Greetings gamers! Greg here from Gaming Cypher here to talk about one of my favorite games from my childhood – Resident Evil 4 (RE4) from CAPCOM. If you are anything like I was when I was a kid, you were obsessed with the idea of surviving a zombie apocalypse. The first two Resident Evil games had a big effect on me, too. But RE4, on the GameCube, just hit different it felt like I had a fighting chance, like a network of heroes and merchants existed, especially with mercenary mode, it felt like we still had a chance to survive.
Now, with the remake, it has been improved pretty faithfully, but honed to be a better version of itself much like the previous Resident Evil remakes. When gamers boot up RE4, they will immediately start to feel the constant feeling of dread and tension from the tone, music, and sound design only letting up in known safe places like around the merchant or in parts of the game where the enemies can’t pop up. This is a feeling I felt from the original game and kept me on guard for stray zombies in and out of the game. But now things have improved substantially being brought to modern day 3rd person fluid camera and aim controls, walking and aiming at the same time and even adding my new favorite weapon the bolt thrower. As someone who loves to hoard all ammo and resources its truly a lifesaver to keep using a weapon that I can collect the ammo from, so it was a no-brainer that along with the knife it was the first thing to be fully upgraded.
As hard as it is to find a problem with Resident Evil 4 Remake I do have one bone to pick with removing the amazing voice acting talents of the Merchant. That is an imitation I have beautifully been performing for years and it hold such a special place in my heart it makes me sad for people playing this game the first time. They will never know the joys of such an amazingly quotable line. It makes me wonder if game developers are aware of the unintentionally popular things that sprout from their games. Though I don’t mean to speak to ill of the Merchant since he has been improved, in that now he gives out quests and rewards, so how can you fault him for being so generous.
Other than that minor black mark on RE4, it’s genuinely a better game in every way. I’m sure returning players and new players to Resident Evil 4 will love this installment more than the rest with it’s amazing level designs, every fear inducing second, and heart pounding action. Resident Evil 4 is easily the best game of the year so far and will surely be a contender for game of the year with Legend of Zelda coming out later this year. Resident Evil 4 Remake gets a well-deserved 10/10. I truly can’t wait to replay this game with a very digestible 16 hour campaign it makes running through the game in a dedicated weekend very possible. The Mercenaries free DLC will be released on April 7th, 2023 so get excited for that extra bundle of joy to fill your lives, because I know I am going to sink some serious hours in myself.
Resident Evil 4 is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam for MSRP $59.99.
The Resident Evil 4 “Deluxe Edition” is also available now for MSRP $69.99. The Deluxe Edition includes additional in-game content including costumes, weapons, a treasure map, and more. The prolific “The Mercenaries” challenge mode is also returning as free post-launch DLC on April 7th, 2023, and Resident Evil 4’s VR Mode has begun development as a free DLC.
For more on Resident Evil and all the best upcoming games, keep your Gaming Cypher activated.
Related: Reviews by Greg Vander Velde
I've been a life long nerd and video game junkie known to associate with the likes of Link, Nathan Drake, Batman, and Master Chief. I'm a filmmaker by profession, but spend lots of time behind a controller escaping the real world. @GregVelde on Instagram/Twitter/YouTube
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