Resident Evil 4 is a mercilessly fantastic remake – our TEST

Making a nearly 20-year-old game better doesn’t necessarily seem like a difficult task. After all, the technical possibilities alone have increased drastically since then. And in terms of control, for example, there are now standards from which developers can deviate almost impossible if they are not on an ego trip.

But caution is advised when dealing with a classic like this Resident Evil 4 acts, the publisher Capcom am March 24, 2023 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X as well as PC reissues.

Because the fans of the original don’t go along with every adjustment, like the Japanese manufacturer recently did with the new edition of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis felt. Because Capcom had just completely cut out parts of it, which was understandably a thorn in the side of at least some of the series veterans. With the new version of “Resident Evil 4”, Capcom is clearly aware of this. That’s why nothing is left out here – and in addition to masses of useful modernizations, there are still a few surprises for those who know the original!

Resident Evil 4 review: Familiar yet fresh

Of course, the developers are adapting the remake of “Resident Evil 4” in almost all respects to the standards that a game has to meet in 2023. With the latest version of the with Resident Evil 7: biohzard With the introduced RE Engine, Capcom may not get the maximum out of PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it delivers a graphics quality that is appropriate for the current generation of consoles – including sporadically used ray tracing, which you can optionally switch on in “Resolution” mode.

By default the “Frame Rate” mode activated, whereby the game is always easy to play and constantly runs smoothly, even in the prettier version. In any case, there are always mostly crisp textures and generally significantly more details in opponents, trees or bushes, you really can’t complain about that. The animations are, of course, like in the remakes Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 allowed to move freely when aiming, still a bit stiff but also a lot better.

In particular, however, the atmospheric lighting and the appropriate, often somber color scheme create an atmosphere.

The fights are also considerably more dynamic than the original. The opponents often attack you impulsively, instead of standing around dumbly, as was often the case on GameCube or PS2.

With the Combat knife from main hero Leonwhich you control as usual from the third-person perspective, you block within the framework of Mini QTEs, which only require the push of a button, a series of attacks from normal opponents or even bosses, so that the jagged blade still has enough durability. You perform in a similar way evasive maneuverswhich in some cases are almost too effective at protecting you from taking damage.

At least on the relatively moderate Default difficulty, the middle one of three initially. Nevertheless, “Resident Evil 4” is not a sure-fire success. Even at the standard level, there are always hairy situations, for example in story-related defensive battles or if you trigger an alarm in certain areas and thus call more opponents onto the scene than you would normally have to eliminate. To prevent this, you can stealth actions use, so in some cases sneak up on opponents quietly from behind and kill them with the knife.

So there is already a whole series of new or changed elements up to this point. But what Capcom does excellently is that core experience to maintain. We are not allowed to go into detail about this at this early stage. But connoisseurs of the original will find at least as much familiar elements like new ones, even if it’s just that a known situation is “postponed” but then plays a central role in a boss fight, for example.

It is also pleasing that Capcom is not even in the Puzzle Makes compromises, although thanks to the increased playing comfort, these can also be solved more easily for series beginners than in the original.

More comfort, more long-term motivation

One of the areas in which “Resident Evil 4” is also growing is the staging of the plot, which reveals more information about all the characters involved, some of whom can be played themselves, and sometimes also have other fates in store for them. So even fans of the original can expect various surprises while others will feel pleasantly familiar. The story actually makes a little more sense now, so much like that in a conspiratorial game virus theme of a “Resident Evil” is possible.

The remake of “Resi 4” feels fresh for fans and better for series beginners thanks to the already mentioned comfort improvements and other new features.

An automatic sorting function for the inventory here, a separate fundus for others (often important in the optional area) found objects there. There are also innovations when it comes to crafting on the go, at the dealer or especially with the mixable remedies. In the remake, you combine green, red and yellow plants, with which you (depending on the mixture) restore a particularly large number of hit points, yours maximum life energy increased or even done both at once.

Of course, if you put your mind to it, you can also turn the stuff into money, for example Inventory upgrades, weapon upgrades or new ones shooting club to purchase, some of which cost a lot of money. You can also benefit from the fulfillment of side missions gain. For example, do you find something that cannot be reached directly through the story? golden chicken egg, you can redeem it at the merchant for a special resource. This resource, in turn, allows you to trade in special goods, ranging from yellow plants to gunpowder resources to weapon attachments like a laser sight for Leon’s standard pistol.

There is even more modern comfort with a checkpoint system. Although you can at certain points as often as you like typewriters ensure progress.

In the context of the new system, however, this is no longer quite so important, since, for example, you are directly in front of you rejoin lost bossfight can. We still used the typewriter a lot, but the constant running back and forth has basically come to an end.

The remake is by no means shorter than the original. Without real stretching mechanisms, you need to “normal” easily 12 hours, rather more. together New Game Plusthe acquisition of not all weapons and upgrades and so on, you are far from finished.

By the way, we were able to play both the PS5 version (mostly played) and the Xbox Series X version. Technically, there are no significant differences. Except perhaps that the Xbox version appears a bit brighter, which gives advantages in some passages, for example when recognizing bear traps on the floor, but slightly reduces the atmosphere in the generally gloomy environments.

Aside from that, PS5 owners will benefit from the better one Dual sense controller rumble function as well as part of it adaptive triggers. The speaker function of the Dual Sense, on the other hand, is a double-edged sword, since the reloading noises played out over it are sometimes more disruptive than intensifying the gaming experience. Of course, you can also switch off the gamepad speaker if you wish.