E3 2016: Resident Evil 7 debuts RE Engine, first-person gameplay and full VR support

The next Resident Evil game marks several big development shake-ups for Capcom’s storied zombie-horror franchise.

Unveiled on-stage during Sony’s E3 press conference, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was shown as adopting a first-person perspective, a first for the numbered entries in the traditionally third-person series.

Aligning with this design decision, Capcom confirmed that the whole of the game will be playable in VR, with PlayStation VR support currently confirmed – although the title is also headed to PC and Xbox One.

Resident Evil 7 is built on Capcom’s new RE Engine, which was shown boasting photorealistic graphics reminiscent of last year’s PT, the ‘playable teaser’ for the subsequently cancelled Silent Hills game from Konami.

Drawing further comparisons with PT was the announcement that a playable section, Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour, was available immediately for PlayStation Plus subscribers on PS4.

The RE Engine was described as being ‘VR-orientated’, with Resident Evil 7 linking directly to both Resident Evil 6 and the ‘Kitchen’ PlayStation VR tech demo.