Resident Evil 4 Remake -PS5- 9

December 31, 2024

I have spent a little over a week running through the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 on the Standard difficulty. The results screen after the end credits says I logged 18 1/2 hours into my save file, but the results tab in the main menu says I have put in about 30 hours total. This discrepancy must have been due to me dying so many times, because this game was quite difficult!

This 2023 iteration of Resident Evil 4 on the PlayStation 5 is a remake of the famous 2005 GameCube title. I played and beat the original version of RE4 back when it first released almost 20 years ago, and I remember how groundbreaking it was for its presentation and gameplay. 2005’s RE4 dramatically mixed up the Resident Evil formula in many important ways. The game sported a behind-the-shoulder perspective instead of fixed camera angles, completely changing the way combat felt. There were also no more zombies. Instead, there were infected villagers that were much faster and more aggressive than the zombies from previous RE games. There was even a little more focus on action in general and just a little less emphasis on puzzles compared to previous entries in the series. I loved the original RE4, and it was one of the best and most important games of the sixth console generation.

As fondly as I remember the 2005 classic, this 2023 remake blew me away with how much it updated the original’s story, gameplay, and graphics with the power of the PlayStation 5. These graphics might technically be the best I have yet seen, with astonishing detail in the lifelike environments, as well as beautiful character models with photo-realistic facial expressions. The combat is also more advanced now, with smoother melee attacks, parries you can do with your knife that degenerates with each use, and even a little stealth thrown in. The story in the remake follows closely to the basic flow of the original’s, but enough key plot points are either changed or deepened to keep hardcore fans in suspense while staying faithful to the original vision.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is the hardest survival horror game I have ever played. The tension that builds as the villagers swarm you quickly becomes overwhelming unless you think and act fast. These enemies are relentless once they spot you and never give up. It’s absolutely terrifying, and often gets very stressful. Resources for ammo and healing are truly limited as you frantically try to figure out how to handle each enemy group encounter. This accurately feels like a fight to survive the horror that infests the impoverished Spanish village where the game takes place. The boss battles were also extremely challenging, especially the showdown with Ramon Salazar later in the campaign.

I loved experiencing the story of Leon Kennedy rescuing Ashley Graham from the Los Iluminados cult all over again in this revision of Resident Evil 4. It has been about twenty years since I played the GameCube original, so my memory of what happened has faded, but this PS5 remake captivated and thrilled me with its own great storytelling. The bond between Leon and Ashley instantly felt deep and touching, thanks to strong performances by Nick Apostolides and Genevieve Buechner. RE4 Remake was like a really good horror movie that I could not stop watching until I saw the protagonists persevere to the end and survive. I rate the 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 the same score that I rated the original RE4 back in 2005, and that is a 9 out of ten.