Hands On: Resident Evil 7 Xbox Series X|S - Ray Tracing Mode Is Mighty Impressive

Capcom recently dropped some feature-packed updates to a selection of Resident Evil titles, in an attempt to make them spick and span on Xbox Series X|S. We took the two remakes for a spin last week on Series X, and overall, performance mode was the way to go, especially when rocking a 120Hz display. With the Resident Evil 7 upgrade, things are a little different.

First up, the mode selection is exactly the same as with the two remakes. We put together a handy little guide for that, which details how to enable the modes and what each one does. The crux of the mode selection on Resi 7 is that its ray tracing mode performs much, much better than it does on either of the two Resi remakes.

From our quick hands-on with this one on Xbox Series X in ray tracing mode, it's hitting a solid 60fps during standard gameplay. This is playing on a VRR-enabled display, which could be smoothing things over somewhat, but judging by the VRR implementation on the remakes, it's likely just a much more solid framerate overall. Remember, Resident Evil 7 is a good few years older than the two remakes, so it's safe to assume Capcom's RE Engine isn't being pushed quite as far.

As far as the look of the RT mode? Well, its shine isn't quite as apparent in Resident Evil 7 as it was in, say, the R.P.D. station in Resident Evil 2. Resi 7's dark, grimy environments don't quite showcase ray tracing as well as RE2, but, we still prefer the ray tracing 'look' to standard rendering. The environment just appears more natural generally, with accurate reflections and lighting throughout.

The high-performance 120Hz mode also works a treat in RE7, much like it does in the two aforementioned remakes. This mode feels that bit more impactful in first person, which suits RE7 pretty well, especially during combat. It's a solid option then, especially if you're a performance-at-all-costs player. For us though, the ray tracing mode at a smooth 60fps works best in Resident Evil 7.

The game itself, well, it's definitely worth another whirl as long as you can stomach RE7's incredibly creepy Louisiana swamps one more time. The location hasn't lost its err, charm, since we first played the game five years ago, and another full playthrough could definitely be on the cards prior to DLC arriving for Resident Evil Village later this year.

Have you tried out the Resident Evil 7 Xbox Series X|S upgrade yet? What are your thoughts? Let us know down below.