Capcom has explained why it decided to utilize a first-person perspective for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
Previous games in the survival horror franchise have used a traditional third-person camera, although spinoffs such as Resident Evil: Gun Survivor and Umbrella Chronicles have used a first-person viewpoint.
However, both Koushi Nakanishi and Masachika Kawata, who serve as director and producer on Resident Evil 7, respectively, feel that the first-person perspective is the ideal fit for an intimate horror experience.
Said Kawata-san: “Both myself and the director, Mr. Nakanishi, felt if we want people to experience horror and experience it in the most direct, visceral way possible, then literally putting yourself in the position of seeing what the character sees is the best way to do that and so it was our motivation for the first-person camera change.”
“Of course it’s a big change, so first we got a prototype working and we put first-person in place and we wanted to see if we could make Resident Evil work in first person. As soon as we had it up and running we were really confident that this was the way to move forward. We were really happy with the way that Resident Evil feels in first person,” added Nakanishi-san.
In the same interview, the pair also reassured gamers that Resident Evil 7 won’t be a supernatural ghost story.
Resident Evil 7 bringing the series back to its roots in early 2017, Resident Evil 2 remake now in development
Resident Evil 7 is due out on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on January 27, 2017. The game is also fully playable in PlayStation VR from start to finish, and you can read our impressions on the game’s VR experience from E3 2016 right here.
Set some years after the events of Resident Evil 6, this latest entry in the venerable horror series takes place on a remote plantation mansion somewhere in rural America. Capcom is remaining tight-lipped about much of the game’s setting and characters right now, although it has said you’ll be playing as a new character who isn’t your typical action hero.
Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour is now available to downloaded on the PlayStation Store for PS Plus subscribers, and offers something of a tonal preview of the game. However, Capcom has made it clear its contents won’t be featured in the final product.
Beyond Resident Evil 7, Capcom is working on a full remake of 1998’s Resident Evil 2, and is also releasing a PS4 version of Resident Evil 5 this week. Resident Evil 4 will receive a current-generation makeover in fall 2016.