Let's get this part out of the way: at its core, Village is a perfectly competent little game. It's perhaps a bit too short for its own good, but at least it's not bloated, doesn't outstay its welcome, and there's enough reasonably competent action, exploration, and scares (if you're into that) to entertain you for a couple days. Unfortunately...
Look, it's not like previous Resident Evil titles haven't been stupid before, okay? I like some of the ones that are! But unfortunately, a lot of the time, a game's stupidity was inversely proportional to attempts to get me emotionally invested, and this time? The entire plot repeatedly hinges on major characters doing really stupid things for no good reason. Or on weird biological stuff so ridiculous that it makes me want to apologize to the virus in 6 that could somehow ignore the conservation of mass. And I like weird biological stuff!
It doesn't help that the entire first act of the game carefully lays out and develops a bunch of characters who're then slaughtered en-masse for no apparent reason, in universe or out, and are then basically forgotten by both the story and the other characters.
The game's roughly divided into four major dungeons, divided by a small overworld. The player is tasked with hitting each of them up in sequence, fighting, sneaking, and puzzling their way through a gauntlet of traps and enemies, before winning a boss fight at the end. A fun twist is that each of them plays very differently, with the first being a stealth-themed dungeon full of mini-bosses that're invincible until they're confronted in a place the player can turn the tables, the second a horror-themed, weapons-free adventure game, the third one long boss fight on a soupy lake, and the fourth an industrial-themed action shootout.
Unfortunately, the first dungeon is by far the most intricate and interesting, with the second and third basically glorified boss fights and the fourth both kind of dull and full of annoying enemies. It also has the worst mid-boss in the game and ends with the stupidest moment in a story full of stupid moments is there suddenly being a battle tank for no good reason at the end.
From there, it's just a long, military shooter section ending in a truly obnoxious minigame where you have to train a laser on a target as swarms of enemies try to interrupt you with no partial credit for partial completion, then do it again on a boss who's trying to kill you, and a slog to the bullet-sponge-y final boss.
There is some side stuff to do, and some of it gives you neat things, but it can't quite cover over the hollowness of the overall experience. Again, I don't wanna say it's a bad game... but it's definitely mediocre and I can see why many were disappointed.
Also, why does everyone in Europe speak English with American accents anyway? And why is one of them clearly doing a Nicholas Cage impersonation? Where is this game taking place again? Is this how British people feel every time they watch an American movie where people aren't affecting exactly the right accent?
VideoGame Competent, Short, Stupid, and Unfortunately Front-Loaded
Let's get this part out of the way: at its core, Village is a perfectly competent little game. It's perhaps a bit too short for its own good, but at least it's not bloated, doesn't outstay its welcome, and there's enough reasonably competent action, exploration, and scares (if you're into that) to entertain you for a couple days. Unfortunately...
Look, it's not like previous Resident Evil titles haven't been stupid before, okay? I like some of the ones that are! But unfortunately, a lot of the time, a game's stupidity was inversely proportional to attempts to get me emotionally invested, and this time? The entire plot repeatedly hinges on major characters doing really stupid things for no good reason. Or on weird biological stuff so ridiculous that it makes me want to apologize to the virus in 6 that could somehow ignore the conservation of mass. And I like weird biological stuff!
It doesn't help that the entire first act of the game carefully lays out and develops a bunch of characters who're then slaughtered en-masse for no apparent reason, in universe or out, and are then basically forgotten by both the story and the other characters.
The game's roughly divided into four major dungeons, divided by a small overworld. The player is tasked with hitting each of them up in sequence, fighting, sneaking, and puzzling their way through a gauntlet of traps and enemies, before winning a boss fight at the end. A fun twist is that each of them plays very differently, with the first being a stealth-themed dungeon full of mini-bosses that're invincible until they're confronted in a place the player can turn the tables, the second a horror-themed, weapons-free adventure game, the third one long boss fight on a soupy lake, and the fourth an industrial-themed action shootout.
Unfortunately, the first dungeon is by far the most intricate and interesting, with the second and third basically glorified boss fights and the fourth both kind of dull and full of annoying enemies. It also has the worst mid-boss in the game and ends with the stupidest moment in a story full of stupid moments is there suddenly being a battle tank for no good reason at the end.
From there, it's just a long, military shooter section ending in a truly obnoxious minigame where you have to train a laser on a target as swarms of enemies try to interrupt you with no partial credit for partial completion, then do it again on a boss who's trying to kill you, and a slog to the bullet-sponge-y final boss.
There is some side stuff to do, and some of it gives you neat things, but it can't quite cover over the hollowness of the overall experience. Again, I don't wanna say it's a bad game... but it's definitely mediocre and I can see why many were disappointed.
Also, why does everyone in Europe speak English with American accents anyway? And why is one of them clearly doing a Nicholas Cage impersonation? Where is this game taking place again? Is this how British people feel every time they watch an American movie where people aren't affecting exactly the right accent?