Resident Evil 4

My first hour with Resident Evil 4 (2023) made one thing clear: Capcom wasn't hedging. The tank controls are gone. Leon moves like a person, not a shopping trolley. You can shoot and walk at the same time, parry Ganado axes with a combat knife, chain a parry straight into a roundhouse kick, and then sprint to the next group before your pulse settles. That is the core loop, and it is relentlessly well-tuned. The knife upgrade is the mechanical story of the whole remake. In the 2005 original it was essentially a box cutter. Here it is a full combat tool with a durability bar that ticks down with every slash, stab, and parry. Managing knife health becomes its own quiet tension layer, because a broken blade means no more deflecting chainsaw swings from Dr. Salvador, no more parrying cultist spears, no more stealth takedowns before a big room fight kicks off. Capcom borrowed the breakable knife from Resident Evil 2 Remake and sharpened it, so to speak. The stealth option adds another angle worth noting: crouching through tall grass to thin a group before the alarm rings genuinely feels earned rather than bolted on, and it suits Leon's character in ways the original never bothered with. The three-act structure of village, castle, and island is all still here, and each location is noticeably more expansive and interconnected than the original's isolated rooms. The lake area alone goes from a single boss arena to an explorable body of water with dockable islands, hidden treasures, and sidequests from the Merchant, who now hands out challenges like shooting blue medallions or hunting elite enemies in exchange for tokens for a gachapon machine that rewards small figurines providing passive bonuses. It is eccentric and charming, and frankly it adds a surprising amount of replay texture to a campaign that already runs around fifteen hours. New Game Plus, unlockable infinite ammo weapons, and additional difficulty modes extend that further for anyone who wants to push the game into a pure action sandbox. Where some pushback exists, it is honest. The remake dials back the goofy, B-movie energy of the original quite a bit. Chief villain Saddler loses most of his theatrical menace and lands closer to a generic cult leader. The broader tone is darker and more grounded, which benefits the horror but costs some of the original's singular personality. Hardline fans of the 2005 version have also pointed to the Separate Ways story campaign (starring Ada Wong) being paid DLC rather than included content, and a PC DRM update in 2026 triggered a wave of performance complaints worth keeping an eye on. The overall Steam rating has held at Overwhelmingly Positive across 257,000-plus reviews, so the baseline experience remains very solid, but the DRM situation is worth monitoring before purchasing on PC. For anyone who never played the original, this is the cleanest possible on-ramp to one of the most influential action games ever made. For returning players, the question of whether the original's irreverent charm matters more than tighter mechanics will define your mileage. On pure gameplay terms, this remake is the stronger product. On personality and surprise factor, the 2005 version still has an argument. Both things are true, and neither should stop you from playing this one.

Alex · Scout Team

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