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The best remake Capcom has put out so far | First Impressions - Resident Evil 4 Remake

18K View2023-03-27

After Resident Evil 2 and 3 were remade, the next logical target (aside from Code Veronica) was a Resident Evil 4 remake. I was one of the naysayers back then saying that Resident Evil 4, with its still decent 3D graphics, doesn’t need a remake yet. Boy I was wrong. This first impression is all about me eating my words and playing myself, because let me tell you, Resident Evil 4 Remake (or just Resident Evil 4) is a beautiful reimagining of the 2005 masterpiece.

Immediately I was presented with the story introduction which expanded upon the original game further, with more details and scenes added to it, and more flashbacks to Resident Evil 2’s own remake that also featured Leon S. Kennedy as a then rookie cop. The exposition scenes and the initial prologue chapter are longer than I remember. It looks like the canon being used coming into this game is from the remake of the second game.

The graphics fidelity is just about on par with the Resident Evil 2 remake, if not better. Comparing it to the original classic, the jump in visual quality is leaps and bounds better. As a modern game on its own, the graphics are highly realistic; the dark medieval-looking setting, life-like lighting and stunning environments it has going on really sets the tone for the rest of the game.

Resident Evil 4 plays like a typical third person shooter, except for the fact that the movement and shooting has actual weight to it. You really feel Leon’s every movement in every step, dodge, and kick he makes. This feel is consistent throughout all the other gameplay elements; The impact of the kicks are so satisfying, the ammo isn’t as plentiful as military shooters, and headshots here aren’t a guaranteed instant kill but merely a stun for you to satisfying kick enemies to the face makes Resident Evil 4 an effectively terrifying game despite being half-part action game.

As Leon S. Kennedy investigates the missing daughter, he encounters this creepy cult-like settlement in the middle of the woods with even creepier inhabitants. As opposed to the more open area nature of Resident Evil 2, the design is now shifted into chapter-based linear adventure, in which the players progress through by defeating occasional hordes of enemies and solving challenging puzzles to unlock passageways and move on to the next part. Every once in a while, there will be a boss fight each with their unique mechanics that play out.

There are many quality of life improvements in Resident Evil 4 compared to the original 2005 game and even the recent Resident Evil 2 remake. Since Leon is now a trained agent, he can now engage in devastating melee combat unlike when he was a rookie cop who just knew how to use knives. He can also now counter and parry enemy attacks and easily turn the tide if enemies manage to close the gap. There is also an added stealth kill to further give players options as to how to approach new areas. You may want to thin out their numbers before engaging, or perhaps you just want to conserve ammo. This makes the combat more fluid than ever, and gives players more freedom than in any of the recent Resident Evil titles.

However, this buff to the main character also comes with caveats, especially with some buffs to enemies; now with more unpredictable animations that will make aiming – especially to the head — very challenging, they can lay down bear traps in the middle of a confrontation, caughting players off guard, as well adding a durability option to Leon’s knife – repairable by the merchant -– that will encourage you to conserve it use as much as possible.

They really nailed the atmosphere of this game, and the survivor horror feel they went back into is retained without ever so slightly going towards the action gameplay it already left years ago. The hallways and interiors are way darker and scarier than ever, the environments are more gritty and dirtier than I remember, and the violence is made more gruesome with more detailed blood and guts put into it. Even If I have played the original before and beat it multiple times, this still feels like a fresh experience that I’m now compelled to play from start to end.

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