Resident Evil 8 Village Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

4. Exploration Done Right

Proper exploration has never really been done in a Resident Evil game before. In fact, the areas have all been rather small for the most part. Even with 4, if you go back now they aren’t much more than a couple of houses and a cow or two. The closest comparison outside Resident Evil would have to be The Evil Within 2's open-world segments, but even then, Village blows it away.

A worry for survival horror diehards would be that the open nature of this game would distract from the scares, and, well, turn Resident Evil into every other Triple-A title that has exploration and crafting.

Thankfully, that isn’t the case.

Trekking through the Village is chilling at any point throughout the runtime. Not only could enemies be hiding around a corner, but they could also come from above. This is one of the most vertical games in the franchise to date, and it pays off to sweep the roofs for new Lycan/werewolf enemies, waiting to attack.

The tried and trusted map is also back, clearly showing players what locations still need to be cleared out, and if there is treasure to be found. The Duke is always up for buying anything Ethan finds, and once the light hunting mechanic is introduced, players will be constantly consulting their map.