They’re Actually Remaking Resident Evil 4

Capcom showed off more of their upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake; here are all the details!

Bingo Night

While the first part of the Resident Evil Showcase had to do with the upcoming DLC for Resident Evil Village, everyone was waiting for some new footage of the upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake. After Capcom recreated the 2nd and 3rd entry of their legendary zombie franchise, a Resident Evil 4 Remake was what almost everyone expected next. But the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 took two games from the PlayStation 1 and turned them into third-person shooter horror games. How do you remake the game that invented the third-person shooter?

How do you remake the Resident Evil that everyone loves and that is arguably the pinnacle of the entire franchise? While the first trailer summoned lukewarm reactions from die-hard Resident Evil fans, fearing that Shinji Mikami's swansong of the series would end up being Resident Evil 2 Remake wearing a Resident Evil 4s coat. This needs some elaboration.

Resident Evil 2 Remake recreated the events of the PlayStation classics in the style of a modern third-person horror-survival game. The issue emerges that Resident Evil 4 was when the series gave into its B-movie vibe and started having fun with it. Resident Evil 4 might start out as a dramatic horror game, but turns into a bizarre mesh of action, body horror, and comedy and is closer to Evil Dead than some of the Resident Evil purists out there might want to admit. So remaking that in a more realistic, grounded tone seems a little weird regarding Resident Evil 4s legacy.

Now that there is gameplay out for what seemed to be the first section of the original (arriving in the small Village), some of those fears have been laid to rest. At the same time, the Leon of the remake seems more like a real human instead of a 10-year-olds idea of a badass action hero. He still has some of his old new tricks, including the roundhouse kick that was elemental to Resident Evil 4s combat. See, in the original, you could stun enemies by shooting them in the head to initiate special maneuvers to give you space.

Resident Evil 4 was a game that didn't make you run through cluttered corridors past enemies to safe resources. Instead, it was a game focused on managing large crowds of enemies in confined spaces. The original was a very fast-paced game and in line with Capcoms brand of action, which initially felt off for a series known for its survival horror. But Resident Evil 4 managed to change survival horror into a fast-paced survival shooter that asked players to perform under stress instead of slowly and methodically taking out enemies one by one.

From what we've seen so far, Resident Evil 4 Remake looks to follow the footsteps of the original in being more action-focused, similarly to how Resident Evil 3 Remake streamlined the events of its original to tell a more cohesive narrative. And while Leon doesn't come off as jaded and snarky like the original, he at least had one line in the gameplay shown off today that gave me hope.

And, of course, everyone's favorite merchant is back. So you get to buyin' and sellin' equipment as you go and can pick and choose your loadout based on preferences like in the original. The inventory system also returns and the crafting has been expanded and streamlined. I'm not really sure if I like what they did to everyone's favorite short king Salazar who went from looking like a shrunk Napoleon with arthritis to an old tiny person. But we'll know if the game is faithful if the fight against a mechanized stature of him makes it into the remake.

So far, it is pretty impressive what Capcom has achieved in remaking this classic. There is hope that Resident Evil 4 Remake might turn into the greatest playable B-movie ever made; at worst, it'll turn Leon's venture into Spain into the horror title some want Resident Evil to be. And please include the option to bring back the original voice lines of the merchant; thank you.

Resident Evil 4 Remake will be released on March 24, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series S/X.

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