Resident Evil 4 has earned the catalogue releases expected of a game of its stature. Its 2005 debut on GameCube inevitably gave way to an underpowered but more popular PlayStation 2 release later that year. 2007’s trip to the Wii became adored due to the attention devoted to the Wii’s unique controller, while the PC port that same year was adored for nothing because it was terrible. 2011 brought the game, as Resident Evil 4 HD, to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and suggested that it was only a matter of time until it made a proper showing on PC. It’s been nearly three years, but the time is now; Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD Edition performs just as its name implies; it’s the ultimate edition of Resident Evil 4.
It’s fair to ask whether a nine-year-old game deserves to celebrate another release, and in the case of Resident Evil 4 the answer is an unqualified absolutely. In both popular opinion and critical praise, Resident Evil 4 is on the pantheon of games that matter – right along with Grand Theft Auto III, Halo: Combat Evolved, Shadow of the Colossus, Metroid Prime and other fondly remembered titles that defined the PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube generation of software. Itself the product of constant refinement, Resident Evil 4 was also part of the mold that cast the league of games that defined the following generation of shooters. With all respect to Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4 was the series at its peak; surviving horror, in its time and place, was never better.
It’s also fair to ask how well Resident Evil 4 works in 2014. From a purely visual standpoint, the game still holds its own. Some of this sentiment is generated from the attention Capcom provided to this particular release. A majority of Resident Evil 4’s textures have been updated to accommodate its new 1080p resolution, and the game has also frame-rate boost to the universally-optimal sixty frames-per-second. Options exist to knock the frame-rate back down to thirty and use the original textures, and man does the game look different running at thirty. I suppose it’s one of those things that you don’t appreciate until you see it side by side, but the difference in appearance is profound.
This isn’t to say a nearly ten year old game isn’t without its blemishes. Hand-animations differ from the Uncharted-styled motion-capture we’re used to, making some of Leon’s actions look weird and jerky. It’s also worth noting that Capcom didn’t upgrade every texture, creating strange dissonance when you get really close to a particular rock here and there. Same goes for the pre-rendered cut-scenes, which appear to default back to their original resolution. These complaints are relatively minor; the game almost always looks great when you’re actually playing it.
Player control is another area where Resident Evil 4 shows a bit of its age. The game was built under the idea of using a single analog stick for movement; “tank controls,” as they came to be, are ingrained in Resident Evil 4’s design. To change them would change the dynamic of the game (the same can be said for Leon’s gross inability to move and shoot at the same time, it’s part of the game). This makes for an awkward transition coming from playing modern games, although one that isn’t altogether insurmountable. Like anything else, it takes some getting used to before you’re properly acclimated to shooting zomb-excuse me-Los Ganados in the legs and rushing in for Leon’s roundhouse special.
Controls have been adjusted to accommodate the transition to the personal computer. An Xbox 360 controller is certainly the preferred way to play. It complies with the quick-time button prompts that define certain sequences, at the controller layout is the best modern analog for that wacky GameCube controller. Native mouse and keyboard support is also included, though to me they felt alien and uncomfortable. Admittedly this is a bit of a blind spot for me; every action game I’ve ever played in my relatively recent PC gaming career has been through a controller. That being said, I suppose they’re more palatable with a better handle on WASD movement and mouse-look, if not a tad inefficient next to a controller.
This was my first round with Resident Evil 4 since its PS2 release. What jumped out immediately was how quickly the game engenders creativity within its limited environments. Resident Evil 4 was one of the first games to layout an open ended area and surround the player with viable options. To make it threatening, the game also blessed Leon’s aggressors with considerable intelligence. Feeling safe behind the doors of a ramshackle house lead to cataclysmic fear the first time one of the Los Ganados broke down the door or busted through a window. In Resident Evil 4’s vast layout of villages, castles, and fortresses there’s almost nowhere safe to hide and your particular means of disposing aggressors must be created and applied on the fly. Games still struggle to create scenarios like this today, and watching a relatively primitive game from nine years ago repeatedly accomplish it with ease is one of its greatest strengths.
Resident Evil 4 also teaches a master class in inducing a constant sense of dread, tension, and paranoia in the mind of the player. You’re never safe and there’s always something that’s going to kill you moment away. Part of this sentiment arrives via the game’s use of quick-time events, those alternately loved and hate sequences where a cut-scene or unrelated gameplay is interrupted with do-or-die button prompts. Your taste may vary, but these sequences remain effective. While Resident Evil 4’s story is composed of equal parts pulp and garbage, the eerie atmosphere in generates is solid the whole way through. It’s weird to say one of the game’s best features is its ability to make you not want to play it, or at best play it in short, controlled bursts, but with Resident Evil 4 that’s all part of the package. It’s not scary, but a mentally exhausting onslaught of constant dread and imminent peril, it doesn’t have to be.
It’s remarkable how perceptively advanced Resident Evil 4 remains after all of this time. Looking at the leap between 1996 and 2005 and comparing it between 2005 and 2014 and it’s kind of astounding that Resident Evil 4 even remains playable, let alone able to hold its own against its modern peers. Some of this arrives from the memories generated by reliving now-classic segments or appreciating the surreal ubiquity of the infamous weapons seller, but what remains is utterly unique to its design and choices. Action games neither take twenty hours nor enjoy the breakneck pace of Resident Evil 4. Its save system, though founded in games’ past, is effective in forcing the player to play for keeps. The myriad of extra modes included post-game would be downloadable content, if it existed at all, today. Even Resident Evil 4’s direct successors couldn’t nail the complete feeling of Resident Evil 4’s final package.
Speaking of the final package, it seems strange that Resident Evil 4 doesn’t unload its treasure chest of extras until after the game is completed once. Assignment Ada, in particular, is a perfectly streamlined version of the last third of the proper game, providing a satisfying journey without having to commit a couple dozen hours to its cause. Seperate Ways, the then PS2-exclusive b-campaign that rewires Resident Evil 4’s narrative for Ada Wong’s starring role, is somewhat less substantial, but it’s still weird that it’s unavailable from the get-go. Same goes for The Mercenaries, the first iteration of Resident Evil 4’s wave-based survival mode. If there’s a legacy feature that Resident Evil 4 could have done without, it’s certainly erecting a wall between these extras and the player.
