After three playthroughs and several hours with the Mercenaries arcade mode, I can confidently say that this is my favorite videogame remake I’ve ever played and personal favorite entry in the entire Resident Evil series. This is largely due to the fact that the original RE4 is one of my all-time favorite games, and the original and the remake are two sides of the same biohazardous coin.

Story & Presentation

While a lot of scripted sequences play out almost identically to the original, this remake has its own re-imagined approach to the source material. The cheesy, B movie-esque camp & charm are dialed down as this remake is drenched in a somber, moody atmosphere. Like the graphical & mechanical updates, the overall presentation - especially the characterization - has been given a new coat of paint, which is the first thing I noticed and the biggest difference overall between this and the ‘05 classic. Gone are the wide open, brightly lit environments and larger-than-life characters chewing that scenery; RE4 ‘23 is a much darker, more claustrophobic affair. The more fanatical, cultish aspects of Los Illuminados are played up in favor of the original’s “mustache-twirling villain” treatment, and unfortunately, Leon’s hammed-up interactions with both Salazar and Saddler which were a treat to watch in the original game are minimized. This feels like a modern action / horror thriller, whereas the original felt very much like an ‘80s / early ’90s blockbuster action flick; from popcorn movie to bleeding-edge auteur film.

However, this is not an inherently bad thing; it’s simply a different take on the source material, and despite having less of what made the original’s plot magical, there is a lot to love here. The writing, especially the characterization, is much stronger in many ways. Ashley is much more mature & three-dimensional and she actually has an arc. Leon’s nonchalant, one-liner-cracking demeanor has shifted into a brooding veteran of the Umbrella wars, hardened by the events of RE2. Their chemistry is much more refined and adds nuance to the narrative. There is still a good deal of humor - Luis and The Merchant in particular bring a lot of levity to the table, and Leon still cracks wise in ways that both fit & lighten the mood - but this is a markedly different experience, and I believe it's for the better. I don’t think Capcom could capture lightning in a bottle a second time; an attempt to would most likely be disappointing and redundant, while the new approach is a fresh take that is very well executed.

Gameplay

Everything that made the original fun to play is dialed up to eleven. Combat is expanded upon in ways that make it much more dynamic, animations are smooth as butter, environments & character models are packed with detail, and the roughly 20 hour long campaign is loaded with incentives to replay it multiple times, most of all - for me personally - because it is just so damn fun. This is packed with quality-of-life updates including full control of the camera, being able to move while doing so and while aiming, and custom keybinds for weapons (up to eight, with all weapons returning except for incendiary grenades; heavy grenades and a crossbow have been added in their place) to easily switch between them without having to interrupt the flow by opening your inventory. To balance out how much faster and more lethal you are, the enemies are much more numerous & aggressive. The knife plays a much bigger role, as you can use it to fend off enemies who grab you, kill downed enemies before they mutate into a stronger form, and parry melee attacks & projectiles. Combining the parry system with melee attacks & gunplay to chain together combos is sublimely satisfying and easily the best addition to combat. In certain areas, there is also a greater emphasis on utilizing stealth to sneak up on enemies for a one-hit knife kill, and in a game where crowd control is central to the combat, this gives you the ability to thin out the herd before you pull out the big guns, make a beeline for the next objective, or continue to stealthily clear enemies until you're detected. This variety of play styles add to an already dynamic combat system.

Level Design

Fans of the original will notice some areas and sequences are omitted, streamlined, or combined, but the overall layout & flow of the three main sections (the castle especially, which remains my favorite part of the game) feel much more organic as a result, keeping in line with the story’s emphasis on gritty realism over campy excess. Enemies remain largely the same in appearance but with a host of new details, and boss fights range from more fleshed-out and interactive to streamlined (sometimes to a fault), with one major boss fight conspicuously absent. Little touches such as scouting ahead with binoculars (which you only do once at the beginning of the original game) are expanded into recurring motifs, and the quick-time events are replaced with either timed evasion prompts, cutscenes, or interactive sequences. Not everything is well modernized, however; one thing that particularly bugged me was the inability to shoot enemies through breakable barriers. I found that notably absent, as you will often walk into or out of a room and into a horde of enemies without the ability to preemptively engage them.

