Resident Evil 4 is undoubtedly one of the most beloved games of all time. Survival horror was a rather niche genre until Capcom released Resident Evil back in 1996, which put both the genre and the Company on gamers’ radars.
Sequels were released to varying degrees of success until Capcom unleashed Resident Evil 4 onto the world in 2005, and it was cemented as a classic. So, it’s only natural that Capcom would decide to remake the game. Here are some things you need to know before the game releases on March 24, 2023.
However, if you wish to get an idea of what the game is like, there is a playable demo out right now on all platforms.
Story and setting
You play as Leon Kennedy, an agent sent to a Spanish village to rescue Ashley Graham, the U.S. President’s daughter, from a mysterious cult.
The village has been infested with a mind-controlling parasite known as Las Plagas, which has infected the villagers, turning them into hostile zombie-like creatures.
What made Resident Evil 4 such a big deal?
Resident Evil 4 did many things differently that made it stand out from the previous games in the franchise. The earlier installments had a fixed camera angle that would change based on the player’s position in the level.
RE4 swapped this out for a third-person, over-the-shoulder camera that followed Leon where ever he went. The older games in the franchise were also notorious for their janky movement, where characters moved like “tanks” as if the player had wanted to go left the character had to be turned left and then moved straight.
The fourth installment did away with such movement mechanics for more immediate and fluid controls.
This changed the landscape of the entire horror game genre. While the general philosophy of horror games back then was to put the player at as much of a disadvantage as possible without ruining the fun, Capcom showed that giving the players some advantages didn’t automatically make the game less scary.
The player could move around much quicker and had a variety of weapons to battle enemies, but by no means did it make them a force to be reckoned with.
Gameplay mechanics aside, Resident Evil 4 also added major pieces of lore to the universe. Umbrella has been destroyed in the fourth installment and unlike the previous games, instead of a virus, it’s a parasite called the Las Plagas that is the reason behind the zombies and other creatures.
The game was essentially a soft reboot that continued with the establishment of the previous games in terms of story and lore.
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Changes being made in the Remake
Apart from the obvious upgrade in the visual side of things, Capcom has stated that they intend to make some changes to the story.
Not by cutting out content as they did with the Resident Evil 3 remake, but by giving more depth to the characters and adding more drama, which could also be linked to the rumors of Ada Wong having a bigger role in the story.
On the gameplay front, Capcom is expanding the level designs. Mainly by adding more paths to the stages, which will supposedly allow stealthy players to be more sneaky.
Ashley will play a bigger role in the game. Unlike the original, where she just follows Leon around, Ashley will now help Leon with obstacles and enemies, like with Ellie and Joel in The Last of Us.
Defending her will also be a lot less irksome, and she won’t have a health bar like before. She still can take damage and will eventually enter a downed state if she sustains too much, and should you fail to revive her, she will die.
Other changes include, weapon durability being added to handheld weapons, the removal of quick time events for a parry system, the ability to trade jewels to the merchant for special items, and also accept new side quests from him.
Resident Evil 4 Remake launches on March 24 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. Also, if you wish to get an idea of what the game is like, there is a playable demo out now on all platforms.