| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | 9.70 |
| Overall | 9.70 |
|
When Capcom announced they were remaking Resident Evil 4 my first reaction was “why?” To me the original is a perfect game, I still replay it regularly, we just got an amazing VR version of it, why would I want a remake. The truth is more RE4 is always a good thing, the fear was if this remake would cut content like the previous remakes did, would it feel like a shell of its former self. On the flip side there is an entire new generation of players that maybe find the originals controls to be way to ancient and unplayable, a new game with modern controls would fix that. Could the team that somehow made Resident Evil 2 better, do it again with Resident Evil 4? Well they came damn near close, this remake is a faithful adaptation that nails everything that made the original a masterpiece while adding new surprises and a reworked combat system which adds depth and accessibility. The way the game controls and feels was always going to be the hardest part because tank like controls and no movement while aiming is not acceptable. The remake controls like most modern TPSs, complete with a crouch button and even stealth kills. Immediately any veteran of the original will notice the added weight to Leon’s movement, after playing through the game three times I feel this was a smart compromise so that Leon can now move and shoot but it never loses that feeling of having every shot matter, of needing to use the environment to get around. All of Leon’s movements are tied to an amazing animation set which subtlety reacts to sometimes the most minute details, for instance if an axe flies right past Leon’s head he will flinch. If an enemy grazes his side he will stumble a bit to the other side. Leon will adjust his gun stance when an enemy is up close allowing better aim. So while Leon might not be as snappy as he was in the original every movement he does feels real, feels like it has actual physics and momentum behind it. It takes a little while to get used to but now I can appreciate how the way Leon moves ties to this games combat the same way no moving and shooting was designed into the combat of the original. By far the biggest change to the combat is the introduction of a knife parry system tied with knife durability. This added layer of skill comes very much in handy against the much more aggressive enemies. Almost every attack can be parried and those that can’t can probably be dodged with a crouch. A successful parry will deflect an incoming attack, but a perfect parry (exact timing on hit) will open the enemy up to an attack. Stealth knife kills and stun stabs are now possible and many times are instant kills but at the expense of the knife’s durability, at first they will break pretty quickly, upgrades can make them last longer. I love the added skill layer this presents, do you go for the instant kill but risk losing your knife meaning no more parries? If you are good enough to parry most attacks that means you can be more aggressive up close. I haven’t done a knife only run yet but I’m sure it’s a complete blast now with all the added uses of the knife. That said when it came down to the most intense action I almost always reverted to what worked for me in RE4, shooting people in the face! Yes I can sneak around and thin the borders with a few stealth kills, I can parry attacks now, I almost forgot all of that because I instinctually shoot, stun, melee and reposition. That’s all present in this remake but with some noticeable tweaks, mainly your shots aren’t always instant stuns. This will be a point of contention, especially on higher difficulties where enemies are tank like, not having your shots have the reaction you expect is never fun but it’s part of the new balance this combat system has to accommodate all the new elements. On standard it takes about two shots to a head or leg to put in an enemy into a melee stun, on high difficulties it can take 4-6 shots to get to that state. Reactivity is a huge reason why the original works so well, every shot stagger a standard ganado, now it might cause them to pause but it won’t instantly give you a melee opportunity. To be fair the original could get repetitive with the constant flow of shoot, stun, melee; the devs clearly wanted the combat to be much more frantic and rely on weapon selection and smart tactics rather than the no damage frame melee attacks that usually acted like a get out of a bind for free button which worked for the original but once again I think this new change works great for the remake. For all these new mechanics to work well the enemies had to become more aggressive and that they are. These ganado will charge at you with pitchforks, they will constantly try to grab you from all sides and hold you down while another enemy hits you. They still throw all kinds projectiles which can be shot out of the air or their hands, my favorite thing to do with dynamite. Hordes of enemies can seemingly reach 20 or so enemies on screen at once, all with better pathway tracking and tactics to kill you. Much like how Leon has a bunch of new animations, the ganado were surprising me throughout the game. They will duck when an