If you have followed this series for years, Resident Evil: Requiem is the big one people have been waiting for. It is the ninth main game from Capcom, scheduled to launch on February 27, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. Early reviews landing today in the US paint a clear picture of a confident, ambitious horror game that still carries a few rough edges.
What Resident Evil: Requiem Is Bringing To The Series
Requiem splits its story between two leads. New FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft handles the pure survival horror side, while returning fan favorite Leon S. Kennedy brings the heavy action. Gameplay shifts between their chapters, and the camera shifts with them, sliding from first-person tension to third-person firefights.
The plot sends Grace to investigate a string of deaths tied to the condemned Wrenwood Hotel and the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center, locations reviewers are already calling some of the most unnerving spaces the series has seen in years. Leon’s path pulls him back toward the legacy of Raccoon City and long-buried survivors, tying this story to events fans have known since the PlayStation era without completely shutting out new players.
One new idea that critics keep highlighting is the enemy’s behavior. Zombies in Requiem retain flashes of their past lives: a surgeon still clutching tools, a security guard that seems more focused on turning out lights than clawing at you. That twist gives encounters a strange sadness and forces you to read each room more closely instead of treating every enemy as the same target.
Why Grace’s Story Delivers The Strongest Survival Horror Moments
From early hands-on reports, Grace’s sections are where Requiem hits hardest. Reviewers describe creeping through Rhodes Hill with only a lighter and scarce ammo while a single relentless creature stalks you through corridors, ceilings, and even hidden spaces.
Sound design and lighting seem to do a lot of work here: distant footsteps, doors breathing open, and dim, murky rooms that force you to choose between seeing clearly and staying unseen.
This side of the game leans into slower, puzzle-heavy exploration that calls back to earlier entries and to modern first-person horror in titles like Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village.
You manage limited tools, sneak past patrols, and treat every save point as a small relief instead of a routine stop. Several US outlets have singled out the opening hours as some of the series best work in the last decade, with one writer calling the first major level the best since the original trilogy.
Where The Action Shifts Gear
Leon’s half of the game flips the tone. Here, reviews talk about set pieces full of explosives, crowded streets, and old enemies returning for big showdowns. Gunplay draws from the over-the-shoulder style of Resident Evil 4, with melee counters and quick weapon swaps keeping fights fast.
The reaction to this side is a little more mixed. On one hand, critics say the action feels great to play, and offers needed bursts of release after hours of creeping around as Grace. On the other hand, several reviews argue that the back half leans too hard into nostalgia and fan service, piling on returning faces and wild story turns until the plot starts to feel scattered.
If you loved the louder moments in past entries, this may sound like a plus. If you prefer the slow burn, expect to miss Grace any time the game keeps you away from her for too long.
How Resident Evil Requiem Runs On PS5, Xbox, PC And Switch 2
Requiem runs on the RE Engine and was built for current-generation hardware from day one, which shows in both visuals and performance. On PC, early tests report very strong frame rates even on mid-range GPUs, with room to push higher settings and still stay smooth.
On Nintendo Switch 2, reviews note clear visual cuts and rougher hair rendering, but also emphasize that the core experience stays tense and responsive in both handheld and docked play thanks to smart use of upscaling and a 60 FPS target.
On the scoring side, aggregates sit in the high eighties to low nineties across platforms, with nearly all critics recommending it. One major outlet finished their first playthrough in just under eleven hours, with extra modes and unlockable content encouraging repeat runs, which lines up with how recent mainline entries have been structured.
So who is Requiem for right now, before launch day even hits the US? If you enjoy the series because it can still genuinely unsettle you, Grace’s story and the new take on zombies look worth the price alone. If you are here for stylish combat, Leon’s chapters seem ready to scratch that itch, even if the story around him gets noisy.
And if you are a lapsed fan wondering whether this is a safe place to jump back in, the early consensus is that Requiem feels like a deliberate anniversary project that tries to honor thirty years of history without locking out newcomers.
If you are deciding whether to preorder, the short version based on today’s US coverage is simple: expect top-tier production, excellent horror design in the first half, a fun but messy action run in the second, and a package that most reviewers still call one of the strongest entries the series has seen in years.
