there are two completely different audiences for resident evil 4 remake: Those who’ve played the original game, maybe a few times or dozens of times over the past 18 years, and people who’ve never played it but want to know what it’s all about. Let’s start with the former: clearly, if you’re a fan of Resident Evil 4, you should be playing the remake. It’s not only one of the best action games in recent memory; This is the best Resident Evil, well, maybe the original Resident Evil 4.
From the jump, the remake fills you with danger. The faithfully constructed “village” section throws dozens of enemies your way, requiring you to handle multiple combat scenarios or die quickly. As it was in 2005, this is a punch-in-the-face type of opening, with the game telling you how it’s going to be from here; get used to. Running for my life, scared of the chainsaw-wielding maniac chasing me through hordes of bad guys, desperately shooting at enemy knees, dodging incoming projectiles, and inside houses and Running outside as my rare ammo count gets closer and closer to zero was stressful in a way this level hasn’t been since I was a kid. The game maintains this tight action until the credits roll is a feat of game pacing. For the first time since 2005, Resident Evil 4 is scary again, and I couldn’t be happier, This is amazing.
The gameplay has been expanded – namely, you can now move and aim your gun at the same time, as well as the aforementioned parrying and new melee options – which make RE4’s already great bones feel modern and fresh. Let’s get it done. Despite my constant anxiety, I had so much fun that I welcomed each big match. Especially until I unlocked more powerful weapons—shoutout to my semi-automatic shotgun—flying through scores of enemies felt glorious. And don’t get me started on the game’s brutal gross gore system; Blasting off heads and arms and even shooting enemies completely in half as blood gushes out like confetti from a piñata has rarely been seen this fantastically disgusting. I’m a freak, and Resident Evil 4 Remake indulged my sick love of virtual gore.
From a visual and level design perspective, Resident Evil 4 Remake knows exactly when to be nostalgic and when to be fresh. As a lifelong fan of the original, it was novel and fun to see some of my favorite levels and battlegrounds revisited in 1:1 on PlayStation 5. That the next room might be a complete remix or reconstruction of a different area, however, kept me on my toes, as though I knew the subject of the painting, but all the details were in new colors. Still, I welcomed each new addition just as much as I did the old standby.
Perhaps the most elbow grease went into rewriting the game’s story, though the narrative beats are there all the same. You play as Leon Kennedy, now a special agent of the President of the United States, sent to a remote Spanish village in search of Ashley Graham, the President’s missing daughter. In that village, all hell breaks loose. You are soon confronted by angry locals infected by a parasite, Las Plagas, which makes them easy for the game’s main antagonist to control without completely losing their mental faculties. Leon’s nightmare takes him from a remote village, into the bowels of a baroque palace besieged by a sinister Napoleonic wannabe, and then finally to the shores of a military garrison. All the while, demons, gore and death follow.
It’s campy, goofy, and over-the-top. And much of that charm is retained here, but with much sharper writing and better characterization. Ashley, in particular, is rewritten as a real character with emotion, intelligence, and charisma. That the other characters don’t sexually assault her as they did in the original is also a huge improvement. Across the board, the cast has received an overhaul, making the protagonists more likable, the enemies more menacing, and the winding threads of the plot somewhat more coherent – all while never losing sight of the original story. What makes it so fun in the first place.
I could write a metaphorical book about all the ways I love Resident Evil 4 Remake, but it might be simplest just to look at the score at the bottom of this page and sum it up like this: If You love Resident Evil 4 you will love this remake of the first. Duration. point blank. It’s a love letter to a sport that fans know up, down, left, right and center, a faithful recreation in all the right moments, but with expert refinement and modern sensibilities. It’s also a revolutionary reimagining when it needs to be, a wonderfully fun game that’s utterly confident in its ability to remake one of the best games of all time.
What it lacks, however, is context. And this is important.
Any mention of the original Resident Evil 4 is immediately followed by discussion of its camera. Instead of the fixed camera angles of its predecessors, the original game placed the camera behind Leon’s back. More importantly, he was slightly off-centre on the left. When he aimed, you looked directly over his right shoulder. This perspective is, of course, the blueprint for nearly every third-person video game that came after. Resident Evil 4 changed the shape of the games industry.
As great as this remake is – and I repeat, it is incredible – I don’t think it will show you why Resident Evil 4 was so great. It can’t happen now. There is no universe where this game would be as important as this remake game. It may not take place in the same time, place and context as the first Resident Evil 4. Somewhat ironically, it’s only as good as it is now because it exists in the post-Resident Evil 4 world. And so, while I think this might show you why Resident Evil 4 was fun, goofy, and endearing, if you’re at all interested in why this old game has such an enduring legacy — especially one so strong. Big Expensive Warrants Remake – Your best bet is still to play the original, try to put your mind in a pre-Resident Evil 4 world to understand how that game could change everything. Or better yet, you can watch a few minutes of a Let’s Play or read one of the thousands of articles about it. This will make playing the remake a richer experience; You can see decades of lessons learned in the game industry on how to apply third-person action games to the source material in a way that’s exciting, fun, and mechanically effective. This is a refinement, not a rediscovery. And that space is one of the most interesting spaces this remake could occupy.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is everything I wanted it to be. But importantly, it doesn’t overwrite its predecessor. If anything, this new version reinforces why the original Resident Evil 4 is a game that people should still be exploring, playing, or at least watching and learning about. But as a love letter to one of the greatest sports of all time, as a new historical artifact that reinforces why the source material was so important in the first place, this epic journey through the Spanish countryside The new Trek is as good as it gets and makes the great game that much better.