Resident Evil Village is full of terrifying beings eager to end the player’s life. It’s a staple element of the series, really. However, these foes don’t necessarily look or act like the zombies featured in past games; they aren’t a moaning, shuffling, disintegrating horde. So, are there zombies in Resident Evil Village? Or are the game’s many enemies based on some other blend of haunting and horror?
Does Resident Evil Village have zombies?
It’s not entirely clear if Resident Evil Village features traditional zombies. While the series may be known for its signature undead foes, its actual antagonists come in many forms. Sometimes they’re people, sometimes they’re monsters. To cover all bases, fans occasionally refer to certain Resident Evil enemies as not-zombies, since they behave like zombies but technically aren’t.
It goes without saying that the Resident Evil series is built on the backs of shambling, reanimated corpses. The very first entry is a horror icon in video games, and certainly one of the most disturbing experiences players had ever seen at the time. However, through the years, the primary villains have shifted away from zombies and more toward mutated humans.
Resident Evil 4 is a perfect example. In prior games, humans were infected with the T-Virus, effectively turning them into the undead. In RE4, the game’s villagers instead played host to a parasite known as Plagas. Once infected, the hosts (called Ganados) would act with aggression and a marked lack of critical thinking. They weren’t zombies, but they sure acted like them. This tradition continued into RE5 with the Majini, and evolved once again in RE6 with the release of the C-Virus.
Since then, Resident Evil has moved on to several other kinds of horrific monsters. It’s still common to find mutated enemies, but the key is that they aren’t really zombies. At the very least, they aren’t undead — not by the traditional standards, anyway.
It’s hard to say definitely whether or not Resident Evil Village has zombies in it. If it does, they probably aren’t the typical stumbling undead found in other horror franchises. Either way, we’ll be able to find out when the game finally releases on May 7, 2021.
