As the largest and most influential series of its genre, Resident Evil has always set the tone for what modern survival horror games should look like. This applies to its first three parts, which brought countless PS1 players to sleep with their horror focus and inspired many imitators. This applies to its seventh part, with which this principle was made socially acceptable again in the mainstream. And, to the chagrin of many early fans, so does Part Four, one of the most important games of the PS2 generation that clearly steered the course of Resident Evil, and the entire survival horror genre, towards action for many years.
Of course, since even the Resi 2 and 3 remakes were clearly inspired by Part 4, the logical next step is a major update of the game that changed everything 18 years ago. To anticipate one thing: The Resident Evil 4 Remake has deliberate horror (buy now / €53.99 ) even less to do than the original. In terms of gaming, Capcom has focused primarily on making Resi 4 an even better action game. And we can tell you that too: the project was a success!
Note: Because Capcom’s review embargo only allows us to make our own recordings to a very limited extent, we have decided not to upload the test video until the game’s release on March 24th. Technically, the remake ran very clean in the test on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
New shine
Leon Kennedy’s trip to the Spanish hinterland starts out much darker in the remake than in the original. You cover the first few meters towards the village where the President’s daughter Ashley Graham is being held captive by the Los Illuminatos sect at night. It is immediately noticeable how much more atmospheric the game now looks. The RE engine conjures up great lighting, detailed environments and lively character models on the screen. Although the initial village, the castle and later scenes such as research laboratories and industrial plants look different (and often also in terms of content), the scenes have lost none of their recognition value. Neither do the dark figures that populate them.
Source: Capcom
Compared to the two remake predecessors, the engine in part 4 can display significantly more varied environments and more action scenes, and owners of current-gen systems are also happy about subtle raytracing reflections, which are also in performance mode at the targeted 60 frames per second may be activated. The PS5 version we tested never bitchy, only the filigree strands of hair on the figures sometimes look a bit crumbly. Resident Evil 4 is not a huge leap forward for the series, but the bar is of course already quite high.
The great Dualsense support, which not only delivers crisp trigger effects, but also precise haptic feedback, also deserves praise. For example, if you walk through flooded areas, you can feel the turbulent water under Leon’s feet in your hands (so to speak). When you draw a weapon, the holster sound effect is played from the controller, further enhancing the immersive, spatial experience.
New tools
Of course, the new graphics quality in the remake is accompanied by dramatically improved splatter effects and transformation animations for the enemies, and it doesn’t take too long before you get to know their “inner values”. The Plagas parasites used to control villagers tend to turn armed peasants into much more dangerous things after they die. However, the remake gives you a few new tools to deal with it more effectively.
Source: Capcom
On the one hand, the new Leon steers much less like a tank on two legs. Instead of standing there with your gun drawn, you can move while aiming and shooting and crouch at any time. You can also use the latter to occasionally kill an opponent from behind with a knife. However, the remake has not become a disguised stealth game brand The Evil Within for a long time. The situations in which it pays to be quiet can be counted on two hands, and as soon as you’re spotted, any enemy in the vicinity will be on your toes anyway.
