Resident Evil 7 official artwork

While I'm sure they still have some fans among the general populace, the last few Resident Evil games have not been very inspiring... to put it lightly. With so many failed experiments now behind them, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that Capcom has decided to take Resident Evil in a completely different direction with Resident Evil 7.

Instead of the third person perspective and tank-like controls the new Resident Evil brings with it a first person perspective and completely fluid movement. Instead of the constant focus on over the top action, Resident Evil 7 is attempting to do a more subtle, atmospheric horror experience. Rather than just list out all of the difference, allow me to instead show you the latest trailer. It should give you a pretty good idea of the new direction Resident Evil 7 is taking the series in:

 

Let's get the obvious out of the way first - this doesn't look anything like the previous Resident Evil games. If Resident Evil 7 was a followup to the amazing Resident Evil 4 I would've said Capcom lost their mind, but after seeing how mismanaged the new Resident Evil games were I can't help but think that a massive genre shift is exactly what Resident Evil needs in order to return to form.

Whether Resident Evil 7 is going to be a successful experiment or not, that I can't say, but it certainly does look interesting. In many ways it reminds me of PT, a Silent Hill game that never came to be, so there is definitely a potential for greatness in there somewhere. Here's to hoping they actually manage to do it because the world could use more character-driven horror games, or really anything other than the constant onslaught of zombies, Slendermen and zombie Slendermen.

Resident Evil 7 will be arriving on January 24th, 2017 for the PC, Xbox One an PlayStation 4.

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard screenshot of a haunted house