When we talk about Resident Evil it’s all rage and shirt ripping; and it is that Capcom does not err with its beloved franchise. If you thought that the original games were great in their time, the remake of this fourth part is scrumptious.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is available for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
I’m in Mr. President
my story with resident Evil it starts in 1998 with Resident Evil 2 (nobody remembers 1… not even Capcom). For a few months my 12/13 year old self rented the Playstation to be able to play this wonderful video game. Action, puzzles and zombies. What more could you ask for? The third part arrived and I did not have the opportunity to try it.
The years passed; I played other things but one day I saw the box of resident evil 4 for GameCube. I didn’t know anyone who had that console and I had to wait until someone else had a dubious version on Playstation 2. The pace of this game was very different from the one I knew from the saga. Its unbridled action, the dialogues, the fights with final bosses. I had a little glimpse because if I didn’t stay at my friend’s but everything changed when I was able to try it on my own on PC.
We all wanted to be Leon Kennedy; the most fachero hero of the saga and rescue the innocent daughter of the president. That honor!. An argument that could be taken from the most classic action movies of the 90s. But of course, this is resident Evil. In the middle of this epic there are Galician sects, giant monsters and the enigmatic but always well received Ada Wong.
Now closer to 40 I realized how much I enjoy resident evil 7 and Resident Evil Village. I don’t know why the story of Ethan Winters, an ordinary man who tries to save his wife and his daughter from all the strange beings that inhabit his world, caught my attention so much. curiously village It is one of the games that has the most similarities with the fourth part. Although the new resident Evil They walk a fine line between horror and action. A dilemma that fans are still discussing: “we want more terror… we want more action”…
I’m not just a pretty girl
The word “remake” always sounds ugly in movies. Rarely does a new version end up surpassing the original. It can happen, I don’t deny it. In video games it has another connotation. A remastering or remake is sometimes a copy and paste and all the fans think where is the change? But sometimes we see very drastic interactive and visual jumps as happened with resident evil 2 Remake.
resident revil 4 It was a game that already laid the foundations for many of the third-person action games that would come later as Gears of War either dead space. I’m not going to say that this remake is going to do the same with the next video game sagas, but its additions are what the Capcom title needed.
At first Leon could not run and shoot; that’s why many of the villagers moved slowly like zombies. Now something so simple is possible but it has consequences the enemies will rush against us and corner us. The action also changes because we can change weapons in a faster and more intuitive way; so as not to lose realism within the game.
Continuing with the combat, an essential weapon is added for this new version: “the knife”. It’s paramount and I don’t understand how I was able to play the original game without this weapon. We can abuse it a bit and attack enemies from behind or do damage to save ammunition. It can be broken, you have to fix it with our beloved merchant the peddler. And we can make damage and resistance improvements.
The knife also adds the ability to parry. We are not before a Dark Souls but how well it applies to the game of resident Evil. The bravest will be able to cover most of the enemy attacks; from tentacles and grenades to the mythical chainsaw of the man with a potato bag on his head.
Stealth is also a mechanic now present in Resident Evil 4 Remake. We can crouch down and make less noise to attack with our knife from behind. Although there are several scenes that the game tells us in the face that this is not Metal Gear Solid either Splinter Cell; and the enemies are waiting for us in front without much alternative to surround them.
Now we can get different briefcases that have different effects such as finding more ammunition or resources to create objects.
Due to all these changes in the mechanics it was obvious that the QTE (Quick Time Event) scenes were no longer going to be in the remake. A more than logical change knowing that it was something fun and innovative at the time but that today it is better to leave it in memory.
Also mention Leon and Ashley’s relationship in the game. The role of the girl (without going into spoilers) is now more active. Instead of going around screaming with a life bar; she can now be caught, she can fall down and if she is attacked in that state she dies. At the same time we can give her some basic orders such as for her to follow us or for her to stay in her place.
Returning to the pedlar, now we can obtain special objects by completing tasks or secondary missions such as hunting animals, destroying amulets; etc This adds to the replayability of a title that was already fun to explore.
Finally, something that happened to me with the remake was to exploit the advantage that the enemies go up the stairs without thinking, we shoot them and they go up again; and we repeat the process. They don’t think much; something that the AI of current games tries to avoid by thinking about where to attack and surprise us. This does not mean that things are easy, if an enemy grabs you, half the bar will drop and another throws a grenade at you… caput.
A visual and sound redesign from scratch
The original version is not that it has aged badly but what the RE Engine can do today is amazing. The remakes are proof of this.
The scenarios in Resident Evil 4 Remake They vary from night to day, stormy or windy. The town, the island and the castle are alive. They have many more rooms to go. The lighting and texture work is much more realistic. Thanks to this, we feel the tension in every movement.
The sounds are another point that has been improved. From the classic “behind you, idiot” to how Leon slowly moves in the water, while we hear the crunching of the enemy’s footsteps above us as they search for us.
Of the kinematics there is not much to say that does not jump to the eyes with the images of this note. They were completely redesigned. The facial expressions are impressive. And the voices fit the new models perfectly.
THE BEST
- A remake that could be classified as a totally new game at times.
- The inclusion of the knife is one of the reasons for its success.
- The new visual design of the characters and environments is modern but does not lose the essence either.
- Playing with good headphones is a unique experience.
- It has many collectibles to replay it at the end of its campaign.
WORST
- Some reactions from its enemies show that it is a game of almost 20 years.
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