Resident Evil 3 Review

[Athina Dollison]

Iknow its secrets, which weapons suit me the best, and how to make the escort chapters as painless as possible. I most recently played it in 2021, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it still feels just as great to play over 15 years after its original release.

The core setup in Resident Evil 4 Remake remains the same. Special Agent Leon S. Kennedy is sent on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the US President, who has been kidnapped by a cult and transported to a remote Spanish village. The inhabitants of the region have been infected with the Plagas parasite, turning them into intelligent puppets as opposed to the mindless zombies of earlier Resident Evil games. The ensuing events feature Leon cutting through hundreds upon hundreds of infected humans, creatures, and science experiments while trying to keep Ashley safe.

Resident Evil 4 Remake places a much greater emphasis on action, to the point where it often feels like action horror instead of straight survival horror. Due to the changed level layout and reorganized setpieces, the game is far more frenetic than the original. It feels as though there are more enemies, even if the change made was something as simple as repositioning where someone was located. It constantly kept me on my toes, and I found myself continually searching for ways to get whatever edge I could.

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Capcom has delivered a great remake of a classic game, one which captures everything that made it so special to begin with. Resident Evil 4 Remake is full of action and variety that's as exhilarating now as it ever was.

Capcom has dialed in hard on the survival element of the Resident Evil 4 horror experience. Within minutes I found myself scrambling to get through seemingly endless attacks by axe wielding hordes, and the Remake rarely lets up from there. There's a desperate, backed into a corner feel here that channels a far more visceral sense of fear than basic reflex jump scares and insides-on-the-outside monster ick. I've emerged almost drained, exhausted and elated in equal measures, from flailing, skin of my teeth tussles with armies of pitchfork wielding villagers.

It's exhilarating, for the most part. The previous Resident Evil remakes have, let's be honest, really been about ammo management, as you essentially countdown to trouble with each bullet fired - every shot taking you closer to an empty mag and the problems that ultimately brings. Here, it's more about dealing with the constant, ratcheting pressure of an enemy mob that's always shuffling closer. They encroach, they edge around the sides; step into the vague corners of your eye, or lurch suddenly and drunkenly right up to your face. And they just keep coming. The result, particularly in the opening hours, is a procession of fingertip grasping, running on instinct and fumes fights to buy just a few feet of space to think.

The village area which opens Resident Evil 4 Remake is fairly relentless. Playing as Leon S. Kennedy, the European backwater you're scoping out in search of the President's kidnapped daughter is about five parts angry murder villager to one part rotten wooden shack. But while most of my immediate memories of playing are of panic and things grabbing my face, overall one of the Remake's best strengths is knowing when to leave you alone. There's plenty of space to explore, to backtrack, and to absorb the atmosphere of it all between all the screaming and running away.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is a spectacularly pretty game, so having the time and space to soak it all in is welcome. Capcom's RE engine continues to deliver incredible amounts of detail, and I've easily lost hours just looking at things - from animal jaw bones dangling from strings to dusty, moonbeam riddled castles and lab benches scattered with equipment - it's always a beautiful thing to look at, and Capcom uses these impressive visuals well to craft and develop a series of creepy, unsettling atmospheres as you gradually progress.

In the beginning, the village is full of wrongness; a dark and dank murder town full of leering locals long since separated from their sanity. Everything reeks of that 'you shouldn't have come here' energy you usually get in slasher movies, where high school teens break down in the middle of nowhere. That gives way to a castle full of a more silver screen horror vibe, with heavy robed, mindlessly chanting monks; its decaying extravagance countered by dimly lit, grimy dungeons. Then there are monster-filled mines that go full creature-feature, abandoned labs full of science gone wrong (including one of Resi's best/worst monsters), and plenty more.

The variety and breadth of tones keep things incredibly fresh, interesting and (remake aside) unpredictable throughout its 20 or so hours. It almost feels like several different, smaller games expertly dovetailed together at times. There are sections, beats, and creatures that could carry entire games under different circumstances, appearing almost as cameos in Resident Evil 4's grand scheme.

When Remake does deviate from the original framework, it does so in a way that makes sense, or at least makes things more interesting. Resident Evil 4 is largely a faithful remake overall, rather than an interpretation, with modern sensibilities applied to elements like controls, checkpoints, and so on. The original game literally set the template for modern third-person shooters, and there's less that actually needs changing compared to the static cameras and pre-rendered backgrounds that Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake had to do away with.

While most of the characters, bosses, and locations are largely the same there are some changes. The biggest probably being a new degrading knife system where your blade takes damage and can eventually break. Parrying blows and attacking stunned enemies has the least impact, while using it to get out of being grabbed can see chunks drop off the durability. Once it's gone you lose those abilities until you can get it repaired or find a new one. It's an interesting idea but negated somewhat by the ease with which you can repair it every time you visit the merchant. It's a panic, initially, to see your knife slowly falling apart or to lose it completely, but once you realize you can just keep fixing it, that soon passes.

The combat, while generally excellent, does also have some occasional irritations too. Wherever space is intentionally limited, that exhilarating and fraught dance to survive can quickly become a mess as you're passed from one mauling monster to the next without any useful ability to deal with the situation. Leon's stodgy sprint is a clumsy way to relocate under such pressure, and the times where you have to fight in small, crowded areas are often the most frustrating experiences in Resident Evil 4 Remake. In contrast, I found all the boss fights surprisingly easy due to having a single threat to avoid and plenty of space to do it in.

I am largely pulling at blood crusted straws here though, as I loved pretty much all of Resident Evil 4 Remake. It's a tightly focused, exciting action game, with some genuinely exhilarating fights to survive - not to mention plenty of great locations, enemies, and set pieces. It knows where to apply pressure, when to let you breath, and balances fear, excitement, and exhilaration almost perfectly throughout. The fact Resident Evil 4 Remake works so well, largely channeling exactly the same spirit as the original, only goes to show why it was a classic in the first place. The only question now is this: What's next on Capcom's remake list, and when is it Dino Crisis?

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. "}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Leon HurleySocial Links NavigationManaging editor for guides I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.

We know, we know. This review is a little late. I was going to make up some long winded story about how I had the review written out before a bunch of the undead stole my hard drive and took me on a wild goose chase around Raccoon City before I could get it back. I didn't think you'd believe that story though so I'll just come clean: I've spent the past 4 months or so either sitting on the bog or cleaning my under garments.

Resident Evil 4 was a modern classic originating on the GameCube and then spurning a release on the PS2. I'm sure a lot of you reading this review will probably have played this game when it first came out but I am one of those that didn't pick it up first time around and so I'm reviewing Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition as a totally fresh and unique experience.

You play as Leon S. Kennedy who is a secret agent in charge of recovering the president's kidnapped daughter (yes, the plot is very American). Leon's search takes him to a clichd, horror-film-esque European village providing the perfect backdrop for a horde of awful zombies and horrible things.

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