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Coming off of beating Resident Evil 7, which you can read my review for here, I hopped into Resident Evil 8 with some knowledge of the story, since I did also try playing this some years ago as well. Now I have beaten it, three times now actually, and I am ready for a Resident Evil 8 review. Let’s get to it.
Story
Ethan, Mia and their baby daughter Rose have moved to Europe at Chris’ request. What seemed to be a normal family night turned into more when Mia is shot down, Rose is taken and all by Chris and his team. Why? That’s what the whole game is about. Ethan, after being taken with his daughter, gets into a wreck and he stumbles his way up to the Village. This is the main location of the entire game and all roads lead back to it.
Along the way, we learn that Rose has special powers. What powers? Why? Well that’s something the story doesn’t really give away, but it made for a very interesting string of events and I liked it much better than Resident Evil 7, to be honest about it.
I don’t wish to spoil the story, as there’s plenty to see and the ending is something else. However, I will say it is a great experience and worth seeing twice.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to that of Resident Evil 7 but with an upgrade. We swap the indecisive genres for mostly action and it paid off. Seeing Ethan get so angry and being able to pull out a shotgun with plenty of ammo to blast your enemies to bits is way more exciting than before. Granted, I’m not saying survival horror isn’t fun, because it absolutely is, but it fits the narrative here way better to be all in on him kicking butt. We keep the classic Resident Evil puzzles and keys that we acquire throughout the story.
Then you have Ethan’s inventory, that felt a lot like Leon’s. Expansive, able to hold a lot compared to when Ethan had to survive the Baker family. Being able to do this plus buy new guns and upgrades from Duke made a big difference. It kept the gameplay fun and something to work towards. Overall, it was a step up for me and I’ll miss my time in the Village.
Graphics
I would say these are about the same as Resident Evil 7 but I much like the style they went with. Character models look cleaner and the environments look nice. I played in handheld and docked and was impressed with both. There have been no major FPS drops that I have noticed, certainly nothing that I felt slowed my game down or made me groan out loud.
Soundtrack
The game really sets the tone through the music. The game is set in Europe and although the scenery reinforces this, the soundtrack helps move that a long in Resident Evil style. Go check it out for yourself here.
Controls
I feel like the controls for Resident Evil 8 were on point. Everything worked how it should and it felt just right. It felt more natural than RE7 did, tighter and better optimized for the player.
Replayability
I found Resident Evil 8 to have higher replay value than that of Resident Evil 7 due to all the challenges and rewards you could buy with them. For example, fully upgrading a weapon and finding all the modifications for them would allow you to purchase infinite ammo for it if you had enough challenge points.
Scores
Story: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8.5/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Contdols: 9/10
Replayability: 8.5/10
Overall:
Conclusion
Resident Evil 8 took me by surprise by being everything I wish 7 had been. It improved the formula, created a bigger, more interesting play area and gave us plenty to revisit while we played. You can buy it digitally for the Switch 2 or buy the (paid link) Generation Pack physically if that is more your area. Resident Evil 8 is also available on the (paid links) Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X.
Do check out our review for Resident Evil Requiem, which is available on Steam, (paid links) Playstation 5, Xbox Series X and the Nintendo Switch 2. Stay tuned for more Resident Evil content and as always, happy gaming.
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