Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 was released in 2005 for the oft-unappreciated Nintendo GameCube and has since been re-released several times for subsequent consoles like the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Switch. At the time, it was considered the defining title of the series and the most accessible Resident Evil since the original, with advanced graphics running on Unreal Engine 4 and a multilayered plot that could easily be adapted for the big screen.
Resident Evil games have always been kitschy and gratuitous but the fourth entry in the franchise took that further by building a distinctive atmosphere, pulling off a patchwork of retro Americana blended with Japanese-style storytelling and vintage sci-fi horror, all in a medieval Spanish setting with each chapter bookended by a genuinely curious cliffhanger. The focus on narrative storytelling beyond the typical Resident Evil beats completely changed how Capcom approaches one of its biggest properties and encouraged other developers to have a bit more fun and experiment with the survival horror genre.
Now the game is finally being remade for the current generation, rebuilt from the ground up to work with the advanced hardware of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It’s a big deal for fans of horror games, demonstrated by the massive demand for a short playable demo that Capcom released earlier this month.
Considering the success of the excellent Dead Space remake and the massive reception to 2019’s remake of Resident Evil 2, the new Resident Evil 4 should easily be one of the biggest releases of the year so far. We aren’t talking iterative resolution upgrades for the remake, but broad, sweeping changes that elevate visual fidelity and mechanical design while also tweaking gameplay towards something more nightmarish and unsettling.
Reportedly, Capcom has added more cutscenes to better flesh out supporting characters as well as change small details about the overall story that will impact gameplay. Even subtle tweaks will reportedly have an impact on how Resident Evil 4 plays, from tighter camera angles to play with scale and make settings seem more claustrophobic to reimagined mechanics like giving Leon S. Kennedy – the protagonist – the ability to move and shoot simultaneously compared to have to stay still to fire.
I didn’t use to see much value in modern remakes of classic games. It’s one thing to re-watch a movie that really resonated with you, but to sink so much time into a game that you’ve already played seemed a bit stupid to me. And I was probably right. Remakes a few years ago were different from remakes now that the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S afford developers much more power to play around with. FromSoftware proved that with its exceptional PS5 ground-up remake of Demon’s Souls and there’s little doubt Capcom will pull it off with Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil 4 remake will be available on the Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PC on Friday, March 24.
