This is how you do a remake!! Yeah this is glorious, maybe even better than the original, really recaptured the magic and gave me just about everything I wanted. RE4 Remake doesn't skimp on the campiness and the action gameplay that defined the original - its streamlined, smoothed around the edges (albeit with a couple of sections that I missed from the original) and honestly delivers on all fronts including being considerably more frightening.

After the mild disappointment that was the RE3 remake, I was tentatively anticipating the response to this as RE4 was my favourite in the franchise from my resident evil spree last year. Given how much I loved RE4's silly theatrics and over the top action movie set-pieces, I was pretty relieved and happy to see the game retain that vibe and get so much praise. Generally there is a more mature atmosphere and sense of threat to make the game feel inline with the previous remakes but they balance the tone so well, in other words I got my fix of stupid one liners and delightful melodrama. After all, RE4 is an intense survival horror game, but its also a game about suplexing farmers and solving escape room puzzles in a big castle. Also, while some sections are cut, the remake subtly re-arranges its scenes and really gives its moments their time to shine in a way I was positively surprised by. The side characters, one of the weaker parts of the original, have new life breathed into them, particularly Ashley and Luis who are both given more moments of genuine characterisation that don't feel like just a throwaway gag.

Speaking of which, I was quite fond of how the companions and villains feel a bit more involved in the storyline and the gameplay in ways that don't feel superficial or pace breaking (Ashley can use ladders now!). The tension and challenge here was a lot stronger than what I felt with re4 which I really have to commend because they did so despite massively tightened controls and gunplay, the restrictions of which were something I highlighted of the original. Mowing down enemies is still a blast and the exploration, resource management and problem solving feels almost every bit as good as I have come to expect of this franchise. RE4 is about as forward focused as it comes however, which works to its advantage, but it can sometimes tunnel me into quite obvious traps & telegraphed trigger points for the next 'scene', maybe i've just gotten to know the 'language' of games pretty strongly. Like when you grab a key item after walking through a long maze, you just know that that will trigger some kind of enemy or other threat to come seek you out, its a given at this point and it would be nice to occasionally break that sequencing, keeping the player on their toes. Instead I found myself reloading all of my weapons, sorting my inventory, making sure I saved etc because I knew what I was walking into, which can sometimes break immersion.

That's my only real criticism of RE4 remake, while I wasn't crazy about RE7, one thing it did do quite well was offer moments of false security and shocking new surprises which I would have liked to see implemented here. Either way this is a masterclass of a survival horror shooter with excellent pacing, lovable characters and a constant stream of drama and satisfaction. This is a remake that genuinely offers an experience that matches and even surpasses its original, all I wanted was RE4 with the gameplay style of the RE2 remake and I got that and more so full marks, Capcom really do be killing it.