Capcom is back in business – a remake of Resident Evil 4 was not long in coming. The developers have reworked many details from the original and provided the community with a completely redesigned game. We set off on this almost new adventure and are in a hurry to share our impressions. We note right away that beginners do not have to study the previous developments of the studio, since there is also something to do in the remake.
New – well-forgotten old
The continuation of the story of Leon Kennedy begins with a short excursion into the key events of the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes , so players unfamiliar with the series will immediately find out all the comprehensive information and will not feel abandoned in an unknown world for them. The protagonist receives an important task – to find and save the president’s daughter.
The search will lead Leon to a small village ruled by a strange religious cult. In addition, people often disappear around, which immediately adds a bit of a classic mystical atmosphere. A simple introduction, but with taste. Let’s not spoil the impressions and say nothing more about important plot fragments, but we note the general construction.
Don’t expect incredible Nolan-style intricacies, but quality is often achieved through simplicity. The story moves along consistently without any innuendo or plot holes. The staging and animations are top notch, and the actors play their emotions well. In the original voice acting, this is done superbly, but the dubbing turned out to be quite worthwhile. Yes, we did not seal, unlike previous remakes, RE4 received a full-fledged localization. For example, Igor Sergeev (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) worked on Leon, and Mikhail Danilyuk (Rick Flag from Suicide Squad: Mission Blitz) voiced Luis Serra.
Such attention to the construction of the storyline and its proper presentation allows the player to immerse themselves in all the action taking place and enjoy them. As a result, we get a coherent and logical narrative with “live” characters and a solid concept with well-thought-out moves. The immersion is instant, you don’t want to break away from what you see.
The key negative (or positive?) feature for some gamers will be the minimum number of screamers, the not very intimidating atmosphere and the lack of a sense of “wild” horror. The game does not try to scare gamers, but pays great attention to the gameplay, without which a significant part of the games are unlikely to do.
Survive at any cost
Apart from the first canonical “battle” with the villagers, the player in most cases will have to make his way through small corridor locations, destroy opponents on his way, look for key items and solve simple puzzles. Sometimes you will have to get out into spacious locations with the possibility of free movement, but the process itself will not change much. The general principle, like in previous remakes, remains the same, with the exception of some gameplay mechanics.
The player has a variety of weapons. Let’s start with a familiar pistol and gradually find shotguns, rifles, a crossbow, a rocket launcher and other “guns”. The choice is quite large, so each gamer can choose a copy for himself. This time, Leon brought his knife from Raccoon City, which is gradually losing its durability. You will have to occasionally repair it at the merchant in order to always be able to fight off the villains during the capture. In addition, a parry function has appeared – the player can even repel an opponent’s critical attack by pressing the button that appears on the screen in time. Other variations of melee weapons after full use disappear from the inventory forever.
Unlike previous remakes, the action has become much larger. Enemies often attack in large groups, so you have to instantly shoot back from them, often change positions and run away for a long distance. With an accurate headshot, the opponent will be temporarily incapacitated, and Leon will have the opportunity to move closer and deliver a powerful kick from the foot. This allows you to save ammo and knock back all nearby enemies for some distance.
If you forget about this mechanic, then after the next battle with the crowd you can be left almost without ammunition. In the castle, in a fairly ordinary fight with two pistols, a shotgun and a rifle in a critical situation, we ended up with only five rounds in the Mauser. Obviously, this is not very positive… Fortunately, at the medium difficulty level, the player’s possible troubles are taken into account, so it will not be difficult to collect grenades, restoring herbs and cartridges. The latter completely fall out of defeated enemies along with coins.
Sometimes you can silently approach the enemy from behind and instantly get rid of him, but there are not many such situations in the game. It will not be possible to completely abandon head-on collisions, therefore, if possible, with a hidden strike, we save cartridges and continue to shoot cultists with a pistol at the ready. Of course, a crossbow will appear later, but the gameplay will not change much. Yes, and the enemies are most often quite close to Leon, so even with the full pumping of this weapon, it is difficult to quickly destroy all targets.
