Last time on this blog nobody reads, I discussed my concerns for two remakes of genre-defining horror games from the sixth generation. Now that one has been released, I want to discuss Resident Evil 4. As much as I should discuss Resident Evil 4 on its own merits, fuck that. To be clear they are both great games and get perfect scores from me if you’re into numbers, but I will be spending most of my time comparing it to the original release. How has the gameplay and plot changes affected the transition? The two games are still pretty similar. Both are Resident Evil 4. The 2023 release is not “like a completely separate game.” At the end of the day it's the same, fucking awesome, game.
Resident Evil 4 (2023) vs Resident Evil 4 (2005)
Six years after the whole being in Resident Evil 2 kind of thing, Leon Kennedy arrives in the same region of Europe that still uses pesetas looking for the president of the United States’ daughter, Ashley. She has been kidnapped by a cult planning to do some resident evil type shit by infecting the region with a horrible virus that turns people into zombies, monsters, and sometimes zombie monsters. You spend most of the game running around the area shooting villagers, roundhouse-kicking monsters, and collecting treasure to buy new weapons. There are, of course, some classic Resident Evil puzzles of finding strangely shaped keys to fit into strangely shaped holes. Like finding the statue heads of different animals to slot into a statue to open a wooden door, for example. Both games keep this basic framework.
So what's changed? The 2023 release swaps the tank controls of the original release for the familiar third-person action game controls that most people are used to. To compensate for the improved movement, the enemies are faster and a bit stronger. You still get to shoot them in certain spots to daze them which can lead to a follow-up melee attack with some splash damage thrown in there for a fun bonus. The controls are more modern and it’ll depend if you prefer them. On the one hand, it's nice to move freely but the combat isn’t any more intense than it was back in 2005. If anything, having to stop moving to shoot or stop shooting to move made it an interesting choice you had to make when being surrounded by enemies, which isn’t really here anymore.
You do get new moves in this game too. There’s a stealth kill, which makes a lot of sense. Areas of the original were open enough but with enemies that didn’t notice you immediately. That said, you can’t just stealth kill your way to clear a room. No area in the game is designed for that. But it can lead to fewer bullets used when everyone does notice you and shit hits the fan. You also get a parry move, blocking incoming damage from most weapons. However, all these new moves degrade your knife and you have to choose whether you want your knife to whittle down or break just to save on health or ammo. Speaking of choices, the other new gameplay mechanic is minor crafting. Gunpowder and "resources" (which is just a sack full of metal) can drop from enemies and be found stuffed into pieces of furniture. Combining them makes different types of ammo depending on the amount. While it could be annoying, it isn’t. What ammo to craft depending on the enemies you’ve been fighting and your play style is a welcome option with a simple crafting mechanic. Perhaps you prefer using a shotgun for close combat or moving away from enemies and just using a rifle to take them out. The game now gives you the option to create ammo to fit your play style. Simple mechanics like one-button parries and two-item crafting make it so you have more choices, which is great. Overall, I’d say generalized gameplay is better in the remake because of those choices that make up for the removal of some fight-or-flight choices.
That said tons of minor changes to set pieces have been done that I don’t know if they add up to positives. The boss fights with “It,” the bit with the Salazar statue chase, the crane game, the laser room, the lava room, the dozer section, the underground ruins, the bit with the truck driving at you, and so on have been cut. The mine cart section, the section in the canyon, and most of the cutscenes have all been shortened. Some things have replaced these sections like a tiny fire-breathing Salazar statue and a wrecking ball instead of the chase and king of the hill dozer sections respectively. On the one hand, these changes make the game a bit shorter, for my playtimes at least, and lead to a tighter game without much faffing about. One of my complaints on the 2005 release was that it was a little bit long for my liking and cutting some non-essential stuff down or just out makes sense. The game’s pacing doesn’t really suffer from these cuts.
That said, those weird bits in the game were fun. I liked shooting a dude in the driver’s seat of a truck as he floored it toward me, I liked running away from a weird statue, and I liked the bits where the game would pause so Leon Kennedy and the villains would roast each other. It was just fun. I can’t help but feel like with a lot of fun bits taken out that Resident Evil 4 Remake is blander because of it. Also, the core combat is better here but I found it can get a bit more repetitive without those bits to break up the standard area clearing out gameplay. Some bits that were added also make the game blander. For example, there’s a section where Leon is dying and slowly walks while staggering through a room. Like that bit in Batman Arkham City, Dead Space, Gears of War, Spec-Ops: The Line, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, etc. Or the new exciting bits where you squeeze through a narrow crack in the wall like in God of War 2018, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Tons of modern cinematic techniques used in a game so action-focused just made me roll my eyes. They are overused to the point that those tropes lose all effectiveness. All those small changes are still small, but they add up to a slightly different experience that I can’t confidently say is for the better.
The game’s tone is also a bit different. Everything is a bit more serious now and played a lot less like a B-level horror movie. I found the results of this to be mixed. The secondary villain Krauser is less cartoonish, more threatening, more memorable, and has a motivation that’s more easily understandable. His boss fights as well are better this time around by being centered around parrying instead of quick time events. However, another secondary villain, Salazar, is much worse. He has less screen time, less fun things to say, has a worse boss fight, and is just generally less memorable this time around. The main villain suffers much of the same fate. In fact, I don’t know if the game ever implicitly or explicitly states his endgame in the 2023 release. Luis, a side character, gets better motivation and screen time on the other hand.
All the characters worked in the 2005 release but they were different. Ashley is more of a screaming girl in a horror movie originally, and now she’s more serious and calm. Ada Wong seems more regretful of her actions with a bigger attraction to Leon rather than just a strict femme fatale. The mysterious allegiance of Ada in the original worked for its cheesy vibe and the more serious tone in the remake has an Ada that’s more complex and better suited for that tone. It makes more sense to keep a more serious tone especially if we’re going for an altered Resident Evil canon in the remakes. But the 2005 release was a stand-alone title, more or less, and the 2023 remake makes some characters way more boring. I’m not confident in saying that the remake’s tone is better, you just gotta pick which one you prefer.
That’s how I feel overall about Resident Evil 4 Remake. Both are excellent games with stellar gameplay and a more jovial tone than most AAA games right now that will be worth your purchase. Especially once the remake matches the price of the original over time from price drops and sales. I think in the future I’ll play the original over the remake. The remake is more mechanically interesting, more serious, tighter, and has some smarter characterization. The original is more fun in tone and characterization, has more content, and is more important to video games as an art form. Of course, the newer one also looks better, but you can get the old graphics with an HD texture mod on PC so take your pick really. In many ways, I would consider it a success that Resident Evil 4 doesn’t have a definitive version post-remake. Except for the Zeebo release of course
5/5
Oh this shit rules
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| Resident Evil 4 on the Brazillian console, The Zeebo |
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