Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has a new demo making the rounds (not the video above), and it confirms what we've been suspecting for months. The new entry in the Zombie-Survival-Horror franchise is basically Outlast in AAA clothing with "Resident Evil" slapped on the cover.
Sure, it may seem like a broad comparison, but the similarities are hard to ignore, from its down-to-Earth, yet sinister setting, lack of emphasis on combat and legions of backwards wackadoos chasing you around claustrophobic locations while you run and hide. RE7's Ethan isn't exactly a silent protagonist, but I'd submit that Miles Upshur (Outlast's protagonist) simply didn't have a lot to say, and, while you clearly can shoot and otherwise attack your enemies in Resident Evil 7, it doesn't seem to do much, making the run-and-hide approach much more viable.
The footage we've seen so far clearly has several influences, not the least of which is popular horror franchises such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But whether or not you agree with a 1:1 comparison with Outlast in concept and gameplay, though, you can't argue that what we've seen from RE7 isn't directly influenced by the style of horror offered by indie games.
But, the important issue here is whether or not this is a bad thing. After all, what's wrong with an Outlast that has more money in the bank? This would allow the game to have more polish, a longer runtime and more expensive acting talent behind each character, all-in-all making the game a better experience for the consumer.
All that being said, you'll probably notice that, on a list of your favorite survival horror games, few if any can be characterized as AAA. Why is that? Well, rather than spending the budget solely on the aforementioned qualities, studios are pressed to make that budget immediately noticeable, make the gamers actually see the AAA qualities. And this beyond improving the graphics quality.
Instead, you'll have bigger set pieces, bigger baddies and more explosive conclusions. What all this lacks is what indie horror games have done so well, and represents a secret that indie developers have known along – subtlety. Subtley makes horror, and a AAA budget often demands a lack of subtlety. Even the wildly successful and absolutely terrifying Alien: Isolation had the occasional unsubtle excursion, such as the level that charges you to walk out of the space station onto a huge catwalk with a great view of outer space only to press a button and come right back (pictured above).
Related: Outlast 2 Demo Goes Where No Horror Game Has Gone Before
Let's also remember that the quality of Resident Evil games has gone down as their budgets have gone up. But a AAA budget doesn't necessarily mean a game has to make AAA mistakes. They just often do. There's no reason a well-polished version of Outlast couldn't be good, it just might not be.
Of course, the flip side of this whole argument is whether or not it's OK for a game to make such a drastic shift. Will this really feel like a Resident Evil game? Perhaps not, but what does a Resident Evil game feel like, exactly? Even just looking at the main canon, the series from RE1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Revelations, 6, and Revelations 2 has gone through a dramatic shift in gameplay as time went on, and it wasn't for the better.
In short, it could be, but it doesn't have to, and it will take a true attention to detail and admiration for what makes horror great to achieve equally great results.
