Resident Evil Requiem Review

As the Resident Evil series celebrates its 30th anniversary, it makes sense that the latest title would call back to every main entry. Since its start in a macabre mansion in 1996, the series has seen demonic dogs, menacing mutants, creepy cults, breakable boulders, hellish hillbillies, voluptuous vampires, and more. Resident Evil Requiem writes a blood-stained love letter to the history of the long-running survival horror series while also moving the franchise forward. It’s no easy task.

Perhaps nothing indicates this duality better than Requiem’s two protagonists. The game brings back fan favorite reluctant hero Leon S. Kennedy, who appears in some of the series’ best entries. But it also creates a jumping-on point for new players with Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Outbreak’s Alyssa, but a series newbie nonetheless.

Game Name: Resident Evil Requiem
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Reviewed On: PlayStation 5
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: February 27th, 2026
Price: $69.99

These two protagonists also facilitate the gameplay duality at the heart of Requiem. Resident Evil is a series known for tense survival horror and cheesy, over-the-top action. Typically, these exist in separate entries. But in paying homage to all things Resident Evil, the ninth entry includes both sides of this creepy coin.

Let’s Do The Zombie Apocalypse Again

Resident Evil Requiem has a standard franchise story of “someone wants to unleash the zombie apocalypse, and it’s up to our heroes to stop it.” In this case, the villain of the week is Dr. Victor Gideon, a former Umbrella Corporation researcher developing T-Virus mutations. Gideon seeks a lost Umbrella project called Elpis, believing Grace holds the key to finding it.

The resulting narrative leaves players in the dark for a while. I wasn’t always sure how many viruses there were, who wanted them, or for what nefarious purpose. But this didn’t really bother me. For one, Requiem keeps its cards close, dropping big revelations late in the game and even rewarding players who pay attention. Until then, the plot exists to put our protagonists in all kinds of perilous positions. In its moment-to-moment scenarios, Requiem does a great job of setting up the stakes and letting the tension rise as chaos unfolds.

For starters, just about every Resident Evil game begins with a strong opening. And Requiem is no exception. It kicks off with a mundane day at the office for FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. It’s a little bit of a slow burn at first. But the stakes ratchet up as she investigates a strange murder at a hotel, which kicks off a chain reaction. Before the day is done, another zombie outbreak has begun.

Enter Leon S. Kennedy. Players take control of Leon in a Chicago-like Midwestern city as a potential zombie apocalypse unfolds before his eyes. Civilians run by, cars crash into each other, and Leon plows through. He takes out the undead before they overrun the city. It’s not open-world, but it’s a solid showcase of what new tech can do.

Analyzing Survival Horror as Grace Ashcroft

So how differently do our two protagonists play? Grace’s sections are pure survival horror, through and through. In the game’s first substantial stretch, players have to conserve resources as they navigate the Rhodes Hill Care Center, a large location reminiscent of the first game’s Spencer Mansion. Grace does become better equipped over time, but that’s just by nature of learning the game’s systems. For example, you can use zombie blood to craft resources. How do you make bullets out of blood? No idea. But by the grace of, uh, Grace, it’s possible. And so, this mechanic adds a strategic layer of deciding what to build from your blood bank.

You Have My Chainsaw. And Requiem Revolver. And Leon’s Axe!

You can then give your brain a break with the mindless mayhem of Leon’s segments, as you revel in the gleeful carnage. If Grace barely has two bullets to rub together, Leon has a Costco-worth of weaponry and a big attaché case to contain it all. At a certain point, recurring crates grant new weapons and upgrades for racking up kills. While Grace’s sections reward conserving resources, Leon’s encourage players to go all-out. Taking down a bullet sponge feels economical when you know you can then soak up a whole new gun.

And while Leon has access to a gaggle of guns, his biggest combat upgrade comes courtesy of an axe. Unlike Resident Evil 4’s breakable knife, Leon’s axe in Requiem just needs to get sharpened for reuse. You can do that anytime, no merchant needed. It makes melee combat more viable, especially for parrying. It’s one aspect of Requiem that spoils you, as it’s so useful that it’s hard to imagine going back to an axe-less Leon. I don’t know how Leon parries the gigantic limbs of Requiem’s many nostalgia-driven boss battles, but I’ve learned not to question these things.

And that’s far from the only new weapon that Requiem gives Leon. At long last, Leon can use enemies’ chainsaws against them. These don’t come into play often, but I understand why. Taking an enemy’s chainsaw, even though it eventually runs out of gas, firmly turns zombie encounters into cavalcades of corpse-carving carnage. Otherwise, Leon can frequently snatch other weapons from these semi-sentient beings to wield against them.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention the Requiem gun. Essentially, it’s a rocket launcher cosplaying as a revolver. Ammo for it proves scarce, but both Leon and Grace have access to this show-stopping weapon almost immediately. It’s the Uno Reverse card of the game, instantly turning the tables on any encounter.

