handgun bullets beneath a cupboard at one point — but alas, no gun. I also found an "empty" ink ribbon; are we returning to finite save files again? That would certainly be interesting in 2025. Or will they serve some other purpose? Time will tell, surely.
I didn't have much time to ponder the ink ribbon, though, as the lights failed, and the entity crawled out of a hole in the ceiling and gave chase once again.
Scrambling to escape into a fully lit hall with Grace mere inches away from freedom, the demo ended with a tantalizing note from Capcom: "This is merely the overture to our darkest symphony."
Capcom's darkest symphony
Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, 2026, assuming there are no delays, and even this brief glimpse into Capcom's new nightmare has my synapses on edge, wracked with questions. Where exactly is Grace? Who strung her up like a blood bag and left her to rot? What is the thing chasing you? What are the scientists infected with? Is the T-Virus back? Why is the monster photosensitive? How does Requiem tie into Resident Evil Outbreak, given that Grace is the daughter of the aforementioned game's protagonist?
Capcom says that Requiem is its "darkest symphony." I felt like the obscuring technical gloom and twisted setting gave that note a double meaning. Grace's vulnerability comes through strong, with top-grade digital acting and photorealism, and despite the mutant horrors that lurk in Resident Evil, the big evils tend to embody amoral, humanity-eschewing corporate interests.
Grace is investigating her mother's murder, though, hinting at a more personal horror story that might hit closer to home than some of Resident Evil's sci-fi predecessors.
All of the big questions will be answered early next year, when Resident Evil Requiem finally drops on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.
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