A Resident Evil 4 remake is now confirmed to be in the works, but what exactly do we know about Capcom’s plans? Here’s everything we’ve gleaned about the upcoming release.
Resident Evil 4 is one of the most celebrated entries in the Resident Evil series. Not only was it a shot in the arm for an aging franchise, but it revolutionized the third-person action-adventure genre. There’s a reason the game has been ported to nearly every platform since its release. In fact, it’s so celebrated that some fans argue it doesn’t need a remake at all.
When played on modern systems, the original Resident Evil 4 holds up rather well, and the argument that a remake is unnecessary and that Capcom should instead turn their attention to Code Veronica or Dino Crisis carries some weight. However, with Resident Evil 4 being a popular and commercially successful entity, bringing it back into the fold for next-gen consoles is an exciting prospect.
After Resident Evil Village swept up at the 2021 Game of the Year awards, let’s look at everything we know about the Resident Evil 4 remake.
Contents
- Does the Resident Evil 4 Remake have a release date?
- What platforms will the Resident Evil 4 remake be on?
- RE4 remake trailers
- Gameplay & content
- Resident Evil 4 creator’s view on a remake
Does the Resident Evil 4 Remake have a release date?
Yes, the remake of Resident Evil 4 will release on March 24, 2023.
The remake is set to stick tightly to Leon’s story while allowing for just enough of an expansion to flavor the game for new and returning players. Capcom has been keen to stay true to the survival horror aspects that made the original such a hit with fans.
What platforms will the Resident Evil 4 Remake be on?
The Resident Evil 4 Remake will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
For terrifying levels of immersion, new content is also in the works for PS VR2. Exactly what this will entail remains unclear. Whether it’s the full game in VR or just a chunk of the experience, we’re sure it’ll be the most frightening way to experience RE4.
RE4 remake trailers
The first RE4 remake trailer was made public during the game’s reveal at Sony’s State of Play event:
The second trailer was unveiled at the 2022 Resident Evil Showcase and showed us so much more – including gameplay and more character teases:
Resident Evil 4 remake gameplay & content
Here’s everything we know about the gameplay and setting so far:
Horror versus action
The remake will feel a lot like the original Resident Evil 4 but also bear a lot of resemblance to the recent Resident Evil remakes like 2 and 3. The gameplay shown off so far has a distinct survival horror feel, but also appears true to the action and atmosphere of the original. It’s unknown at this stage if the game will keep some of the more fantastical elements of the original Resident Evil 4 – such as the divisive Salazar statue part.
Speaking to the team at EDGE Magazine, the dev team explained how they had been split into three different groups, each in charge of developing the Village, Castle, and Island segments – the three main areas Leon explores in the original game. The team then all came together to help the final product feel cohesive.
The island segment of the original Resident Evil 4 often divides fans, with some feeling its emphasis on action strayed too far from Resident Evil’s ethos. Others felt like it was a fitting crescendo to the game – and monsters like the Regenerator were some of the scariest creatures seen in RE so far.
The segment will be returning in the Resident Evil 4 remake, so it will be interesting to see how Capcom makes the Island more congruent with the rest of the game – if they do at all.
Gameplay changes
A feature from Game Informer showed a lot of new details about the Resident Evil 4 remake. It revealed that the game has completely got rid of QTE segments and will be adding a variety of side quests for players to complete around the map.
The original Blue Meddalions quest will return but will be one of many. Other quests involve hunting snakes and infected dogs that prowl the Spanish woodland. Companion AI will also be greatly improved, with players able to tell Ashley, Ada, and Luis to perform certain tasks.
Ashley will not have a health bar this time, instead, she’ll be able to take damage until she staggers and enters a critical state. This is when she’s vulnerable to death but the player will be able to revive her. There’s been no word on if enemies can carry her out of the area leading to a game over like in the original.
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The knife will come into play in the RE4 remake more than it did in the original, letting players parry certain attacks with it if they’re quick enough. It can also be used to perform executions on fallen enemies, preventing them from mutating further and returning for another attack.
Players will be able to equip up to eight weapons at once and can cycle through them using a wheel. This has been added so that players don’t need to pause the game to change weapons, like in the original. It’s unknown if all the guns from the original are returning, but many have been spotted in the promotional materials. The bowgun will be new for the remake, returning from Resident Evil 2.
Lore changes
The original Resident Evil 4 is often accused of being disjointed from the main RE plot, almost disregarding everything that happened in Racoon City during the first trilogy. While Leon references the events of RE2, and Albert Wesker returns following his “resurrection” in Resident Evil: Code Veronica, the story explores a new biothreat, Las Plagas, a parasite with seemingly with no connection to Umbrella or the T-Virus.
Resident Evil 5, 6, and later games did a good job of weaving the Umbrella and Las Plagas lore together, as both mutagens were still around and causing trouble elsewhere, but Capcom may have some retcons planned for the remake especially surrounding Las Plagas.
While this is just speculation on our part, there is evidence to show that Capcom wants to weave the parasite more consistently into the over-arching RE plot and we suspect Umbrella may have some history with the parasite this time round.
In the Resident Evil 3 remake, Nemesis infected some zombies with his parasite, which was described as mirroring the effects of another that their researchers found in Europe. Based on this, and the behavior of the parasitic zombies in RE3, we can safely bet this is a reference to Las Plagas, meaning we wouldn’t be surprised if the RE4 remake had more connecting tissue to previous games than the original did.
Spoiler alert for Resident Evil Village, but in that game, it’s revealed that Umbrella had been skulking around in Europe many years before the events of the series began – searching for mutagenic pathogens. Their founder Ozwell E. Spencer spent some time with Villages’ villain Miranda, studying the Megamycete before going off and creating the T-Virus. Did he also make a stop in Spain?
Take this with a pinch of salt, but Capcom is clearly up to something here.
Resident Evil 4 creator’s view on a remake
When RE4 first came out on the Nintendo GameCube, Mikami was serving as the game’s director and oversaw much of the project. Since then, he’s gone on to create games like The Evil Within and Vanquish, which both borrowed from RE4 in many ways.
In an interview with VG247, Mikami said he approved of an RE4 Remake, saying: “Fans will most likely want it, and so that’s a good thing.” He add: “It would be great if Capcom could do a great job and make the story better, and put out a good product.”
Mikami went on to explain that due to tight deadlines during RE4’s production, he wasn’t able to tell the story he wanted to tell, and hopes that a potential RE4 remake could rectify this.
RE4 is hailed as one of the most celebrated games of all time, but more recent entries have arguably told better stories. This is despite the game featuring a superb cast of Resi characters like Leon, Ada, and Wesker.
Shinji Mikami also expects the RE4 remake will adopt a spookier tone than the original, and that concepts that were scrapped in the final version could be revisited.
The original Resident Evil 4 languished in development hell, going through at least 4 scrapped versions before the devs settled on a final one. As Resident Evil has taken on a more serious horror-focused style in recent years, this could also translate into the remake. After the release of the trailer, Mikami was proved to be correct.
Check out our preview of the RE4 remake here.
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