So how do you remake one of the greatest and most iconic games of all time? Well, I’d say you should double down on the things that made it what it was while trying to improve on the elements that have either become dull with age or simply weren’t necessary in the first place. As it happens, Capcom did basically precisely that with Resident Evil 4 Remake.
Gameplay-wise, I was a little worried playing the Chainsaw Demo, as the combat felt a little off, just slightly too much wobble on Leon’s gun, a little too much reaction from enemies, that sort of thing. I did give the demo more than a few runs and this wore off pretty quickly, and definitely did not persist into the full game. Part of it is most likely that the Silver Ghost (now without laser sight at the beginning) just sorta sucks. Everything else is near full upgrade in my mind. The parry adds so much to the gameplay loop and the creative ways in which you can engage a group of enemies, adding another option to Leon’s veritable toolbox of mechanics. The melee attacks all come together even more smoothly than the original, lending a lot of feeling of flow to fights. The guns feel great, the new additions are fun, there’s a ton of variety in how you approach your loadout, all still done through the fantastic attache case.
Graphically they did an incredible job upgrading the visuals, this is a pretty damn next-gen looking game, and the work they put into adding detail to the various important parts of the map is really fantastic. The iconic village looks even more real and lived in than it used to, the castle is huge and imposing, and the island and its labs are a great mix of mechanical and sedimentary. Almost every character looks improved overall.
But all that said, this is not a perfect game. The central change from the original game is obviously Leon’s moving aim system, adapting a variation of RE2’s gun combat from the stand-your-ground system. I don’t actually see this as an out and out negative - RE4R and RE4 are different games, and both will give different experiences, which is a good thing. RE4’s gunplay is a unique, puzzle-like system that gives it a very singular identity. RE4R is going for a more modern action-oriented style, which works to its strengths. I lead with this in the negatives section as I think it’s one thing people will / have focused on in criticism of this remake and I don’t personally agree - both games have their place. For the most part, the things I don’t like are, like the original game, certain setpieces or pacing options. But it’s a give and take! In the original, I hated the hive, the truck section, Mike’s gunship section on the island, a few rooms in the castle, and the entire filler section in the underground on the island. Save for Mike, these have been taken out or vastly altered, which is great. On the other hand, I really dislike the new minecart section, which is pretty dull overall and feels wasted. The double gigante fight with Luis is also pretty mediocre, which results in a perceived dip in quality in Chapter 11 for me. The bosses basically stay a weak point of the game, with the exception of Krauser and Salazar, who were vastly improved. Big Cheese is still pretty lame. If you check my original review, I noted that I felt Saddler should have a second phase in his fight - it seems Capcom agreed! It’s not really a gameplay segment but I was glad to see a big goopy tentacle guy to kill. In terms of tertiary content, I was undecided on whether or not the addition of crafting materials was good or not - giving the player the option to choose what ammo they need in addition to what they’re already picking up is good, but it adds a layer of unnecessary micromanagement that the original seemed to make an effort to avoid. The new shooting range is utterly fantastic fun and a wonderful addition to the Merchant’s character but I hated the randomized charms as rewards. It’s a dull grind and I think they would’ve been better used as rewards for the sidequests.
What Capcom really went above and beyond in this Remake is adding things where they were needed - the village is now a large, fully explorable map. The boat is now controlled and opens an entirely new area. They’ve added a chase sequence in the gorge before the Big Cheese fight, which I thought was excellent. Overall, there’s a lot of very smart reordering of rooms / areas just to make the pacing and flow make more sense. The castle is now more of an actual place and less of a haunted house with bizarro disconnected rooms. That ridiculous aforementioned underground section has been removed entirely, and the minecart appears in a more logical place. There’s a lot of this sort of thing, which is very very smart. Again, there are missing or changed rooms here or there that I was sad to see gone - the shaman who runs around the square room, for example - but it’s not really worth being disappointed by these things.
As the credits rolled and I reflected on my 20-ish hour playthrough, I was shocked to be hit by a full on vocal credits theme - Craig McConnell and Sam Drysdale’s “The Bullet or the Blade.” It’s a pretty good song in general but, more importantly, its placement is immaculate, urging the player to think deeply about the game. But not just the game, but actually the story. The original Resident Evil 4 is a fantastic game, as I’ve noted above and in my original 5 star review, but it lacks something in terms of characterization for Ashley, Luis, background on the village, stuff like that. It gained some of its cult fame from being arcadey, begging for multiple playthroughs and highscore hunting, as it were. This game is no different in that regard, but Capcom have managed to add in enough detail and emotional weight to the characters and story that it now truly works as a cinematic story, and not just a fun action game with sorta relevant background. Ashley’s growth throughout the story, Leon’s struggle with his past, Luis’ redemption, even Krauser’s obsession - they all carry a lot more weight than they ever did in the original, and IMO it lands. Resident Evil 4’s layout was always something magical - the player goes through a triptych of unique, separate locations with a bevy of memorable fights and rooms. The actual structure is sort of comparable to Dante’s Inferno, the player descends (or ascends) through varying levels of hell as Leon learns of the depths to which this Spanish community has been corrupted and bastardized by a cult seeking their own twisted goal. The village will always be the thing this game is known for, and Capcom went the extra mile to add a whole lot more reasons to care about how it came to be what it is.
I went back and forth a little bit on what to score this, but I gave the original game a 5 despite the issues I had with it as its overall identity and fun factor reach far above those negatives. I feel pretty much exactly the same about Remake, despite the issues themselves being different. The iconically good core gameplay was treated with the utmost respect, and the additions and changes are overwhelmingly good, with the strength of the story finally coming to light, giving Ashley, Luis, and even Leon all more to do. The wisecracking comments and silly pirate merchant are all still here, perhaps even enhanced by a more seriously considered storyline. As far as I’m concerned, every remake should strive to be this good.
