Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

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About 18 years ago, a streaming game called Resident Evil 4 was presented to gamers. By recreating this video game first-class, Capcom has managed to present a work that has a lot to say to many big games of the day.

The Resident Evil 4 remake was one of the most anticipated games for many Resident Evil fans in recent months. However, like a large number of other expensive projects in the video game industry that belong to famous collections, many questioned the necessity of producing the game several times before the official introduction; Especially referring to the release time of the original version. They said that RE4 is newer than the older games in the RE series like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 and therefore does not need a remake.

But when experiencing the RE4 remake, you don’t have much time to think about whether it is necessary or not. When you’re enjoying the many positives of a video game, you’re happy with the experience and therefore the production. Still, this remake is so high-quality and high-level, even compared to many AAA games of the last few years, that its release seems necessary enough.

Due to Capcom’s policies regarding non-disclosure of important parts of Resident Evil 4 Remake, it was not possible to use all recorded gameplay videos and images recorded by MegaGital. According to Capcom’s policy, we had to use official videos and images released by Capcom for most of the review. Also, this review is not allowed to go into the details of the changes of the remake compared to the original version. So MegaGital is content to point out the existence of these changes and the general explanation of their impact on the experience.

From the moment you start playing Resident Evil 4 2023, some differences are noticeable. The story details of the opening minutes, along with the external elements, including the lighting of the environment, show that we are not dealing with an exact reconstruction. But the general feeling of everything is right. Because these minutes provide the same experience we remember from Resident Evil 4 in 2005.

A little later, it comes to a part of the game that is largely a copy of the original content. At first glance, it seems that we see the same stage only with technical graphics. In this way, Capcom wants to ease the minds of old fans during the first hour of Resident Evil 4 remake experience. Because it lets them know that there are changes in the remake, but not just for the sake of seeing differences between the 2005 and 2023 versions.

This is important because it establishes the nature of Resident Evil 4 Remake as a respectable remake. Since in many parts of the game we see the deep loyalty of the production team to the original version, we also see the differences with a better view.

Striving for freshness, along with a great deal of respect for the original, combine to form this remake. Seeing the loyalties, the fan accepts in the face of the changes that, at least most of the time, the goal of the development team in making them was to make the overall experience better. So without getting angry at every change, give that change a chance to show off. Meanwhile, the old player will face memorable stages, scenarios and situations during most moments of the game experience, which have been perfectly recreated.

The reconstructions appear detailed and the player allows the changes to occur. This combination shows its best effect when those changes are also attractive. For example, I must say that there is a section in the first half of Resident Evil 4 that the remake version has managed to expand; So much so that it practically turns it into a semi-open-world area.

Fans of Resident Evil 4 are quite familiar with connecting several parts of the map together and moving between them to solve puzzles. As a result, this half-expanded open-world section fits the nature of Resident Evil 4 and sits very well within it. By using not so complex but acceptable puzzles in this section, the production team has made the audience have no choice but to explore the environment; It is a frightening environment that puts different enemies in front of him.

Therefore, a part of the game is expanded and the player’s time is divided in a balanced way between fighting, exploring the environment and solving puzzles. Again, like many other parts of Resident Evil 4, this part of the game can be learned; This means that a professional gamer can master it and if he comes to the game later, for example, for speed run, he has the opportunity to challenge his speed and try not to fight with many ganados.

Capcom has put the same model as its main theme in the production of Resident Evil 4 remake. In this remake, the changes are usually so well lost between the familiar parts and have the same feel of Resident Evil 4 that they are not redundant and isolated. If the audience unfamiliar with Resident Evil 4 comes to the game Resident Evil 4 Remake, they are not going to recognize that a certain part was exactly recreated from the 2005 game and a certain part was created by the creators of the 2023 game.

As a result, Capcom’s decision for this kind of remake of a brilliant streaming game ends up benefiting new players. Because they also get a unified game that has many of the strengths of a classic game; A unified game that is even a little more successful than the 2005 product, in meeting the expectations of many players in 2023.

Retaining and improving many of the positive points of Resident Evil 4. This can be seen as a summary of the achievements of the Resident Evil 4 remake.

