SiftPop

by May Honey, Contributing Writer

Reviewed on the PS5

In 2005, Capcom released the original Resident Evil 4, which became nothing short of a medium-defining mega classic for video games. It’s the kind of once-in-a-lifetime piece of art that’s importance is crucial to the very history of video games. It was not only (and continues to be) one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, but also one that’s influence can be seen everywhere. Its innovation of the third person perspective is now so ubiquitous in action gaming that an unaware newcomer is almost certain to take it for granted looking into it with fresh eyes. It’s the kind of idea that just appeared fully formed and copied everywhere in games like Dead Space, Gears of War,and so many other titles that it can be compared to the level of impact that movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Matrix,or even Die Hard had on action filmmaking. I want to lead that way to juxtapose that reality with my actual experience with game itself: I’ve never been able to get through it, not really through lack of trying, or even by fault of the game itself. The tank controls so common to the era, the clunkiness of the movement, and my simple lack of being able to pick it up are all major roadblocks to getting passed the first 10 minutes. A lot of elements simply haven’t aged that well for a modern player base used to the games it went on to inspire itself. So while Capcom is on a tear of fantastic game after fantastic game, many including stellar remakes of the original Resident Evil 2 and 3, it makes logical sense to revisit its most revered title. I for one — a huge fan of this franchise — could not wait to sink my teeth into this story myself. To say I was excited would be the understatement of the century.

The plot of this game isn’t too important to the experience itself, but to those unaware, following the events of Resident Evil 2, that game’s protagonist: Leon Kennedy, is sent by the president to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a fanatical European cult. Sounds ridiculous right? Absolutely! And honestly, that’s where a lot of the joy of this game comes from. The familiar framework from action movies of past like John Carpenter’s Escape From New York provide that instantly comfortable B-movie framing that’s made this modern run of games so compelling. What makes a perfect B-horror movie is a walking of a tonal tightrope. A-horror is often only really concerned with building up pure terror. Nice and simple. B-horror is mainly defined by (and perfected by this franchise) the use of building up that same tension and dread, but then by offloading it simultaneously through the use of spectacle, action, plain silliness, and a variety of methods. One of the easiest examples of that methodology is Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II, which does that so well people tend to refer to it and regard it as A-horror. The modern era of Resident Evil feels so distinct but still exciting because of the different priorities and methods that it walks that line. 

This game is much more concerned with that offloading of tension. Its effective horror is always set up only to serve the riveting experience of how you’ll overcome it. This is opposed to the opposite side of this spectrum where all of the ridiculousness or silliness it sets up is only to heighten and support the real dread and horror it sets up. That’s the bedrock of what’s made my favorite Resident Evil game of the whole modern run: Resident Evil 2. That difference isn’t to say I dislike the approach this game takes at all though. I had an absolute blast playing Resident Evil 4. We’re not seeing another mechanical trailblazer whose influence we’ll see trickle down for generations to come. It’s a refining and perfection of old ideas into something that feels truly thoughtful, playful, and absolutely impossible to put down. RE4 is a masterpiece.

In terms of getting those pesky aging complaints from the original out of the way, this game passes in spades. Not only are the movement and shooting mechanics smooth as silk, I fell into them perfectly after not even five minutes of using them. If you’ve played any of the modern remakes of Resident Evil, or really just played most modern third person action shooters, this should feel right at home for you in terms of control scheme and fluidity. Mechanically though, this game is quite tightly honed into one goal and very specific and tempered arc of power. The game is so good at giving you fake advantages like odd surpluses of resources or ammunition, only to hit you with an absolutely bewildering amount of enemies that, as you progress through the game, are always more fierce than the last. That is of course a thrilling formula on its own, but it also intelligently plays into the long game. That ammunition and resource advantage it swipes away from you is often rewarded with copious amounts of in-game currency, and if you get really lucky, some upgrade materials. Once you get back to the merchant all bruised and bloody, you can spend all that hard earned coin to get upgraded weapons, sell treasures to give you a further advantage, treasure maps, and all manner of new and better guns just to make you feel more powerful. The amount of times I sold the most treasure I could just to get that rush of buying a new incredibly powerful gun in the shop happened more than I could’ve ever thought. So once you go into the next cycle all new and improved, it makes blasting away all of those enemies that used to make you struggle so much more that much more satisfying. That pacing and cycle of play constantly being satisfying and never feeling in and of itself repetitive is a testament to how satisfying and considerate the arc of difficulty is in terms of creativity in presentation and constantly innovating level design. You start with a small and open village with some townspeople, and by the end you’re massacring 10 times that many of much harder enemies in much more punishing environments and its all seamless. 