Gameplay-wise, I was a little worried playing the Chainsaw Demo, as the combat felt a little off, just slightly too much wobble on Leon’s gun, a little too much reaction from enemies, that sort of thing. I did give the demo more than a few runs and this wore off pretty quickly, and definitely did not persist into the full game. Part of it is most likely that the Silver Ghost (now without laser sight at the beginning) just sorta sucks. Everything else is near full upgrade in my mind. The parry adds so much to the gameplay loop and the creative ways in which you can engage a group of enemies, adding another option to Leon’s veritable toolbox of mechanics. The melee attacks all come together even more smoothly than the original, lending a lot of feeling of flow to fights. The guns feel great, the new additions are fun, there’s a ton of variety in how you approach your loadout, all still done through the fantastic attache case.
Graphically they did an incredible job upgrading the visuals, this is a pretty damn next-gen looking game, and the work they put into adding detail to the various important parts of the map is really fantastic. The iconic village looks even more real and lived in than it used to, the castle is huge and imposing, and the island and its labs are a great mix of mechanical and sedimentary. Almost every character looks improved overall.
But all that said, this is not a perfect game. The central change from the original game is obviously Leon’s moving aim system, adapting a variation of RE2’s gun combat from the stand-your-ground system. I don’t actually see this as an out and out negative - RE4R and RE4 are different games, and both will give different experiences, which is a good thing. RE4’s gunplay is a unique, puzzle-like system that gives it a very singular identity. RE4R is going for a more modern action-oriented style, which works to its strengths. I lead with this in the negatives section as I think it’s one thing people will / have focused on in criticism of this remake and I don’t personally agree - both games have their place. For the most part, the things I don’t like are, like the original game, certain setpieces or pacing options. But it’s a give and take! In the original, I hated the hive, the truck section, Mike’s gunship section on the island, a few rooms in the castle, and the entire filler section in the underground on the island. Save for Mike, these have been taken out or vastly altered, which is great. On the other hand, I really dislike the new minecart section, which is pretty dull overall and feels wasted. The double gigante fight with Luis is also pretty mediocre, which results in a perceived dip in quality in Chapter 11 for me. The bosses basically stay a weak point of the game, with the exception of Krauser and Salazar, who were vastly improved. Big Cheese is still pretty lame. If you check my original review, I noted that I felt Saddler should have a second phase in his fight - it seems Capcom agreed! It’s not really a gameplay segment but I was glad to see a big goopy tentacle guy to kill. In terms of tertiary content, I was undecided on whether or not the addition of crafting materials was good or not - giving the player the option to choose what ammo they need in addition to what they’re already picking up is good, but it adds a layer of unnecessary micromanagement that the original seemed to make an effort to avoid. The new shooting range is utterly fantastic fun and a wonderful addition to the Merchant’s character but I hated the randomized charms as rewards. It’s a dull grind and I think they would’ve been better used as rewards for the sidequests.
What Capcom really went above and beyond in this Remake is adding things where they were needed - the village is now a large, fully explorable map. The boat is now controlled and opens an entirely new area. They’ve added a chase sequence in the gorge before the Big Cheese fight, which I thought was excellent. Overall, there’s a lot of very smart reordering of rooms / areas just to make the pacing and flow make more sense. The castle is now more of an actual place and less of a haunted house with bizarro disconnected rooms. That ridiculous aforementioned underground section has been removed entirely, and the minecart appears in a more logical place. There’s a lot of this sort of thing, which is very very smart. Again, there are missing or changed rooms here or there that I was sad to see gone - the shaman who runs around the square room, for example - but it’s not really worth being disappointed by these things.
As the credits rolled and I reflected on my 20-ish hour playthrough, I was shocked to be hit by a full on vocal credits theme - Craig McConnell and Sam Drysdale’s “The Bullet or the Blade.” It’s a pretty good song in general but, more importantly, its placement is immaculate, urging the player to think deeply about the game. But not just the game, but actually the story. The original Resident Evil 4 is a fantastic game, as I’ve noted above and in my original 5 star review, but it lacks something in terms of characterization for Ashley, Luis, background on the village, stuff like that. It gained some of its cult fame from being arcadey, begging for multiple playthroughs and highscore hunting, as it were. This game is no different in that regard, but Capcom have managed to add in enough detail and emotional weight to the characters and story that it now truly works as a cinematic story, and not just a fun action game with sorta relevant background. Ashley’s growth throughout the story, Leon’s struggle with his past, Luis’ redemption, even Krauser’s obsession - they all carry a lot more weight than they ever did in the original, and IMO it lands. Resident Evil 4’s layout was always something magical - the player goes through a triptych of unique, separate locations with a bevy of memorable fights and rooms. The actual structure is sort of comparable to Dante’s Inferno, the player descends (or ascends) through varying levels of hell as Leon learns of the depths to which this Spanish community has been corrupted and bastardized by a cult seeking their own twisted goal. The village will always be the thing this game is known for, and Capcom went the extra mile to add a whole lot more reasons to care about how it came to be what it is.
I went back and forth a little bit on what to score this, but I gave the original game a 5 despite the issues I had with it as its overall identity and fun factor reach far above those negatives. I feel pretty much exactly the same about Remake, despite the issues themselves being different. The iconically good core gameplay was treated with the utmost respect, and the additions and changes are overwhelmingly good, with the strength of the story finally coming to light, giving Ashley, Luis, and even Leon all more to do. The wisecracking comments and silly pirate merchant are all still here, perhaps even enhanced by a more seriously considered storyline. As far as I’m concerned, every remake should strive to be this good.