After having graced us with a review of episodes 2 and 3, Capcom is tackling the most delicate of projects here. Resident Evil 4 is rightly considered the breaking point of the license. It is indeed from this that the developers have favored action to the detriment of survival horror.
The task is all the more difficult after the outcry caused by the scriptwriting amputation of the last remake. Capcom is expected at the turn and nothing will be forgiven him in our analysis.
Put away the spears, they understood
Our story takes place six years after the biological disaster of Raccoon City. We embody agent Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the tragedy. With an elite training, we are appointed by the President of the United States to rescue his daughter who has been kidnapped. Our investigation leads us to an isolated European village, whose inhabitants hide a terrible secret. However, we were far from imagining what we are about to discover about the Los Iluminados sect which has control over this region.
Although the main plot remains largely identical to the 2005 version, the developers have reorchestrated the score. Put away pitchforks and other blunt objects, this time there are no unfortunate amputations. There are certainly arrangements and a reorganization of key moments in the story, but everything is positive and serves the scriptwriting quality. Certain passages were poorly done, not to say missed, in the original work. These small liberties taken by the studio make everything coherent and much more “cinematic”.
A wind of modernity
It would be tedious to draw up an exhaustive list of the entire gameplay here, especially since it includes all the improvements from which the two previous remakes have benefited. We can mention, for example, the quick selection of a weapon via the directional cross, the possibility of moving while pointing your weapon or the presence of challenges allowing you to unlock outfits or effects in the special shop.
However, there are a few new features, such as the ability to parry a blow with our knife. Be careful, however, because each use of this weapon will start its resistance gauge which can even lead to breaking it. This precious companion is often our last means of defense when ammunition runs out, it will sometimes be necessary to accept a bad blow to ensure its longevity.
Inventory management has also been redesigned. Only weapons, ammunition, accessories and healing items affect our storage capacities. Everything has a price, it is only possible to store weapons and accessories in the trunk. So you have to know how to get rid of certain things and that’s where the merchant comes into play.
When we cross paths with this strange merchant, we can sell him the objects that have become too bulky or the treasures amassed on our way. The fruit of these transactions associated with the pesetas collected during the adventure allows us to buy new weapons, improve those already acquired or repair our precious knife.
Some will have noticed that the deluxe edition includes a lucky charm and a briefcase visual. These don’t just have a cosmetic role and allow you to benefit from certain in-game advantages. These goodies and many others can be unlocked from the merchant. In order to preserve the surprise we will not reveal more except that this “collection” promises many hours of additional play.
We still keep the old pots
Just like originally, Resident Evil 4 offers side quests that extend the life of the title. During our exploration, it is not uncommon to find a blue note asking us to find a golden egg or to destroy sectarian medals that pollute a farm, for example. Completing these secondary missions can be very useful since it allows you to obtain unique items from the merchant.
Even if it has been a little enriched, we find the already well-stocked bestiary of the time. So yes, there are sometimes one or two villagers who seem to be twins (or triplets) but overall we haven’t noticed any redundancy in the waves of opponents.
What does not change either is the auditory richness of the title. Between the croaks, the distant rattles and the cracking of branches, we are immediately plunged into the horrific atmosphere. The soundtrack knows how to be discreet between two phases of action without forgetting to highlight the strong moments of the story. We can only advise you to live this adventure with a helmet for total immersion.
Let’s talk numbers
Resident Evil 4 is very generous in settings. Whether in terms of graphic quality, in-game assistance or even inclusion. Accessibility options allow, among other things, easy access for the hearing impaired, the visually impaired and people with motion sickness (motion sickness).
For the graphic part, we have the choice between the resolution mode and the framerate mode. On Xbox series X, it is possible to benefit from raytracing and a more realistic rendering of the characters’ hair.
During our test we did not notice any significant drop in framerate in performance mode while having chosen raytracing and hair enhancement. It’s not as glorious in resolution mode, though. Raytracing seems too greedy not to significantly impact the stability of the number of frames per second. This translates into somewhat heavy movements of Leon when we are plagued by a horde of enemies. We therefore advise you to deactivate raytracing in resolution mode. The visual input is not the most impressive, it is easy to do without it without affecting the experience.
There is however a common defect, regardless of the graphics mode or the additions selected, certain textures struggle to load. This does not impact the immersion but these failures sometimes occur without the visual richness being able to explain it. Hopefully this issue will be fixed by a patch upon release.
As for the lifespan, it took us fifteen hours to finish our first part while completing some blue notes. Completing all of the side quests and miscellaneous challenges promises significant replayability. The presence of a New Game+ encourages all the more to relaunch without waiting in the adventure.
Tested on Xbox Series X.
