The original Resident Evil 4 was probably my first introduction to horror games back when I played it on the PS2. 18 years later and naturally the remake was one of my most anticipated games this spring and boy does it deliver. I had so much fun that I finished the game over two, six hour sessions over a weekend. It’s only April but this is already a serious contender for my 2023 GOTY.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is like a ride at an amusement park with no boring parts. A lot of times when I’m playing an open world tower climbing simulator™ I find myself wondering what purpose a certain part of the game serves, whether it be pointless travel from point A to B, or tedious exposition by unmemorable characters. RE4 has none of that, it spanned roughly 12 hours on my first play through and its a consistent stream of fun sequences after another. There are enemy swarms to gun down, simple puzzles to mix-up the pace, sections veiled with horror elements, and yup even escort sequences.

Video Games are Serious Business

I think anyone who has played the original RE4 will love how campy it comes across like a b-tier horror flick. Leon spouts corny one-liners and enemies engage with villain-y dialogue and contraptions (like Salazar’s double-story statue of himself). The remake takes on a much more serious tone where the stakes are much more believable than the original. Going through a village of religious fanatics is significantly scarier when you come across the ritual sacrifice of hikers. The general frequency of jokes and absurdity have been dialed down to create an action game with the same tension as RE7 or 8.

That’s not to say the RE4 doesn’t retain any of its humorous elements, if anything the way the game takes itself seriously juxtaposes against the comedy to a bigger effect. It’s still possible to suplex cultists and chuck eggs at demonic parasites. Otherwise unintentionally hilarious moments include early on when you kill the first couple of villagers who attack you in their home. There’s a thin veil of self-defense that Leon can lean on however that all goes out the window when around 10 minutes in, the game allowed me to start stealth kill unsuspecting villagers before they posed any threat. Leon pretty much discovers and annihilates a small civilization in a day which is infinitely more productive than my average works schedule.

Quality of Life

Aside from the shift in tone, the change in mechanics are generally what you’d expect out of a remake. Tank controls are gone, no need to enter the inventory for every weapon swap, the Island (which most people consider to be the boring part) is revamped and Leon can now parry with his knife. As far as remakes go, it’s virtually a straight upgrade for most design elements. If I had to pick though, I’d say the boss fight designs are the weakest link. Without spoiling much, the gameplay loop of the fights aren’t particularly interesting. They can basically be reduced to 1. Keep shooting (preferably at an eyeball if it has one) 2. When the boss seems like it’s doing something pick a direction and move. The wind up animations of moves also feel very homogenous and less arcade-y like the original so the fights didn’t feel very strategic at all, felt like I was mag dumping until they stopped moving I guess. As for the performance I had one crash early on when I enabled Ray Tracing but after turning it off, the game ran smoothly till the end, keeping a constant 60+ fps on a 3060Ti.

From Horror to Arcade

Challenge runs are a staple to the Resident Evil series which unlock bonus weapons and attire with special effects. The requirements go along the line of beating X difficulty under Y hours. Although it’s clear these targets are designed to breath some replayability into a somewhat short game, I personally have a difficult time getting into these New Game+ runs because the scariness is wiped out. The first time going through a dilapidated torture dungeon is terrifying, but not so much when you already know how everything plays out; The game even encourages you to race through objectives like a speedrun. The arcade-like challenges might be your thing, idk, but most of my enjoyment came from the curated package that was the initial playthrough.

In an era of games polluted with technical or gameplay hindrances, RE4 is an insanely consistent 12 hours of pure action horror.

Verdict

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5