Capcom showed a bit more of Resident Evil Requiem on Thursday. The Resident Evil Showcase featured the newest game in the franchise and showed the return of the enemies that made the series a classic: zombies. 

Yes, zombies are back in Resident Evil Requiem. While the first three Resident Evil games focused on a zombie outbreak, the games since then were more about biological weapons, which changed humans into grotesque monsters that acted kind of like zombies. This time around, the zombies are back, and they are “smarter” than before. Kind of. 

The zombies shown in the showcase don’t walk aimlessly around like in the earlier Resident Evil games. These zombies hold onto their past lives and can be seen doing the same activities they did when they were alive, such as a zombie custodian still cleaning. It’ll be up to the players to find openings with these behaviors to sneak past them. 

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Resident Evil Requiem made its debut during the Summer Games Fest in June, and developer Capcom slowly released details about the upcoming horror game. It’s set to release in February, and Capcom wants to make a big showing as 2026 represents the 30th anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise. 

When does Resident Evil Requiem come out?

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on Feb. 27 for PC, PS5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series consoles for $70.

Capcom will also release a Deluxe Steelbook Edition of the game. It costs $90 and comes with five extra costumes, four weapon skins, two screen filters, two weapon charms, bonus audio and in-game lore files. It will also include a limited-edition lenticular card, the steelbook case and another costume for Grace for those who preorder this edition.

For Switch 2 owners who may not have played Resident Evil 7 or Resident Evil Village, Capcom will release the Resident Evil Generation pack on launch day. This pack will include all three games as well as the extra DLC released for the earlier games. 

Switch 2 owners can also preorder a special edition Resident Evil Switch 2 Pro Controller. It will be available on launch day for $100. 

Capcom also plans on releasing the first-ever Resident Evil amiibo for the Switch. It won’t be available at the game’s launch, but rather, later in the summer. 

When does Resident Evil Requiem take place? 

Resident Evil Requiem takes place 30 years after the events of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which was when Raccoon City was destroyed. 

How will Resident Evil Requiem play?

Grace and Leon play very differently, almost making it like two different games. When playing as Grace, even though she is physically weaker than Leon, she has access to a powerful gun called Requiem and can make tools from the blood of the infected. However, her ammo is limited, which will ramp up the survival horror aspect while playing as Grace. As for Leon, he’s going to play similarly to how he did in Resident Evil 4. He’ll still punch and kick groups of zombies and can even use a chainsaw to cut them down. 

Whether you can play as Grace or Leon will depend on where you’re in the game’s storyline, as they can’t be picked. Players will have to play as both characters to complete the game. Something new to the game, to either make it easier for players or harder, is the introduction of difficulty levels. There is an easy mode called Casual that lets players focus on the story, and the Standard mode is the average difficulty for a Resident Evil game. What is new for any Resident Evil game is the Standard (Classic) difficulty, which incorporates ink ribbons to save a game. The ink ribbons were a callback to the early Resident Evil games, where one was required to save their progress at a typewriter. 

Read more: I Played Resident Evil 9 Requiem at Summer Game Fest, and It’s Extremely Messed Up

Who is Grace Ashcroft? 

Grace Ashcroft is an FBI analyst who has a connection with Raccoon City. Her mother, Alyssa, was a survivor of the destruction of Raccoon City and was a playable character in the online game Resident Evil Outbreak, released on the PS2 in 2003. The elder Ashcroft was a reporter who told the story of what happened to the zombie-infested city but was killed by a masked assailant in 2018.

Her murder spurred Grace to join the FBI. In Requiem, a mysterious infection is spreading, and deaths are mounting. Grace is assigned to investigate the Wrenwood Hotel, the place where the latest fatality has occurred and the site of her mother’s murder. It’s from here that she’ll make her way to Raccoon City. 

Where has Leon Kennedy been? 

Leon was last seen in the series with Resident Evil 6, but he’s been active in the Resident Evil animated movies and series, including Resident Evil: Degeneration, Resident Evil: Damnation, Resident Evil: Vendetta, Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness and Resident Evil: Death Island. Leon is currently an agent for the Division of Security Operations and is deployed worldwide to investigate instances of bioweapons causing havoc, which often leads to reunions with other Resident Evil survivors, such as Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. 

Are there any other characters set to be revealed? 

A GameStop listing for Resident Evil Requiem listed the Expansion Pass for the game and the additional scenarios, according to a report from Videogame Chronicles. One scenario referred to a Shadow Walker Costume Pack, which includes outfits for Rosemary Winters, the daughter of Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village hero Ethan Winters. Rosemary was the main character of Shadows of Rose, a post-release content scenario for Resident Evil Village. 

There could be additional characters revealed in the coming days as Resident Evil Requiem’s release date nears.