The Resident Evil 4 remake pulls off the same great trick

in 2001, four years before the original resident Evil 4 was released, Capcom knew it had a problem. Producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said at the time that the Resident Evil series was stuck in a cookie-cutter mold. the whole concept of ” RE4 The game had to restart,” he said. “We wanted to give gamers something new.”

The result was a combat-forward reboot of the series that reconsidered its survival-horror roots, pitching resident evil 2 co-starring Leon S. Kennedy as an international action hero on a mission to rescue the US President’s daughter from a cult. resident Evil 4 was hailed as a masterpiece, injecting new life into the franchise that would only become More Action-focused in upcoming sequel – ultimately prompting another reinvention of the series with a back-to-basics horror game resident evil 7 biohazard,

Capcom’s remake resident Evil 4 Re-imagines the series’ most beloved and highly influential entry with gorgeous detail, modernizing the game from top to bottom. The developers have reimagined Leon’s adventure through the lens of other recent Resident Evil remakes, bringing new levels of cuteness and squishy gore. resident Evil 4 Updating its controls and story. The result is a clear demonstration that the developers understand their source material, and want to sing it while describing it in every possible detail.

The game also strongly hints that Resident Evil may be in need of a revamp once again.

- Advertisement -

Image: Capcom

resident Evil 4The original elements of the film are present in the remake. Leon S. Kennedy, now a flamboyant government agent, is sent on a secret solo mission to Spain, where he discovers a target codenamed “Baby Eagle” – real name Ashley Graham, daughter of US President Graham. A group of cultists kidnap her in a plot to infect her with a parasite, and eventually make her their puppet. As Leon searches for Ashley, he encounters a remote rural village inhabited by parasites. Its angry inhabitants – and an array of ultra-powerful men and demons – stand between Leon and his savior.

Leon is no longer the badass cop of his previous game, and he no longer faces danger in the form of one or two wobbling zombies at a time. Instead, he is well armed and ready for battle, and encounters a horde of armed, infected humans known as Gundos. While resource management and ammunition shortages were core to the gameplay of the early Resident Evil games 4Players concern themselves more with crowd control and – especially in the remake – fending off attacks from all sides. resident Evil 4 presents a new kind of challenge: surviving against overwhelming odds.

The dance of death escape in the remake can be intimidating. Gunados and hammer-wielding men with chainsaws or giant hammers can quickly surround Leon. But Leon can parry or dodge any attack. He can roundhouse-kick or suplex the rookies, before finishing them off with a knife through the skull. Or he can approach encounters with stealth, sneaking up behind unsuspecting enemies and dispatching them with quiet execution. All these options make each match exciting and flexible in its demands; At times, they can be frustrating, as the game hurls waves of enemies at Leon in set pieces that feel more like an exercise in trial-and-error than a solution.

Image: Capcom

As in the original, Leon must also protect Ashley from harm in a number of ways, though there are brief segments where the two team up. Ashley is completely vulnerable in these moments, and Leon must fight not only for her survival, but for his as well. This time, it’s a much less complicated babysitting assignment; Its health system has been greatly simplified. Ashley’s presence was a well-known divisive element of the original, but she is less of a nuisance here, and can be commanded to stay close to Leon (during chase scenes) or keep his distance (during combat). The two work well together, and it’s fun to watch them flirt.

between RE4The action-heavy set pieces are a series of puzzles, many of them mysterious and ornate in classic Resident Evil style, to bring along. These lock-and-key tricks still take a back seat to combat, and even after all this time, the grand scheme of the game’s design still feels inelegant – even typical for a remake. The puzzles also feel like an afterthought on the developers’ part. ,

Players will probably spend more time figuring out how to equip Leon, as a mysterious, ever-present merchant offers a vast array of upgrades, new weapons, armor, repairs, and recipes for Leon to buy. (Merchants quip, as fans demand of them, “What are you buying?” But only occasionally, in a great and rare display of restraint from the designers.) Capcom added a new upgrade for Leon in the remake. The new layer is added, allowing him to increase the size of not only the briefcase case that stores his items, but the case itself, with variants offering different perks, and attachment charms that can attract even more buffs. offer. Players can earn these charms in the Shooting Range minigame, a fun, highly replayable diversion that appears in several places in the game – I lost a lot of time trying to unlock the best charms. Has been RE4Which are based on RNG.

Image: Capcom

resident Evil 4 also deviates from previous games in its linearity. There’s very little backtracking to be done here, as the game aggressively propels Leon into new areas and new scenarios. While the same sequence of events is retained from the original, the overall flow and pace have both been shaken up and smoothed out. Where Capcom has cut short, wisely, is in eliminating or reworking the original game’s sillier components. The quick-time events from the original, where Leon must cross a boulder or a mechanized giant statue out of place, only to presumably fail in a matter of milliseconds before doing it again, are referenced again. Has gone. The most fascinating and welcome example is how Capcom reimagined the central character of Ramon Salazar, who comes off less like a bleached Chucky doll and more like a dignified but decaying old man.

For all the rough edges it smooths, RE4 pulls the same trick RE2 Made in 2019, a great but now old game feels brand new again. But after four Resident Evil games over the years, even the current incarnation of the franchise is starting to feel somewhat familiar — signs of the cookie-cutter mold that Kobayashi fashioned more than 20 years ago, even ready to shrink. Had done Capcom’s slick and gorgeously produced remake. This latest one is not an anomaly.

resident evil 7 biohazard And Village shown, exactly like the original RE4, that Capcom can adapt and reinvent. after the end 4 Once again, the most obvious question the remake left me with was: Where Do They Go From Here?

resident Evil 4 will be available on March 24 for Play Station 4, playstation 5, windows PC, and xbox series x, The game was reviewed using the final “retail” PlayStation 5 download code provided by Capcom. You can find additional information about Play Gamez’s ethics policy here.