Resident Evil 4 is widely considered to be one of the best action-horror games ever made. Marking a departure for the strictly survival-horror franchise at the time of its release in 2005, Resident Evil 4 was a truly groundbreaking game and quickly became one of the best titles for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. For the last few years, rumors revolving around a Resident Evil 4 remake were circulating on a constant basis, and just a month ago, the Resident Evil 4 Remake was finally announced by Capcom during PlayStation's June State of Play.
Much like its predecessors, the Resident Evil 2 and 3Remakes, Resident Evil 4 Remake will put a fresh spin on the action-horror classic. Some settings have been revamped, some controls have been tweaked, and some brand-new mechanics are being introduced. So while a lot of Resident Evil 4 Remake will look and feel very similar to the original 2005 experience, there'll be plenty of new stuff to surprise even the most die-hard fans. Along with the environments, all the character models in the game are being reworked and updated, the most obvious of which is the main man himself, Leon Kennedy.
How Resident Evil 4 Remake is Changing Leon's Model
For those that haven't played the original Resident Evil 4, Leon Kennedy has moved up in the world quite a bit since fans last saw him in Resident Evil 2. In his debut, Leon was just a Raccoon City police officer, but by the start of Resident Evil 4, Leon is now working closely with the US government and is tasked with rescuing the president's daughter from a Spanish village filled with cultists.
With the original Resident Evil 4 coming out a whole seven years after Leon's first debut, and a whole console generation later, his character model naturally changed quite a lot. Leon went from being a blurry blend of polygonal shapes, supposedly wearing a Raccoon City police outfit, to a high-res, 3D, PS2-era model. Now, nearly every strand of Leon's blonde hair could be seen, and the fur on his jacket's collar could be clearly distinguished from the rest of his apparel.
Resident Evil 4 Remake's Leon Kennedy character model once again shows the graphical leap between generations, and the trailers released so far do a good job of showing just how Capcom is updating Leon's look for the modern age. For a start, Leon's iconic brown jacket looks a little more realistic, with lifelike proportions and the different fabric textures being rendered in painstaking detail. Similarly, Leon's hair and face have also been updated, keeping the essence of the original character but making some definite changes to keep it in line with modern AAA offerings.
On the whole, Leon's updated character model in Resident Evil 4 Remake still captures the same look and feel of the original 2005 character model, but the graphical improvements will help to make this feel like a more modern take on the beloved game. This updated version of Leon also leans very closely to his look in the Resident Evil 2 Remake, which could signify that Capcom is making Resident Evil 4 Remake a true sequel to that game. Further, to better fit with the timeline of these new remakes, it seems as though Leon's character model in Resident Evil 4 Remake shows a slightly older, more grizzled version of the character who has clearly been through quite a bit since the events of Resident Evil 2.
Resident Evil 4 Remake releases on March 24, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
