Resident Evil 7 Biohazard: A Family Brimming With Evil
With a story centred around a family secluded in a house far into the wood, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard could be the best horror game Capcom has released. Biohazard continues the first-person perspective other games thrive off of, even if some fans may find this as a hindrance. However, with this critically acclaimed game mechanic, comes an excellent narrative focusing on the Baker Family and their dysfunctional lifestyle. Biohazard won 11 awards and has been nominated for a further 19 awards between 2016 and 2018. Evidently, a statistic that backs its overwhelmingly positive reception.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard shares the same protagonist as Village, the systems engineer mutant Ethan Winters. Upon hearing an alert from his wife Mia, Ethan decides to meet her at an abandoned farmhouse. Mia had been missing for 3 years now and was presumed dead. When Ethan arrives, he discovers a locked-away Mia spouting about having to escape “Daddy”.
A woman named “Zoe” calls Ethan stating there is an escape route through the attic. Whilst escaping with Ethan, Mia attacks Ethan ferociously forcing Ethan to kill her. Seemingly straight afterwards, Ethan is knocked out by the head of the family: “Jack Baker”.
Ethan wakes up held hostage in the presence of the Baker family, consisting of Jack, Marguerite, Lucas and a handicapped Elderly woman. Ethan is forced to eat human remains and tortured by the family until they are distracted by the phone. This is the window through which Ethan was able to escape the dining room trying to find a way out (with some help from Zoe).
A deputy police officer comes to investigate the house however is eventually killed by Jack. Jack is killed by Ethan, however, this leads to Ethan finding out that the family have regenerative abilities. On the side of these powerful abilities, there are also monsters created by the Bakers who are made from other captives. Eventually, Ethan kills Jack again obtaining a key to escape.
Ethan finds out that Mia is still alive through Zoe due to Mia receiving the same powers the Bakers have. Zoe and Mia need to retrieve serums to cure the infections and so Ethan heads out to find them. This leads to him killing Marguerite but comes with the side effect of seeing visions of a young girl. On his way back, Ethan finds out that Lucas has now captured Mia and Zoe and must navigate through a maze of traps to get to them. Ethan is able to make two serums, however, Jack attacks and Ethan is forced to use one of the serums on Jack to finally kill him. Having only one serum left, Ethan is forced to cure only Mia or Zoe, not both.
Picking Zoe
Zoe and Ethan escape on a boat, leaving a devastated Mia behind. It is revealed that Mia had arrived at the family with a girl named Eveline, seemingly causing the infection to begin. They both are attacked by Eveline who kills Zoe and knocks out Ethan.
A vision of Jack displays, who is now sane and not infected, explaining to Ethan that Eveline brainwashed people into becoming insane.
It then switches to Mia’s perspective who has to traverse a wrecked ship in search of Ethan. Mia rescues Ethan and gives him a vial of Eveline’s DNA. Mia fails to resist the control of Eveline and attacks Ethan through her feeling of betrayal. Ethan is forced to kill Mia.
Picking Mia
Mia and Ethan escape on a boat, leaving a reluctant Zoe behind. A vision of Jack displays, who is now sane and not infected, explaining to Ethan that Eveline brainwashed people into becoming insane.
Suddenly, it switches to Mia’s perspective who has to traverse a wrecked ship in search of Ethan. She receives a vision of Eveline claiming Mia is her mother. Eveline makes Mia watch a tape to restore her memory revealing that Mia had developed Eveline as a bioweapon. Whilst Mia was supposed to escort Eveline to Central America, Eveline was able to escape containment and infect Mia.
Mia rescues Ethan and gives him a vial of Eveline’s DNA. Ethan is sealed out of the ship leaving Mia inside being controlled by Eveline.
The two different choices now merge together after the wrecked ship incident. Ethan heads to a hidden laboratory finding out that Eveline is a bioweapon called “E-Series”. Eveline can infect people to allow her to brainwash and mind-control them. Subsequently, it is revealed that Lucas is working for the organization that created Eveline and has been given something to stop the mind control effectiveness.
Ethan is able to create a toxin capable of Killing Eveline. Upon fighting Eveline, Ehtan is able to inject Eveline with the toxin which reveals that Eveline was the elderly lady all along. Instead of killing Evline, the toxin instead makes her mutate further which can only be destroyed by military-grade weapons.
After killing Eveline, Ethan is rescued by “Blue Umbrella” led by Chirs Redfield. If the player chose Zoe then Mia’s personal effects are thrown out in grief by Ethan. If the player chose Mia, then Mia is also rescued.
The Dysfunctional Family
As stated before, Biohazard centres on the baker family. Unlike other Resident Evil games, which have a mix of oddball enemies, Biohazard chooses to focus on a tight-knit family, creating a more detailed narrative.
Jack Baker
Jack Baker is portrayed as a violent and unpredictable man who becomes infected with a mutagenic virus, which gives him enhanced strength and regenerative abilities, but also causes him to become aggressive and hostile towards others.
Marguerite Baker
Marguerite is portrayed as being unstable and sadistic, often engaging in violent behaviour and exhibiting insect-like behaviour.
She is a member of the Baker family, who are infected by a mutagenic virus that turns them into grotesque and violent creatures.
Lucas Baker
He is a member of the Baker family, who are infected by a mutagenic virus that turns them into grotesque and violent creatures. Lucas is portrayed as highly intelligent, manipulative, and sadistic, often setting up traps and puzzles to torment his victims.
Elderly Woman
She is an unnamed elderly woman who is encountered by the player character at the beginning of the game. She is initially portrayed as a seemingly harmless and confused old woman, but later events suggest that she may have been infected by the same mutagenic virus as the Baker family.
How about you? Is Resident Evil 7 Biohazard your favourite? We’d love to hear from you.
Other things you might want to know about:
Is Resident Evil 7: Biohazard worth it?
Resident Evil 7 is a must-play for new fans and Resident Evil fans alike. It has an amazing narrative that strays away from complicated lore bites. This combined with amazing gameplay and locations, playing Biohazard will leave you wanting more!
Is Resident Evil 7: Biohazard scary?
Resident Evil Biohazard is marketed as a survival horror game, so it’s unlikely to go through the game without being creeped out or scared multiple times. If you are one for calmer games, then the game may not be for you.
Is Resident Evil 7 the scariest Resident Evil game?
As stated before, Resident Evil 7 is a scary game due to it being a survival horror. With its first-person perspective and enemies who work as a family, Biohazard is up there for the scariest Resident Evil games. Biohazard has also received a VR version which is even scarier.
