Resident Evil Village review round-up: A worthy successor to Resident Evil 7?

Resident Evil Village is arriving later this week, but the reviews have landed today. Expectations are high for Resident Evil Village following Resident Evil 7, which was widely regarded as a solid entry and something of a return to form for the series. Judging from the reviews that have landed so far, it seems those expectations might just be met as well.

If we take a look at the Metacritic listing for the PlayStation 5 version of the game – which has 65 reviews at the time of this writing, the most of any platform by far – we see that Resident Evil Village has a score of 84 out of 100. That's obviously a very good score and with 58 reviews already counted, it's unlikely to change too dramatically in the days to come, though it could shift by a few points in either direction.

By and large, it seems that many reviews are saying that Resident Evil Village successfully builds on the foundation laid down in Resident Evil 7. In fact, there are several reviews that describe Resident Evil Village as a good blend of Resident Evil 4, which was a more action-packed entry in the series, and the survival horror gameplay found in Resident Evil 7.

Indeed, if you're looking for scares, you'll probably find them here. There are a number of reviews that praise the horror elements of the game, and looking through them, it seems that the creepy, tense atmosphere is one of the game's strongest points.

Of course, a good Metacritic score doesn't mean there aren't some negatives about game. Some of the more middling reviews seem to take issue with the story, so if you're interested in Resident Evil Village for the story more than the action or the horror, you might want temper your expectations a bit.

There's a decent amount of division among the reviews, with many rating the game well and saying it's a good follow up to Resident Evil 7, and some others saying that the game fumbles to live up to its predecessor. It seems that many more reviews are positive than they are cool to the game, but if you're planning to pick up Resident Evil Village on Friday, you might want to prepare for the possibility that it may not be a slam dunk for everyone.