Business Model

The only flaw with the RE4 remake I’d consider major is Capcom’s business model in this era of post-release content; the Separate Ways story expansion that came free with the original game is a $10 DLC add-on (and I assume that will be the case with Assignment Ada if Capcom develops that too), but that isn’t even the worst of it. The ‘pay-to-win’ system here is appalling, as you can purchase “exclusive upgrade tickets” which allow you to immediately buff a weapon far earlier in the game than you should, breaking the balance and ruining a first run. The fact that these tickets can be earned in-game by doing mini-quests (which add a good bit of fun and an extra hour or so to the campaign) only makes the stink of these add-ons worse. Also, if you’re like me and didn’t want to support Capcom by buying the deluxe edition but wound up liking the game so much that you want the bonus deluxe content, guess what: you’re stuck paying an extra $20 for that stuff instead of $10.

Conclusion

Apart from these obnoxious cash grabs and the few minor qualms I have with the game itself, this is not only an incredible remake of one of the greatest games ever made but one of the greatest games ever made on its own merit. The replay value is enormous; I'm eager to do a fourth playthrough to attempt the S+ Pro run, and there are plenty of replay incentives for speed runners, completionists, and people who just love this game. On top of that, this has the best Mercenaries mode in the entire series, and Separate Ways is just as fun as the main campaign (if not more so, but I'll explore that in a separate review). In this lifelong Resident Evil fan’s humble opinion, this is by far the best entry in the series to come out in recent years (with the RE2 remake and RE7 trailing behind it in a distant second & third), featuring an amazing amount of polish & depth in the graphics, gameplay, writing, and audio, art, & level design. It puts its own masterful modern spin on a classic, and I highly recommend it to both fans of the original and players new to the game or series as this is nothing short of a masterpiece.

