Resident Evil 4 – Review

Games that break the mold of popular series are generally not well remembered among fans. Resident Evil 4 is probably one of the biggest exceptions to this. In addition to destroying the mold of the first three games by changing it with action, it also created a work that we can call a cornerstone for the game industry all the way back in 2004. Despite having made such a radical change, you will not find anyone who will say, “It was a bad game”; because Bitores Méndez crashes and needs moisture…

The remake of a game that has risen to such a cult status is not an easy task, either. I mean, fans don’t usually like changes; they want to see things that they are used to and know more janjan. That’s why I saw a lot of people sneering at the Remakes of the second and especially the third game, although they are essentially good and embraced by new players. (Considering the content cut from RE3, they are not unfair to a certain extent) It is even more difficult to catch the spark of Resident Evil 4 again in such an environment. But happily, Capcom succeeded and came out with the version of Resident Evil 4 that we can confidently call “the best”.

Now there are actually so many details and things that I want to talk about in the review. However, I will not be able to talk about some details that I want to talk about at this stage, because in the embargo of the version that was presented to us early for us to review, some very strict restrictions were put in order not to spoil the surprises of the game. While such restrictions are usually “to hide something”, rest assured, this time they’re really just there to keep the game’s surprise. Although we are talking about a game that came out 19 years ago, Capcom kept the main lines the same as in the previous Remakes, and did not fail to sprinkle various surprises in between.

“The moon is over the corner from Dr. Salvador was going to jump!” If you memorized it, the game is playing with your expectations; While you are waiting from the right, it hits from the left. Since we are not allowed to give specific examples, I can only say this much of course. But despite all its surprises and changes, it still tells the same story better and stronger, I would like to say that there is nothing more or less… I can’t help but mention him: Unfortunately, the extra story “Separate Ways”, which opens after finishing the game in the original Resident Evil 4 and tells what he does in parallel with the main story, in which we play as Ada, unfortunately does not exist as of now.

For those who don’t know, this additional story, besides providing an extra after finishing the game, also underlined some details that we normally do not see and remain in the air. For example, do you know the reason why the bell was ringing in the first village square? The reasons for such things that you don’t question much while playing the normal scenario are explained in Separate Ways. Unfortunately, winds are blowing in place of another extra, The Mercenaries mode. But on the one hand, you should not despair and completely darken the neck, on the one hand, Ghost Survivors and 4th Survivor DLCs came for free after the release of Resident Evil 2 Remake. Although there is no statement from Capcom as of now, maybe we will see such support for Resident Evil 4 in the coming days, weeks or months… If they add them anyway, don’t tell us! Then I can say with peace of mind that “there is no shortage, there is more”.

Well, you can’t talk about it, you can’t talk about it… What are you talking about man?!

Believe me, I wish I could talk about it even if it was possible. Village, lake, castle, island, etc. even in many of them they went by putting it on the previous one. For example, especially the castle parts are close to the iconic thriller parts of the previous games in many places. For example, this was the part I complained about the most in the original Resident Evil 4. The action or something is very good, the game is flowing, but when we tense up, “Don’t come on me… I SAID DO NOT COME, GO!!!” You could not experience the feeling with the taste of your mouth. But “Stop, let me hit your knees/head, you’ll be stunned; Let me kick you in the forehead!” you were doing to almost all enemies. Oh, you do that too, but at least this time, you run away and get nervous in the narrow corridors. Especially there is a sequence in which you play as Ashley, which really made me think, “If I were playing this in VR right now, I would have gone by heart”. (Because it will be playable on PS VR2)

