Resident Evil players have been dodging chainsaws for decades now, but at long last, the tables have turned. While Leon Kennedy returns to Raccoon City with a pistol in one hand and a hatchet in the other, he can finally do some vicious DIY with a chainsaw of his own. And as Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi explained to GameSpot, that new addition to Leon’s arsenal brings a few pros and cons with it.
“Leon, he’s an experienced combatant of close to 30 years by the time of Resident Evil Requiem. Leon’s actually gone up against so many chainsaws in his history here,” Nakanishi said (via a translator). “Isn’t it about time that he, himself, used a chainsaw? And so, that’s where things started.”
Nakanishi did caution that enemies will still be using chainsaws of their own in Requiem, but in surprising ways. “Zombies can use the chainsaws in different ways. They might attack you with it. They might throw it at you,” Nakanishi teased. “The zombies do retain some nature of themselves before they became a zombie, and so you see doctor zombies, you see nurse zombies. Actually, depending on the zombie, they might use the chainsaw in slightly different ways.”
Requiem is aiming to blend the best of classic Resident Evil games together, while also keeping a few surprises up its sleeves for longtime fans. Players can experience some old-school survival-horror in Grace Ashcroft’s campaign, while Leon’s story mixes tension with combat to create a survival-action experience. Resident Evil Requiem launches for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S on February 27.