REVIEW: Resident Evil 4 Remake — When Old Becomes New Again

This year, the shortage for Playstation 5 had ended and I was able to finally got myself one. It’s a great thing that I waited this long as the game library for the console had substantially grown and the first game that I’ll be testing my console on is Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Part of the Capcom’s ever popular survival horror franchise of the same name, Resident Evil 4 was originally released in 2005 for the Nintendo Gamecube and has been ported to different consoles over the years including the PC. Coincidentally, I also played the original Resident Evil 4 when I first built my gaming PC over a decade ago. It seems that this game has always been part of gaming journey.

STORY

There is a quick recap at the beginning of the game showing that years after the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon Kennedy is now working for the U.S. government and is tasked of rescuing the president’s daughter. Leon’s mission has brought him to a remote village in Spain where he encountered not your typical zombies but cult like religion the Los Illuminados who are mind controlled by the Las Plagas, a mind control parasite.

During the course of the game, Leon also meets a former Umbrella/Los Illuminados researcher Luis Sera. He helps Leon locate Ashley, the president’s daughter and other events throughout the remake. In the course of his journey, Leon also had a reunion with the mysterious Ada Wong. Leon is now convinced that there is more to this than being a rescue mission.

GAMEPLAY

Resident Evil 4 Remake has almost the same mechanics as the original. It is still the same 3rd person, over-the-shoulder, survival-horror-action-adventure game with minor improvements that brought a fresh experience to the game. Resident Evil 4 Remake is now using a parry mechanic that allows Leon to block, and counterattack that allows him to eventually execute enemies when they’re down. However, this same mechanic affects the durability of Leon’s knife. Once his knife breaks, it is unusable until you have it fixed at the merchant.

The parry mechanic is triggered by timely clicking the L1 button once it’s flashed near your knife’s durability meter.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is not all guns blazing. Leon can also quietly sneak up on enemies and stealthily kill enemies. Stealth kill is signaled by the R2 button while walking stealthily towards the enemies.

Gameplay is a mixture of stealth kills and due to limited resources shoot enemies in the head or the knee and once they’re down, execute through a melee kill, rinse and repeat. However, this does not make the game repetitive due to the different weapons that can be used throughout the game.

Aside from battling the Las Plagas, Resident Evil 4 Remake offers side quests and mini games that gives Leon a breather from all the jump scares in his quest. Of course, there’s the shooting gallery that can also be found in the original game. The shooting gallery is available through the different merchant spots in the game. Achieving high scores rewards Leon with tokens that allows him to use it in the gatcha-like token charm machine that gives out charms that offers bonuses such as additional ammo when crafting or higher damage.

The merchant also offers different side quests such as killing a particular monster or obtaining a specific item that once completed would reward Leon with a Spinel that he could use to trade for different items.

Scattered throughout the Resident Evil 4 Remake are tiny figurines called Clockwork Castellan similar to Resident Evil 2’s Mr. Raccoon. There’s one in every chapter and if you get to complete all, you’ll unlock new weapons at the end of the game.

A game mechanic that was carried over from the original game is the attaché case management. It’s always a mental struggle on what to prioritize over weapons, resources or healing items. The attaché case can be upgraded as the game progresses and that’s where you attached charms to use the bonuses.

Post launch, Resident Evil 4 Remake has released a free DLC, The Mercenaries. It is a mini-survival game that places you against a horde of enemies. The objective of the game is to obtain the highest score possible under a time limit and limited resources. You do not need to finish the game to play the Mercenaries. As soon as you update the game and downloaded the DLC, The Mercenaries is available to play.

VISUAL AND PERFORMANCE

Resident Evil 4 Remake visuals offers the same dark gritty environment that would put you at the edge of your seat and grinning your teeth. What’s expected of any remake is the visual improvement on the environment, and character models. Playing on the Playstation 5 offers the option of prioritizing resolution that enables ray tracing or performance for higher frame rates. I played with ray tracing activated and definitely enhances the experience. It really gives you the feel of what next generation consoles such as the Playstation 5 offers.

VERDICT

As is with the previous RE Remakes, having played the original brings a sense of familiarity but the experience is entirely new. Resident Evil 4 Remake is not a mere remaster that focuses on visual improvements but also made tweaks to the gameplay mechanics that makes you think that this was what the original game was meant to be. I’m all for a new Resident Evil game but I wouldn’t mind if Capcom decides to remake all their games as they have clearly set a standard on what a remake should be.