The next installment in a series of remakes covering Capcom’s horror classics is Resident Evil 4, which receives its makeover next year. This current project, which many people believe to be the publisher’s all-time magnum opus and which fundamentally altered the horror genre, may be their largest one yet.
Similar to its predecessors, the 2005 blockbuster’s remake aims to maintain the “essence” of the original work while giving the gameplay a contemporary twist. Even if some of its artistic decisions might alienate some of the game’s devoted fans, it is introducing one of the best video games ever created to a new audience. In advance of its anticipated 2023 release, Capcom has now given fans a sneak peek at what to anticipate from Resident Evil 4’s return, demonstrating that it is on the correct road.
Even though Resident Evil was well-known by the early 2000s, the fourth game broke the trend and introduced a fresh idea. Shinji Mikami, the project’s director, aimed to maintain its distinctive survival horror elements while placing more of an emphasis on action. Resident Evil 4’s alterations were viewed as a risk at the time, even though Mikami established a name for himself in the business and went on to work on games like The Evil Within.
The over-the-shoulder camera in Resident Evil 4 marked a significant change from the fixed camera angles and “tank controls” of earlier games. A reactive sandbox presented more emergent scenarios while the enhanced fighting also leaned on shooter tropes, speeding up the game overall. The modifications were successful; they contributed to the creation of what is undoubtedly one of the greatest video games ever made, garnered plaudits from critics, and broke previous sales records for the genre.
Resident Evil 4 necessitates a different strategy than recent remakes of Resident Evil titles, which for the first time recreated core games through an over-the-shoulder angle. Since Resident Evil 4 was the first game to make use of the perspective, its remake is more similar to the original, necessitating a very distinct set of design sensibilities.
The remake of Resident Evil 4 has been kept a secret up until this point, with just a brief teaser trailer released in June as part of Sony’s PlayStation State of Play event. Since then, we’ve played a portion of the game’s beginning, giving us our first impressions of how Capcom plans to approach its upcoming remake. Although Capcom altered the story and gameplay to better suit modern audiences, it largely maintains the charm of the original game.
