Resident Evil 4 Remake (XSX) Review

An all-time classic, reborn.

 

 The 2005 hit Resident Evil 4 is among my favorite games of all-time and it's easily an experience that I always enjoyed every time I played it. That's why I was initially hesitant about the news of a REmake when the original game played just fine. Though with Capcom's recent success with the Resident Evil series, it was inevitable that the crown jewel of the series would get an update. Leon S. Kennedy is back on an adventure to save the U.S. presidents daughter from a mysterious cult in Europe. Does Resident Evil 4 Remake manages to be a fun time in addition to a faithful remake? Let's find out!

 2004, six years after the horrible events of Raccoon City and survivor Leon S. Kennedy is now a trained government agent who is tasked with rescuing the U.S. president's daughter Ashely Graham after she's been abducted by a cult called the "Los Illuminados" in Europe. Alone, he must locate Ashely while fighting hostile villagers and escaping the dangers ahead. The story was good and remains the same with slight changes. Ashely has a more invested role in the story as she'll open-up to Leon in a touching scene, chat with him about things, and we get to see her grow over the course of the adventure. She also helps Leon out during certain segments and it was awesome to see. 

 The remake adds new journal entries that  delves into the lives of the residents inhabiting the world and the terrifying events that transformed them into the vicious monsters that they are. It's also great seeing Leon and Ada Wong back in action again, with both having neat moments together. Even characters like Hunnigan, Luis, and Krauser get more fleshed-out this time around, yet I found Saddler to be on the generic side with no witty and condescending chats with Leon like in the original.

Leon's in for a long adventure.

 Resident Evil 4 is a third-person shooter with survival-horror elements, just like the original. You control Leon as you as search for Ashely while shooting all kinds of hostile monsters. Your starting weapon is a pistol but after collecting enoigh money, you buy shotguns, SMGs, and snipers. Better yet, take the time to fully explore each area and you'll come across free weapon! The survival-horror elements come into play early as you're exploring the village at dark with limited ammo and lots of enemies chasing you. It's even more prevelant later in the game when you encounter the seemingly invinsible Regenerators, who got more creepier. That said, you'll have the neceeasry firepower to deal with them and if you play strategically, you'll even have more ammo to mow them down. The remake offers more streamlined controls that has you shooting and moving (as well as weapon shortcuts) which newcomers can get into but the tank-styled controls of the original are present as an option too. 

 So what's new in the remake? A lot of stuff. Ashely is a lot more helpful as she can climb down ladders without help and she offers hints if you're stuck on a puzzle. At certain points, she'll even help you fight enemies, which was pretty helpful. Oh, and she's a lot less whiny this time around too. The cheery Merchant will often give you optional side-quests that has you backtracking to previous areas and shooting either blue medallions, rats, or harder enemies in exchange for spinels which you can trade for treasure maps, gems, laser sights, and handguns. He'll also upgrade a weapon's stats like damage and ammo capacity for money as well as buy any treasures and items that you come across. He also has lots of funny lines that gave him character, which was a neat addition.

The gameplay gets a massive overhaul and it plays great.

 Stealth has more emphasis with you being able to sneak by enemies and assassinate them with the knife or the new crossbow weapon. That said, frequent use of the knife will deteriorate its condition and it must be repaired. Exploration is more prevalent now with you being able to explore the village with a boat during the lake segment. There's a bunch of new but small places to explore that are filled with treasures and enemy encounters. Even better is that the map is detailed and showcases ladders, points of interest, treasures, and materials that you've missed.

 Weapons and items get reshuffled this time around. Some weapons that you'll get later in the original will appear early and new assault rifles and bow guns are introduced as well. Quick-time-events that were an annoyance in the original have thankfully been removed in exchange for brief button-mashing segments in certain story scenes. A crafting mechanic is present where you can craft ammo, grenades, and mines. You can combine health-restoring herbs like the old games as well. There's also a shooting gallery mini-game where you can shoot moving targets to improve your aim and earn charms that'll offer small perks like increased healing from herbs and ammo crafting bonuses.

The bosses are terrifying and just as memorable as the original.

 Boss fights were good and play close to the original. The fights against El Gigante, Chainsaw Sisters, Cheif Mendez, and El Verdugo were great though Krauser is my favorite since it's more strategic, tense, and fun as you're navigating a booby trapped maze while avoiding his ambushes. The fight against U-3 during the Island part has been thankfully cut, as personally it was a weak one. Luis gets more screen-time and you end up fighting mini-bosses together and take part in the mine cart segment, both of which were super fun. 

 It took me 18 hours to beat the game and replay-value is high with the harder difficulties, speedrun challenge, and trying-out different weapon layouts warranting multiple playthroughs. Recently, "The Mercenaries" mode got released via an update and it's an arcade mode that has you selecting a character and clearing out hordes of enemies while on a timer to achieve a high score. It was super fun and challenging depending on the character you choose.

 Being a remake, the presentation gets a full-on overhaul as it utilizes Capcom's signature RE Engine. The detailed character models, cleaner look of the UI, rich backgrounds, and the impressive lighting, were all welcome additions as the game looks stunning. I especially liked Leon and Ashely's new designs as they look great and modernized. Salazar and Saddler look a lot more terrifying this time around too. Unfortunately, there were frequent texture pop-ins and flickering despite the game running smoothly at 60fps in performance mode on Xbox Series X. The voicework was solid with most of the cast being standouts. As for the soundtrack, it's good and packed many eerie tracks that capture the tense and hectic moments of the game. That said, I preferred the original soundtrack and voicework more. 

As you'd expect from Capcom, the presentation is top-notch.

 Once again, Capcom shows us that they're the best in the business when it comes to remakes. Resident Evil 4 Remake has just enough familiar moments that fans remember while packing new surprises to make it more than a faithful remake. I enjoyed the new experience and even preferred some new changes over the original. I will forever love the original game, but the remake is still as great. Fans of the classic and newcomers alike will find a lot to like in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Here's hoping a Code Veronica remake is in the work cause that game definitely needs one.