Resident Evil 4 is almost 20 years old and god if that doesn’t make me want to crumble into a pile of dust. The prospect of a remake, on paper, isn’t that egregious given the time span but the original is so widely available, so beloved and still perfectly playable in 2022 that the common question surrounding this remake has been: does it justify its existence? For newcomers, this will undoubtedly be one of 2023’s best action horror games. For those familiar with the original, this will be a neat trip down memory lane that suffers perhaps for staying too close to the original.
The main concern I saw from fans was that this would dump the one liners and camp in favor of a story that takes itself more seriously. Not that the recent remakes are strangers to quips (the remake is full of ’em) but if that was your fear then I’m happy to report that, despite a slight shift in tone, the cheesy dialog is still here, as dumb and entertaining as ever. “Where’s everyone going?” Leon utters, aloud, to nobody at all after nearly being stabbed and bludgeoned to death mere seconds earlier. “The bingo?” It highlights, though, the odd space this remake occupies. By not straying further from the original, it has less to offer returning players. Shouldn’t the point of a remake be to do something different, to take the premise in a bold new direction?