enemy behind them wants to throw an object, they will bob and weave to avoid being shot, some even do a throw fake out pretending to throw an object only to hold onto it to disrupt the players timing. There are few things more satisfying in gaming than blowing chunks off of a charging enemy. Ganado explode in various ways, torsos can be split in half, arms can be torn off, heads still pop gloriously. The heavy weapon carrying enemies like the chainsaw guy or garradors can dismember other enemies around them making running through a crowd of ganado while being chased a good strategy. Watch as these enemies tear through the crowd, limbs being torn asunder in every direction. If enemies aren’t a real threat and fun to kill, the action doesn’t work and once again RE4 nails both those aspects, I dare say even better than the original. A common complaint I see from other fans of the original is that the enemies are too aggressive resulting in a lot of unfair stun locking of Leon which results in frustrating moments, especially in higher difficulties. I have played this game in all three difficulty modes, it can get extremely tough, this game is much harder than the original. Depending on the player that’s a good thing, for me it absolutely is, I want a new challenge, I don’t need the same challenge level from nearly 20 years ago. That said if a person’s enjoyment of the original came from the precision and control that game gives over every encounter then I can see how being out of control, having your shots not having much an impact as tanky enemies constantly grab Leon, can ruin the feel of the combat. I personally love that this combat system provides a hearty challenge, and I feel on standard it feels a lot like the original for those that want that game flow. Part of a remakes charm is how much it plays on expectations, how faithful is it versus being too different. This remake tows the line between being copying what came before and being original, better than any remake since the RE1 remake. The developers knew exactly when to keep a location and combat encounter identical to the original because it’s iconic and perfectly designed in the first place. The opening village is practically 1:1 to the original, of course it should be. But then even in that perfect recreation there are a few tweaks here and there than make such a difference. That bell tower that allowed players to hideout, well now the floor collapses, no more cheesing the encounter. There are new paths to take and now the chainsaw man can tear down a part of the level to block a road. Small changes to recognizable locations happen all over the game, it keeps the essence of that perfect level design from the original and somehow improves on it in many areas. The legendary cabin siege section is more intense than ever before now allowing the player to use wood paneling to barricade multiple windows which is needed because enemies come in from more locations. A new balcony in the second floor makes knocking down one of the ladders a risky move as it puts Leon in a choke point that enemies can easily clog up. The siege culminates with a new brute enemy bursting into the cabin and having to be dispatched. Sometimes a location gets a complete overhaul like the mine cart section which becomes a show stopping setpiece. I can go on forever detailing section by section how that encounter was either better designed or lost something from the original. On the whole most of the changes to the existing locations from the original are improvements. These are mostly because of smart level tweaks to remove annoying sections (like Leon and Ashley having to stand on two separate buttons in the water hall) or adding new threats at unexpected times. The real debate comes when we talk about the new encounters versus the ones that were removed. This is where the remake lost most of its points for me because every time I expected a certain room or encounter and it wasn’t there, it hurt me. Way too many times I would be upset at a missing room, bummed that one of my favorite combat encounters is missing, wondering if they would replace it with something more creative often time it would not be replaced with anything better. The castle is the biggest offender with many rooms being cut or consolidated into one larger encounter that I feel didn’t have the uniqueness of what came before. I can say the length of the game is the same if not even bigger than the original. This means that for every cut encounter there was something different to replace it. There are a few areas that have totally new setpieces, by far the standout being the one on the castle walls which was extremely exciting. For every one of those is a remixed room that is still very intense but not as creative as the encounters it replaced. For instance in the OG, the room with red priest who has the key where he runs around and eventually a turret and RPG carrying enemies come out of the center, it’s like 3 minutes long but multilayered in its complexity. That is replaced with room where the red preist, now with new powers that instantly burst plagas out of monks heads, is on a balcony and you have to navigate a tight room filled with enemies and climb your way to