The original Resident Evil 4 didn’t seem like it needed a remake, because it never really went away. What started life as a Gamecube exclusive has now been ported to so many systems that it’s easier to list the ones it didn’t turn up on. Yet, the Resident Evil 4 Remake is now here, and it’s essentially the ideal form a remake should take.
The new version recreates the original game’s beats and set pieces, then revamps the dialogue, setting, and gameplay in a way that retains the old game’s spirit while providing unique experiences of its own. It’s not just the Gamecube game recreated from scratch. That said, “different” doesn’t mean “easier.” There are some things that are harder in the remake than in the original game.
7 The Need for Speed
This one may vary depending on the player’s mileage. Leon is much nimbler in the remake, doing dives, dashes, and firing at foes while moving. The old game, for all its ground-breaking action gameplay, wasn’t actually that different from the earlier tank-control entries. Leon just had a quick turn to compensate for his static shooting.
Still, veteran players feel that New Leon walks and runs more slowly than Old Leon. Getting from Point A to Point B takes a touch longer in the remake, and there’s no Ditman Glitch like in the old game to speed him. Up. For all his new tricks, players still have to watch Leon’s back or the Ganados will stick a knife in it.
6 Knife Repairs
In the original game, Leon couldn’t do a lot with his knife beyond a simple swipe. Usually, that was enough to get Mr. Kennedy ahead. However, the Remake gives Leon a much more extensive set of techniques with his knife. He can whip it out in an instant, parry attacks, and counter Dr Salvador’s chainsaw among others. It could put Resident Evil 6’s hidden combat moves to shame.
However, the original knife was indestructible. If players knew how to time its swipes effectively, they could parry thrown weapons and finish grounded foes without a problem. In the remake, Leon’s knife will break if he uses up its durability. Then he’ll either have to fix it with the new crafting mechanics, or look for spare, often weaker blades to use until it can be fixed. Players will have to pick their knife fights wisely.
5 Getting Ammo
The original RE4 has been criticized for taking the series in a more explosive, less scary direction. Most of its scenes played out more like a cheesy action movie than a survival horror game. The remake retained some of this with Leon’s expanded one-liners ("Looks like your tap-dancing days are over!"), Luis’ comic relief, and Salazar going from a manic Napoleon to a manic Margaret Thatcher lookalike. However, it also brought back the scares by making the classic monsters more horrific, the areas darker and more foreboding, and bringing the ammo count way down.
The game doesn’t shower Leon with handgun bullets and shotgun shells anymore. It’s more of a drizzle, with some gunpowder and other bits and bobs for Leon to craft his own. Like the other remakes, and the classic RE games, players will have to conserve their bullets for when they need them most. Otherwise, they’ll have to find a way to knife the Garradors or Novistadors without dying.
4 Smarter Ganados
The Ganados were actually smarter than the old zombies. They’d duck out of the way of Leon’s aim, or sidestep, and attack with anything they had on hand. That, and they had a rich vocabulary of Mexican verbal abuse (rather than Iberian Spanish) instead of mumbling and groaning. Still, unless they had chainsaws or rocket launchers, they wouldn’t make players sweat much.
Now they’re even smarter than that, and thus more nerve-wracking. They’re more than happy to go around Leon and flank him from all directions, bring him back down to earth by destroying high ledges, and set safe areas on fire. Those who played the demo found this out the hard way when the Ganados would turn safe spaces like the village barn into an inferno with an enraged, burning bull to add insult to injury.
3 No More Adaptive Difficulty
Adaptive difficulty has its pros and cons. It can make getting through hard mode less frustrating, as it eases up on the enemy aggression after a few game overs. On the other hand, it’s harder to adapt to challenge if the game takes it away. Players who thought they conquered Professional mode would find out the hard way on repeat playthroughs that the game just took pity on them.
This may be why the Remake got rid of this mechanic. Once players pick Assisted, Standard, or Hardcore difficulty, they’re stuck with it for the rest of the game. The only way to switch mid-game is to die a few times, at which point the game will offer the next lowest difficulty as an option. It’s rather like getting Easy Automatic mode in the first Devil May Cry game (itself a former potential RE4 build), only it’s more of an open choice than a passive taunt.
2 Old Bosses, New Gimmicks
Most of the classic bosses return in the remake. The Gigantes look suitably gigantic, Bitorres Mendez is still “the big cheese,” and Verdugo still gives players a reason to wear brown trousers. However, that doesn’t mean that they’ll fall victim to the same old tricks from the original game.
For example, players can’t go up and down the scaffolding in the Mendez fight. They’ll have to face him at ground level, which is a more challenging prospect with his grab attacks and fire hazards. QTEs can’t save Leon from Verdugo or Krauser now, as their first encounters are all real-time boss fights. That’s not to mention Krauser’s fight in the labyrinth, or the Salazar fight, both of which are more involved if not completely different boss battles from before.
1 More Work for the Merchant
For all the changes in place, it might be comforting to know the Merchant is back and is as inexplicably Cockney as ever. He provides the usual deal: new weapons, weapon upgrades, cash trades for old gear and treasures, etc. He can even fix Leon’s knife for him. But now it’s worth keeping a hold of those Spinel jewels, as they’re a secondary currency Leon can use to get Yellow Herbs, Treasure Maps, and other goodies.
The best way to earn them is to complete his requests, like shooting blue medallions (no Punisher reward this time), killing off rats, going fishing, or defacing Salazar’s portrait among others. Players will have to clear the area to trade with him too, as it’s possible to get attacked by his trading points too. His prices depend on the difficulty too, with Assisted providing more discounts, and Hardcore ramping up the prices. Forget Lord Saddler, the true villain of the remake is the Merchant.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is available now for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.