Resident Evil 4 Remake Exclusive Footage Showcases New Features and Sidequests
Feb. 7, 2023Resident Evil 4 Remake Exclusive Footage Showcases New Features and Sidequests
Resident Evil 4 Remake gets tons of new footage. We get to see some of the new additions and QoL features being added to the remake.
Capcomunveiled some new footage recently for the upcoming remake. GameInformer were given exclusive access to some Resident Evil 4 RemakeGameplay, though they weren’t allowed to take home their own footage. As a result, the team was able to play a portion of the game, specifically Chapter 5, and experience the terror first-hand.
This segment is where Leon just meets Ashley for the first time, and they try to make their daring escape from the not-so-quiet backwater European village.
Let’s get this out of the way before the big stuff: Resident Evil 4 Remake looks absolutely stunning. It was great back in June when we took a closerlook at Leon and the enigmatic village, and it looks even better now 6 months later.
It’s a no-brainer that the remake is getting some super-enhanced visuals. But what really stands out is how dark everything is, as compared to the original RE4. It isn’t dark just for the sake of it being pitch black. Shadows are more detailed, creating amazingly tense environments when there are no enemies in the immediate vicinity. The darkness can even create mini scares, as seen in the footage where Leon’s flashlight causes a reflection on a porcelain owl, giving the eerie sense that something was watching him from the corner.
However, the one big eyesore in the Resident Evil 4 Remake footage is the rain effects. It does not look good at all, as the rain looks like just a torrent of white lines streaking downward across the screen. There’s also a bit too much of it, obfuscating the view – but that could be intentional to limit your vision to create tense moments. The rain’s quality could be bad due to video compression from YouTube. It would be disappointing consideringRE2 Remakehad excellent rain effects.
The lengthy 12-minute gameplay footage gave us a lot of new information about the game. One of the biggest new features of Resident Evil 4 is the addition of written Side Quests. Previously, players had access to mini-objectives that weren’t explicitly tracked, such as hunting down snake eggs or shooting blue emblems scattered across thevillage. Speaking of which, the blue Medallions definitely make their return in the remake!
Coming in the remake are mysterious blue posters that serve as contracts to initiate side quests. They will clearly detail your objective, the general area in which the quest will take place in, as well as the reward that you will earn for completing it. This makes it quite easy to gauge whether or not an undertaking is worth your time.
One side objective shown off had the player kill a “Savage Mutt”, a stronger version of the canine enemies present throughout the game. Another side quest tasked Leon with destroying specific tombstone emblems in a graveyard.
Also, the familiar attaché case inventory system makes its return inResident Evil 4 Remake. However, this comes with a new twist. Instead of simply being an inventory system, you can customize your case in various ways. Players will be able to carry around specific cases that provide them with nice little bonuses to cater to their play style. For example, a Black Case will increase resource drop rate while a Silver Case will ensure that more handgun ammo appears in the world.
To further customize this, players can equip up to three different charms on their case. Aside from giving yourself some personal flair, these also provide nice passive effects. The only charm shown off so far was the Chicken Charm, which doubles the amount of health recovered when consuming eggs.
Resident Evil 4’s original release was quite the departure already for the famous survival-horror series. It was the first RE game to change the gameplay perspective entirely, moving away from fixed camera angles to an over-the-shoulder view. The fourth mainline game was also the title that moved more into action horror than survival horror, making combat a bigger focus.
Thus, the Remake doesn’t need to have such sweeping changes. RE2 andRE3remakes already moved into the third-person perspective, so RE4 Remake is just enhancing the groundwork put before it. Players will appreciate the fact that you can now swap weapons in real-time now, rather than having the need to dig through your attaché case while the enemies patiently wait for you to fish out a gun.
Stealth also looks like it will be quite viable, considering you haven’t alerted the entire village to your presence. You can instantly kill lesser enemies, thinning out the horde before you do eventually get everyone’s attention. New button prompts also appear on top of the heads of enemies that you’ve stunned, giving you a clear indicator that Leon can perform a follow-up roundhouse kick attack or similar.
However, Leon’s trusty knife has received modifications, for better and for worse. The useful item is much more deadly, like in RE2/RE3 remakes, and has the potential to instantly kill enemies or stun major foes. However, much like the knife in those games, RE4’s blades can now break when used too many times. Good thing that Leon can carry spares.
It was also confirmed by Capcom in other avenues that the Resident Evil 4 Remake will not have any cut content. The Village, Castle, and Island areas are all safely intact and still as terrifying as ever. In fact, the team is actually adding to the game, such as the side quests and optional customization mentioned above.
They will also make accompanying Ashley less of a chore in the remake. She will be more of a companion and less of a character that you need to babysit. Ashley will no longer have an HP bar that the player will need to manage. She can still get placed in a downed state if attacked too much, which will still eventually lead to her demise.
If Ashley does get carried off by an enemy for some reason, freeing her will simply need Leon to stab the offender in the head to let Ashley go. Outside of combat, she will assist the player by opening doors and such.
The one thing that is being removed from the game is the QTEs. Quick Time Events, such as those awkward moments where Leon is being chased by a boulder Crash Bandicoot-style are being removed. These systems were put in place to add player agency to segments that are essentially cutscenes, and they were a big thing back in the PS2 era. Not so much anymore now.
Resident Evil 4 Remake looks to be quite the game. Considering everything they’re adding seems to be for the better (except that darned low-resolution rain), it should be well worth its asking price of $59.99 on March 24 of this year.
Auberon
Writer at Fextralife. I really like vanilla ice cream.
