“Resident Evil” is synonymous with the survival-horror genre, but it seemed to have lost its way in favor of more action-oriented gameplay. “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” takes the series back to its roots while also bringing it into a new age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YetHMnhnhM

The biggest change in “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” compared to previous games is that the entire game is played in first person. Aside from making the game much more immersive it also makes it much scarier because your perspective is limited.

The sound design compliments the first person camera very well, so playing with headphones is highly recommended. The creaks of an old house, the snarling of monstrous enemies, loading shells into a worn shotgun, it all adds to the superb atmosphere of the game.

The story follows Ethan Winters who goes to a remote plantation in Louisiana to search of his wife, Mia, who has been missing for three years. Although the story has supernatural elements in the beginning, most of it pretty grounded compared to past “Resident Evil” games.

There are twists that are more in line with the goofy, B-movie moments of previous games, but it subverts expectations that a longtime fan would have.

There’s plenty of combat in the game, but also a good amount of exploration and puzzles. One thing that was missing from recent “Resident Evil” games was a reason to explore the environments of the game aside from scrounging for health items and ammo. This game has a variety of items that are completely optional pickups and they can do things like repair broken weapons and unlock upgrades.

“Resident Evil 7: Biohazard: Gold Edition” comes with all the downloadable content that was released for the game. The banned footage tapes are hit and miss but the “Daughters” chapter is really tense and shows some interesting backstory for the main game.

The “Not a Hero” story follows Chris Redfield. While the focus on combat is fun but lacks exploration and the scary moments are disappointing.

“End of Zoe” features the main villain’s brother, Joe Baker, as he punches his way through the epilogue of the main game. “End of Zoe” is ridiculous, but it’s also the most fun of all the content added to the game. Executing hand-to-hand combos on the same enemies from the main game was a blast and the story wraps up the entire “Resident Evil 7” saga in a satisfying way.

“Resident Evil 7” is a finely crafted experience with only minor flaws. The low points mainly come from the downloadable content but that’s all gravy on top of a really solid base game. It’s a game that’s as fun and interesting as it is terrifying and offers many reasons to go back and play more and for that it gets five stars.

[Final Score 5/5]

Ulises Duenas can be reached at [email protected] or @OrionUlisesD on Twitter.