In the meantime, if I come back to the “kick in the forehead” conversation (which is the golden tactic for those who have not played before, write it in the corner of your mind), there is the fact that although it was an action that took the game for its time, it was a bit stubby compared to today. That’s why it’s important and good that the gameplay of the game is modernized and pulled to the level of Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remake. I missed Jill’s dodge move a bit at first, as my muscle memory stayed tuned to the latest RE3 Remake. As you know, the villagers in RE4 are more agile and mobile than the walking dead of Raccoon City. But as I got used to Leon’s movements and learned new techniques, I realized that everything I needed was actually at the end of DualSense. For example, Leon can also “escape” from enemy attacks. If you bend over while taking a step back while someone rushes at you, his attack often fails. In addition, they have brought a “parry” mechanic that rewrites the face of the game – if you can handle it, things turn into a show. Aside from bouncing the ax thrown at your head with the L1 key, you can even shave the arms of crazy villagers from Las Plaga. You can even bounce the chainsaw that the very dear doctor tried to force (!) to Leon without a prescription, and the bullets of the Nail Gun, which is used by some enemies who rely on firepower in the future, if you can keep the timing. Oh, but that comes at a cost, of course. The knives you use have a durability, and using your knife to keep bouncing in this way and to escape quickly when the enemy grabs you, melts that endurance like water quickly. Fortunately, if your main blade is broken, you can go and have it repaired by paying the price.

Another point where the heirloom knife from Leon’s police days (day?!) does the perfect job is secrecy. No, I didn’t spell it wrong. By crouching like this, you can easily retire from life by introducing your knife to the villagers (…and other kinds of ghouls) that you approach silently from behind. Of course, don’t expect to play the whole game with the taste of Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid; It isn’t happening. (I tried because) Even if you drop two or three people like this, the rest of them still get on you brutally, and the job is again reduced to the classic conflict rules. But as I said, there is not much to complain about since they have preserved the already solid action and improved it even more and modernized it. The game is still dynamically focused on keeping you on your toes. Got a lot of ammo and supplies? 10 minutes later, you find yourself waving a knife at the nation saying “TWO BULLETS LEFT”. Then, because you don’t have any more bullets, the game says “Come on, meatballhor… We are not that cruel” and fires 5 or 10 bullets; you seem to relax and hop it’s the same loop again! But I’m not saying this to complain, it’s nicely tuned and keeps you (especially at higher difficulty levels) on the edge of your seat, constantly uneasy. So as it should be.

Oh, and while “modernizing” the game, they also handled the parts that ridiculously disrupted the pace of the game. I won’t name it now, but trying to solve a “push-pull” puzzle in the most exciting part of the fight with a boss towards the end of the game…let’s face it, it was ridiculous. This time, instead of solving puzzles, they put traps that fit the theme of the boss between the fight. You try to move forward without getting caught by them – which I think is much more fluent, logical and pleasant.

“What are you buying? What are you selling?”

Other areas also got their share from these successful arrangements in the pace of the script and episodes. For example, let me reinforce with a few examples that immediately come to mind: Although you can still play Tetris in Leon’s bond bag, if you don’t want to, you can almost completely automate this job. When you press R3, the game automatically organizes the bag in the most appropriate way. It’s an addition that saves time and makes your job incredibly easy. You can easily see what you can combine from the bag and how you can combine them quickly. Well, the treasures and jewels you find are collected in a separate slot, and instead of adding very specific stones to the treasures and increasing their value, you simply multiply the price of the treasure when you make different color combinations. When you put 5 different colored jewels on the crown with a stone slot, you can sell treasure + jewels for x2 price – that’s how I went up to 100,000 ptas. (In short, do not throw away the jewels and treasures in your hand, collect them and sell them by decorating them with stones of different colors!) If you do the tasks of our merchant friend who welcomes us with his purple flame, you earn a separate unit where you can buy some special items. Ashley can take care of herself much better now, and you don’t get tangled up all the time, and you can even get the job done by saying “You go in there, don’t bother with that closet” before very tough boss battles… There are tons of other things like this that improve your gaming experience.

As a result, as you can see, Capcom has accomplished the difficult thing, and has managed to rekindle the spark that Resident Evil 4 first caught in 2004. He turned around and said, “What could be better as a Remake?” All I could say was, “Oh, if only there was a Separate Ways story!” If so, it’s okay to call this the best version of the timeless classic Resident Evil 4…