Resident Evil 4 Remake: The Best Resident Evil....Again
Rich L.
Let's go back to the winter of 2005. Fourteen year old me is picked up from 8th grade by my grandpa. Resident Evil 4 just released for the Nintendo GameCube. I asked my grandpa if he could take me to the nearest GameStop to buy it. Not only do we get the game, but we're able to snag a copy of the collector's edition, a tin I still have to this day. My dad picks me up later, and before I go to bed, I get to embark on what becomes one of my favorite games of all time. Fast forward to 2022, Resident Evil 3 Remake and Resident Evil Village are the most recent games in the series released, and as it turns out, for 2023, Resident Evil 4 is next in line to be remade, a game that many feel has aged like fine wine. It was upsetting that Capcom made this decision, but now that the dust has settled and the new remake has been out for a bit, do I still feel the same? Take a seat by a typewriter, munch on a brown chicken egg, and I'll enlighten you.
Resident Evil 4 Remake uses the beautiful RE Engine, which is what the last four Resident Evil games, Devil May Cry 5, as well as the upcoming Street Fighter 6 used to enhance the quality of their games. Capcom has this engine down to a science, with little to no instances of “uncanny valley” looking face-scanned character models, and photorealistic environments. It's just the right amount of “gloom” to not make the game too colorless, as the final area in the game has backgrounds that are more colorful and livelier than the original. The version I played was on the PS5, and for the most part, the game ran great on performance mode. Something this game did that I've never encountered, was the ability to control the level of detail that shows on the character's hair. I played with it turned on, and Leon's glorious iconic hair did not hurt the frame rate of the game.
Salazar “Remake”
With all of the Resident Evil remakes, expect redesigns for characters, models, even weapons. Designs have improved, with all of the enemies and bosses looking scarier and more intimidating (the wolves especially)! Characters and weapons are more hit and miss, but even the ones that are misses don't take away too much and I can understand what Capcom was aiming for. For instance, one of the main villains, Salazar. While I preferred his design in the original RE4, I understand they were trying to make him look less like a kid and more like an old man (His boss design makes up for this anyway).
The music, while nothing phenomenal, is definitely the best out of the five RE Engine based Resident Evil games. This game has music during the majority of the game, be it during the “action” or “horror” segments. On the subject of Salazar, I have to say that his boss music is one of the most beautiful pieces of music in any Resident Evil game. The original version's score may be more memorable, but thankfully, just like the last two remakes, you can use the original music...for a price of course.
Similar to Goldeneye 64, the weapons in Resident Evil 4 felt like they had their own personality. Part of this was due to the distinct and powerful sounds they made when firing or being reloaded. That still holds true for the remake, as the guns sound distinct and impactful. Once again, they were probably more memorable from the original, but that may only be due to the fact I've heard many more video game gun sound effects since 2005. There are only so many ways a “semi-automatic sniper rifle” can sound when making a guy's head disappear. This applies to the monsters sounding more menacing as well, and I love that they kept a lot of the same phrases in Spanish (RE4 takes place in Spain) for the more human enemies to yell during combat.
Resident Evil 4 always had a good story, nothing amazing but solid enough to keep playing. It's still about Leon Kennedy, saving the president’s daughter from the cult, Los Illuminados, about a half a decade later after the events of Resident Evil 2. Thankfully, the remake only improves the story, as it fleshes out lore behind monsters, provides more backstory and motivations of main characters, as well as give more depth between Leon and Ashley's dynamic. It's great to see characters like Luis and Krauser, both characters basically exclusive to Resident Evil 4, just have so much more to them, with enhanced screen time and personality. This game also did a great job of balancing Leon being a wise cracking action hero, but also a human who actually still feels the weight and fear of what happened to him in Raccoon City, during Resident Evil 2. He still spouts some of his iconic Resident Evil 4 lines like the “bingo” line while adding some new ones. Sadly, my favorite “RE4 Leon line” didn't return, though it is the name of an achievement/trophy that is earned around the time it happened in the original. During the days of the original, I was definitely in the camp of hating Ashely, from a story and gameplay standpoint. Now, with this re-imagined version, I don't mind her, as she's more sympathetic, less frustrating to protect, and her design is a 100% improvement.
Ada Wong is the one character that suffers a bit in terms of less screen time, voice acting (she received a different voice actress from the Resident Evil 2 Remake, and I certainly don't condone people bullying the new actress), and not being given anymore development. However, while Ada is my favorite female character in the series, unlike Krauser and Luis, she appears in other games, so I would rather the RE4 exclusive characters get more development than characters who appear more frequently.
