Walking the San Diego Comic-Con floor this year, it’d be impossible not to notice the insanely intricate booth-work that companies like WETA, Alex Ross Art, Adult Swim, and Capcom (among others) have brought with them from all over the country to impress the hundreds of thousands of attendees that will walk the show floor over the next four days.
The best looking booth this year? After walking KM after KM on the convention floor (trying to see all of the slick booths and also trying to hatch some Pokémon eggs), it’s pretty clear that Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 installation is the most striking both of 2016. Seriously, this thing looks like it’s straight out of the village from Resident Evil 4, which is an exciting throwback to the last time that Resident Evil was truly terrifying.
The booth features a series of small rooms. In each dilapidated, cobweb-infested, barely lit space (again, really selling the whole ‘terrifying’ aspect) was a single chair, a television, and a Playstation 4 unit with a Playstation VR headset attached.
Inside the room, we sat down and were set to experience the Kitchen demonstration, which is a short but intense PlayStation VR demo that serves to set up events that lead up to Resident Evil 7. The Capcom representative let us know that this demo has only been shown a handful of times, and was completed about a year ago (well before Resident Evil 7 was announced) to show the level of immersion that the team would strive for with the finished product.
This was the first time that I’d ever actually put a Playstation VR headset on my head, and I was beyond surprised with just how good looking, comfortable, and easily adjustable the headset was. A single button on the back of the unit allows you to adjust how tight the headset is on your head, while a button on the front allows you to move the display closer or further away from your eyes. Seriously, this is far and away the most comfortable VR headset that I’ve had the opportunity to wear thus far.
As soon as the demo begins, another thing that shocked me is just how fluid movement is on the Playstation VR. I had just completed an HTC Vive demonstration a few hours before, which I was seriously impressed with (look for the video soon), but the virtually 1:1 tracking of the Playstation VR system absolutely blew me away, and exponentially added to the already incredible immersion that VR brings to the table.
The demo is fairly short, but definitely had me jump (and Shane scream) more than a couple of times throughout its duration. Kitchen fades in from black, and has you looking around a disgusting kitchen (obviously) setting, hands and feet tied to a chair, with seemingly no knowledge of how you got there or what is happening. Turning and moving the Dualshock 4 controller will turn and stretch your wrists in an eerily-lifelike manner, and after a moment you’ll notice an unconscious body on the floor. Get his attention, and he’ll wake up and try to help you… and that’s when shit hits the fan.
I had a blast experiencing Kitchen. It was immersive as hell, but not great looking, and not the most interactive demo that I’ve experienced even today. Jaggies were prominent (though the framerate seemed very smooth), textures seemed fairly muddy (though we’re not sure if this is from the VR headset, or because of this being an older demo), and you only really need to complete one or two actions, and for the rest of the demonstration you’re just along for the (scary) ride.
The Resident Evil 7 booth is a must-visit, and you can head to the booth (#215) as soon as the floor opens in order to get your free ticket to experience the event. Tickets are limited, so you’ll want to get there fast.
Overall, Kitchen made me really excited for the Resident Evil 7 VR experience, and really excited for a Resident Evil game for the first time in a long time.
Resident Evil 7 hits Windows, PS4, and Xbox One on January 27th, and I can’t wait to check it out.
Shane’s Thoughts
The thing I noticed first about the RE7 demo was how much I liked the Playstation VR headset.
It stretched out easily to fit my rather large head, and the lenses were the easiest to focus: VR and I haven’t really gotten along, and a lot of it looks really grainy and pixelated. From what I’ve been able to gather, it’s because of my 20/10 vision not working well with focal points/lenses designed for 20/20 vision and below with corrective lenses. It’s always been a chore to find the right focus for any of the VR experiences I’ve been able to check out. The Samsung Gear is my least favorite, as the lenses top out at an incredibly short distance.
The Playstation VR headset had an incredible range of focus with the lenses, and the rubber shroud around the goggle portion cut out any and all light coming from the inside.
Once in the demo, I instantly noticed how quickly everything moved. The refresh rate felt very high, and the tracking didn’t have any of the normal “lag” I was used to with things like Oculus and Vive.
The demo itself was very instense. As I was stuck in the chair, I was trying to move around and get a better look at the kitchen. I accidentally knocked over the camera that was filming the player, and it spooked the hell out of me.
When the “zombie” came and attacked me, I physically reacted. I cringed and leaned back as she pointed the knife in my face, and when she stabbed my leg my whole body twitched. My heart rate climbed and I was getting nervous.
The end has her coming from behind you, putting her hands over your face then leaning over and stabbing you. Seeing these bloodied fingers come around my face really disturbed me, and made me really uncomortable.
All and all I am very excited to see what Capcom is going to bring to the table with Resident Evil 7 and I can safely say this came will be amazing in VR. Just from the short demo I got to experience today, I can tell you I will be getting this VR setup.
