Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, released by Capcom on January 24, 2017, is a deliberate reinvention of the long-running survival horror series. Instead of continuing the third-person structure associated with earlier entries, it places players in first-person view and follows Ethan Winters, an ordinary civilian searching for his missing wife, Mia. The game begins three years after Mia disappeared, when Ethan receives a seemingly impossible video message from her and travels to a plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana. There, Ethan encounters the Baker family: Jack, Marguerite, Lucas, and their daughter Zoe, while Mia is also found but violently transformed.

Capcom built the setting around claustrophobic exploration, environmental puzzles, limited supplies, and grotesque combat rather than the heavily armed action of Resident Evil 5 and 6. The Baker house and nearby Old House hide a biological threat called the Mold, a fungal organism that regenerates victims and produces monstrous forms. Ethan's investigation eventually reveals that Mia worked for a criminal organization transporting Eveline, a genetically engineered bioweapon designed to infiltrate and control families. Eveline appears as a child, but her accelerated aging and psychic influence connect the Baker tragedy to the series' established bioterrorism mythology. The Mold also explains why Jack repeatedly returns after apparently fatal encounters, turning the boss fights into a particularly persistent nightmare.

The narrative uses cassette recordings, videotapes, and scattered documents to reconstruct events and to make the Baker property feel like an investigated crime scene. Its gameplay intentionally supports this perspective: doors open slowly, enemies can be avoided, and inventory management matters because ammunition and healing items are scarce. The block button, used for guarding, lets Ethan reduce damage but does not make him invulnerable, preserving the series' vulnerability. The game also includes optional videotape sections that temporarily place the player in other characters' situations, including a doomed investigator and a trapped crew member.

On PlayStation 4, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard supports PlayStation VR, allowing the entire main campaign to be played through the headset. Capcom released the game simultaneously for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows, with later versions for Nintendo Switch through cloud streaming in Japan. The post-release expansions add significant context: Not a Hero stars Chris Redfield, while End of Zoe follows Zoe Baker after the main story. Both expansions were included in later editions, including Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition, which consolidated the campaign and downloadable story content together.