He resident evil 4 remake starts strong. Updated aiming mechanics and a new infusion of processing power make this the most exciting version of RE4 Capcom has never delivered, and Leon Kennedy looks better than ever, even with his new chin implant. The new version works well for the first few hours, as Leon shoots and stabs his way through the misty Spanish town where The pests has transformed the locals into monsters with murderous tentacles. These opening scenes, set among crooked wooden buildings and the shores of a twisting cave system, set the game’s blood-soaked tone and provide a satisfying balance between asset management, puzzle-solving, and modern third-person shooters. .
As the game grows in complexity it gets clunky. Capcom’s approach to modernization RE4 is to add more enemies, reduced environments, and fewer ammo drops, all of which could result in a high-tension action experience, if your controls were consistent. As it is, the RE4 The remake is plagued with slow animations and frustrating combat sequences. Leon constantly feels powerless, unable to evade basic attacks or reliably land a shot.
resident evil 4 It set the standard for action-horror games when it released in 2005, and the new version shines when it embraces the innovations of the original: over-the-shoulder precision shooting and an atmosphere of mixed combat and terror. The remake quickly loses focus, however, and it seems like much of Capcom’s effort went into improving the enemies and environments, leaving Leon in the dust of the GameCube era.
He RE4 The remake features new boss fights and awesome enemies, and also allows Leon to parry powerful attacks. Sometimes. The parry ability is only available if Leon has a knife on standby, and when prompted, it is easily interrupted by environmental nudges, other enemies’ actions, and Leon’s own animations. Like most of Leon’s moves, the parry ability is simply too inconsistent to be satisfying, and generally does nothing to increase the tension of combat scenes.
The remake often places Leon in the center of a swarm of enemies, without the option to quickly dodge incoming attacks. He has to shoot or fight his way through the horde, but he runs as if he’s knee-deep in mud, and even a bullet to the head doesn’t always stop a running cultist. Meanwhile, the enemy attacks always Leon interrupts. The slow motion is authentic to the experience of the original four Resident Evil games, and is something the RE2 and RE3 The remakes tackle it specifically, offering up-to-date controls and environments that feel right at home on modern hardware. Compared to those games, RE4 it feels unfinished, or at least unrefined.
Capcom
One boss fight that Capcom reinvented for the remake is against Mendez, the mutant priest with the extra-long spine. In the original, Mendez launches a repeating series of attacks from the rafters of a burning slaughterhouse. In the new version, Méndez steps back to hurl flaming logs and exploding oil drums at León, before rushing forward to engage in hand-to-hand combat, alternating these positions several times. Although the environment in the new version is larger, it is filled with flames that interrupt Leon’s actions whenever he touches them. Mendez moves quickly and so do the items he throws, while Leon has a slow dash ability, can’t dodge quickly, and sluggish animations to reload, retrieve items, touch fire, and slash enemies. Mendez seems like a completely redone character here; Leon, not so much. This results in a frustrating boss fight.
I died a few times while trying to take down Mendez, and that’s when Capcom pulled a prank on me. I was playing on Standard, and during my Mendez death screens, the game started asking me to turn on Assisted mode, the lowest difficulty setting. I don’t usually do this during reviews, but after a dozen maddening attempts, I gave in and hit OK without reading the fine print. The assisted mode makes the game incredibly forgiving, and I easily beat Mendez in the next race.
And then I couldn’t change my difficulty settings at all. Keep this in mind: Assisted mode is permanent on RE4.
I played a few more minutes on the lowest difficulty settings, but it really felt like a different game than the standard version, with no tension or risk. Fortunately, it was on PlayStation 5, which only syncs cloud saves when you quit a game. I turned off the console’s internet connection, closed the game, and then downloaded the old save file before changing the settings. I then defeated Mendez the old-fashioned way, on Standard difficulty, and followed with a new fear of accidentally switching to Assisted mode in my soul.
Permanent downmode switching is a standard feature in Resident Evil games, but I find it baffling. It is especially confusing as RE4 actively encourages standard players to try assisted mode in loading screens and death menus. I asked Capcom why the team designed RE4 this way, with a spokesperson saying, “The difficulty mode in which a player completes the game has ramifications for in-game achievements and trophies.” To me, this doesn’t fully answer the question: many action games have dynamic difficulty settings without interrupting achievements, and this answer doesn’t address my perception that Capcom is prioritizing trophy integrity over accessibility.
Capcom
While we’re in the complaint department, I also want to encourage all PS5 gamers to turn off controller sounds in your audio settings. this goes to RE4 and literally every other game with this feature. Why is the volume of the DualSense so loud all the time? Please someone stop.
This is what RE4 remake has reduced me to: a pleading mess of unfulfilled nostalgia and frustration. It’s not a terrible game, but it’s not perfect either. It adds a variety of new enemies and environments, but Leon’s bullets routinely hit their targets harmlessly, his movement is clumsy, and his new parry ability is only semi-functional. The game clearly lays out combat strategies for each scene, but then its mechanics get in the way, punishing the player in the process. In general, the word for the RE4 redo is inconsistent.
