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This Resident Evil Requiem preview reveals two contrasting approaches to survival horror: Leon S. Kennedy’s fast-paced combat and Grace Ashcroft’s tense, methodical exploration. A hands-on session set in a medical facility draws on familiar elements from earlier games while introducing a new crafting system and story developments that remain under wraps.
Resident Evil Requiem Preview: Leon’s Combat
Leon arrives at a therapeutic care medical facility in a custom Porsche and soon faces a zombie outbreak inside its maze-like halls. Older than in his earlier appearances, he still handles danger with practiced confidence. His section moves quickly, emphasizing weapons, mobility, and direct confrontation rather than careful searching for every supply.
A chainsaw encounter captures the physical, chaotic feel of the combat. After dodging an attacker and shooting it, the chainsaw drops and spins across the floor, injuring nearby zombies. Leon can take damage from it as well, so even a powerful weapon calls for caution. Once he picks it up, the chainsaw can cut through enemies until its fuel runs out.
Two Protagonists, Two Styles of Horror
The preview included about an hour playing as Leon and two hours as Grace. Leon’s sections offer a sense of control and momentum, while Grace’s gameplay shifts toward exploration, limited resources, and tension. The contrast helps each character’s chapter feel distinct rather than simply repeating the same approach to combat.
Leon’s movement feels brisk, and he dispatches threats with firearms and close-range attacks, including a roundhouse kick. During the preview, he faces groups of zombies as well as a larger, pus-covered creature moving through narrow attic passages. His confidence makes these encounters feel very different from the more vulnerable stretches that follow.
Grace’s journey through the same facility evokes the puzzle-solving and locked-door structure associated with the Raccoon City Police Station in Resident Evil 2. Progress involves searching for items such as jewels, security bracelets, and cast-iron keys, then using clues from poems and photographs to work out how to move forward. The unusual building layout also encourages players to look carefully around each area before leaving it.
First-Person Exploration and Blood Synthesis
Grace’s section is played from a first-person perspective in the preview, bringing the close-up atmosphere of Resident Evil 7 to the experience. In one disturbing sequence, she moves through a kitchen where a large, rotten man is chopping meat. Checking adjoining rooms and corridors for danger is essential, especially when ammunition and other supplies are scarce.
A new feature called blood synthesis gives players another reason to consider their approach to enemies. Grace can collect zombie blood in an upgradable tube and combine it with materials such as ammunition and herbs to make items, including healing vaccines and powerful bullets. The system may make it worthwhile to assess whether passing an enemy is really the best option, since its blood could be useful later.
Grace can also craft an inhibitor and use it on unaware zombies to stop them from transforming into larger, more dangerous growths after being brought down. This adds a tactical choice to encounters: managing threats can involve more than simply using bullets or avoiding a fight.
What the Preview Suggests
The story includes unexpected turns, but the preview leaves their details undisclosed. Its early sections combine familiar series elements with new mechanics, while switching between Leon’s action-focused gameplay and Grace’s survival-oriented exploration. How well that balance holds across the full game remains to be seen.
Overall, this Resident Evil Requiem preview points to a game built around sharply contrasting kinds of tension. Leon brings speed and firepower, while Grace’s chapters reward careful exploration and resource management. Players can look for those differences in the combat, puzzle-solving, and crafting systems as more of the game is revealed.
Alex Van Aken contributed to this article.
