Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

Even though I’ve never played the 2005 GameCube version of Resident Evil 4, the dozens of hours I spent playing the Wii version firmly cemented it as my favorite game ever made. Everything about it was equal parts quirky, terrifying, and innovative. I could go on about the ways the original game broke the mold, but this review is about the 2023 re4 remake. After playing most of the way through the game on the hardcore difficulty, I can say without hesitation that the remake is the definitive way to experience resident evil 4. Capcom should be insanely proud of the many ways they have updated a classic allowing it to live on and terrify a new generation of gamers.

If you’ve been living under a rock since 2005 and haven’t heard of Resident Evil 4, you play as a cop turned federal agent Leon Kennedy who is tasked with traveling to a remote European village to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley Graham. The story has dramatic plot twists and a cast of both endearing and horrifying characters that will both help and attempt to murder Leon through his adventure. The mixture of action and horror made Resident Evil 4 an instant classic and it went on to win numerous awards. And now, 17 years after the original game changed the landscape of video games forever, Resident Evil 4 Remake is here to remind everyone what made it such an incredible experience the first time around.

Before playing the remake of Resident Evil 4 I had never played a game that weaponized my knowledge and used it to scare me or hinder my progress. For example, one of the early challenges of Resident Evil 4 is to survive an onslaught of Ganados in a village with no exit. In the village center, there is a clock tower that the player can climb to the top of. In the original game, the player can jump off the platform at the top of the tower and continue on their merry way. In the remake, as the player approaches the ladder to descend the tower, the floor gives way and Leon falls to the ground. The choice to insert a jump scare where before there was none filled me with terror and by using the player’s knowledge of the world against them, Capcom has cleverly made prior knowledge of the game a handicap of sorts. There are multiple instances of this type of change in Resident Evil 4 remake and they have made for some of the scariest moments in my playthrough. It also helps that the enemy design is impeccably detailed and refined to make the most of the original concepts. The enemies in this game are legitimately terrifying. Some enemies that I used to laugh at in the original have made my skin crawl in the remake. I’m looking at you giant camouflaged bugs.

If you have a favorite enemy or boss fight from the original, chances are you’ll be happy with their design in the remake. The inclusion of a model viewer is a welcome addition and while I didn’t spend much time there, I’m sure there are some who appreciate having the ability to get an up-close look at the detailed enemy designs. Not only are the enemies gorgeous, but the various locations are brought to life in stunning 4k detail. The original game didn’t look bad by 2005 standards, but the remake is one of the best-looking games I’ve played on PS5 to date. The absurd amount of detail in every ammo box, treasure, and weapon is beautifully realized. The updates to combat make fighting off the hordes of enemies a refreshingly familiar endeavor as well.

In addition to the massive graphical overhaul the remake received, the combat mechanics have gotten a 2023 update as well. Gone are the days of single-stick movement and aiming. Resident Evil 4 remake has updated the control scheme to better reflect the innovations that have happened since the release of the original game. This means that in addition to the game running smoother and loading faster, the combat is punchier, gorier, and dismemberment is fully depicted in all its bloody glory. The addition of a parry button allows Leon to deflect enemy attacks at the cost of some of his knife durability, which is another new feature added to the remake. Having to make split-second decisions about whether to parry an attack or take the hit to conserve knife durability at the cost of my health transformed combat into a dance of aggression and well-timed defensive plays. Much of the game has been left as is in terms of areas and plot lines, but the game is not without some large changes that affected the way I played. The inclusion of an updated map and the ability to craft health and ammunition at any time from the menu were two changes that had the largest impact on my time with the game.

When I first learned that I could craft ammo in the RE4 remake I said aloud to my wife, “Oh that’s going to break the economy of the game for sure.” Fortunately, I was wrong about that. The ammo crafting system is a wonderful addition to the game and makes engaging in combat when you’re low on resources feel like less of an unnecessary gamble as the chances of getting some gunpowder or resources (which are both needed for crafting) feel much higher than the chance to get an ammo drop. Health items and ammo are just as scarce as they were in the original game, but by giving players more ways to use the items they find creatively, Capcom allows players to play the game the way they want. For me, that meant relying on the “Red 9” pistol for most combat encounters and oh, my god does this gun feel great. In fact, all the weapons in RE4 remake feel great, apart from the new bolt thrower weapon. It serves to replace one of my least favorite weapons in the original game, the mine thrower, but unfortunately, I was just as unimpressed with this new weapon as I was the original version. Being able to recover the bolts I launched at my enemies is nice, but the low damage and difficulty aiming the weapon made this gun a pass from me.

Gunplay feels exceptional in the RE4 remake. Every weapon feels appropriately weighty and is capable of dispatching enemies with impunity. In the thick of combat making decisions about which weapon I should use based on my remaining ammo, the number of enemies I was facing, and what my goal was, made every encounter feel tense. Granted, I have a lot of knowledge of the original game, so I knew which weapons I preferred and mostly stuck to using them throughout my playthrough. One exception is the inclusion of an assault rifle which I used as a replacement for the Scorpion rifle found early in the castle segment of the game. Having a rifle that is viable for close-quarters combat makes the final location of the game much more enjoyable, albeit less scary. The combat in the RE4 remake is snappy and responsive and the weapons all have their time to shine in the game's many diverse locales and combat scenarios. And with the return of the wonderful map system from the resident evil 2 and 3 remakes, backtracking to complete side objectives or finding missed treasures has never been easier.

The updated map system in the remake is one of my favorite changes from the original game. Being able to see every item I missed in a room just by looking at the map is genius. The new map system also aids the player in backtracking to previously visited areas of the game to complete side objectives which net the player spinnels, a new type of currency that can be exchanged for rare items from the merchant.

Of course, the famous merchant makes his triumphant return in RE4 remake as well. Even my mom who has never played the game will occasionally hit me with her best, “What are you buying?” from time to time when we talk about video games. His dialogue is slightly different, and he isn’t always located in the same places he was in the original game, but he is everywhere you need him to be. The game has been condensed in the remake and every system at play is better off for it. The merchants’ side quests give you a reason to explore off the beaten path, the strange mechanical contraptions are given meaning in the updated story, and the writing for Leon and Ashley has improved dramatically. Yes, you still have to protect Ashley from enemies who will do their best to carry her kicking and screaming into the darkness, but she isn’t as much of a hindrance this time around. There is a difficult encounter in the castle section where Ashley helps you significantly and I was genuinely appreciative that she was there with me, and I never felt that way playing the original. The dialogue also got a sizeable update, and you’ll find that the lines that Ashley and Leon have are meaningful and help showcase the emotions that both characters are experiencing throughout the story. Leon is mostly calm, cool, and collected, as per usual, but Ashely is a bit older in this version and as such she is much less annoying to be around and behaves more like a person and less like a lost puppy.

Capcom needed to change very few aspects of the original Resident Evil 4 to bring it up to date with contemporary games of the same genre. Everything that needed to be fixed or tweaked has been and it was done without changing the core of what makes this game so special. I can’t describe what it feels like to return to this world and these characters, but in all the best ways, it feels like coming home. The original game will always hold a special place in my heart, but when I want to experience the nightmare that is resident evil 4 from now on, I’ll load up the remake and enjoy every terrifying minute.