Resident Evil 4 (Remake) Review – Refinement, Not Reinvention – Game Informer

There are two completely totally different audiences for the Resident Evil 4 remake: those that have played the original recreation, perhaps multiple and even dozens of times during the last 18 years, and people who have never performed it, however want to know what the fuss is all about. Let’s begin with the previous: unequivocally, if you are a fan of Resident Evil 4, you have to play the remake. It’s not solely one of the best motion video games in recent reminiscence; it’s the best Resident Evil since, nicely, probably the original Resident Evil 4. 

From the jump, the remake overwhelms you with hazard. The faithfully recreated “village” part throws dozens of enemies your way, requiring you to handle the quite a few fight scenarios or die rapidly. As it was in 2005, it’s a punch-in-the-face type of opening, the game telling you that is how it will be from right here on out; get used to it. Running for my life, terrified of the chainsaw-wielding maniac chasing me by way of crowds of nasty folks, all of the while desperately shooting at enemy kneecaps, parrying incoming projectiles, and operating in and out of homes as my scarce ammo depend will get closer and nearer to zero was tense in a method this degree hasn’t been since I was a kid. That the game maintains this tight-gripped action till the credit roll is a feat of sport pacing. For the primary time since 2005, Resident Evil 4 is scary again, and I could not be happier. It’s unbelievable. 

Gameplay has been expanded – specifically, you presumably can stroll and goal your gun on the identical time now, in addition to the aforementioned parrying and new melee choices – which makes the already-great bones of RE4 feel modern and contemporary. Despite my constant anxiety, I had so much fun that I welcomed each major combat encounter. Especially by the time I unlocked the more powerful weapons – shoutout to my semi-automatic shotgun – blowing via scores of enemies felt fantastic. And do not get me began on the game’s brutally gross gore system; blasting off heads and arms and even shooting enemies completely in half as blood flows like confetti out of a pinata has not often looked this fantastically disgusting. I am a freak, and the Resident Evil 4 remake indulged my sick love of virtual gore. 

From a visual and stage design perspective, the Resident Evil 4 remake knows precisely when to be nostalgic and when to be recent. As a lifelong fan of the original, seeing a few of my favourite levels and combat arenas recreated 1:1 on the PlayStation 5 was novel and fun. That the next room could be an entire remix or reinvention of a special area, nevertheless, saved me on my toes, as if I knew the topic of the portray, however all the small print had been in new colours. Nevertheless, I welcomed every new addition as much as I did the outdated standbys. 

Perhaps probably the most elbow grease went into rewriting the sport’s story, although the narrative beats are all the identical. You play as Leon Kennedy, now a particular agent of the United States president sent to a remote Spanish village in search of the president’s lacking daughter, Ashley Graham. At that village, all hell breaks loose. You’re soon confronted by scores of indignant locals contaminated by a parasite, Las Plagas, making them simple for the game’s main antagonist to control without fully shedding their mental colleges. Leon’s nightmare takes him via the remote village, into the bowels of a baroque citadel hoarded over by a ghoulish Napoleon wannabe, and then finally onto the shores of a army stronghold. All the whereas, monsters, gore, and dying comply with. 

It’s campy, goofy, and over-the-top. And a lot of that appeal is retained right here, but with the addition of a lot sharper writing and better characterization. Ashley, in particular, has been rewritten as an actual character with feelings, intelligence, and charisma. That different characters do not sexually harass her like they did within the original can also be an enormous improvement. Across the board, the cast has received an overhaul, making the protagonists more likable, the enemies more menacing, and the twisting threads of the plot somewhat more coherent – all the whereas by no means shedding what made the unique story so fun within the first place. 

I may write a metaphorical book about all of the ways I love the Resident Evil 4 remake, however it might be simplest to tell you to look down at the rating at the bottom of this web page and sum it up like this: should you loved Resident Evil 4 prior to now, you’ll love this remake. Period. Point clean. It is a love letter to a sport that followers know up, down, left, proper, and center, a devoted recreation at all the best moments, however with professional refinements and trendy sensibilities. It’s additionally a radical reimagining when it must be, a wonderfully enjoyable game fully confident in its capacity to remake top-of-the-line video games of all time. 

What it lacks, nonetheless, is context. And that’s necessary. 

Quickly following any point out of the unique Resident Evil 4 is dialogue of its camera. Rather than the fixed digicam angles of its predecessors, the original recreation positioned the digicam behind Leon’s again. Most importantly, he was slightly off-center to the left. When he aimed, you seemed immediately over his right shoulder. This perspective is, of course, the template for almost every third-person online game that got here after. Resident Evil 4 changed the form of the sport business. 

As nice as this remake is – and let me reiterate, it is incredible – I do not think it’ll present you why Resident Evil 4 was so groundbreaking. It just can’t. There’s no universe the place this recreation will ever be as necessary as the sport it remakes. It can’t come out in the same time, space, and context as the primary Resident Evil 4. Somewhat ironically, it’s solely pretty a lot as good as it’s now because it exists in a post-Resident Evil 4 world. And so, whereas I think it can present you why Resident Evil 4 was fun, goofy, and endearing, when you’re someone excited about just why this previous recreation has such an everlasting legacy – especially one robust sufficient to warrant such a massively costly remake – your finest bet is to nonetheless play the unique, to try to put your mind in a pre-Resident Evil 4 world to know how that sport might change every little thing. Or better, you’ll be able to watch a few minutes of a Let’s Play or read one of many hundreds of articles about it. That will make taking part in the remake a much richer expertise; you presumably can see many years of lessons discovered all through the game industry about tips on how to make a third-person motion game thrilling, fun, and mechanically effective reapplied to the source materials. It’s a refinement, not a reinvention. And that house is probably the most fascinating place this remake can occupy. 

The Resident Evil 4 remake is about every little thing I may’ve wanted. But importantly, it does not overwrite its predecessor. If anything, this new version reinforces why the unique Resident Evil 4 is a recreation folks should still search out, play, or no less than watch and find out about. But as a love letter to one of many greatest video games of all time, as a brand new historical artifact that reinforces why the supply material was so landmark within the first place, this new trek by way of the Spanish countryside is pretty much as good because it will get and makes a fantastic sport that significantly better.