| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Other | 9.50 |
| Overall | 9.50 |
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This is basically a dream come true, my favorite action game of all time in VR. I have been a VR adopter since the rift came out, I’ve played many many different VR games and in general while there are standouts most games feel like test runs for bigger games. I always think “when are we getting games as long and well designed as RE4”, well when RE4 hits VR! While it’s not a perfect VR translation it still gives the player every moment of this legendary game with great motion controls and immersion only possible in VR. Being in VR means this is now in first person with all the usual VR mechanics of reaching on your person to pull out guns, knives, grenades and so on. Not all VR gun games feel the same so I’m happy to report RE4 VR is one of the best feeling shooters in VR. The guns have proper feel and shot reactions and any person who played RE4 knows it has some of the best enemy hit reactions. This game feels amazing to play, enemies will be coming from all sides and now you can simply turn your body and shoot anywhere you can aim. Stuff that was impossible like aiming straight down a ladder from a window is now possible. You can dual wield weapons like a handgun on one hand and an SMG on the other. Rifles enter a zoomed view when you pull the rifle up to your eyes, your hands now have to be steady for a good shot, it actually makes the rifle harder to use. Melee is still in and works the same way as the standard version which means every time you do melee the camera pulls back and you see Leon do the action, it’s slightly immersion breaking but still useful. Now you can have two guns on you for instant use, a big change as you could only have one and needed to enter a menu to change. The suitcase is still there in all it’s organizing glory but I found switching weapons to be a bit more cumbersome when entering the menu so in a weird way the change to having two weapons on Leon made me switch through all weapons less. I actually found myself not using melee as much mainly because of the biggest change, in this game you can move any way you want even while aiming. I always argued that moving and shooting would break RE4, it’s designed for tank controls and making every shot count because you can’t move. VR though adds a new element of being in those situations while having to manually reload, or having to be aware of enemies around you by physically moving around. I think these new actions help balance out the added mobility. Still this game is easier in general, especially the boss battles. Certain rooms that would give me trouble in the base game like the giant water room in the castle or the two garrador room in the tower are now a cake walk with the added mobility. Bosses are easier in general because so many of them have slow attacks which gave the player enough time to slowly move out of the way, now you can just backpedal while unloading on them. It also means the very deliberate level design can be ignored in certain areas because now you can just constantly move and get away from enemies when before the level was the key to survival. I found more cramped levels like the cabin were much harder than wide open areas just because the movement was constrained so it forced focus on good aim. All that being said I had an absolute blast playing this. Instead of always needing to carefully plan every shot and find the right spot to stand, it became about having fun with aiming, how can I best eliminate all these enemies. Every time I would hear that click of an empty gun right as an enemy was on top of my I would panic a little, not easy to get some shells and manually put it into the shotgun then pump it as a chainsaw is about to kill you. Those are the moments of brilliance that the standard version doesn’t have. Even though boss battles are easier being face to face to some of them enhances the experience. Seeing El Gigante tower over you is a sight to behold. Being chased down a corridor by the freaky Verdugo is adrenaline pumping. I loved everything about the Krauser battle, one time he popped out of a corner right into my face, I can’t stress how different that is from a regular screen. One boss I feel benefited from VR the most and that’s Del Lago mainly cause it’s on a boat so the new movement as no effect on the fight. Being on that boat, on that massive lake, the sense of scale is stunning. Having to manually reload the harpoon and shoot it at that enormous monstrosity is so much fun. There is a setting that limits strafing so that the controls are more like the traditional tank controls, you can still move and shoot but only forward and backward and movement is slowed while aiming. I am trying this mode now on the Pro difficulty level and it feels much more like traditional RE4, I’m really pleased this option is in. I don’t know if I would advise new players to play that way as the biggest complaint for new players playing RE4 is the movement but for veterans who want more traditional movement this is perfect. For all RE4 VR gets right there are big limitations where it’s easy to see this game was not made for VR. Many actions pull you out of the game and enter a cutscene which happens with you in some black void watching a massive screen playing the cutscene. This is fine for story cutscenes but it happens in the middle of the action when you push a ladder, or when there is a small cut to enemies coming into a room. The aforementioned Del Lago fight gets interrupted a bunch when the boat gets turned around. It’s not the worst thing but VR is all about immersion and this clearly breaks that often. If you have played the best VR has to offer like Half -Life Alyx or Walking Dead you will notice a big difference between how those worlds are built from the ground up for VR, with how nearly every object can be interacted with, every action is possible in VR. RE4 is not that, some actions are VR some are not. Hands will go right through walls, tables, animals and so on. There is no ducking, you can’t duck to avoid a thrown axe or get under laser wires. QTEs are all done with movements during a cutscene on the screen, I feel there was an opportunity to do fun stuff with actual VR controls. I get it, this is a translation of an old game but it’s jarring to see some aspects translated to VR well and others totally ignored. My biggest gripe is the missing content, mainly mercenaries mode. Mercenaries alone would be better than most VR games, its a perfect mode for VR. The Ada side conteng whatever but Mercs is such a staple and adds so much replay value why cut it. I hope it gets added on later. I don’t want to get into the whole “censorship” thing, I think there isn’t much to worry about. As for the technical side of things it’s an old outdated game but RE4 never looked better (outside modding). The models look crips and clear, it runs at a perfect frame rate for VR. Textures are clearly old, you will be reminded that you are in a game from 2005 but hey that’s part of the charm. I played this using the base Quest sound and ehh, I miss using the rifts built in 3D audio headphones, this game just doesn’t have that clear 3D audio the best VR games do. To me RE4 is still a 10/10, it will always be a 10. It is still the greatest action game ever made. There is nothing on VR that matches this games level design, enemies encounters, variety in situations, it’s head and shoulders ahead of the competition. To me it’s easily the best game available on VR but it’s not the best showcase for VR. HL Alyx to me represents the future of the medium but I felt that game was lacking in excitement and in general was a lot more simple than HL2 or RE4 from an action perspective. I wish RE4 would have been more adapted to VR but hey this effort is still great and RE4 is there in its entirety for the most part. No other game this year has pleased me as much as this. This is a game I know like the back of my hand and yet it felt new for the first time in years. It never lets up, every room, every encounter is so good, I wanted to keep playing because I couldn’t wait to see how the next area translates to VR. Being in the sewers with the invisible novistadors hunting me was so creepy. The hedge maze with those wolves jumping out is the proper amount of scary. Hell even being Ashley and being able to physically grab those lanterns to throw at the enemies is fun. It’s a non stop stream of greatness, VR games generally are not this good. I can’t recommend it enough, it’s one of the greatest games ever made in a way that makes it feel like a different experience. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 05 Nov 2021 17:12:11
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