One concern of mine, was that the gameplay would be much more grounded, and less over the top, following the trend of being a more realistic horror game. Thankfully, that was not the case at all. Leon still does his roundhouses, his suplexes, and can now even use his knife for more than just basic slashing. It can be used for parrying, stealth kills, and even subduing enemies who are about to have the parasite (las plagas) pop out of them. Leon can still stab with the knife and swipe with it, however, now it can also break, so that's a new mechanic that requires some getting used to. There are many quality of life changes, such as being able to store your weapons at typewriters so you're not forced to sell them. In the event you still sell them, when you buy them back, they will be at the level you upgraded them to when you sold them, unlike the original, in which they reset. Also, after a key item exhausts its use, it can also be sold for additional pesetas instead of just disappearing into the inventory void.
“Crafting” is another new mechanic that was carried over from the last few games which was never in the original. This is probably to balance out the fact that ammo is not handed to you quite as much as it was in the original, with healing items definitely feeling more scarce. This was a welcoming change that gives freedom to prioritizing certain gun ammo or even knives over other things to suit your play style. My only frustration is that the materials used for crafting clogs up your inventory case. At least there’s “fast auto sort” to help organize inventory quicker if you don't feel like sorting it manually.
Something that felt off during gameplay was that Leon felt very heavy to control. In the original he felt very tight and turned on a dime, and I do miss that feeling. Granted, this did become less noticeable the more I played the game. Another mechanism I miss from the original from both an aesthetic and functional standpoint, is that every weapon was aimed with a laser sight. Now most weapons use a traditional modern targeting reticle. Thankfully, you can purchase a laser sight for some weapons, and one of my favorite late game weapons comes with one installed already.
Resident Evil 4 was one of the founders of quick time events (QTEs). The QTE's that were used in the cutscenes of the game were removed from this remake and distributed throughout the game. Thankfully, it paid off because one of the coolest parts of the original Resident Evil 4, the Krauser knife fight, is now a proper boss fight. While the boss fight wasn't anything life changing, it was a fantastic touch, and felt like it was right out of the Metal Gear Solid series. This was frustrating especially when the remake of the first game cut little to nothing and only added.
With RE4’s remake, if I had a peseta for every time I said “Huh, this is new”, I'd be able to afford every weapon in the game. There are many expanded sections with new items, puzzles, enemy types, as well as even a few new weapons. The shooting gallery from the original still exists and is reworked with more challenges. Cutscenes at least feel longer and more fleshed out. Also, not only are there still alternate costumes, but you can now unlock cosmetic accessories to put on Leon and Ashley.
Ada Wong
Unfortunately, there are still a few major things cut from the game. These are the two side modes where you play as Ada Wong; Assignment Ada and Separate Ways (Wow, do the creators of this game not like Ada?), as well as one of the bosses near the end of the game called U3.
Now Separate Ways is the mode that mattered far more, as it was canon to the story, was longer, and explained what Ada was doing the entire game. U3 was a boss criticized for being unmemorable and coming out of nowhere. While I personally found it intense and creepy, there are other encounters that I would've been more upset if removed. It's debatable to count The Mercenaries mode as cut content, since it was announced before the game was released that it would be coming as a free update, and it's been out for a few weeks at the time of me writing this. Mercenaries is a survival time attack mode, where the player sees how great of a score they can get in the time limit without dying. This was always a personal favorite of mine that I was over the moon to see this episode make the cut. While it did add a playable character (Luis), it removed Ada and another character heavily tied to her.
One word that I feel sums up why Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games of all time, is balance. While I'm a fan of all the mainline Resident Evil games, I recognize that the first three games as well as 7, are more survival horror and can feel too scary, too slow, and just not as fun with such little ways to defend yourself. With Resident Evil 5 and 6, they start to feel too much like an action-adventure game and loses a lot of the horror. With Resident Evil 4, I feel, this game hits that sweet spot of still having a gloomy, macabre, and scary atmosphere but having just enough action, and cheesiness to feel like a fun action movie. With the remake, it adds a bit to the horror side to maybe appease the fans that felt Resident Evil 4 was responsible for taking the series in a more action route, but still having the one-liners from Leon, the quirky merchant, roundhouse kicks, and suplexes to appease the fans of the original Resident Evil 4 who found those aspects charming. It's also challenging but never too hard to the point where you want to throw in the towel, showcasing another great aspect of balance at work (keep in mind I played it on the normal difficulty).
This remake further cements Resident Evil 4 as the best Resident Evil game and possibly still one of the best games of all time. While it's not a 100% improvement, it's enough to the point where I don't feel like I need to revisit the original to fill a void. It also won't have the same impact on the genre the original had, but that still doesn't devalue its improvements in my eyes.
Do I still think Resident Evil 4 needed a remake? No.
Am I happy that it got one and with how it turned out? Absolutely.
If you're a Resident Evil fan of any of the games in the series, definitely give this game a chance. Seriously though Capcom, while you got lucky this time, just remake Code Veronica next time please.
Final Score: 9.5/10