Storytelling in the remake of Resident Evil 4 is done in a better way than the original version. Because the creators have succeeded in enhancing the charm and beauty of the story without making any changes to the eyes of the audience.

Characters are upgraded in several ways; Thanks to the excellent voice acting of various characters and especially Leon S. Kennedy and Ashley Graham, increasing the elegance of some dialogues and of course the creators’ use of excellent and accurate face animations. All of these together make the remake a great time for both the old fan and the new player. Of course, sometimes you have to modify some items and add others. For example, slight changes in the story itself and the different arrangement of some events also help the development of the narrative in the remake.

Now the roles of notable supporting characters such as Luis Sera and Ada Wong are better understood. In the same way, the producer can keep us waiting for their confrontation with a few references to the teacher-student relationship between the two characters. Ashley instead of a disabled girl who often hears the screams of “Leon! Leon! He sticks in the mind, mostly as a lovable and damaged character; A girl whose feelings many gamers of the remake will probably care about. Do you know where the elegance of these developments comes from? Since Luis remains practically the same as Luis, Ashley remains practically the same as Ashley and Ada remains practically the same as Ada. Only the audience understands their role and place in the story better than before. This is called polishing the story without betraying it.

With symbolic illustrations, more sequences and placing readable writings in different environments, the creators engage the audience’s mind in the Lore of this fictional world.

Is this story created by the creators of the remake version? of course not. Resident Evil 4 always had a remarkable story. The story of the ordinary people of the village being controlled by a powerful parasite that came under the control of the head of a fanatic sect was terrifying and meaningful; Likewise, the story of his attempt to turn the daughter of the President of the United States of America into his puppet.

Add to all of the above a scientist’s remorse for helping a vile individual abuse nature, plus a fighter’s drowning in revenge and power-seeking; Similarly, the sick behavior of a humiliated person who seeks to be praised by a master.

This story always had something to say. But the way a game studio looked at the audience in 2005 could make some of the seriousness of the story fall behind other things. For this reason, the remake can better portray the contents of the same story with minor changes and without subverting the story. A proper remake in the game industry can remind and highlight the values of the original game.

The game RE4 Remake succeeds in increasing the depth of the systems of the same work of 2005 by using today’s technologies. For example, the level of impact of the sound on the gamer is higher in the remake. Because by using 3D sound technology, it directs the enemies’ voices; Not that the effect of the “presence” or “absence” of the enemy in the environment can be reduced to “hearing” or “not hearing” their general voice.

During many moments, there is silence in the game; So that the sound has its own impact whenever it is heard. For example, when after several minutes of silence and only hearing the believable sound of the environment, the alarming music theme is suddenly played along with the angry sound of the enemies, the audience really feels apprehensive.

So far, we have mostly mentioned the improvements that we will touch after a few hours of playing the game. Otherwise, if we are going to emphasize the strong points, we should not forget that the remake of Resident Evil 4 benefits from the power of a technical giant called RE Engine and the technologies used in it.

Capcom continues to create stunning environments, characters, and creatures with this game engine. The environmental details in the remake of Resident Evil 4 are very high and are definitely more than the 2005 version.

Although the number of dark environments in Resident Evil 4 Remake is far less than that of Resident Evil 2 Remake, the exemplary accuracy of RE Engine lighting can still be seen in this video game. In the castle and its surroundings where candles and torches are used, the believability of the light and the quality of the shadows really attract the player’s attention.

The high-level technical graphics of the work are supported by beautiful designs drawn by Capcom artists. You won’t waste your time paying attention to the details of every room in this game and using points to see the detailed models made for Resident Evil 4 Remake.

Resident Evil has always been about environmental storytelling and depicting engaging worlds. It is not surprising that the RE4 remake makes good use of these positive points. What is the result? Much more engaging atmospheric creation of environments such as Ramon Salazar’s castle with foggy levels in the remake version. Resident Evil 4’s environments become more detailed with these graphic effects, making them look more realistic. The fact that such environments seem more real also means that they are more frightening.

The only undeniable flaw of Resident Evil 4 Remake, which cannot be completely ignored, is the simplification or removal of several challenging situations that were present in the original version; Creative parts of the second half, of course, their number does not reach the number of fingers on one hand.

