Capcom has generally rode a high in the last couple years. Whether it’s been the successes ofDevil May Cry 5,Monster Hunter: World, and several of theResident Evilreleases, the last three years of this console generation have been fruitful for Capcom. There have been some missteps with games likeMarvel vs. Capcom: Infiniteand to a lesser extentResident Evil 3 Remake, but overall it’s been positive. However, from both the announcement ofResident Evil Villageand the rumoredResident Evil 4 Remake, Capcom seems to be taking risks.
The risk inResident Evil Villageis abundantly clear, as the setting and changing of characters has been highly controversial among traditionalResident Evilfans. Finding the risk in aResident Evil 4 Remake, however, is a bit more of a nuanced topic. The originalResident Evil 4is one of the most highly regarded and critically acclaimedResident Evilgames to be released. The fourth game also came out during a time where the mechanics and gameplay introduced were highly formative, despite the story content being far different from past games. Now, with a theoretical 2021-2022 release window,Resident Evil 4 Remakecould have trouble finding a new audience.
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Why the Original Resident Evil 4 Was Critically Acclaimed
There were quite a few reasonswhyResident Evil 4received widespread critical acclaimupon its initial release in 2005. The fourth numbered mainline entry markedResident Evil’s first foray in a fully 3D world, among other technical improvements. Most importantly was the changing of the camera view, eschewing the fixed camera angles in favor of the over-the-shoulder third person perspective.Resident Evil 4was one of the first games to ever employ this player perspective, and served to be incredibly influential for third-person shooters of all kinds. Players could now fire from a number of angles and rewarded players for creativity, like shooting zombies in the leg for them to trip.
Many other controversialgameplay changes were employed inResident Evil 4that made the game more action-oriented, which would inspire the next three entries in the series to varying degrees of success. Incapacitating enemies like in the above example opened up opportunities for Leon to follow up with a special melee attack that did massive damage.Resident Evil 4also employed many contextual actions and quick time events throughout the game as well, which weren’t exactly revolutionary but still a first for the franchise. This was all in service to a much more campy action story, which even at the time was criticized for being a little too goofy forResident Evil.
A RE4 Remake Is Comparatively Harder to Justify
All of these aspects are great examples of whyResident Evil 4was so special back in 2005, but now in 2020, the gaming medium is a very different atmosphere compared to 15 years ago. There’s a whole lot aboutResident Evil 4that can still be found in modern games today, whereasthe previousResident Evilremakes were far more impactful. BothResident Evil 2andResident Evil 3: Nemesiswere traditional, fixed-camera games that were released on the PS1 over 20 years ago. Remaking those games with modern design attributes made sense because it served to modernize the games from several console generations ago.
The problem with aResident Evil 4 Remakeis that everything that would seemingly date the game is also still present in many third person shooters to this day. Over the shoulder perspective has been adopted across the industry because ofResident Evil 4, so having that game be remade already inherently won’t be as impactful compared to the previous remakes. Not only that, but the third person shooting and"tank controls" are a lot of what madeResident Evil 4a horror-like experience. Giving more flexibility to Leon means a lot of the open-ended areas inResident Evil 4won’t be as threatening due to lack of mobility.
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A Challenging Remake Ahead
A lot of themodern sensibilities implemented inResident Evil 2andResident Evil 3 Remakejust won’t transfer easily over to aResident Evil 4 Remake. That’s part of whyResident Evil 4being remade is a lot harder to pull off compared to the previous games. These aren’t completely new mechanics compared to the original game, and will require a lot of tweaking to both the player’s abilities as well as the environment design. Balancing those changes whilst retaining the original game’s tension has to be quite the undertaking. That being said, if these changes are able to mesh well with the original game’s presentation, then it’d be worth it for Capcom.
That’s not to say it’s impossible, as both previous remakes completely changed the camera perspective and gameplay mechanics to mostly positive reception.Resident Evil 4 Remakecould do the same, but a lot of the original frameworks inResident Evil 4will need to be changed drastically to justify the remake’s existence.
Resident Evil 4 Remakeis rumored to be in development.
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