Resident Evil: Biohazard Vs Requiem

A lot can change between installments, with Resident Evil: Biohazard and Requiem spaced out over nine years. While Biohazard is the seventh installment, the recent Requiem release is the ninth. And in between, there have been spectacular remakes and spin-offs. So, besides technological improvement to graphics and controls, there are bound to be giant leaps in gameplay innovation as well. 

Today, we go over Resident Evil: Biohazard vs Requiem, analyzing core similarities and differences that might make one better than the other.

What is Resident Evil: Biohazard?

Resident Evil: Biohazard is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series. Capcom has been the leading developer and publisher of the series, releasing Biohazard in 2017. That’s nine years ago, when a lot was different from the recently released Requiem. 

For starters, it was the first game to put players in the first-person view of the story and action. You control Ethan Winters on his search for his missing wife at a familial plantation infested by mutated zombies.

The gameplay returned to the series’ survival horror roots after Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 unsuccessfully strayed away to more action-oriented sequences. You explore a haunting world steeped in a heavy, eerie atmospheric dread and solve puzzles amid highly tense moments. There are a couple of enemy fights as well.

Oh, and this was the first game to use Capcom’s in-house RE Engine. It also made it to multiple platforms, including PS4, Xbox One, PC, and later Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PSVR, and mobile.

What is Resident Evil Requiem?

Requiem is the latest Resident Evil ninth entry in the series. It launched in 2026, after 2021’s Resident Evil: Village. This time, Capcom leaned in the direction of dual protagonists. You control returning fan-favorite Leon S. Kennedy from 1998’s Resident Evil 2, and many games after that, and rookie FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. 

Switching between Leon and Grace’s first or third-person perspectives offers an interesting gameplay mix of action and survival horror. When playing as Grace, the gameplay experience is more similar to Biohazard and Village, while Leon’s is more Resident Evil 4.

So, the question is, which game does it best?

Because Requiem was designed for current-gen PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch 2 consoles, its graphics and performance are much better. But beyond technical innovation, how do the story and gameplay compare?

Story

You’re a systems engineer in Resident Evil: Biohazard, clueless about anything combat. When your wife goes missing, though, you wander into a plantation looking for her. It first seems abandoned, but soon, you learn of the horrors and an infected Baker’s family roaming about the place.

It’s quite the compelling story, with emotional upbeats and drama. The family aspect really takes the emotional stakes higher, especially when Ethan has to kill his wife, who’s been infected.

There’s plenty of mystery-solving and survival, much like in Requiem. In Grace Ashcroft’s case, she’s returned to Raccoon City to investigate her mother’s murder, alongside other mysterious deaths. 

Leon, on the other hand, is also knee-deep in the same investigation. Their paths soon cross, and they uncover the secrets behind the new T-virus zombie strain and solve the murders together.

By introducing dual protagonists, the intrigue in following these characters’ stories goes up a notch. You find more twists and turns, with a different slow-burn tension for Grace and a more frenetic, aggressive experience for Leon.

Modern, slick graphics bring the tension further up, detailing more intricate environments and a suffocating atmosphere. It’s highly polished during Requiem’s playthrough. Yet, Resident Evil: Biohazard was the first to create a more immersive experience by switching to first-person, made all the more frightening through VR.

Gameplay

It’s the same ideas and concept of dual protagonist that makes Requiem offer better gameplay than Resident Evil: Biohazard. Indulging in heavier melee and ranged combat action as Leon, in open areas where you intertwine streams of bullets with agile movement. 

But during Grace’s segments, the action grinds down to a near-halt. Running and hiding is the wiser approach to exploration and enemy encounters. And that just makes the experience feel more intense when you have to sneak around in more constricted spaces.

Yet, when you consider that the Resident Evil franchise has always been held in high regard based purely on its tension and horror, you might consider Resident Evil: Biohazard’s narrow, singular focus on survival horror a stronger point of view. 

It’s a more frightening experience to be trapped in the Baker’s house, where they lock you in their basement. Comparing the gameplay between the two might be more a matter of personal taste. Do you want to focus solely on first-person dread? Or would you rather switch it up between fast-paced combat and survival horror?

Verdict: Resident Evil: Biohazard Vs Requiem

I wanna say that the mix between action and survival horror, ultimately, makes Requiem the better and stronger option. But purists who’ve been with the franchise since its inception might feel differently and lean toward Resident Evil: Biohazard’s focus on dread.

Biohazard will offer a more frightening experience, especially in VR. Its constricted space running around the Baker house that’s crawling with the infected sends rapid chills down your spine. Yet, that layered tension is at the expense of thrilling boss fights and enemy encounters.

The enemy variety and action in Resident Evil: Biohazard is fickle, and hardly the strongest point of your playthrough. And Requiem more than settles that score with its steady stream of giants and towering mutants.

Both melee and ranged combat feel smooth and fluid, as do the steamy vehicular motorcycle combat sections. And that comes with an excellent balance of tight tension you can cut with a knife during Grace’s segments. 

Just before it gets repetitive to be firing guns, the story shifts from Leon to Grace’s slower-paced tension. It’s the very definition of the best of both worlds that should well-satisfy newcomers, veterans, and Resident Evil survival horror purists alike.