Perhaps one of the most influential games of all time, Capcom has effectively put a new spin on Resident Evil 4 with this remake. Less of a stand-alone recreation of the original, this entry is pretty much a reimagining of the classic action-horror title. Although it introduces some interesting new mechanics, its action take may leave it as a divisive entry for fans of the series.
He Resident Evil 4 redo is Resident Evil 4 in the spirit, but nothing else. It has a clear foundation for the game that it aspires to through familiar locations, level design, and enemies. But functionally, it feels more like an action game given the introduction of the parry system and stealth kills, which the game relies heavily on for a more balanced player experience. While you can still take down enemies via more traditional methods using the returning gun roster like Red9, Blacktail, and even Killer7, that’s clear. Resident Evil 4 it took over the parry system as part of its core gameplay mechanics.
Leon can stop almost anything. This includes chainsaws, as shown in a pre-launch trailer for the game, and most attacks are launched in their direction, as long as they are within melee range. Resident Evil 4 remake really wants you to enjoy it. This is arguably the best way to dodge damage and only requires a small portion of your knife’s stamina depending on its durability. But the timing of stops can sometimes be inconsistent, especially if there is input lag. Sometimes the windows feel generous, while other times they feel more precise, and some players may struggle until they get a good feel for this new mechanic. The problem is that most of the game feels balanced around parrying with knives, while forcing item durability on players, sometimes taking away their most useful tool.
Of course, you can repair your knife or even use other less powerful knives you find scattered around the game to defend yourself, but with one of the new version’s core mechanics tailored to that specific weapon, it feels like a mistake. give it durability. Arguably it adds tension throughout the game, but as Resident Evil 4 remake borders on action more than its predecessors, it creates an artificial level of difficulty that might be frustrating for some.
Fortunately, the game can be run without a knife. This will make your experience much more difficult, but the new version allows for a greater variety of builds. In fact, I spent most of the game without a sniper rifle, only buying one when I absolutely had to, which was for the last two hours of the game. Even then- there were ways to use it, so I mostly stuck to using Red9, Bolt Thrower, and Riot Gun; Riot Gun had been a staple for my games from the original. Resident Evil 4.
In addition, the areas seem tighter. There’s not the same kind of calm between the areas, with the village actually being an almost complete recreation of how it looked in the original. Although they took some liberties with the castle and the island, they probably feel better about it. That being said, players familiar with the original game might be surprised to find that the layout of these areas has changed, along with the respective bosses that spawn in these areas. Although that’s mostly relegated to how some fights play out mechanically.
One boss fight in particular can still be easily done with the knife, assuming it has full durability and you use it carefully. But I encountered several glitches during this specific fight that caused me to repeatedly restart from a checkpoint, as using the Bolt Thrower with its mine attachments caused the hitbox to miss. opponent against a wall, preventing the battle from starting the endgame. However, the pacing of combat has changed significantly to accommodate the wider range of movement offered by the new version. That being said, it sometimes seems like Leon moves much slower than some enemies. This wouldn’t be a problem if the game weren’t so stingy with invincibility frames, another issue that’s mitigated with enemy-based or attack-based parries. Or if your camera hasn’t sometimes slammed into a wall after being hit by an enemy. Luckily, this can mostly be fixed by changing the camera settings in the menu, but it can be annoying.
While significant changes were made to how Ashley functions as a companion character, I found myself missing how her AI worked in the original. (You can no longer tell her to stay anywhere other than telling her to hide in very select locations, but instead tell her to either stay close to you or stay behind. This makes her quite vulnerable.) A change that players will potentially be satisfied is that she no longer has a health pool, but can instead be incapacitated. This leaves her on the ground for players to pick her up before a second attack kills her instantly. There are no invincibility frames for this animation, so it can be removed by picking it up, sometimes resulting in your death. Also, like in the original, you can accidentally kill her by shooting enemies that take her away.
Another big change is the addition of “side quests” distributed by the merchant. Players can obtain spinels (which used to be a type of low rarity gem that could be sold) to trade with the merchant by completing side quest objectives to obtain valuable treasure maps or weapon upgrades. While interesting, locking things like powerful actions or scopes behind this piece feels like Resident Evil 4 remake forces you to use this system to simply play better. It feels like it’s inflating your time with the game if you don’t go to areas with some of these side quests in mind. Some upgrades will be quite expensive, making certain items only available in a second or third playthrough, depending.
That being said, one of the highlights of the game was the new soundtrack, which contains the same kind of dramatic elements of Resident Evil: Code Veronica (X), and characters like Luis received major rewrites to make them more interesting. It was probably one of the best things about the game, similar to how Capcom traded Carlos for the Resident Evil 3 new version, which made him feel like a more important character in the overall story. There are also winks to others resident Evil games, especially The Dark Side Chroniclesand a very overt reference to one of the original’s endings. resident evil 2. It was great to see them recognized. However, some narrative changes made the Resident Evil 4 the remake looks toothless compared to the original, which is a shame.
In an attempt to do Resident Evil 4 with more modern sensibilities, it remains what made the original game so great in the first place. Reload animations are noticeably less punchy, Leon’s character dialogue and writing feels inconsistent at times, and some characters’ voice performances are sorely lacking in comparison. It’s a good game and it’s passable in terms of quality, although it has great accessibility options, but it’s hard to keep up with something that rightfully changed the direction of both the survival genre and the game. third-person shooter when it was initially released. This will definitely appeal to gamers who loved the game so much. resident evil 2 there Resident Evil 3 new release, but fans of the original may feel lukewarm. Ultimately, it feels like a byproduct of the current state of the industry, where innovation comes second-hand for profit, which is ironic given the influence Resident Evil 4 had in the industry in general.
Resident Evil 4 The remake will arrive on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X and PC on March 24, 2023.