the balcony, it’s a lot more straight forward. No sewers, no lava room, the Salazar statue encounter was removed, that’s just a small amount of the removed sections. But again within the new areas are some stand out moments like the much improved Ashley gameplay section. Ultimately I feel this critique comes down to how much you know and love the original, if you don’t remember every encounter you won’t know what you are missing. Unlike some of the other RE remakes, nearly every single enemy is represented with some cool upgrades. Part of the fun is seeing a classic enemy and then they do something unexpected, usually tied to being more aggressive and dangerous. Bosses got some of these upgrades, I love the collection of RE4 bosses and overall they are better in the remake. A few are practically identical like Del Lago and Verdugo, but my favorites are the ones with better level design and more elaborate fights. The best upgrades come from Salazar which went from one of the easiest most boring fights in the game to a far more menacing (and kind of annoying) boss. Saddler was a let down in the original, it’s much improved here, still not the best boss but at least it’s more involved and a proper threat as a final boss. The biggest omission of the remake is the lack of “It”, one of my favorite bosses from the original. It hurts to lose a boss especially a great one but overall I was very pleased with the bosses and enemy representation in the game. The merchant upgrade and treasure system got an overhaul as well, empowering the player to have more options. Ammo can be crafted with resources that are now part of the random loot found all over the game. This does lead to some more menu interaction but it allows you to pick and choice which ammo you want to use at what time adding a layer of strategy. Treasures are more involved as most treasures now have ruby slots that can be filled in different ways to increase the money imbursement. The merchant now has new collection of items sold for special currency that is earned by doing multiple side quests littered through the game. Some of these side quests take queues from the original like break blue medallions. It gives the player reasons to go to previous locations to fight a new super version of an enemy. There are a few too many kill rats missions, but on the whole the missions give the player something more to do which is always a good thing especially when it involved a new enemy. I just wished the went further with more creative missions rather than killing rats. The new currency is used to buy some quality items, some new like the carry case which imbues your suitcase with a perk like get more red herb drops, or more resources. Tied to that system is the new figurines which offer additional perks, up to three can be attached to your suitcase at any timing giving perks like discounts to merchant sales or having more ammo when you craft. These figures are earned in the much improved shooting gallery mini game which returns in glorious fashion. This mini game is way more involved with better missions and requirements to earn medals which can be used to earn those figures. It was a fun mini game in the original but now it’s like a whole gun shooting puzzle on top of skill based. Some of the missions require figuring out the right weapon to use and the exact place to use them as some missions have shot limits. There are special medallions to hit, these can be in precarious positions where you have to commit to a shot that might slow down the run or waste more ammo. I wasted a good three hours on this mini game the first go, I was hooked. I love how all this new side content all feeds into perks and customizable loadouts to allow the player to focus on the weapons they enjoy best. Speaking of weapons there are more than ever! Every gun from the original is back in some form and now there are more options. There is a new SMG which is more rifle like and can attach different scopes making it a good alternative to the sniper rifle. On the flip side there is a new auto rifle that takes up sniper ammo but fires as fast as an SMG, this can do massive damage fast but ammo can be harder to find. There is a cross bow which serves as your makeshift mine gun as you can affix mines to the arrows. This weapon seems weak at first but with some clever mine placement you can obliterate major enemies and even bosses before they can even attack. It seems the mantra of this remake was build on what came before and offer more. There are more bonus weapons to unlock as well, and more bonus costumes that alter the way the game can be played like an armor suit for Ashley. The best part is every gun has its use, they feel impactful and it still has the best reload animations. One of the coolest features that the community has been discovering the more they play is how many parts of the game has skips. In an almost MGS sort of way, when you think “if I use this weapon on that, would that cause a new interaction” and here many times it does. I love when games go the extra step to hide secrets out in the open, when experimentation leads to sort of rewards. Many bosses have secret weaknesses. Certain setpieces have these gated moments that could