Resident Evil Requiem Isn’t Open-World, Is Built On Classic Resident Evil Foundations

Recent Resident Evil games have experimented with giving players more freedom, and while they weren't technically open-world games, they did offer more space to engage in both survival horror and action. Resident Evil Village is the notable example here with its interconnected hub areas, but for Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom has gone in a different direction.

Speaking to GameSpot (via a translator), game producer Masato Kumazawa confirmed that Resident Evil Requiem is not an open-world game, but it does have a different direction that the development team considers to be the best fit for it. This direction has led to a game that's heavily inspired by two of the best entries in the series, Resident Evil 2 and 4, and applies the knowledge from modern-day Resident Evil games to evolve them. Resident Evil Requiem features two protagonists--Grace Ashcroft and Leon Kennedy--and their respective gameplay leans hard into classic Resident Evil survival-horror and survival-action.

"Grace's game plays very close to Resident Evil 2, and Leon's gameplay is very close to Resident Evil 4, but when talking about the technical side of things, the portrayal of characters, environments, and things like that, they've taken basically what they learned through 7 and 8, and of course, used that here," game director Koshi Nakanishi said. "Again, the idea was basically to evolve the gameplay that was in [Resident Evil] 2 and 4. Beyond that, expression and artistic direction, a lot of the know-how from Resident 7 and 8 came into play.

Capcom is also looking to shake up the Resident Evil formula with some new ideas--like making recently infected zombies more unpredictable when you encounter them--and Leon will also get to finally wield a chainsaw after spending decades dodging them. Resident Evil Requiem launches for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S on February 27, and like other big Capcom games, it'll be available in several different editions. For more info on what each one includes, check out GameSpot's Resident Evil Requiem preorder guide.

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