Resident Evil, for better or for worse, has always been a franchise known to dynamically reinterpret its gameplay and genre from installment-to-installment. Following its humble beginnings as a survival-horror trilogy of polygonal character models with tank controls in fixed camera angles, the fourth entry suddenly debuted an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective with arcade-like gameplay and more of an emphasis on action. This led to two more entries that leaned into the new action genre fully, and were ultimately the most divisive of the mainline series as a result.
However, the franchise made a sudden and dramatic return to its survival-horror roots with Resident Evil 7, where it also debuted a series-first first-person perspective, chiefly to incorporate VR content support. Resident Evil Village followed with the same first-person perspective as a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7, and fans have wondered since whether Resident Evil 9 will continue this trend or abandon it for third-person again now that protagonist Ethan Winters has met his supposed end. But recent news has offered a tease implying the direction the Resident Evil franchise will take next.
Resident Evil Village’s DLC Introduces a Third-Person Perspective
Yesterday’s Capcom Showcase was icing on the Summer Game Fest cake; fans have already been offered looks at some games shown during the 40-minute presser, but it also revealed some exciting details and content players can look forward to for games such as Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, Exoprimal, and Resident Evil Village. DLC has been long overdue in Resident Evil Village since it was announced last June, and it has finally been unveiled in full as the Winters’ Expansion, or through a compiled Gold Edition of Resident Evil Village.
The Winters’ Expansion introduces Chris Redfield, Karl Heisenberg, and Alcina Dimitrescu, all with their own respective mechanics and abilities to Resident Evil Village’s Mercenaries mode as Additional Orders. But the more interesting and innovative of the DLCs announced is the fact that Resident Evil Village is receiving a fully third-person mode, and a story expansion starring Ethan’s daughter, Rose, is in third-person also.
It seems as if Resident Evil Village’s third-person mode was added after requests from fans were listened to, which also may be why Shadows of Rose is in third-person as well. Some fans may be completely uninterested in this mode for Resident Evil Village if they prefer its first-person perspective, but this is ultimately a nice option for players and may give it more of a shelf-life with replayability.
It may be awkward, however, that Resident Evil 7 lacks the same third-person mode, making it the only Resident Evil title that is compulsorily first-person now. Either way, this is a huge addition to the game that demonstrates how much fans adore the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, and also implies what gameplay players can expect to see more of in the future.
Third-Person DLC Shows How Much Fans Like Third-Person in Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remakes
Resident Evil only had one installment in first-person before Resident Evil 2 remake released, which hurriedly brought the franchise back to a third-person perspective. This remake was substantial for how much it iterated on the original with modern graphical fidelity and gameplay, and it was highly favored for these visuals and mechanics.
Since then, Resident Evil 3 received its own remake, though while it looks and plays similarly, fans were upset that it lacked a lot of the original game’s content. Still, the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 have demonstrated how popular a third-person perspective is for modern Resident Evil games.
Defensive items have made a return that players could use to fend off enemy grabs, shooter-action has been modernized with controls echoing that of other action-adventure games, and survival-horror still persists with enemies that stalk the player and are incredibly durable, meaning players may not want to waste all of their ammunition on each zombie they encounter. The aforementioned benefit of Resident Evil having such dynamic entries is that there is likely an installment for any kind of player.
Many fans still appreciate Resident Evil’s most recent first-person installments, but the fact that the remake of Resident Evil 4 will return the franchise to third-person once again is also telling. Resident Evil 4 was originally over-the-shoulder, and was indeed the first Resident Evil title to implement such gameplay, so it has finally come full-circle.
Because Resident Evil changes its style of gameplay and camera perspective so often, it is difficult to say with complete certainty what direction Capcom will take it in the future. However, it is fairly clear that an emphasis toward third-person is being considered.
What This Means for Resident Evil Moving Forward
Resident Evil Village’s Shadows of Rose DLC suggests two things about the next original, mainline entry to the Resident Evil franchise. First, it was always in question whether Resident Evil 9 would indeed follow the story of Rose, set 16 years in the future from when Resident Evil Village. Otherwise, Resident Evil 9 could follow Chris’ story, which offered a cliffhanger that the franchise could pursue with him as a primary protagonist once again. Of course, the next entry could decide to forgo all existing storylines and create a new cast of characters like it did with Resident Evil 7.
But Shadows of Rose insinuates that the DLC alone will tell Rose’s story, and thus she may not star in a ninth installment after all. It is still possible that she could, but Resident Evil Village’s DLC may encapsulate everything it needs to in order to bookend the Winters’ saga. The other interesting thing to note about this DLC is that it will be in third-person.
Third-person coming to Resident Evil Village and its DLC seems to suggest that it will be available either optionally or mandatorily in the ninth installment. If this camera perspective is offered now in Resident Evil Village and not the next installment, it will likely be disappointing to fans who obviously want the option for a third-person perspective to be made available.
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition will release on October 28th, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.