I find it difficult to believe younger players would be able to properly appreciate its legacy – let alone understand its appeal – in this era, without the veil of nostalgia to help mask its jagged edges. Resident Evil 4 is iconic, particularly for those who experienced it at the time of its release, but the truth is that there's been such a quiet refinement of third-person systems and mechanics in the intervening years. You have to actively wrestle with the thumbsticks to get Leon to make even the smallest of adjustments – it's frustrating when hunting for twirling Blue Medallions, and headache-inducing when engaging with a mass of tentacle-ridden enemies. The camera is pulled too closely to Leon's shoulder, and his turning-circle is too limited – it can often feel as if you're dragging a sled through thick low-poly mud. I'll advocate for the need to plant your feet and stand your ground when firing to be represented in some capacity in the Resident Evil 4 Remake, but there's no escaping the fact that what was once a revolutionary combination of limited FOV and purposefully stilted movement can now feel like an exercise in frustration mitigation. There's a part of me that loves tank controls – coming to this realization is a rite of passage for any aging Resident Evil purist – but I can't say that I'm not excited to experience Resident Evil 4's encounters by way of a Resident Evil 2-style revision. While there is certainly depth to Resident Evil 4's encounters – a variety in its scenario design and breadth to its assets that's effectively unprecedented in the modern era of action games – that can only offset some of the frustration born out of navigating the latter-game spaces and engaging with RE4's combat systems over the longhaul of the 20-hour adventure. That's especially apparent in the absurdity of its stereotyping, its characters, and its dialogue… and the less said about escorting Ashley and the litany of Quick-Time Events the better. The further you push beyond the boundaries of the village, the further Resident Evil 4 dates itself. And then Leon says it, the line that better make it into the 2023 remake: "Where's everyone going, Bingo?"Īs legendary as this opening section is, coming into Resident Evil 4 in the aftermath of the phenomenal Resident Evil 2 Remake reveals how much has changed in 17 years. You allow a deep breath to enter your lungs. Just as all hope seems lost, the bell tolls. What follows is a desperate struggle for survival you're forced to prioritize shots between enemies stumbling over one another up a staircase, those that are crashing ladders through windows, and the bodies amassing on adjacent rooftops – all of it soundtracked to the low-roar of an approaching chainsaw. By the time you come across a shotgun and a few loose shells to feed into it, you've already heard the first rev of certain death. Handgun ammunition is diminished by the time the third body hits the floor, and your options are reduced to barricading windows, blocking doorways, and desperately rooting through decay to find anything that can help turn the tide. That Resident Evil 4's unrelenting push to never let you settle into anything resembling a coherent rhythm or routine is the best reflection of an era where developers could be less frugal with their resources and more ambitious with their constructs. Kennedy in an effort to both obscure your field of vision and lend you precision when you need it the most. That Resident Evil 4's scenario design established a framework most third-person shooters continue to follow, the camera clinging tightly to the shoulder of Leon S. I could, after all, make the argument that Resident Evil 4's claustrophobic action is the best interpretation of survival horror since we were first able to stalk the corridors of The Spencer Mansion. If you were to view it purely through a prism of nostalgia, it's even easier to believe that the action, horror, and shooter genres have failed to make any significant strides beyond the achievements of Resident Evil 4.
It's easy to overlook just how far the video games industry has come in 17 years.
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