Kara Dennison
October 27, 2021 
Everything old is new again in the world of Resident Evil. You can play a remastered version of the first game, or jump into the action with a Resi 4 VR edition. And while we’re back on the subject of virtual reality, wouldn’t it be great to have a VR port for Village? Doesn’t it sound great? And also horrifying?
The previous installment, Biohazard, had VR support. And while critics called it “flawed” and “more a curiosity than a necessity,” it was a cool idea. With the series getting fresh takes left and right, is it too much to hope for Ethan Winters’s second outing to get the VR treatment? After all, there are moments that feel just made for that super-real experience.
Hiding from terrible things.
Certain bits of Resident Evil Village include that old survival game staple, the hiding cupboard. (That’s what I call it, anyway.) When a monster comes around, you can hunker down in there and listen to the sound of your own horrified breathing for a bit. House Beneviento is equipped with these, so you can hide from… you know. Things.
Just as VR can feel expansive, it can also feel claustrophobic. Those moments alone with your heartbeat, while you wait for a mutated horror to disappear from view, would be absolutely horrifying in a VR headset. And by “horrifying,” we mean “great.” And also “horrifying.”
Your poor, poor hands.
You’ll never see Ethan Winter’s face in Resident Evil Village — though you’ll find plenty of well-made artistic interpretations. In the latest two games’ first-person view, you’re walking around in his shoes, and using his hands. His poor, mutilated, freakish hands.
This view is just made for VR, as anyone who’s played a few games in a headset will know. And with your hands being your only consistently visible body parts, they’re also the most consistently punished. That said, we can’t decide whether we would or wouldn’t want our accuracy to be affected by Ethan’s loss of appendages. Could be fun, could be a hindrance.
Tall vampire lady.
Yes, it’s all well and good to ask for a Resident Evil Village VR port. And it’s all well and good to say it’s about gameplay, or liking horror, or whatever. We all know why. You want to actually look up — and up — at the Internet’s latest fave. You want to be in her presence, and this is as close as you’re going to get.
Well, that’s fair. And VR gamers know what a wild sense of scale these games have. So, heck, maybe it’ll be everything you dreamed of.
There are no plans so far for a Resident Evil Village VR port. But keep your fingers crossed.
