Resident Evil 4 [Game Review]

Resident Evil has always been the staple of what the successful survival horror genre looks like boasting dozens of video games, movies, books, manga, and animated films. Needless to say, Resident Evil is just a franchise that will never fade away as long as fans keep tearing into each new installment in some form. That’s why Resident Evil 4, Capcom’s more famed Resident Evil title, was re-released a decent amount of times since its original release back in 2005. Yet, none of the ports/updates of RE 4 would be akin to what is the new 2023 version which is by far an entire reimaging of the title.

Resident Evil 4 was a game we knew was destined for greatness here at Honey’s Anime after we played the demo and now finally have our opinions on the complete title. Is Resident Evil 4 the new quintessential survival horror title or has Leon gotten one too many facelifts over the years? We find out in our full review of Resident Evil 4 for the PS5!

Leon Kennedy, the once rookie RPD officer from the doomed Raccoon City has gone far after 6 years of nightmares. Now working with the government, more so directly under the President, Leon is sent to find a kidnapped girl who just so happens to be the President’s Daughter Ashley Graham. However, like the player, Leon is about to step into a world he is all too familiar with but even deadlier than before.

Resident Evil 4 at first feels like it is trying to mirror the original RE4 but quickly it becomes apparent the 2005 version is like a prototype and this is the final version. From the greatly altered story—despite many similarities with the OG—to the gameplay, RE4 feels like an entirely new beast and we loved it. Resident Evil 4 still has similar concepts from the 2005 original version like the gunplay, merchant—who we missed greatly, and micromanaging of the inventory but utilizing themes from the other more recent Resident Evil games, RE 4 is absolute perfection.

Leon can now counter attacks with his knife, he can resources for ammo/items and the horror has been enhanced in ways we need to talk about separately. RE 4 is a new mission for Leon and it feels like a new one for even us who have played the original versions of RE4 more times than we’d like to mention.

Resident Evil 4 from 2005 wasn’t really scary. Literally, most RE games up to RE 6 weren’t scary anymore as they went for a more action-orientated theme with horror elements. RE 7 and Village returned players to the survival horror we loved from past RE games and RE 4 seems to have learned what those games did well but remembering why gamers love Leon’s first outing outside of RE 2.

RE 4 is still very action heavy—you will be reloading, running, and shooting through waves of enemies/bosses—but now the tension has been amped up to 10. From running through deadly villagers to trying to keep Ashley alive—she’s smarter this time around but now even more prone to death—RE 4 keeps the horror up by making you feel tense even when you aren’t fighting scary zombies. The village segment alone shows that but don’t worry…there are plenty of other moments that fans of the OG may remember that we won’t spoil here. Just be ready to jump not from simple jump scares but moments when an ax comes from behind with Leon’s name on it!

RE 4 looks incredible, we can’t deny that. Whether you play on the frame-rate-focused setting or performance mode, RE 4 is one of the best-looking games we’ve seen in some time! We won’t deny RE 4 looks significantly worse on the PS4—seriously if you can play this on a PC or PS5—but even on that older console, RE 4 just stuns us. We weren’t sure if Ashley’s new design would appease us fans of the original version—we’ve said originally a lot we know—but her design is actually more appealing and just fits the newer era quite well. RE 4 is beautiful and we hope Capcom keeps pushing the limits with future installments. Maybe we can get a good version of RE 6?