Review: Resident Evil 4 Remake
Return of the <<Un Forastero>>
Hello again, dear readers. Last Friday, just when I was about to leave school and head home for a weekend of rest and relaxation, I received via e-mail the review code for Resident Evil 4, so all our previously made plans went out the window.
This new Resident Evil is the upcoming remake of the 2005 classic Action Horror game with the same name from Capcom and will be available for everyone starting March 24 on PS5, PS4, Xbox series X/S, and PC.
Alina has definitely built up an appetite for these games and she was super happy that she will finally get to experience one of the best and most iconic Resident Evil stories over the weekend. Thus, we had to expertly balance two days and a half between getting activities done in the city, going to the gym, and also spending a lot of hours in RE4 and the excellent Diablo IV Beta. It was a full end of the week in our family, with a lot of gaming, over 25km walked, and no movies or TV Shows.
Before I move on to this short, spoiler-free review, I need to tell you that I also am a fan of Resident Evil, I actually consider RE4 to be the best of the bunch and I’m glad that Capcom continues to release these reimagined games so that new generations of players get to discover them for the first time.
I can confirm that Resident Evil 4 successfully preserves the essence of the original game, while also managing to introduce modernized gameplay, new areas that expand upon iconic levels, even more horrifying enemies, and a much better, reimagined story that feels both familiar and new at the same time. Speaking about the story, the events are set six years after the biological disaster in Raccoon City when the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. Luckily, Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the incident and protagonist of previous Resident Evil titles, has been recruited as an agent reporting directly to the President of the United States.
With multiple missions under his belt, Leon is sent to rescue the President’s daughter who was kidnapped.
After tracking her to a secluded European village, Leon finds out quite fast and in a brutal way that there is something really wrong happening there. I will let you discover the rest of the plot on your own.
As I mentioned above, the gameplay feels much more modern in this remake than in the original game and will allow us to fluidly tear a path through the horrors around us with well-taken shots from firearms, brutal, bloody, gory hand-to-hand attacks, and the newly-added knife parry which can save our skin if timed perfectly. There are also some other mechanics that can make a difference, such as crouching to avoid being easily discovered. In order to complete his mission and assure his survival, Leon needs to employ smart, strategic tactics, wisely management of the limited resources, and always invest in important weapons upgrades.
Add to that the vividly detailed graphics, an excellent atmosphere combined with perfect pacing and intense action sequences, and Resident Evil 4 turns out to be a thrilling and grippingly terrifying horror experience where life, death, terror, and catharsis intersect to great results.
The game runs smoothly, it includes some accessibility presets, which is a first for a Resident Evil title, but these features are very limited and will not allow a blind gamer or someone with a serious impairment to enjoy it. We have some customization for low vision, such as color filters and selections for target reticles, enemies, and items, there is also an option to change repeated button taps to hold, plus the easy difficulty mode, called “assisted”, that will afford a more accessible exploration of the story. This is a linear game and with some work could have been made accessible for even more players, but it was not to be.
In conclusion, Resident Evil 4 is exactly what Capcom promised to deliver and what fans were hoping for. A classic rebuilt for modern audiences, with a better story, gameplay, graphics, and sound, but which sadly isn’t as inclusive as it could have been towards people with disabilities.
If you are just a regular gamer you will be able to enjoy this wonderful reimagining of a title that redefined gaming 18 years ago.
If you love horror games and Resident Evil in general, this in my opinion is the best you can get when it comes to action survival experiences.
Review copy provided by Capcom
Victor Dima
