Resident Evil 4 Review – A Restrained REinvention

For years the Resident Evil series has been the standard bearer for video game remakes. Capcom boldly rebuilt games like Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 from the ground up, preserving their essential spirit while adding new content and sometimes radically updating their mechanics and design. It’s a formula that’s paid off multiple times. That said, updating Resident Evil 4 has been a tricky prospect even for Capcom. Of course, the game is widely beloved, but it also remains more modern-feeling and playable than most of the other RE titles that have been remade. It’s less obvious what about RE4 actually needs updating and the risk changes will upset fans is high.

Does the new Resident Evil 4 set a new standard for remakes? Or have the unique challenges of revisiting this classic proven too much for even the masters of remaking at Capcom to handle? As always, grab yourself some green herbs and get ready to delve in…

For those of you who have somehow never played Resident Evil 4 before, the game stars Leon Kennedy as he embarks on a mission to save the U.S. President’s daughter Ashley from a mysterious cult that’s overrun the most sunless and depressing Spanish village in existence. The village’s residents are infected by a mind-controlling parasite known as Las Plagas and its weapons potential has drawn more than just Leon to the region. Ghosts from his past, including his ex-special-forces comrade Jack Krauser and his mysterious on-again, off-again love interest Ada Wong are also in town pursuing shadowy interests.

Prior to release, Capcom promised the new Resident Evil 4 would deliver a more character-focused story, but don’t go in expecting RE by way of The Last of Us. Leon is still basically a block of wood with a nice haircut, and the plot is pulpy schlock. You do get more of a sense that Leon actually cares about Ashley this time around, rather than her just coming off like a kid tagalong, but the only cast member to receive a significant amount of new depth is Luis. In the original RE4, Luis just popped in and out of the story as the plot demanded, but now he’s more of a full-fledged character that accompanies Leon for a leg of his adventure. So, those Luis stans out there should be satisfied, but otherwise, don’t expect anything too bold in terms of story changes.

Presentation-wise, Resident Evil 4 is yet another impressive showcase of Capcom’s RE Engine tech. On PS5, I was able to play in Resolution Mode (which offers a full 4K picture via checkerboard rendering) with ray tracing turned on and the framerate remained solid. Perhaps not a full 60fps, but fairly consistently around the 50fps mark, which is impressive for a console game. I should also note I turned the fancy hair textures off as they cost more than ray tracing performance-wise and look kinda goofy. While Resident Evil 4 is an irrefutable technical achievement, artistically, it’s arguably a step below its predecessor Resident Evil Village. While some locations are undeniably gorgeous, others, particularly the opening village areas, are kind of grungy looking. This is largely down to the source material Capcom was working with, but I feel like they could have done a bit more to liven up the dingy browns of the early parts of the game.

In terms of gameplay, this is largely the Resident Evil 4 you remember. As ever, the game is a third-person over-the-shoulder shooter, with Leon being able to dole out Chuck-Norris-esque kicks and other melee attacks when enemies are stunned. The ability to parry attacks using his knife has been added to Leon’s arsenal, although frustratingly Capcom has also introduced a weapon degradation system, with blades breaking relatively quickly. This means you’ll often find yourself unable to parry in a tight spot, somewhat defeating the purpose of the system. Capcom probably could have pushed even further with the combat changes, as a dodge mechanic similar to the one added to Resident Evil 3 would have been appreciated. As is, some enemies and bosses will let you dodge situationally via a button press (despite previews claiming it to be the case, quick-time events haven’t been entirely eliminated from the game).

On top of feeling slightly dated mechanically, Resident Evil 4’s combat has other basic issues. Aiming is a bit sluggish compared to the original RE4 and movement can feel herky-jerky – Leon’s basic walking speed is very slow compared to his running speed, and there’s no middle ground between creeping around at a snail’s pace and charging around like a bull. Leon’s quick-turn ability also feels somewhat unreliable. I wouldn’t say the controls in the new Resident Evil 4 are bad, but they’re not 100 percent ideal and definitely take some getting used to.

Of course, the real meat of any remake is how the level design and set pieces have been reimagined, and on that front, the new Resident Evil 4 is a mixed bag. Like many hardcore Resident Evil fans, I’ve been fantasizing about an RE4 remake for years, and I’ll admit, faced with the reality of what Capcom has created, I was a bit disappointed. I’m sure people will put together video comparisons between the original RE4 and the remake and find a myriad of changes big and small, but much of the game doesn’t feel that different and the big moments aren’t elevated in a significant way. What RE fan hasn’t daydreamed about how much bigger and more daunting RE4’s iconic opening battle against the villagers could be on modern hardware? Or how crazy your first battle against El Gigante might be? Instead, both moments are more or less the same in the remake. Better looking, sure, but otherwise familiar. Heck, some of RE4’s big moments are actually a bit more subdued in the new game.

Also, time for some real talk – while Resident Evil 4 was a groundbreaking classic, it wasn’t a perfect game. It has more than its share of frustrating sections, many of which now return largely unchanged two decades later. That early castle bit where you have to run around dodging flaming catapult shots while fighting monks and trying to keep Ashley alive? It’s back, baby! Having to fight off waves of enemies while Ashley slowly turns cranks to raise a bridge? Still intact. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, a lot of these frustrating parts involve babysitting Ashley. She’s not quite as hapless as she was before, and thankfully she no longer has her own individual life bar to worry about, but escort missions have always sucked, and this game has a lot of them.

To be fair, while much of the new Resident Evil 4 hasn’t fundamentally changed, some sections have been renovated more extensively. This largely applies to later portions of the castle (roughly corresponding to Chapter 4 in the original RE4). I won’t go too deeply into the changes so you can go in fresh, but some of them are fairly significant and mostly for the better (I will say, the new minecart section kicks ass). After playing through this portion of the game, I couldn’t help but think about what could have been if the entire remake had received this kind of attention, particularly as I delved into the final Island section which is largely the same as it was before (and still kind of a grind).

Now, I have to say, while the tone of the last few paragraphs has been a bit negative, whether we’re talking about the original or the remake, Resident Evil 4 is still a very good game. I may be a bit disappointed by the scope and ambition of Capcom’s reimagining, but RE4 is still one of the most inventive and engaging action-horror games ever made, and this is a competent, technically-impressive new version of the game. The village battle may be largely the same, but it still gets your blood pumping. Same goes for the cabin defense sequence, your showdown with the village chief, or your first encounter with a Regenerator. The RE4 remake is still a fun, bombastic dose of mayhem, I just feel like it had the potential to be even better. It also suffers from the fact that Resident Evil Village was, in some ways, the bigger, crazier take on RE4 that this remake could have been.

That said, there’s still no other game in the series that matches Resident Evil 4 in terms of scope. The game’s campaign will still last you at least 15 hours and potentially more if you want to ferret out every secret and complete the newly added collection of sidequests. Of course, as usual, there’s a New Game+, multiple difficulties, and other unlockable extras to pursue after the credits roll. This is a nostalgia trip RE fans won’t be returning from any time too soon.

This review was based on a PS5 copy of Resident Evil 4 provided by publisher Capcom.

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 was the ultimate test of Capcom’s remake skills, and unfortunately, they buckled a bit under the pressure. The game suffers from minor mechanical issues and doesn’t reinvent or elevate the original material as boldly as some might have hoped it would. That said, Capcom hasn’t broken anything either as this is still a fun, inventive thrill ride that has been brought up to modern technical standards in striking fashion. The new Resident Evil 4 is well worth it for fans of the series, just keep your hopes slightly in check and you won’t be spin-kicked by inflated expectations.

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