Resident Evil Village (PSVR 2) Mini Review - An Already Scary Game, Even Scarier

Resident Evil Village was very well received when it was released back in 2021, with players seemingly preferring it to its previous release, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. 

Now that the PSVR 2 is here and readily available, Capcom has decided to take the same route they did with Resident Evil 7 - adding a free VR update, and boy, is it scary. 

For those looking to jump into the VR version of Village, you will be happy to know that the game itself remains unchanged. It possesses the same story elements and the same intense combat segments - all in first-person VR goodness. 

It does change up some mechanics to make it more accessible and immersive in VR such as no longer having interactive menus, but instead, all items (weapons and all) will be placed on your person, allowing you to simply pick certain items either from inside your jacket or from your waist. For example, you will find your handgun and ammo attached to your side, making switching between weapons fast and easy. The game map can also be pulled out and opened to look at, making it feel much more realistic. 

Now, I must say that the difficulty in VR does appear to be ramped up, and this is because the game is very realistic with your guns, meaning you need to reload them just as you would a real gun. You're required to load each shell into the shotgun and pull the slide to load it, the handgun requires you to grab a new magazine from your satchel, load it into the chamber and then pull it back. It's amazing attention to detail, but in a game where time is of the essence, this usually made me end up dying more times than not.

Fortunately, though, there are a few assist options that can make this experience easier for you - should you want to use them. You can turn off the reload mechanic on the guns so that it's a lot quicker and smoother. You can also change the camera settings to either a 30-degree snap-turn feature or a normal free-moving camera. 

It's worth pointing out that Resident Evil Village is not a VR game for players who suffer from motion sickness, as it is pretty fast-paced, and with no way to change your movement options in terms of being able to teleport to points instead of walking, it can be a lot to handle.