The latest entry in Capcom’s iconic survival horror series is almost upon us. Resident Evil Requiem is the next mainline title, featuring newcomer FBI agent Grace Ashcroft. A longtime fan-favorite also makes his glorious return: Leon S. Kennedy is once again playable. I was fortunate enough to get a 3-hour hands-on preview of the game, in which I played as both protagonists. They have their own unique gameplay mechanics and sensibilities, and overall I left feeling ecstatic for the full release. Resident Evil Requiem both treads familiar waters and breaks new ground. While I did experience some big story beats, this will be a spoiler-free preview.

Punching Up

I alternated between Leon and Grace twice during demo – starting out with a roughly half hour chunk of Leon gameplay, then about two hours with Grace, then back to Leon to close it out. Similar to his depiction in the remakes of Resident Evils 2 and 4, Leon is a highly trained, combat-oriented badass. He’s outfitted with a couple of handguns and a hatchet to start out with. I was blasting away at zombies and hacking limbs off in no time.

This first section emphasized a new, much more dynamic approach to combat compared to past entries. One zombie was carrying a chainsaw, which I assumed would be a stronger, harder to kill enemy based on prior similar enemies. But here, he was a regular old zombie, and by shooting his arms I was able to free the chainsaw from his grasp. But the hardware was still live, so it spun around and damaged me and the enemies simultaneously until another zombie decided to grab it. Rinse and repeat, only this time a lightbulb activated in my brain: maybe I can grab the chainsaw, too. And, dear reader, I could. And I did. And it was glorious.

The chainsaw had a durability similar to the knives in Resident Evil 4 remake, and I was quite literally mowing down anything in my path. I’d be shocked if this was a common occurrence in Requiem, but I can’t deny how amazing it felt. Melee seems like a big focus during Leon’s portions, with contextual environmental interaction and physical parrying also making their return. Once I cleared all the enemies, I used the chainsaw blocking my path to trigger a nice story beat, and my first time with Leon came to a close.

Enter the Survival Horror

Grace Ashcroft’s section of my preview is where I spent most of the session. Compared to the action-packed punch fest that was Leon’s, Grace’s portions are much more what you’d expect out of a survival horror game. She has limited inventory space (Leon’s inventory was the massive attaché case from 4), one gun, no default melee weapon, and dark and claustrophobic spaces. Imagine the early moments of Resident Evil VII: Biohazard in the Baker House, but on a much larger scale.

This opening area (at least I assume it’s the opening area) is a sprawling, mazelike hospital. But in classic Resident Evil fashion, you’ll have to explore, fight or run away from enemies, solve difficult puzzles, and back track to make it out alive. This design philosophy is on full display in Grace’s section, and it truly puts the “survival” back in survival horror. As a longtime veteran of the series, when the PR folks told me it was going to be quite challenging, I internally scoffed. And then I started playing. Playing as Grace was harder than I expected going in, and it’s all the better for it.

Changing It Up

Not only is combat more dynamic, but enemies are too. They’ll react to the environment in a much more realistic way, responding the lights, sounds and movement. In one instance, a zombie was banging on a wall and hit the light switch, plunging me into darkness. I found another light switch and flipped them on, and that enemy was not too happy with me. You can crouch and sneak around, and you will do this often with Grace, and I highly recommend it. But if you choose to break a vase or item box for some resources, rest assured that the enemies will find you, and they will try to kill you.

There’s some variety in the zombies you’ll kill as well. Naturally, there are the slow-moving classic zombies we all know. But similar to the Las Plagas from 4, some of the will mutate after death into a much faster, harder to kill monstrosity. One of the scariest new additions are what I’m calling the singing zombies, who pack quite the punch. I’ll let you experience these freaks on your own.

Talking Dead

An interesting new development with Requiem’s zombies is that they now speak. Not in the way the Ganados spoke in 4 – these are classic, basic, braindead zombies. They just retain a bit of their personalities from when they were alive. One zombie I come across was a maid and kept saying “this mess!” as she attacked me, while another, a hulking brute of a thing, was clearly a butcher. I could tell by his massive butcher knife he tried incessantly to bury in my skull, if you could believe it. He even succeeded couple times, earning me a couple game over screens. Luckily, even though I hadn’t manually saved, the autosave checkpoints are pretty generous.

During Grace’s section of my preview, I solved countless extremely well-designed puzzles that made me think outside the box. I won’t give any solutions away here, but I will say that you are able to access your files directly from the puzzle screen, which will save you a lot of time.

Another welcome returning feature are Antique Coins, introduced in Resident Evil VII. These are scattered throughout the environment and allow you to purchase permanent stat upgrades or inventory slots, but only to be used by Grace. The newest and most interesting feature, however, is the ability to swap between first- and third-person perspectives. You can do this with both Leon and Grace, but for full immersion I recommend staying in third with Leon and first with Claire. This ensures that your experience feels fresh, but also enhances the desired effect each character’s perspective proposes.

Play Your Way

I tried playing with Leon in first-person, but it was a bit cumbersome when trying to perform takedowns and get my bearings. With Grace, I played mostly in third-person as that’s what I generally prefer. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that playing in first-person was significantly more tense and terrifying. Not at all.

Crafting is also back from previous entries. You still need to collect the requisite materials like metal scraps, but now there’s a new twist: you have to collect infected blood samples from fallen enemies and other means. Only 100 pints can be held at a time (this is upgradeable), and certain crafting specs require a set amount of blood and other resources to make the desired item. You can also find blood samples that need to analyzed, which unlock more crafting recipes once done. This helps add another layer and newness to the series not previously seen.

The Big Baddie

Finally, my preview came to close with another outing with our favorite quippy one-liner king. Yes, those are back too, and they’re just as cheesy and ridiculous as you’d expect. Like the first part with Leon, this is a fairly straightforward combat-focused section. This time, I took on a challenging boss battle. I fought against a rather large, imposing enemy first encountered during Grace’s portion. Unlike Resident Evil 0 or 2 remake, you’ll switch between Grace and Leon when it serves the narrative. The jury is still out on whether we’ll get to alternate at will later on.

I was finally able to get my hands on a shotgun and plenty of ammo to spare, and the gunplay control feels amazing. It’s responsive, snappy, and what you’d expect having a highly trained agent at the helm. The boss arena was designed for me to be chased around in a sort of circle, evading the boss’s attacks as I pumped shell after shell into its grotesque body. There were plenty of resources around, like spare ammo and healing items. I never once felt overwhelmed by it, but its pattern was easy to predict. After enough damage was dealt, I emerged victorious, and my early preview with Resident Evil Requiem came to a close.

Final Thoughts

I’m beyond excited to see how the final product shakes out. As a massive fan of the franchise, I’m just happy to be here. I see how much Resident Evil Requiem is staying true to its roots while taking leaps to keep the series fresh. Luckily, it achieves both in exemplary fashion. The dual protagonist angle is nothing new to Resident Evil. But having such vastly different experiences between Leon’s and Grace’s campaigns is, like a talking zombie swinging a chainsaw, a no-brainer. I can not wait to experience the rest of what Resident Evil Requiem has in store.

Resident Evil Requiem launches February 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.