People who remember Resident Evil 4 well will notice that these parts have not been recreated. The creators pay homage to some of them, for example, in the form of cutscenes, but they have practically left out two significant parts. However, the main issue regarding the occurrence of this type of events in such remakes is always not the removal of an attractive part, but the lack of providing an alternative for it. When an interesting part of a game stage is removed in an often faithful remake, and the development team has not replaced it with any new interesting stage, it feels empty. Resident Evil 4 is a very popular game. As a result, the number of people who notice those empty places will not be small.

Mentioning this issue is unavoidable for those of us who have been in love with Resident Evil 4 for years. But at the same time, we are never going to deny the reconstruction of many interesting and enjoyable parts of the original version, the improvement of some of them, and also the good creativity of the remake team.

We see one of the appropriate creativity of the production team in the implementation of the new knife mechanism. Because it doesn’t give unlimited power to the gamer and at the same time it’s really fun to use it to get rid of the enemy or hide. How much time you spend sharpening your knife and how much you use this tool is up to you.

Resident Evil 4 Remake, like the original version, indirectly gives the player a large number of choices in the field of fighting enemies; Except when we are going to be challenged in a special way and we have to experience some limitations in the battle.

There were key positive points worth studying in Resident Evil 4 that Capcom could hold a class on “keeping an action game interesting until the end” for a lot of game developers this year; Tips that are fortunately followed by the remake and sometimes even better affect the gameplay.

As expected from a Resident Evil 4 remake, your efforts to collect resources and the choices you make in the field of upgrades have a tangible impact on the gameplay. While the general structure of Resident Evil 4 is linear, these choices make for a variety of experiences for gamers; So that the game is worth re-experiences.

The various systems of rewarding the player by completing side activities and completing mini-games have balanced the time needed to complete and the final reward so well that the audience enjoys spending time on them. The right attention to detail can even be seen in the way the minigames are presented to the audience. Lian being alone or being accompanied by someone will make the accompanying character give their opinions about your performance in the minigame. This seemingly simple point makes us not miss even one of the opportunities to enter their experience.

The Resident Evil 4 remake knows how to draw the audience in and keep them excited. When we are passing through the place of imprisonment of a huge enemy, the game through voice acting, Leon’s short reaction and the presence of a suspicious object in the environment, makes us constantly ask ourselves what is going to happen.

The remake of Resident Evil 4 also knows how to increase the number of enemies, challenge the player with different ways of fighting them, and introduce new enemies.

Do you know why he knows these things well? Because it has a wonderful master called Resident Evil 4. The main positive points of the gameplay of this game are so bold that if you quickly go to many third-person action games of the last few years, you will feel the dos and don’ts of properly producing such video games with all your heart.

The stage design of RE4 is at a level that can be admired after 18 years. Even the few palpable shortcomings of the gameplay never detract from its overall essence and original design. For example, in the remake, sometimes if we approach wolves and dynamite-throwing gonados, they don’t pay much attention to Leon’s location for a few seconds. This causes the AI to malfunction during a small percentage of the game’s seconds, making them easy to beat.

But when this happens, many enemies can cleverly trap and challenge us. Then we start running with anxiety and fall into an explosive trap with haste. We use the last healing spray in Leon’s bag to survive. Then, since there is a possibility that there is a box behind the stairs and bullets are found in it, we take the risk and go there. Among all the benefits of this tense gameplay, focusing on the relative weakness of artificial intelligence in less than 10% of the time is like a joke.

Many game developers make interesting claims in interviews before the release of their new work. However, Yasuhiro Ampo, the director of the game Resident Evil 4 Remake, said a few weeks ago that is not very similar to the sentences produced by the company’s advertising unit.

He explained that he initially did not want to take on the task of working on the RE4 remake. But when he re-experienced the game, he and the team concluded that Resident Evil 4 “is still a masterpiece, and at the same time there are some aspects that could be improved.” It was after realizing this that he agreed to work on the remake of Resident Evil 4: “We felt that if we remade it today, we could do even more with it as a game than before. We identified such elements and that’s where [the work] started.”

While experiencing the best moments of the remake of Resident Evil 4, we can easily believe these words of Yasuhiro Ampo.

The remake of Resident Evil 4 was reviewed based on its experience on PS5.