Resident Evil: Requiem was finally announced just last week at Summer Game Fest, with a trailer introducing a new protagonist. But what we didn’t see in that trailer is a new(ish) feature coming to Resident Evil: Requiem: we’ll be able to play the game in either first- or third-person.
We saw this feature in action oh-so-briefly during a behind-closed-doors presentation at Play Days over the weekend. While the vast majority of the gameplay we saw was in first-person, at the very end, we saw a pause menu open with the option to toggle between the two.
This is a big deal for the series, which has had games in both first- and third-person before (as well as third-person fixed camera), but has only allowed players to choose which option they preferred once, as a part of the DLC for Resident Evil: Village. This should also soothe some who criticized the switch to first-person perspective that took place with Resident Evil 7.
The rest of the gameplay we saw at the showcase was very, very familiar Resident Evil. We got to watch the new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, pick up where the reveal trailer left off — strapped to a gurney in an old, decrepit hospital. We watched her escape and slowly explore the abandoned building, finding Resident Evil staple items like a lighter, a screwdriver, and a fuse that helped her progress, and eventually running into a few messed-up looking creatures that chased her around as she tried to escape.
What we didn’t see was any sign of Leon S. Kennedy, who fans suspect is the actual protagonist of Resident Evil: Requiem. We’ll have to wait for Capcom to reveal more to see if and how Leon surfaces.
You can read all about our experience with Resident Evil Requiem in both camera modes in our hands-on preview right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].