Resident Evil 4 (2023)

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The more things change, the more they stay the same – or, well, sometimes they just change. That’s the case with Capcom’s Resident Evil games, which took a wild swerve in a more action-oriented direction with the release of Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube back in 2005. We’ve seen that same direction influence the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and RE3 to feel a tad more welcoming and modern, and now we’re back to check out Resident Evil 4 Remake. It’s got all the baddie-blasting, bear-trapping, button-holding-for-QTEing action you’ve come to know and love.

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When the President’s daughter is kidnapped by a malicious cult, special agent Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil II fame is sent to get her back. He quickly discovers that the isolated Spanish village where he’s supposed to find her isn’t the quiet little hamlet it was made out to be. The people there are…wrong, staring off with blank eyes and reacting violently to his investigation. Armed with a handgun, a can of delicious healing spray-cheese and his trusty knife, Leon’s out to find the President’s daughter or die trying. Possibly both.

He very well might do just that, in fact. Resident Evil 4 Remake takes the original’s action focus and re-injects a little of that classic horror feel thanks to the intense style we’ve come to associate with these remakes. Combat is tense and visceral with violent animations and plenty of gore, and unlike the first game it’ll take quite a bit of time before you start to feel quite like the action-hero badass Leon’s intended to be. Even the environments have been spiced up to make them a little more claustrophobic and a little less welcoming.

From a gameplay perspective, there’s a lot more focus on combat than previous Resident Evil games. Enemies are generous with loot drops, including money for upgrades, materials for crafting and ammo for Leon’s wide and varied arsenal. One significant change is that they’ll also drop additional knives, since special agent training made our stylishly coiffed hero a knife-snapping butterfingers. Blades are valuable resources, though, as they can be used to counter and parry enemy attacks or deal a coup de grace to a downed enemy. You can even pay the ubiquitous merchant to fix up a broken knife.

Later, things get shifted around a little bit as Leon ends up with the Prez’s daughter as an escort partner. She’s been rendered significantly less irritating in the remake – and does her best to stay out of the way in combat rather than incessantly blocking your shots, for instance, and you can order her to give you some space when the fighting gets intense. It’s still an escort mission, though, so don’t be surprised when you run into the odd frustrating death on this character’s account.

Enough whining, though, let’s get back to the positive: Resident Evil 4 looks, runs and sounds great.  Well, mostly. If you’re playing on PC, pushing your rig’s limits might result in an unpleasantly unstable experience. Color in the lines, though, and you’re going to have a pleasant time that maintains a perfectly playable framerate. The original RE4 looked amazing upon its release, but the remake really takes things to a new level, particularly when it comes to making the Ganado parasite-zombies seem especially unnerving.

Resident Evil 4 marked a shift in the franchise to a more combat-focused paradigm, but to this day it’s held to be one of the best in the series, if not of all-time. Resident Evil 4 Remake honors that reputation by delivering a rock-solid adventure that amplifies everything you loved times ten. While it’s not quite the reset previous RE remakes have been, and probably could have mixed things up a little more, there’s still plenty of reasons for newcomers and vets alike to plug back into Capcom’s world of survival horror one more time.