There is not much left for us to have in stores the Resident Evil 4 remake, and all fans ask the same question. Is it worth buying the new mega project of Capcom to bring back one of the most beloved installments of his reference saga in terror and action? We have had access to the new gameplay of the expected launch, and we will tell you about our feelings with it.
Remaking one of the best survival horror games of all time
If we talk about importance within the video games released in the last 20 years, few titles can compete with the original resident evil 4. We could say that he is the modern father of the third-person shooter, and he is for many reasons: for rhythm, for playable experience, for mechanics, and even for something as apparently unimportant as the perspective. In all these areas it was revolutionary.
That is why it is difficult to talk about how different his new remake is in the same terms as it was when we referred to those of resident evil 2 either resident evil 3. They were games that were not so modern in terms of approach and that required a lot of work behind their backs to update. On the other hand, the one that concerns us is much more current in every way, and the change does not seem so great at first glance… although in reality it is huge if we get rid of the always heavy glasses of nostalgia, and remember the original as What it is: An extraordinary title, but also somewhat crude and admitting of a lot of redevelopment to fit the year 2023.
The first thing that strikes you at the initial look at the game is the fact that the bet on the RE Engine It suits the program really well. Aspects such as lighting, modeling and, of course, the settings see a significant jump. Here it is interesting that you review how Resident Evil 4 really looked at the time, whether you have a copy of it or through YouTube gameplays, for example, and it is that the memories of our youth they tend to play tricks as to how we thought the video games we enjoyed so much back then looked like compared to how they actually look. Here I would like to highlight especially everything that has to do with the artistic section, with a really powerful character redesign and a fantastic conceptual treatment of all the baggage that the original brought.
Capcom’s idea is clear. “The remake does not replace the original”
In any case, Capcom’s idea is clear. “The remake does not replace the original,” according to Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, producer of the resident evil saga to our partner Adrian Suarez. “If someone has played the original, they’ll enjoy seeing what’s changed, and if they play this one first they might like to see what it was like before. They are two different approaches to the same story.“. The work done on characters such as Ramon Salazarcompletely reinvented and that fits much better in the universe than its original version.
A much more agile Resident Evil
As I told you before, the first Resident Evil 4 was not the most agile game in the world. Many people were terrified of the saga by the rigidity of the characters and the inability to combine even the most basic actions. That, which was used as a tool to grip us by fear and to measure even the slightest consequences of our actions in an interesting tactical veneer of the title, in the remake it is replaced by a much more streamlined style which has more to do with how the action is understood in the year we are living. Not only is Leon much more capable of being more mobile while in combat, but the team is also exploring exciting new options.
“In the original game there were sequences where Leon had to crouch. Now you can choose when to do it,” he says. Yasuhiro Ampo, Director of the remake. “You can do it as long as the enemies don’t see you or they are areas in which it is already programmed that you have been discovered.”
Resident Evil 4 Remake is a video game that grows in many directions as the developers themselves admit. In the gameplay we see that the mix of the four pillars is maintained: action, exploration, puzzles and terror, but there are some that grow more than others. “The goal has been to keep the balance of the original game, but taking it to the next level in the horror and action parts. So now, each part is more developed“.
Thus it is understood that the setting is even more careful than in the original in terms of art and lighting and that, as if that were not enough, there are also changes that deeply affect the gameplay. We have been able to see the peddlerwhose store works practically identically to that of the Duke in resident evil 8 in terms of buying and selling products, and also improving the ones we already have. And we have also seen some really interesting elements such as the wear and tear of a weapon as recurring in the franchise as the knife: every action we do with it has a price and requires care and maintenance.
And this fits very well with the blocking theme, one of the actions that debut in this title and that has been most celebrated by fans. “The parrys have been designed with much respect for the original RE4“, they tell us from Capcom, but you can already see in the video that accompanies the article all the possibilities that they entail and how they enrich key moments of the game such as the confrontation with Krauser, for example.
Its managers make it clear that the duration of the video game will not vary
What those responsible do make clear is that the duration of the video game will not vary, and that (although there are very powerful additions such as secondary missions) everything that is added does not mean a substantial variation in the total campaign: from some 15 hours approximately. “The secondary missions are inspired by the original games, so there will be more backtracking,” they explain to us in the interview. “They will go beyond just collecting colored coins. They are optional because we know that there are people who just want to do the main quest, and nothing happens.” Of course, they clarify that none of this supposes new connections with video games with Resident Evil 5 and the following titles, but the narrative has been adjusted with respect to the remakes of the previous games so that they have a better connection between them.
The day March 24th we have the launch planned for Resident Evil 4 remake, and until then the next few weeks will surely be a mess for fans of the Capcom saga. Surely new trailers and endless images will parade to show that the game has the wickerwork to be a work up to the quality and interest of the two previous remakes. And now? Come on, Code Veronica, warm up for you to go out.