Half Horror, Half High-Octane Hijinks

Resident Evil Requiem also knows that if you’re going to make a meal of mashing up monsters, you might as well add some cheese. The people wanted more one-liners from Leon, and Capcom delivered. There’s also one gloriously cheesy section unabashedly ripped from the animated film Resident Evil: Vendetta. And I’ll give the points to Requiem for making it a thrilling and hilarious blast to play. Nick Apostolides gives his best performance as Leon yet, balancing wit and weariness for the wizened wisecracker.

And much of the horror in Requiem comes courtesy not from the scares themselves but from how Grace reacts to them. As a Leon fan, I found myself surprised by how much Grace won me over. The FBI analyst is constantly fighting back fear. Her hands shake, she pours sweat, and she probably takes her coffee with Xanax. She’s a mess, but this makes you both fear for her and root for her to succeed. Angela Sant’Albano absolutely deserves game award nominations for a performance that sells Grace’s fear without feeling overdramatic. On a side note, the whole cast understands the assignment. As Victor Gideon, Antony Byrne gives the doctor’s voice a fittingly sinister Peter Lorre-like inflection.

For the most part, Requiem effortlessly navigates how the most harrowing day of Grace’s life is just Leon’s Tuesday. It simply keeps them apart for most of the game. Still, it’s fun to see these two inverse personalities interact, albeit with some tonal whiplash. One surprisingly bleak moment, even by Resident Evil standards, goes down rough when followed by a campy segment. But underneath the morbid and the manic, Requiem still manages to impart a meaningful tale of two vastly different people trying to make the world a little safer.

Resident Evil Requiem and Its Relatives

While I don’t always love to compare games to their predecessors, Requiem draws so heavily from other Resident Evil titles that it’s hard to avoid. The latest game has the classic map layouts of Resident Evil 1, the setting and plot structure of 2, the quips and cheesiness of 4, and the scares of 7. That’s just to name a few highlights. It contains Easter Eggs and references to just about every mainline Resident Evil game.

Not to throw Resident Evil 5 and 6 to the zombified dogs (those titles have their fans), but Requiem does share their bloat and repetitiveness in its middle section, albeit mitigated by its weapon variety. It also shares their drab color palette of browns and grays. Much of the game takes place in various underground facilities. At a certain point, you have to wonder, did Umbrella even realize how many labs they built under Raccoon City? But hey, Requiem also has Leon’s version of “Chris punching a boulder,” for what it’s worth.

That said, if Requiem pays homage to one title in particular, it’s Resident Evil 2. The game returns to Raccoon City figuratively and literally. It follows a similar mansion-facility-laboratory three-act structure, taking us to the ruins of the city. It’s not as tightly paced as 2 along Requiem’s roughly 10-to-12-hour runtime. But it sometimes manages to outshine its predecessor in sheer spectacle and ease of gameplay. A perfect example is Requiem‘s answer to 2‘s sewer puzzle. It similarly involves unlocking doors in certain orders, but it’s more intuitive and adds tension through keeping a monster at bay.

Play Resident Evil Requiem Your Way

Resident Evil Requiem offers the choice of first-person or third-person perspectives for both Grace and Leon. The default is first-person for Grace and third-person for Leon. The first-person camera amplifies scares while the third-person gives a panoramic view of surrounding action.

That said, Capcom took care to ensure that the alternative doesn’t feel like an afterthought. In third-person, Grace has unique animations for when things go bump in the night. These create an experience akin to going through a haunted house attraction with a jumpy friend. A few times, I got startled just because Grace got startled. For Leon’s first-person camera, as someone who can’t resist roundhouse kicking zombies in the face, I found that perspective switch a little jarring. But if you prefer to just go in shooting, you may find it a better way to play.

And the camera is hardly the only option you can adjust. Resident Evil Requiem boasts many customization settings. It even has four accessibility presets for visual, auditory, motion sickness, and physical adjustments. Players may fine-tune options as well. With the differences between cameras and settings, along with a generous New Game+ mode, Requiem invites subsequent playthroughs.

Despite its scary and cheesy zombie-fighting nature, Resident Evil Requiem ultimately tells a human story about regret, legacy, and hope. I’m fairly certain Capcom will keep making Resident Evil games until the actual apocalypse happens. But if Requiem was the final game, it would actually make a fitting franchise send-off. As Leon might say, now that’s a requiem.

And if you want to know more about our Resident Evil Requiem review, be sure to check out our Resident Evil Requiem Spoiler-free Discussion.

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Review Disclosure Statement: Resident Evil Requiem was provided to us by Capcom for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.