Resident Evil 4 remake: fast-paced horror spectacle with a touch of humour

Philipp Rüegg

24/3/2023

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Support: Domagoj Belancic

Another classic, another overhaul by Capcom. The «Resident Evil 4» remake plays like a modern horror action game without losing the oddities that made the original so special.

«Resident Evil 4» is considered by many fans to be the best entry in the series, even almost 20 years after its release. In doing so, the originally Gamecube-exclusive title deviated significantly from its predecessors. Instead of survival horror with a fixed camera, part four veered hard into action. The switch to an «over the shoulder» perspective turned out to be the right one, inspiring countless imitators. «Resident Evil 4» was showered with awards.

Unfortunately, I neglected buying the classic for my Gamecube at the time. Since then, I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to fill this educational gap. Thankfully, the remake comes in clutch.

The formula still works

«Resident Evil 4» takes place a few years after the events of its predecessors. I take on the role of Leon S. Kennedy, still familiar to me from part two. He now works for the government, tasked with freeing the US president’s daughter from the clutches of the Los Illuminados cult. The cultists take on the role of zombies in this instalment.

The rest of the game follows the classic series’ conventions. Every important door is blocked by a novelty lock. Usually opened by anything except an ordinary key, such as a round tablet with fingers. I took this from a pedestal, of course only after inserting a bust into each of its stone hands. Busts which I had in turn stolen from two statues, which started bleeding in protest. «Resident Evil 4» is quirky, absurd and humourous despite the horror setting.

For one thing, Leon kicks and punches open boxes to get to the contents. I get blindsided by cows and pigs as I ambush a cultist zombie. Or I run a side quest where some NPC is bothered by blue medallions that the fanatics have hung up. It’s really just a common fetch quest, but «Resident Evil 4» adds on a delightfully silly justification.

Nonstop action

However, the game centres around all things action. It principally differs from the original in that I can now run and reload. And thank goodness for that. My foes might not be the fastest, but they usually have the numbers to make up for it. Ammunition is scarce and battles hectic. «Resident Evil 4», however, always grants just enough weaponry so I can sufficiently defend myself against Los Illuminados.

Its many glowing pre-release reviews raised my expectations – and «Resident Evil 4» actually fulfilled them. So far, there hasn’t been a boring moment. Again and again, the game throws new mystifying enemies my way. The puzzles are so entertaining that I even want to unlock optional treasures. And the story is par for the course, meaning completely bonkers. I’ll most definitely continue playing.

«Resident Evil 4» is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and was provided to me by Capcom for this review.

Philipp Rüegg

Senior Editor

Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.ch

Being the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur. more

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