By the way about the possibilities of improving ammunition. For killing opponents, selling treasures and in some boxes, players will be able to get pesetas – local money. With their help, Leon will be able to get new weapons, purchase crafting schemes and upgrade the characteristics of existing combat units. For firearms, you can increase damage, rate of fire, reload time and ammunition, and for a knife, increase durability and strength.
All options are very precisely balanced, so the gameplay will not change dramatically after improving your favorite “gun”, but it will be a little easier to destroy the villains. After finding better samples, you can always sell pumped weapons with a small loss of money, but immediately it will be possible to increase the combat capability of the new “barrel”.
In addition to exploring locations in search of supplies, players will be able to convert the collected gunpowder and materials into certain types of ammo and combine herbs of various types to increase the hero’s healing. The crafting system has been greatly expanded, and instead of combining various types of “powder” from previous remakes, it provides the ability to account for the current number of components. For example, to create ordinary pistol cartridges, you need five units of gunpowder and ordinary material, and to replenish the ammunition of a shotgun, you will need to add another seven pinches of explosive powder.
The integrity of the gameplay, the components of which depend on each other, makes you not only take into account many nuances and think through tactics in advance, but also allow you to enjoy the process and feel the feeling of inevitable death in any fight.
And what are the differences?
The developers have provided many changes that not only retained the charm of the original project, but also added some innovations, which greatly improved the game. This includes not only high-quality detailing, but also some gameplay differences – parries, stealth, the almost complete absence of QTE, additional tasks, commands for Ashley and other minor details.
Separately, we note the changed printing machines and inventory. The former can now be used not only to save gameplay, but also to move items to storage. Unfortunately, only weapons can be removed inside, and gunpowder, grass, grenades and other items will have to be carried with you or sold to a merchant as unnecessary.
The inventory is represented by a separate case, the appearance of which can be changed to receive special bonuses. For example, a standard metal case allows you to get more pistol rounds, and a black box increases the chances of obtaining materials. We go to the shooting range, destroy the targets and knock out special key rings for the accumulated tokens. We install it on the case and get gains for some parameters.
Simple additional quests to find various items allow you to earn a special currency with which you can purchase treasure maps, weapons, modules and other useful items.
As for the visual style, the game is replete with elaborate objects. The developers remade all the assets from scratch, so the Resident Evil 4 remake looks and feels like a separate independent project. There are some questions about the rain, but this is more of a small nitpick than a harsh criticism of the developers.
It remains only to praise Capcom for the work done and congratulate the studio on high sales. For so many years, developers have not lost their grip, and each project in the series provides a unique gaming experience and leaves only pleasant impressions.
After the successful release of Resident Evil 2/3 remakes, the “four” deservedly took its place of honor and became the most popular project in the series. The game is good absolutely everything without any nuances. RE4 may be missing a deeper and more intimidating audio experience, but even without it, Capcom’s creation is almost the most perfect of them all.
Only a complete dislike of the entire Resident Evil franchise can alienate gamers. Yes, and hard horror fans do not belong here – there are almost no screamers, the atmosphere is not terrifying, and the sound effects are not at all frightening. Otherwise, Resident Evil 4 turned out to be an even better remake than the recent release of Dead Space , so you can safely install the game and go on an updated adventure of Leon Kennedy.
We will definitely ask users if the improved RE4 deserves the title of “best remake” in the history of the gaming industry? Share with us in the comments, we will definitely get acquainted with them!
Pros:
- Detailed graphics;
- Simple but interesting puzzles;
- A wide variety of weapons;
- Clear level design;
- Fascinating plot.
Minuses:
- Minimum horror;
- Frequent backtracking.
Final score: 6 out of 6
Verdict : Capcom has proven once again that remakes can be perfect. Resident Evil 4, to our surprise, turned out to be almost perfect. All the details of the game are closely intertwined, do not offer anything superfluous and know exactly how to interest an avid gamer. Bravo!