Resident Evil 4 is a masterpiece for many. If you look into any user's top 10 game list there is a pretty good chance that Resident Evil 4 -either the original or the remake- will be in there. This is especially true for fans of horror games. After putting around 22 hours into the game and finishing it on Hardcore, I have to admit that RE4 is regrettably my least favorite of the three that I have played. This is in no way due to the quality of the game though, as I have come to understand that the type of game I want Resident Evil to be simply isn't in Resident Evil 4 or it's DNA and expecting it to be what I want is like expecting an orange to be an apple.
Resident Evil 4 marks a major shift in the Resident Evil formula. Moving from the slower and more traditional survival-horror gameplay loop found in the earlier games into the faster and somewhat high-octane genre of action-horror. This was likely a necessary change for a franchise that was at risk of growing stale, but it is a change that ultimately hurts my personal enjoyment of it.
Action-Horror is done exceedingly well in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Combat is fluid and easily responsive which is largely important as you will find yourself in firefights very often. But it's not just about the guns and how well you aim, but also how you use the environment for yourself and against the enemies. Level design is generally great with a variety of options for the player to position themselves during combat.
The shift to Action-Horror isn't all roses though as mainstay aspects of the franchise take a few hits here or there due to the transition. Firstly the 'horror' aspect is flimsy at best. There were very few segments in the game that had me feeling any levels of tension or fear. This is mostly due to the majority of segments in the game being large-scale shoot-outs, segments that while epic and fun are largely lacking in any amount of fear.
Puzzles in this game are also largely uninteresting. You'll usually just find a key or shape in a chest and play a small 'fit the shape' or 'pick the right key' mini-game once you backtrack to wherever you need to use the item. The loot that you get from some of the puzzles tend to just be treasure that you sell to the merchant which I also found largely boring.
The story is great though, with Leon returning alongside a few familiar faces and a few new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and while I preferred Leon's personality in RE2, I still liked the 'grizzled vet' version of Leon in RE4 and I thought his chemistry with Ashley was fun. Ashley was also great and her escort AI was fairly good though not quite up there with someone like Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite). I found the sections where she was heavily involved to be major highlights to both the gameplay and story.
Resident Evil 4 is a really good game. The graphics are stunning, the characters and story are awesome, and the gameplay is fun. It is regrettable that the general gameplay loop and genre design philosophy simply don't mesh well with what I enjoy in horror games.
If you're coming into Resident Evil 4 having played the earlier games (specifically in my case the remakes) I'd really recommend that you don't base your expectations for RE4 on those games, because as similar as this game is to those games, it is also really different. You'd do both yourself and this game a major favor if you just let it be itself and don't place unnecessary expectations on it. Resident Evil 4 is a masterpiece in action-horror, but the thing is: I don't really like action-horror.
3.5/5
Resident Evil 4 marks a major shift in the Resident Evil formula. Moving from the slower and more traditional survival-horror gameplay loop found in the earlier games into the faster and somewhat high-octane genre of action-horror. This was likely a necessary change for a franchise that was at risk of growing stale, but it is a change that ultimately hurts my personal enjoyment of it.
Action-Horror is done exceedingly well in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Combat is fluid and easily responsive which is largely important as you will find yourself in firefights very often. But it's not just about the guns and how well you aim, but also how you use the environment for yourself and against the enemies. Level design is generally great with a variety of options for the player to position themselves during combat.
The shift to Action-Horror isn't all roses though as mainstay aspects of the franchise take a few hits here or there due to the transition. Firstly the 'horror' aspect is flimsy at best. There were very few segments in the game that had me feeling any levels of tension or fear. This is mostly due to the majority of segments in the game being large-scale shoot-outs, segments that while epic and fun are largely lacking in any amount of fear.
Puzzles in this game are also largely uninteresting. You'll usually just find a key or shape in a chest and play a small 'fit the shape' or 'pick the right key' mini-game once you backtrack to wherever you need to use the item. The loot that you get from some of the puzzles tend to just be treasure that you sell to the merchant which I also found largely boring.
The story is great though, with Leon returning alongside a few familiar faces and a few new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and while I preferred Leon's personality in RE2, I still liked the 'grizzled vet' version of Leon in RE4 and I thought his chemistry with Ashley was fun. Ashley was also great and her escort AI was fairly good though not quite up there with someone like Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite). I found the sections where she was heavily involved to be major highlights to both the gameplay and story.
Resident Evil 4 is a really good game. The graphics are stunning, the characters and story are awesome, and the gameplay is fun. It is regrettable that the general gameplay loop and genre design philosophy simply don't mesh well with what I enjoy in horror games.
If you're coming into Resident Evil 4 having played the earlier games (specifically in my case the remakes) I'd really recommend that you don't base your expectations for RE4 on those games, because as similar as this game is to those games, it is also really different. You'd do both yourself and this game a major favor if you just let it be itself and don't place unnecessary expectations on it. Resident Evil 4 is a masterpiece in action-horror, but the thing is: I don't really like action-horror.
3.5/5