There’s a very good reason why Resident Evil 4 became a breakout hit for the franchise: Horror is a niche genre, and RE4 isn’t a straightforward horror game. It’s an action-shooter with horror elements, so it’s not as scary as you might think.
I love horror as a genre, but I hate how jump scares make my body react. I hate that I had to stop playing Dead Space because I started having nightmares about Necromorphs. I did, however, get through quite a bit of Dead Space before I stopped playing, and I used these tips to conquer its creepy hallways. As for Resident Evil 4 and its recent remake, it’s worth noting this game is not as scary as you might expect.
There’s a very good reason why Resident Evil 4 became a breakout hit for the franchise: Horror is a niche genre, and RE4 isn’t a straightforward horror game. It’s an action-shooter with horror elements, meaning it’s more accessible to a much wider audience. I’m not saying that RE4 isn’t scary at all, but upon its first release, the game did get pushback from hardcore horror aficionados who wished that it had been less of an action-shooter and more of a tense trek through a dark, foreboding mansion like the original Resident Evil.
Those hardcore fans weren’t entirely off track in their complaints. RE4 signaled an action-forward trend for the franchise that lasted for years afterward; Resident Evil 5 and 6 are often described as the franchise’s least scary entries, skewing more toward bland, repetitive zombie cleanup duty and further away from slow, creeping dread. Resident Evil 7 was a return to form for many fans, including yours truly (I can barely play it). But let’s get back to RE4, a game that is not too scary for me — and probably won’t be for you, either.
When you first boot up Resident Evil 4, whether you’re playing the 2023 remake or the original game, you might feel as though I’ve betrayed you. The first 30 minutes are by far the scariest section of the game. Of course, horror is subjective, since your response to it depends on personal experience and what you’ve been desensitized to.
