YoIt starts like it always has. Leon Kennedy, the bruised and damaged rookie cop from Resident Evil 2 is now a special ops super soldier sent on a mission to a remote town somewhere in Europe. He is looking for the kidnapped daughter of the President of the United States and this is the last known whereabouts of him. His entry point is an overgrown path, dark and cold; crows peck at the bodies of dead animals, strange sounds fill the fetid air. And he finally he sees it: an abandoned shack barely visible among the dead branches …
But from this point on, we’re in different territory. Although this updated version of Capcom’s seminal survival horror sequel retains the original’s narrative, characters, and major locations, the structure of the game—the way each terrifying and exciting scene unfolds—has been subtly remixed. It’s definitely a new version, but it feels fresh and vibrant. And it’s brilliant.
Veterans won’t need to be told that Resi 4 represented a new phase in the series when it arrived on the Nintendo GameCube in 2005. Gone are the awkward expressionist camera angles and roving third-person perspective; Also gone was the peculiarly choppy and unintuitive combat from the first three titles. Designer Shinji Mikami switched to an over-the-shoulder view, drawing the player into the protagonist’s perspective and making gunfights much more immersive. The zombies were gone, too, in favor of torch-wielding yokels and towering cult leaders, giving it the weird feel of folk horror, of The Wicker Man and Witchfinder General.
The new Resi 4 takes the camera a bit further again, but we’re still very much with Kennedy as he walks through the dirt of festering farmlands and through the halls of gothic castles. We’re there in his boots as he fires at enemies wielding pitchforks and chainsaws.
Combat is expressive, tactical, and hard-hitting, using a simplified melee system that allows you to stock up on crucial ammo, while also making your character feel powerful. As you go, you collect money to buy new weapons from the famous character Merchant (who has some real treasures in his collection), but it’s still a terrifying experience: there are scares; there are tense moments where the camera occludes hidden enemies lurking in the dark. It’s the perfect mix of old and new Resi, of reminiscence and raw defiance. The locations where the big fights take place are expertly designed, always with places to run and catch your breath for a second, so you learn to read the gaps and attack patterns of the enemy. I love the way the major boss battles are foreshadowed and how the world teaches you how to search for important rooms or crucial loot treasures.
Every place is a putrid smorgasbord of gelatinous horror. You explore a farm where emaciated animals roam and then starve to death, and where every shack has some snarling villager waiting to stab you in the side. The canyon area is a vast maze of wooden walkways, the wood weak and old enough to give way at any moment and leave you in the jaws of another desperate showdown. Then come more opulent settings, gothic buildings, the walls covered in Renaissance paintings, the dining tables immaculately set, each room housing a clever puzzle or a new enemy monster.
Sometimes there are slightly open areas, similar to hubs, where you are given a bit of freedom to explore, but the leash is always on tight and you never get bored or lost. In all honesty, the subliminal environmental cues in this game are some of the best I’ve come across – this is an experience that somehow feels tight and controlled, but also unscripted and emergent at times. It contains game design insights from the entire series, from the awkward shuffling tension of the first game to the riveting (and often gross) first-person horror of Resident Evil 7. The only modern addition I’m not so sure what is It’s all about the inclusion of small side tasks: a series of quest quests that have you slaying rats and shooting hidden targets to earn spinels that can be used to purchase exclusive items from the merchant. But these diversions from the shopping list, employed for years to add to the bloat of open-world games, are really unnecessary here, building up the tension and taking you out of character.
Additionally, Resident Evil has always had its own ways of encouraging player curiosity and exploration, which work in conjunction with the narrative, not against it. On this subject, I would be completely remiss to reveal any story elements because it is still fundamentally a narrative game where each step of the script is a puzzle piece that you can discover and play with joy. Rest assured, Resi 4 remains a great mix of hostage rescue drama and occult horror story, and those who played the original will be able to revisit familiar moments and discover new twists.
This is a wonderful game – a beautiful, tense, campy, gory summary of everything that’s great about Resident Evil. Wherever you find yourself, whether in a rose garden or a torture dungeon, everything is filled with intimate details, from the sounds of distant screams and chants to the sight of a grayish crime scene or a beautiful vase. It’s resplendent and delicious and decadent, like an impossibly rich banquet served amid the detritus of a horrible battle. Trust me, you’ll have a feast.
