Capcom’s latest remake, Resident Evil 4, is a faithful and fresh take on the GameCube-era survival horror classic that introduced more action to the Resident Evil series.
In 2001, four years before the original Resident Evil 4 was released, Capcom knew it had a problem. The Resident Evil series was stuck in a cookie-cutter mold, producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said at the time. “The whole concept of RE4 was to reinvent the game,” he said. “We wanted to give the gamers something new.”
The result was a combat-forward reboot of the series that reconsidered its survival-horror roots, pitching Resident Evil 2 co-star Leon S. Kennedy as an international action hero on a mission to save the U.S. president’s daughter from a cult. Resident Evil 4 was hailed as a masterpiece, injecting new life into the franchise that would only become even more action-focused in ensuing sequels — ultimately prompting yet another reinvention of the series with the back-to-basics horror game Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.
Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4 reimagines the series’ most beloved and highly influential entry with lavish detail, modernizing the game from top to bottom. Developers have reframed Leon’s adventure through the lens of other recent Resident Evil remakes, bringing new levels of beauty and squishy gore to Resident Evil 4 while also updating its controls and story. The result is a clear demonstration that the developers understand their source material, and want to make it sing by fleshing out every possible detail.
The game also strongly signals that Resident Evil may be in need of a reinvention once again.
Resident Evil 4’s core elements are present in the remake. Leon S. Kennedy, now a dashing government agent, is dispatched on a covert solo mission to Spain, where he searches for a target codenamed “Baby Eagle” — real name Ashley Graham, the daughter of U.S. President Graham. A group of cultists have kidnapped her in a plot to infect her with a parasite, and ultimately make her their puppet. As Leon searches for Ashley, he encounters a remote rural village overrun by the parasite. Its angry residents — and a series of ultra-powerful men and monsters — stand between Leon and his rescuee.
Leon is no longer the rookie cop of his previous game, and he no longer faces danger in the form of one or two shambling zombies at a time. Instead, he is well armed and combat-ready, and faces swarms of armed, infected humans known as Ganados.
