Games worth discovering
Resident Evil 4 on iPhone is the worst way to play one of the best games of all time
20K View2023-12-23
Resident Evil 4 is a game I’d recommend to absolutely anyone. It’s a masterpiece of the survival horror genre, with smooth, satisfying combat and some fantastically spooky set pieces. The original was already a stone-cold classic, but the 2023 remake refined its graphics and gameplay mechanics, making the game feel better than ever. It’s something that everyone should play at least once, but if you have literally any other options, you probably shouldn’t play it on mobile.
Resident Evil Village on iPhone: a glimpse into Apple’s gaming future but that future isn’t here yet
https://m.taptap.io/post/6523201
Like Resident Evil Village, the mobile version of Resident Evil 4 is only available for the iPhone 15 Pro and newer iPad models. Playing a current gen game on a phone is pretty novel, but unfortunately, this suffers from many of the same issues that Village did. Playing Resident Evil 4 on iPhone doesn’t feel completely awful, but it’s riddled with problems you won’t find in any other version of the game.
The most glaring issue is the game’s touch screen controls, which take up a huge percentage of screen real estate. It’s already hard to adjust to playing Resident Evil 4 on a tiny iPhone screen, and these controls make it a thousand times worse. The virtual controller buttons are see-through, so they don’t totally block your view, but they do make it trickier to spot items and notice potential threats.
The controls aren’t just an eyesore either; they’re also imprecise, unresponsive, and generally terrible. Playing Resident Evil 4 with touch screen controls made even simple tasks, like opening a door or aiming my weapon, feel unnecessarily difficult. I never felt like I had full control over my character, which isn’t ideal in a survival horror game.
Thankfully, switching to a controller (I used the Backbone One) took care of most of these issues. The gameplay felt smooth, with virtually no input delay, but it wasn’t enough to solve all of Resident Evil 4’s problems. The iPhone 15 Pro has powerful hardware, but it was clearly struggling to run this game. My phone became hot to the touch after just a few minutes of play, and it didn’t cool down until after I shut down the game. Framerate drops were a frequent occurrence, and the game occasionally froze up and crashed during cutscenes.
Even when I wasn’t dealing with these kinds of performance issues, it was easy to see where the devs cut corners to get the game to run on an iPhone. Don’t get me wrong—Resident Evil 4 looks great, especially for a mobile game—but the graphics have clearly been downscaled and compressed. I also had a lot of issues with texture pop-in, especially when I moved my camera from side to side.
None of these problems are major enough to keep Resident Evil 4 on iPhone from being a phenomenal game, but they do detract from the overall experience. Every time I spotted a jaggy texture or saw my framerate drop, it took me out of the moment and kept me from immersing myself in the game. I don’t want to have to worry about game crashes during cutscenes; I just want to enjoy the story and have fun.
If you don’t have a PC or console that can run the Resident Evil 4 remake, and you have a controller you can play with, the mobile version of the game is worth picking up. That said, it should probably be your last resort. This is Resident Evil 4 at its worst, and while the worst version of Resident Evil 4 is still pretty good, you should avoid it if you have any other options.
Mentioned games
Comments
Resident Evil 4 [Mobile] - A FANTASTIC Game, Soured By POOR Controls
I'd say that Resident Evil 4 on mobile is an impressive feat, and I think if you can play it with a Bluetooth controller, you will have a better experience. I don't like the UI emulated controller button scheme that's plastered on the screen. It's ugly and obscures the gameplay a lot. The controls will disappear after the screen not being touched so you can enjoy the cinematics without a UI button layout all over the place. However if you don't touch the screen regularly, the iPhone will end up going into standby and then to the lock screen. So the phone doesn't consider this game as an actual game... Since it keeps locking the screen. You will have to turn off that feature on your phone if you want to play this game. Regardless of those annoying features, the game is good. If you can get around it with a Bluetooth controller, it will be much better. I gave this version of the game a 7/10 because as good as the game is, and how much fun I know it can be. The control scheme that the game provides will hinder your enjoyment of the game, and will cause plenty of aggravation. Get a Bluetooth controller for this to save a lot of hassle.
Sora Synn5K2023-12-22
Resident Evil 4 [Mobile] - This Is IMPRESSIVE! But The Phone HEATS UP And Controls Are FRUSTRATING.
🎮 Game: Resident Evil 4 [Mobile] 🍭 Platform: iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max ✨ Genre: Zombies | Horror | Survival Horror | Third Person Shooter | Story Rich |
🧟With the release of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, you can now play AAA games like Resident Evil 4 on those devices. I tried out Resident Evil 4 on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and while it was an impressive feat to have a game like this on a device like an iPhone... The phone did overheat while playing, so I had to put my phone cooler on the back, and the emulated controller UI buttons on the screen were weird to use and obscured the image of the game.
Sora Synn2K2023-12-22
Resident Evil Village on iPhone: a glimpse into Apple’s gaming future but that future isn’t here yet
Apple is stepping up its game when it comes to, well, games with the iPhone 15. The mobile giant’s gaming ambitions aim to rival even the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Console favorites are being adapted for iOS, and Resident Evil Village is the first to be released. This 2021 survival-horror title is now playable on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Max, as well as iPads with the M1 or M2 chips.
The transition from console to phone isn’t without struggles, though. At the beginning of my time testing Resident Evil Village on iOS, I couldn’t score a single shot at the first enemy I encountered. Every time I touched the on-screen controls, my view would fly into the air and send my bullets careening toward the castle instead of into the heads of these gory bad guys.
TapTap Editor39K2023-11-08
View desktop siteTapTap looks better
on the app 
This is why they made backbone,razor controllers ect.
2023-12-29
I tested without a controller and with the Backbone One! It's definitely enjoyable with a controller; I'd just recommend playing on PC or console instead if you can!
2024-01-04
game looks amazing
2023-12-24
@kalil❤🥰🥳
2024-01-13
pls make a android version
2023-12-30
Tell your mother to make one
2024-03-24