14 years later, Resident Evil 4 is still shooter perfection.
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Resident Evil as a franchise has experienced metamorphosis multiple times throughout its life. From its inception as a fixed-camera survival horror series where fighting was the last thing you wanted to do. A crazy Michael Bay-style action romp for Balls to the Walls, and then back to survival horror but now in first person.
The series has had a bold and occasionally bumpy road but has never shied away from evolution. But I think we can all agree that in Resident Evil’s long run, no single game has proposed a bigger and bolder change than 2005’s Resident Evil 4.
A game that not only changed the Resident Evil series but also gaming. But everyone knows how influential Resident Evil 4 was.
Yet what people rarely discuss is why Resident Evil 4 is such a flawless experience. Even today, minus the game’s somewhat challenging controls, it’s a game that feels as fresh to play as it did in 2005.
I myself have done over a dozen playthroughs of Resident Evil 4 over the years. This is a game that I play formally at least once to several times per year. And every new year, without fail, I return to RE4, and I play it all the way through each time. After which, I spend a dozen hours in The Mercenaries.
What makes Resident Evil 4 such an entertaining experience, though? Why is it that even after a decade, Resident Evil 4 is still a game that people go back to?
Best Escort Mission
Resident Evil 4 shakes up what everyone hated about games at the time, an escort mission, and spreads it out to about 60% of the entire game. Ashley is the perfect escort partner, better than anyone else to do this since.
She doesn’t get in the way, she actively helps you during many puzzles, and she always sticks to Leon like an extension of his body.
Seriously, this is genius! Having an escort isn’t something you have to actively babysit and instead feels like it gives you a big hitbox was a fantastic decision!
Also, she does a cute little fist bump every time you get a quick kill which is nice. It’s a bit serious but also really cute. This isn’t the only clever detail about the game; This is a game full of little touches like this.
The story is also great. It’s not particularly good, but it’s good because RE4 is a game that, whether intentionally or unintentionally, doesn’t take itself seriously in the slightest. Right now the entire premise is stripped straight from a foreigner’s perception of Hollywood cinema.
Totally insane and bombastic, a lone villain tries to stop a massive conspiracy while protecting a girl. It epitomizes everything from the “macho action hero” era of Hollywood, and it works wonderfully because of the game’s… intellectually stimulating dialogue.
Because there’s nothing that sells the seriousness of a world-ending threat more than an angry dwarf in a Victorian outfit at middle school level with an American operative.
The Combat
The other version of what makes Resident Evil 4 so engrossing is its competition, and I know how it feels like, “Hey, this guy just wants to expand RE4!” And yes, that is exactly what I intend.
The combat in Resident Evil 4 is almost perfect. It relies on one of the most interesting aspects of any combat system, where every action is actively decision-based. Imagine a slower, more grounded Doom Eternal with fewer buttons.
The game likes to throw a bunch of different enemies at you from different angles and just let the player’s imagination run wild on how they will deal with it.
This makes Resident Evil 4’s combat feel almost like a sandbox. Each playthrough feels different because you’ll always be able to approach encounters a little differently.
Gather a large number of enemies together and throw a grenade. Pick them off individually with the sniper rifle, fire a shot with your pistol, and run in for a roundhouse kick for some easy crowd control.
Resident Evil 4 allows you to approach its combat encounters on your own terms. That’s what sets it apart from lesser third-person shooters. There’s always a new strategy to pull out, something cool to try. It never gets old.
Throw in an addictive progression system that introduces new weapons and upgrades at just the right time and some incredible hit feedback, and you have an action game that’s just about perfect.
It also happens to be a game that goes perfectly in VR. The game’s VR entertainment is something that needs to be seen to be believed. An absolutely breathtaking experience that gives a new vision to an already extraordinary game. So much so that Meta himself has. Issued a bundle For Meta Quest 2 which comes with Resident Evil 4 VR.
Pacing
Any campaign can only be as good as its pacing, poor pacing and even the most satisfying combat and storytelling can be downright miserable.
To Resident Evil 4’s credit, it has the best pacing of any game I’ve ever played. While part of it scares me from time to time, this is a game that is impossible to put down once you start playing.
I even love the Split Island sections because of their focus on action and how much they test you when it comes to the game’s combat.
The speed of play comes in two-fold.
This is a real addition to Resident Evil 4 where the stakes gradually increase as the story progresses, and the gameplay reflects this with every change. It understands when to introduce something new and pit the player against a terrifying monster in the sewers.
Secondly, it is a gradually increasing difficulty. Players from all over the village will be learning how everything works. It introduces the Las Plagas parasite that pops out of enemy heads, three boss fights, and a ton of different encounters showing you how the game’s enemies work.
You then arrive at the castle, which tests what the player has learned in the village and introduces new dangers to learn and master.
Then comes the island section, and it tests everything you’ve learned throughout the game. Pushing the game’s mechanics to its limits, resulting in one of the most fun and action-packed parts of the entire game.
take away
Now it all comes together to form this wonderful blend of action game design that feels relatively modern even by today’s game design conventions.
In fact, the game feels fresh overall because of how much the landscape has changed over the years. It’s great to play a no-nonsense action game that feels all killer. It’s not about big open worlds and deeply engaging stories.
At one point, I was extremely skeptical about the fact that Resident Evil 4 was getting a remake. Over time I have come to appreciate and understand this.
While I would love to see a remake of a Resident Evil game that actually requires some type of *Cough*code veronica*Cough*, It’s great to see a classic in a new light.
My favorite remake and in turn, one of my favorite games of all time, is the remake of the original Resident Evil. Part of that is that the remake has a lot of respect for the original, yet also makes some drastic but genius changes. Creating an experience that feels fresh and unique.
As someone who has beaten Resident Evil 4 more than a dozen times, I would appreciate playing a different version of the game. And hey? If I don’t like it, there’s always the original game, perfect as always, 14 years and counting.
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