If having your left hand brutally hacked away to an oozing stump wasn't horrifying enough in 2D, you're in for a blood-soaked treat with Capcom's 3D rendition of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Available on the PlayStation VR headset, Resident Evil now has the power to fill your retinas with eye-gagging gore and viscera. Your therapist will thank you for the additional hours billed after this experience, and you may want to put some newspapers down on the carpet… you know, in case the dog messes himself from your response to the jaw-dropping effects of Capcom's grisly thriller.
PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR headset was released in October of 2016 with very few playable options. Like any other virtual reality platform, the market has been inundated with experimental bits of software designed to give the consumer a taste of the potential virtual reality can offer. Most of these titles are casual time-wasters, and while they can be entertaining, few deliver an experience worth writing home about.
Enter Resident Evil 7
If you're a horror junkie, then you already know Resident Evil 7 delivers some of the most skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat horror adrenaline the franchise has ever offered. Wandering from the beaten path of its predecessors, Resident Evil 7 plays as a first-person survival strategy game where bullets are limited and enemies are relentless. Haunting, claustrophobic environments with turns and detours make the first playthrough slow and cortisol-boosting. Countless screams and jumps have been created thanks to the game's relentless pacing and horrific imagery, and so the decision to port the title to a virtual format seemed obvious to Capcom.
Control
The virtual experience is a breeze on the PlayStation VR. Using the traditional PS controller, you can easily navigate through the derelict plantation owned by the demented (read: infected) Baker family. The controls feel admittedly wonky at first, and it takes a few minutes to get used to using the motion control of the VR headset to adjust and fine-tune your aiming. Once you have this motion down, however, the controls feel as natural as they do without the headset.
For those who own the PS Move controllers, you'll have to put your trusty motion-controlled system aside and use the traditional dualshock, since Capcom's port does not support their use.
Graphics
This is where the virtual reality component offers its biggest setback. Unless you own a PS4 PRO pumping out 4k resolution images, the resolution is significantly reduced on the PSVR headset. That isn't to say that the game isn't still stunning, but it's not the same visual experience you'd get out of your standard HDTV set. The PS4 PRO adjusts this slightly, but certain aliasing effects and missing shadows still detract from the visual artistry of the game.
Overall experience
Nevertheless, the reduced resolution does not impede the game's ability to deliver bone-chilling frights with the PSVR. The experience is so immersive, it's arguably one of the best demonstrations of the platform. If you've played through Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (and we're guessing you have) then you owe it to yourself to try it on the PSVR. The experience is so different from the standard console experience that words fail to describe it.
If you loved Resident Evil 7, then you need to try the VR experience. Until you do, there's nothing that can explain just how immersive this adrenaline-fueled experience is. Be sure to load up on snacks… and maybe some clean underwear, just in case.