be quickly skipped with the right fire power. One of the earliest examples of this comes in the village attack where if you have a weapon with enough of a shit distance you can hit the bell to make the enemies stop and go in the church instantly. The game is filled with little shortcuts like that which has made speed running the game an absolute joy, I can’t wait to see the strategies that come about. I was afraid that this remake would lose a lot of the charm the original story had, never taking itself too seriously and serving as a sort of homage to silly American action movies, best personified by the one liners Leon would deliver. I didn’t think the Leon voice actor from RE2 would be able to portray a wide cracking action star, well thankfully I was wrong. Leon and voice actor Nick Apostolides, have all the confidence and drop quality one liners throughout. On the whole the story has toned down the silly stuff, mainly because the villains don’t have a fake codec to talk to Leon, so they aren’t as present. Salazar sounds and acts like Salazar but so many of the best banter is missing like my favorite “your right hand comes off?”. That said Leon still has a ton of killer lines, I found myself laughing quite a bit. Ashley gets the biggest improvement of any character, she goes from an annoying helpless damsel to in this game a real person so grows in confidence as the game goes on. She is extremely charming and likeable, Leon and her have great chemistry and by the end it feels like a true partnership rather than one carrying the other to safety. Luis also gets more screen time and some fleshing out on his storyline, his actions are felt more throughout the game as this game provides a narrative that makes a little more sense. Ada has a new voice actress but remains as sassy mysterious as ever. Krauser gets more backstory, on the whole he sounds and acts the same. Do I think the better individual performances make for a better overall story than the original, yes BUT I think the original understood the homage it was going for more and felt like a more cohesive tone from top to bottom. Graphically this game is gorgeous with incredible lighting and gore effects. I am shocked at the amount of enemies that end up on screen, many times with explosions and more happening and it all stays stable. I know there are some performance issues depending on settings and platform, to me on the PS5 I had a smooth experience from start to finish. I have to praise the music which is a step up from the original. The OG had some catchy tunes but it was sometimes repetitive, the score feels grander in scope. It’s most apparent during boss battles or large setpieces where a full orchestra could be heard giving those moments the gravitas they deserve. The question remains is the remake better than the original? I think we will find the split to be a lot closer to 50/50 than I would have ever dreamed, and that 50% won’t be because so many utterly hate it and others hate the original, it’s because they are so close in quality that the tipping point will be your personal admiration for the original. If you were not there for it’s release in 2005 there is no way I can describe how mindblowing RE4 was, there was no game like it; nothing this remake could do could ever capture that feeling. To me this remake felt so close to the original that I many times felt I was going through the motions, now these are motions I love to replay, but as much as there was many new things to surprise me it never shocked me the way say RE2 remake did. The Resident Evil 2 remake fundamentally changed the core experience by the introduction of Mr. X stalking you and adjusting the threat level of all enemies, it felt like a true evolution on the old formula. That’s not happening here, this remake is not evolving the third person shooter in any way, it is refining a game that didn’t need much of any refinement but I can appreciate what it did. To answer my question to me personally it’s not better than the original, mainly because I like the flow of the encounters in that game more. That said if I go category by category which game does action better, does characters better, does enemy AI better… the remake wins the majority of those categories. It is a better action game mechanically, it’s more intense, offers more player choices, it’s a fantastic action game, one of the greatest of all time. I’m just comparing it to THE greatest of all time. I won’t argue with anyone that likes this version better, this remake is so well made, so respectful of the original that I am just overjoyed that a whole new generation of players get to experience it in some form. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:25:36
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 08:13:42
I'm so excited for the Resident Evil 4 remake! The original game is one of my all-time favorites, and I can't wait to see how Capcom brings it to life for a new generation of gamers. One of the things I'm most looking forward to is the updated
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:54:36
Hey look, someone's trying to raise the SEO score for their place of business. Neat!
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