There are two completely different audiences for the Resident Evil 4 remake: those who may have played the original game multiple times, even dozens, over the last 18 years, and people who have never played it but want to know what the fuss is about is all over. Let’s start with the former: if you’re a fan of Resident Evil 4, you clearly need to play the remake. Not only is it one of the best action games in recent memory; It’s the best Resident Evil since the original Resident Evil 4.
From the jump, the remake overwhelms you with danger. The faithfully recreated “Village” section throws dozens of enemies your way, forcing you to complete numerous combat scenarios or die quickly. As in 2005, it’s a slap in the face opening, the game tells you it will be from now on; to get used to something. I’m running for my life, terrified of the chainsaw-wielding maniac chasing me through crowds of bad guys, all the while frantically shooting enemy kneecaps, parrying incoming projectiles, and dashing in and out of houses as my short ammo count grows ever closer Come Zero was tense in a way that this level hasn’t been since I was a kid. For the game to keep this tight action through the credits is a feat of game pacing. For the first time since 2005, Resident Evil 4 is spooky again and I couldn’t be happier. It’s incredible.
Gameplay has been expanded – you can now walk and aim your weapon at the same time, as well as the aforementioned parry and new melee options – making RE4’s already great bones feel modern and fresh. Despite my constant fear, I was having so much fun that I welcomed any major combat encounter. Especially when I unlocked the more powerful weapons – call in my semi-automatic shotgun – blowing through dozens of enemies felt awesome. And don’t get me started on the game’s brutally crude gore system; Blasting heads and arms and even shooting enemies in half while blood flows like confetti from a piñata has rarely looked so fantastically gross. I’m a freak, and Resident Evil 4 Remake has indulged my sick love of virtual blood.
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 new and fun to see some of my favorite levels and battle arenas recreated 1:1 on the PlayStation 5. However, that the next room could possibly be a complete remix or reinvention of another area kept me on my toes, as if I knew the subject of the painting but all the details were in new colors. Nevertheless, I welcomed every newcomer just as much as the old reserves.
Perhaps most of the elbow grease has gone into rewriting the game’s story, though the narrative beats are all the same. You play as Leon Kennedy, now a special agent to the President of the United States who has been sent to a remote Spanish village in search of the President’s missing daughter, Ashley Graham. All hell breaks loose in this village. You’ll soon face dozens of angry locals infected by a parasite, Las Plagas, making it easy for the game’s main antagonist to control them without completely losing their mental abilities. Leon’s nightmare takes him through the remote village, into the bowels of a baroque castle hoarded by a creepy Napoleon wannabe, and finally to the shores of a military fortress. Meanwhile, monsters, blood, and death follow.
It’s campy, goofy, and over-the-top. And much of that charm remains here, but with the addition of much sharper writing and better characterization. Ashley, in particular, was rewritten as a real character with emotion, intelligence, and charisma. Not having other characters sexually harass her like they did in the original is also a big improvement. The cast has been revamped across the board, making the protagonists more likable, the enemies more menacing, and the snaking threads of the plot a bit more coherent—all without losing what made the original story so funny in the first place.
I could write a metaphorical book about how much I love the Resident Evil 4 remake, but perhaps the easiest way would be to tell you to look at the score at the bottom of this page and sum it up like this: If you like Resident Evil have loved 4 in the past, you will love this remake. Period. pointless. It’s a love letter to a game fans know above, below, left, right and centre, faithfully recreating the original at all the right moments but with expert refinement and modern sensibility. It’s also a radical reinterpretation when need be, a wonderfully fun game that has full faith in remaking one of the greatest games of all time.
What is missing, however, is the context. And that’s important.
Any mention of the original Resident Evil 4 is quickly followed by a discussion of its camera. Instead of the fixed camera angles of its predecessors, the original game placed the camera behind Leon’s back. Most importantly, he was slightly off center on the left. When he took aim, you could see directly over his right shoulder. This perspective, of course, is the template for almost every third-person video game that has come after it. Resident Evil 4 changed the shape of the gaming industry.
As great as this remake is – and let me repeat, it’s incredible – I don’t think it will show you why Resident Evil 4 was so groundbreaking. It just can’t. There is no universe where this game will ever be as important as the game that makes it new. It can’t come out at the same time, in the same space, and in the same context as the first Resident Evil 4. Somewhat ironically, it’s only as good as it is now because it exists in a post-Resident Evil 4 world. Although I think it can show you why Resident Evil 4 was fun, silly, and adorable if you’re someone interested in why this ancient game has such an enduring legacy – particularly one strong enough to to justify such an enormous price Remake – Best still play the original, try to put yourself in a pre-Resident Evil 4 world to understand how this game could change everything. Or better yet, spend a few minutes watching a Let’s Play or reading one of the thousands of articles about it. This makes playing the remake a much richer experience; You can see decades of lessons learned across the gaming industry on how to make a third-person action game exciting, fun, and mechanically effective applied to the source material. It’s a refinement, not a reinvention. And this space is the most interesting place this remake can occupy.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is pretty much everything I could have asked for. But the important thing is that 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 seek, play, or at least watch and learn. But as a love letter to one of the greatest games of all time, as a new historical artifact that reinforces why the source material was so seminal in the first place, this new journey through the Spanish countryside is as good as it gets and makes a great game that much better.
