A special agent of the US government travels in a dusty Seat Panda with two Spanish police officers, who listen to flamenco as they drive down a dilapidated road. They joke with their passenger, who is in that remote place to carry out a secret mission: to rescue the daughter of the president of the United States, who has been kidnapped by what he will soon discover is a dangerous sect of villagers affected by the parasitic infection. The pests.
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Further
Despite what it may seem because of this bizarre start, Resident Evil 4 It was a turning point for the saga. Also for the video game sector in general, especially for the survival and horror genres that the franchise had helped to establish. Its transgressive use of the shoulder-mounted camera has become an industry standard, which almost twenty years later continues to bet on this third-person action game model, perfected in its recently released remake.
The commitment of the Japanese developer Capcom for an update that respects all the findings of the original shows, at a time when remastering is more than ever the order of the day, why this innovation model limited to known terrain is profitable. But, is this new incursion into a disturbing Spain emptied by the hand of Leon S. Kennedy, protagonist of the second Resident EvilDoes it contribute something to a video game that is still valid and whose impact is timeless?
Changing video games forever
Despite the initial success of the franchise Resident EvilIn the early 2000s, the exploitation of the saga through the constant release of titles had reduced its inventive capacity. With the aim of turning it around, at Capcom they went through various prototypes —the first of which gave rise to Devil May Cry— until Shinji Mikami, director of the first installment, entered the scene. The view from behind the protagonist is due to him, so common today, but which was a revolution then.
“It was the video game that set the precedent for shooters in third person by implementing the camera on the shoulder, making the gameplay much easier”, explains Nora Kaals, writer and collaborator on the specialized website All Gamers, who assures that he likes the fourth game “precisely because he knows how to mix terror and action.” For the cultural journalist John Tones, the franchise was able to focus on the action by overcoming the “technical limitations and the approach that it had until then, more oriented towards terror, exploration and puzzles.”
“The first time I played it, the twist in the mechanics and the important technical leap caught my attention. Visually, I remember it being very impressive,” he recalls. It is normal, because in 2005 it came out for GameCube Resident Evil 4 with a detailed interactive environment, more dynamic controls and a plot full of excesses in the usual line of the saga. Even today, he is rightly blamed for the franchise’s neglect of the survival horror to focus on the action.
In any case, it is undeniable that he has established a chair, defining the subsequent ‘triple A’ video games and marking proposals known as Uncharted o The Last of Us, which drink from its linear story, its progression through small puzzles and its focus on the shots. In addition, it was an immediate critical success, earning a rating of 96 out of 100 on Metacritic. So, from its arrival on PlayStation 2 to its upcoming release in virtual reality for Meta Quest 2, each reissue has been equally well received and it was a matter of time before a new release appeared. remake for a new generation.
Violence in rural Spain
In the original work, Leon S. Kennedy travels to a very… peculiar rural Spain. Although the producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi has assured that it was “somewhere in Europe” without defining, the inspiration in the Iberian Peninsula is more than evident —specifically, rumors point to the town of Montejo de Tiermes in Soria—, and just for the language used by the characters, who speak broken Spanish with strange phrases pronounced with a diffuse Latin accent, which has given rise to memes that have endured over time, such as the famous “behind you, imbecile” that the inhabitants repeated in the first bars of the game.
Kaals and Tones agree that it is an appreciated element of “involuntary comedy”, not necessarily a determining factor for its success among Spanish users, since the franchise was sufficiently well-known internationally at that time. Of course, the remake it has solved this and other confusions when it comes to mixing Spanish-speaking cultures, so that it has “lost that strange grace that the original game had”, according to the journalist. Even with everything, he affirms that “the only way to prefer the original dubbing is if you enjoyed it at the time and it is a purely nostalgic matter.”
In that way, Resident Evil 4 Remake, on its arrival on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5 and Xbox Series X | S, has tried to include more realistic phrases, Luis Sera has changed his last name to Serra and they have even faithfully designed the pesetas, in-game currency because, despite that the action takes place in 2004, the euro has not reached that area, perhaps a sign that it has been infected for some time, perhaps a documentation error left as a nod to the original game. In addition, both the aforementioned Luis and Ashley Graham, the daughter of the US president, have undergone slight rewrites to become more important secondary roles. “I don’t think there was anything intolerable in the original version either, it’s just been modernized,” Tones clarifies, emphasizing how now these types of characters—especially Ashley, who must be protected—work “in a different way.”
