Since Resident Evil 7 launched in 2017, the iconic survival horror series has been unable to fully escape the world of virtual reality. Thanks to the success that Capcom has had with the game’s PlayStation VR mode, players have been eager for more immersive experiences. Even though Resident Evil Village and its first-person perspective seems like an ideal candidate for the VR treatment, so far the publisher has yet to officially satisfy demand.
Horror fans on PC are still in luck. Thanks to the platform's thriving modding community, most of the publisher’s mainline horror entries have already received unofficial VR support. Modern classics like Resident Evil 2 and 3, for example, are already fully up and running in virtual reality. One mod that’s started to roll out over the last few weeks has even brought Resident Evil Village to the forefront of the movement.
Resident Evil Village’s Modder
So far, Capcom’s official commitment to virtual reality versions of its franchise has only extended to Resident Evil 4 and the aforementioned Resident Evil 7. However, thanks to the fact that both come with significant caveats attached to them, neither are as easy to access as many players would like. The censored version of RE4 is only supported on Oculus’ Quest 2 right now.
Thanks to the efforts of the modder known as Praydog, PC players can now play through Resident Evil Village in VR. The mod which was released earlier this month is just the latest unofficial horror-themed update that the modder has put out. Previously Praydog has earned widespread fan support due to their VR enabling mods for Resident Evil 2 and 3. Based on this previous success, it'll come as no surprise to fans that this latest mod has received some significant praise as well.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Praydog’s Resident Evil Village mod is also free right now, over on their GitHub page. Alternatively, fans can show their monetary support whilst downloading the update over on their Patreon page. From a technical perspective, there aren’t too many barriers for players to get over before they try it either. The mod is launchable from both SteamVR and OpenXR and comes complete with DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 support. It almost goes without saying though, players take responsibility into their own hands whenever they mod games.
Resident Evil Village’s VR Mod
Praydog’s unofficial Resident Evil Village update comes with an impressive set of features. Beyond adding 6 degrees of freedom to the game’s camera, the PC mod also injects full player avatar and motion control support into the experience. That last feature is particularly impressive, especially when players keep in mind that even the PS VR version of RE7 didn’t support Sony’s official motion controllers.
Being able to dodge, block, and heal in VR has made Resident Evil Village on PC an even more immersive horror experience. It should be noted though, thanks to the way that Capcom originally envisioned its game, not all of Village’s sections happen as seamlessly in VR. The fixed-camera section where Ethan fights Lady Dimitrescu and falls through multiple ceilings clearly wasn’t designed with potential VR in mind.
These minor shortcomings don’t detract from what is still an impressive PC VR mod. To sweeten what is already an excellent experience though, Praydog’s latest mod features a few unexpected bonuses. While players will be able to access Resident Evil Village from within the REFramework toolset, it also comes complete with support for some of Capcom’s other games. Beyond the aforementioned Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7, Praydog has also added PC VR modes for Devil May Cry 5 and Monster Hunter Rise.
Resident Evil Village is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.