None of those enemies become forgettable or meaningless though. Not only will a lesser enemy still be able to mess you up well into the late game, they will also be that much fun to kill no matter how far into it you are. The combat is simply fantastic and worth going into detail with much more than I have space for here. One of my favorite things a game can do is make even the most basic of tasks fun. One of my favorite examples of that being simple traversal in Insomniac’s Spider-Man PS4. The simple act of web swinging in that game is so dang fun its hard to ever not be extremely entertained by the game as a whole. The gunplay and combat in RE4 is very comparable. Every aspect is fine-tuned and thoughtfully detailed to make every shot and slice feel as satisfying as possible. The sound design of the guns is particularly notable. The bullets have such a punch to them as they slice through the mix like a chef’s knife through some warm butter. The pressured triggers on my PS5 controller making every shot feel that much more purposeful also is put to a fantastic use. That small but notable amount of extra effort puts a wonderful cherry on top of the already magnificent flurry of bullets. 

I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t mention the wildly complex deformation systems. Where you shoot enemies matters more here than I’ve ever felt in a RE game before. Slowing down enemies by getting some pistol shots on their legs can always save you in a pinch, and you if you strategize well enough, that can lead you to getting them all crawling in one area to only be dispatched by one well aimed grenade for extra dopamine hits. Headshots are very tricky, though, because now they’ve been made a gamble. They’re still the high damage reliable shot they were before, but now there’s a medium to good chance that if you do it well and their head explodes, the Las Plagas parasite comes sprouting out of their neck and they become even deadlier enemies with added speed and damage. I often found myself satisfied with an excellent widespread shotgun blast destroying the heads of three enemies at once to only have that emotion turned on its head to now fighting those exact three enemies again just much closer, grosser, and more dangerous. 

As the story progresses, these kinds of experiences only multiply exponentially, as more enemies and enemy types are introduced. There is a veritable smorgasbord of creative enemies and phases they go through that all act and must be killed differently. These areas and enemies are punctuated by some truly grotesque and bombastic boss fights that are all quite memorable, and each for different reasons. I could describe all of them as bizarre monsters that all operate on some very “please do not touch me” energy, but it would be a disservice to lump them all in together at all. Each one is separated in experience almost totally. None of them are as simple as a bullet sponge, and they all have something unique to set them apart, whether it be an amazingly dynamic arena for them to move around in a horrifyingly quick fashion, a whole chase action sequence separating multiple phases of a fight, or simply a truly memorable design that rivals the best in the franchise so far. 

I think its important to draw this all back, though. As I went through the game, there’s one thing that ended up impressing me more than most of the other aspects, and that’s the story. I’m saying story as an intentional difference from the word plot here — plot being the physical and plain events that take place, and story being the emotional experience being shown. See, this game is quite directly a sequel to Resident Evil 2 in terms of Leon’s characterization. He’s a naïve and young police officer who has a good heart and sees the best in people in that game, like a young Luke Skywalker, and this game is set seven years after that. The events in Raccoon City really roughed him up, and the story explained in between games only serves to not only make him a full-blown action hero now, but also gruff and experienced in a way he wasn’t before. A lot of this game is actually quite detailed and purposeful in setting up a heartwarming character arc for Leon that softens up and makes him more sure of who he is and why he does what he does as a government agent. All that said, I wouldn’t say this is necessary in experiencing the game at all. In fact, I’d say it probably goes completely over some people’s heads in favor of just shooting some monsters and saying one-liners. It’s about as up front and integral to the story as Indiana Jones reckoning with his faith in Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Luke Skywalker learning how to cope with the deaths of those closest to him in the very original Star Wars. These elements are all subtextual, but they add a level of human realism that subconsciously makes the entire story and events feel palatable and even relatable. RE4 didn’t need to do this, but in doing it only proved its dedication to taking every opportunity they could to make this game as great as possible.

In writing my longest every review for SiftPop about RE4, I still feel like there are so many details that I could sing the praises of. The gleefully seedy voice performance for the merchant (Paul Mercier) put a smile on my face every time I saw him. The optional arcade minigames I found way more fun than they had any right to be, and I might’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time on some of them. And boy howdy, it takes a lot for me to go on and on saying this game looks so pretty in 50 different ways. The bottom line, though, is that this game is the kind we play games for. Video games are my favorite art form, as I’ve personally found them to be the perfect and ultimate form of escapism. Every aspect of this one is built on supporting an emotionally gripping experience that I’m already excited to replay once I’m finished writing this. Platinuming this game sounds like a foregone conclusion to me for a future playthrough, and I still don’t think I’ll every get over even the simplest pleasures it presented to me at the very start. If you’re a fan of the medium of video games, a newcomer to horror, the franchise, or even a die-hard Resident Evil fan, RE4 is everything you could want it to be and more. Taking a break from your life to invest yourself in fake people destroying fake monsters in fake places has never felt so worthwhile. Definitely check this one out. 

Score: 10/10

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