Reasonable similarities and differences
This update of Resident Evil 4 It differs from the previous remasters in that it modifies more aspects of the game, although it remains faithful to its essence, respecting the dark environments, the challenging final bosses and the commitment to humor through the dialogues. “I thought it was a very fun game and it didn’t take itself seriously,” Nora Kaals recalls of her first experience with it, a common thought among her followers.
Along with the details mentioned, an improvement in the interface and an oppressive setting, it is the gameplay that manages to amplify the adrenaline sensation, transforming this proposal even more if possible into one focused on action. Among the most notorious changes are the virulence with which the Ganados attack, the stealth mode and the option to make parry [maniobra de bloqueo de un ataque] with the knife, which allows new strategies to be used in pursuit of survival, which are added to the famous circular kicks. “Possibly the greatest innovation at the playable level, a minimal sophistication of the action that provides a strategic component,” John Tones clarifies about the use of the knife. In his opinion, “it is possible that he has come to the saga to stay, although he rarely enters the melee.”
“The rest of the changes are more superficial or make the game more accessible, but adapting it so that no one is left out has been a trend for years,” he continues. So while the original was replete with tedious quick time events [momentos durante las cinemáticas en los que el jugador debe realizar acciones rápidas]he remake opt for fluency. However, its side missions are somewhat bland, for many rewards they offer. On the other hand, there are users who have criticized the simplification of some aspects —such as marking with yellow paint those barrels that can be broken or that the secondary ones quickly offer clues for solving puzzles-, but in such a hectic game, it is a help that can come in handy for those who are not familiar with delivery or controls.
At the narrative level, lovers of Resident Evil 4 They will surely miss some sections and confrontations, however, their elimination does not affect the final result, especially since there are new sequences or those that have been completely reimagined, as is the case with the sound setting. The music maintains classic melodies, but updating the themes. In addition, the sounds of the environment, particularly the chants heard in the distance, create a sense of depth and immersion that adds tension to the experience.
Everything is a ‘remake’
The careful graphic section of Resident Evil 4 Remake is one of the main additions. By using the RE Engine, it achieves realistic textures, lighting with real-time shadows, and highly detailed 3D modeling. The set gives the scenes a more chilling, suffocating and sinister air, in which to always be alert. “It is an industry obsessed with technological performance and with the graphic aspect, where mechanics have become something accessory and what prevails is technological power, it is normal for remakes they are the order of the day,” says Tones.
For him, they are “useless by definition, a commercial maneuver to adapt games that have become outdated to the tastes of younger players.” He highlights that Resident Evil 4 It is “perfectly playable, only graphically it has been left behind.” However, he considers that the new version “is very good, it visually updates the game, it completely adapts it to new mechanics and it’s a pleasure to play it again even if you’ve already done it, so it doesn’t bother either.” Nora Kaals agrees that she doesn’t think she needed a remake, although he understands that it should be done: “Times change and so does the way of playing; we have become accustomed to a totally different gameplay and, perhaps, the old one can cost the new generations by being more crude.
In turn, he points out that “technology has also evolved, allowing games to be given another visual perspective,” as happened with the remakes of the first three Resident Evil, whose “facelift” considers that they “have done well”. “The original work will still be there, you can always play the story as it was told in its day. He remake you can improve it. Or change it to make it more coherent ”, she defends. Of course, he does not believe that “it will set a precedent.” Something similar considers Tones, for whom, despite this, these adaptations “are unnecessary but inevitable”, because, although the game itself “does not contribute anything essential, for many players who will not approach the old version it will be key”. In this case, he concludes by ensuring that, “strictly speaking, everything that was in the original is in this new version and vice versa.”
Taking into account that it does not yet include two beloved extra content such as the Mercenaries mode -available for free starting on April 7th- and the story Separate Ways —still without date or confirmation—, it seems that he has a long way to go. Therefore, even though Resident Evil 4 Remake it will never be able to have the same cultural impact as its predecessor, if it is able to demonstrate why it was fundamental. The result is a video game that moves between fidelity and modernization, between the familiar and the new, and that makes a contemporary classic of the medium that has never gone out of style.