After three playthroughs and several hours with the Mercenaries arcade mode, I can confidently say that this is my favorite videogame remake I’ve ever played and personal favorite entry in the entire Resident Evil series. This is largely due to the fact that the original RE4 is one of my all-time favorite games, and the original and the remake are two sides of the same biohazardous coin. [b]Story & Presentation[/b] While a lot of scripted sequences play out almost identically to the original, this remake has its own re-imagined approach to the source material. The cheesy, B movie-esque camp & charm are dialed down as this remake is drenched in a somber, moody atmosphere. Like the graphical & mechanical updates, the overall presentation - especially the characterization - has been given a new coat of paint, which is the first thing I noticed and the biggest difference overall between this and the ‘05 classic. Gone are the wide open, brightly lit environments and larger-than-life characters chewing that scenery; RE4 ‘23 is a much darker, more claustrophobic affair. The more fanatical, cultish aspects of Los Illuminados are played up in favor of the original’s “mustache-twirling villain” treatment, and unfortunately, Leon’s hammed-up interactions with both Salazar and Saddler which were a treat to watch in the original game are minimized. This feels like a modern action / horror thriller, whereas the original felt very much like an ‘80s / early ’90s blockbuster action flick; from popcorn movie to bleeding-edge auteur film. However, this is not an inherently bad thing; it’s simply a different take on the source material, and despite having less of what made the original’s plot magical, there is a lot to love here. The writing, especially the characterization, is much stronger in many ways. Ashley is much more mature & three-dimensional and she actually has an arc. Leon’s nonchalant, one-liner-cracking demeanor has shifted into a brooding veteran of the Umbrella wars, hardened by the events of RE2. Their chemistry is much more refined and adds nuance to the narrative. There is still a good deal of humor - Luis and The Merchant in particular bring a lot of levity to the table, and Leon still cracks wise in ways that both fit & lighten the mood - but this is a markedly different experience, and I believe it's for the better. I don’t think Capcom could capture lightning in a bottle a second time; an attempt to would most likely be disappointing and redundant, while the new approach is a fresh take that is very well executed. [b]Gameplay[/b] Everything that made the original fun to play is dialed up to eleven. Combat is expanded upon in ways that make it much more dynamic, animations are smooth as butter, environments & character models are packed with detail, and the roughly 20 hour long campaign is loaded with incentives to replay it multiple times, most of all - for me personally - because it is just so damn fun. This is packed with quality-of-life updates including full control of the camera, being able to move while doing so and while aiming, and custom keybinds for weapons (up to eight, with all weapons returning except for incendiary grenades; heavy grenades and a crossbow have been added in their place) to easily switch between them without having to interrupt the flow by opening your inventory. To balance out how much faster and more lethal [i]you[/i] are, the enemies are much more numerous & aggressive. The knife plays a much bigger role, as you can use it to fend off enemies who grab you, kill downed enemies before they mutate into a stronger form, and parry melee attacks & projectiles. Combining the parry system with melee attacks & gunplay to chain together combos is sublimely satisfying and easily the best addition to combat. In certain areas, there is also a greater emphasis on utilizing stealth to sneak up on enemies for a one-hit knife kill, and in a game where crowd control is central to the combat, this gives you the ability to thin out the herd before you pull out the big guns, make a beeline for the next objective, or continue to stealthily clear enemies until you're detected. This variety of play styles add to an already dynamic combat system. [b]Level Design[/b] Fans of the original will notice some areas and sequences are omitted, streamlined, or combined, but the overall layout & flow of the three main sections (the castle especially, which remains my favorite part of the game) feel much more organic as a result, keeping in line with the story’s emphasis on gritty realism over campy excess. Enemies remain largely the same in appearance but with a host of new details, and boss fights range from more fleshed-out and interactive to streamlined (sometimes to a fault), with one major boss fight conspicuously absent. Little touches such as scouting ahead with binoculars (which you only do once at the beginning of the original game) are expanded into recurring motifs, and the quick-time events are replaced with either timed evasion prompts, cutscenes, or interactive sequences. Not everything is well modernized, however; one thing that particularly bugged me was the inability to shoot enemies through breakable barriers. I found that notably absent, as you will often walk into or out of a room and into a horde of enemies without the ability to preemptively engage them. [b]Business Model[/b] The only flaw with the RE4 remake I’d consider major is Capcom’s business model in this era of post-release content; the Separate Ways story expansion that came free with the original game is a $10 DLC add-on (and I assume that will be the case with Assignment Ada if Capcom develops that too), but that isn’t even the worst of it. The ‘pay-to-win’ system here is appalling, as you can purchase “exclusive upgrade tickets” which allow you to immediately buff a weapon far earlier in the game than you should, breaking the balance and ruining a first run. The fact that these tickets can be earned in-game by doing mini-quests (which add a good bit of fun and an extra hour or so to the campaign) only makes the stink of these add-ons worse. Also, if you’re like me and didn’t want to support Capcom by buying the deluxe edition but wound up liking the game so much that you want the bonus deluxe content, guess what: you’re stuck paying an extra $20 for that stuff instead of $10. [b]Conclusion[/b] Apart from these obnoxious cash grabs and the few minor qualms I have with the game itself, this is not only an incredible remake of one of the greatest games ever made but one of the greatest games ever made on its own merit. The replay value is enormous; I'm eager to do a fourth playthrough to attempt the S+ Pro run, and there are plenty of replay incentives for speed runners, completionists, and people who just love this game. On top of that, this has the best Mercenaries mode in the entire series, and Separate Ways is just as fun as the main campaign (if not more so, but I'll explore that in a separate review). In this lifelong Resident Evil fan’s humble opinion, this is by far the best entry in the series to come out in recent years (with the RE2 remake and RE7 trailing behind it in a distant second & third), featuring an amazing amount of polish & depth in the graphics, gameplay, writing, and audio, art, & level design. It puts its own masterful modern spin on a classic, and I highly recommend it to both fans of the original and players new to the game or series as this is nothing short of a masterpiece.