Resident Evil 7 teasers offer a brief glimpse of combat and puzzles
UPDATE: First non-human enemy revealed.
UPDATE 08/11/2016 5.26pm: The final two teasers in the Resident Evil 7 mini-trailer ad campaign have come out and they give us a glimpse of the sort of spooky foes we'll encounter.
Aunt Rhody is one of the creepiest videos in the series, as it teases an old woman, back to the player, humming in a rocking chair.
Shadow is perhaps the most revealing as it's the first look we've seen of a non-human enemy in RE7. This one sort of looks like Batman's reptilian nemesis Killer Croc.
ORIGINAL STORY 02/11/2016 2.50am: Capcom has been releasing a series of very brief Resident Evil 7 videos teasing some of the game's mechanics and design elements. There are eight of these so far, and while few are noteworthy in and of themselves, together they provide a cohesive whole about what sorts of old tricks Capcom is employing in its very new take on the series.
So, without further ado, here's a rundown of the videos going from most recent to oldest.
Here we see a glimpse of the game's puzzle mechanic as the player flips through their inventory containing strange objects like a straw doll, circuit board, switchblade, and yellow balloon. Note each object's shadow in front of a very creepy painting of a spider. Sounds like the classic mix-and-match key-and-lock puzzles the series is known for will play a large role in Resi 7.
Not much to this one other than demonstrating the player's ability to rotate objects. The sound effects suggest that you may have to shake things loose from containers, though.
Here's the most combat we've seen in Resi 7 as the player shoots a foe, supposedly killing them. But it's a Resident Evil game, so many seemingly dead creatures don't stay down for long.
We knew that the classic Resi herbs would return, but this is the first time we've seen them in action. And yes, you can combine them. Only this time you're combining a green herb with chem fluid for first aid spray, which is a slightly different recipe than oldhats will be used to.
You can smash crates for goods like ammo, just like in Resident Evil 4.
Players can save their progress at tape recorders instead of typewriters. It doesn't appear that saving requires an item, so I doubt we'll have to scour for blank tapes to save our game.
"Shotgun In The Box". The title kind of says it all really. It's a shotgun... in a box!
A woman on the phone says "you really shouldn't have come here." Tell me something I don't know, lady.
For more on Resident Evil 7, our Tom Phillips investigated its Gamescom demo from September, while our guides team offered an extensive walkthrough of the game's free Beginning Hour demo.
Resident Evil 7 is due on 24th January for PS4 and PC. It will have exclusive PSVR support for a year. Who knows what other VR platforms it may migrate to after that.