TECH

Resident Evil 4 (2023)

It’s a good action game, that’s for sure. But is it a good Resident Evil game? Raccoon City is left behind, as are the slow-moving zombies we like to decapitate with a rifle tucked just under their chins. And so we are left with a game that, apart from some familiar characters, has little in common with what came before. While perhaps Resident Evil 4 was always inevitable; something had to be done to keep the series fresh, right? Moreover, the emphasis of the series has always been on action horror. Resident Evil 4 just shifts the balance even more in the direction of action.

On Capcom-om going back and remaking the earlier entries in the series, refreshing the gameplay and making them more consistent in terms of tone, character appearances, etc., we wondered how the company would approach Resident Evil 4. Will they make big changes and throw off some fans like did with the Resident Evil 3 remake? Or will it stay true to the excellent reimagining of Resident Evil 2? The answer lies somewhere in between. Most of this Resident Evil 4 remake will be very familiar to fans, but there are some significant changes that will keep fans on their toes.

For starters, there are the controls. Leon is much more agile this time; moving around in the original game was a chore thanks to the tank-like controls, but now you can easily change direction and find some space. Additionally, Leon can now slide sideways, and move forward and backward while shooting, which is a lifesaver. And that’s just the beginning. How about being able to parry certain knife attacks or being able to sneak? The latter opens up some welcome cloaking possibilities. See an enemy in front of you who hasn’t realized you’re there yet? Sneak up behind him and stab him a bit. Not only does it make you look cool, but it also saves ammo.

To ensure that Leon cannot easily overpower his enemies, they have also been upgraded. They are faster and more aggressive, which forces you to work harder to avoid their attacks and destroy them permanently. One of the strengths of the original game – the variety of enemies – also remains impressive. You really have to be careful and for some enemies use the environment to your advantage or choose your tools carefully. But overall, the combat feels more dynamic, which can only be a good thing.

Although the gameplay elements have changed, this is still very reminiscent of Resident Evil 4. For example, if you knock an opponent off balance by shooting them in the legs, you can deliver a powerful roundhouse or even a suplex if you get close enough. Leon isn’t a rock-smashing jerk, but he’s not afraid to use his body as a weapon either. However, some absurdities are slightly toned down, which makes this remake somewhat more realistic. All button press events have also been removed. Good decision, we say. But this is a game that still likes to have fun. It’s a B-movie in video game form. Albeit one with a significant budget.

What hasn’t changed is the gameplay. Arriving in a rural European village, Leon, now in the role of a special agent with years of advanced training, is tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter who has been kidnapped. But of course, you guessed it, things quickly go wrong. The local population seems a bit strange and attacks him at first sight. And so it soon becomes a much more complex mission than you expected. By the end, you will have already left the village, conquered the castle and fought your way across the fortified island. Meanwhile, you’ll face terrifying insectoid creatures and followers of a strange parasite-infested order.

While the village section of the game doesn’t come as much, if any, surprise to those who have played the original version of the game many times over the past 18 years, the later areas have changed a lot. It’s inevitable that some fans will be unhappy that maybe their favorite encounter or room has been removed from the game or changed in a way that they no longer recognize it, but in the context of this masterpiece, everything flows well and makes sense. Thanks to the improved controls, it’s hard to even be angry when the game forces you to look after Ashley, the president’s daughter, at various points throughout the gameplay. Although it can be frustrating when she’s caught and carried away while you’re fighting a hideous flesh monster that just won’t kill you.

There are some things about this masterpiece that frustrated us. One of them is avoiding enemy attacks. Some attacks you can parry, some you can jump over, some you can dodge by running at the right time, and some you have to press a button when the dodge warning appears on the screen. However, it’s not always clear what you’re supposed to do, so on the first playthrough it sometimes feels like you’re just absorbing damage. Given the focus on action, perhaps a dodge button would be more appropriate than a hide button.

Ammo is another thing that has caused frustration. Resident Evil 4 has that way of making it easy to feel like you’re constantly on the verge of running out of ammo for your favorite weapon, but you always have enough to get the job done. At least at a normal weight level. The problem is, there’s no point in fully upgrading a weapon to hold around 40 rounds if there’s no way you’ll actually have that much ammo at the same time. You can’t even buy ammo here. The only thing you can do is craft it and hope you get a wizard charm that you can attach to your weapon case that increases the amount of ammo you get when you do it.

Ultimately, this is everything you’d expect from a modern remake of Resident Evil 4. The story has been revamped to fit in with the other games in the series in a more interesting way, and the gameplay has been updated. It doesn’t feel as groundbreaking as the original 2005 game, but that’s to be expected. And even though we sometimes felt frustrated after an attack took away a large chunk of our health, with no sense of how to avoid it, it only made us want to play the game again to get better. And that speaks to the quality of the game: flaws and all, once you step into Leon Kennedy’s shoes, there’s not much else that provides the same kind of excitement.

mundophone