If you know me, you know that Resident Evil 4 is my favourite game of all time. The original in my eyes represents a level of quality and excellence that was never really exceeded by any of its contemporaries. Not to speak about the sheer influence it had not only in survival/action horror games for years but as well to 3rd person shooters and action games in general for years to come. Resident Evil 4 certainly stands as a game that holds a high legacy in gamers regard.

So when they announced a remake I was certainly sceptical, hardly optimistic and honestly rather dismissive of a game that I did not believe needed to exist. The original still plays well, looks decent enough (especially with the HD project mod). And is a bit of a relic of a style of horror camp that may be hard to replicate in a more modern game with the industry being a bit more serious than it was in the mid 00s. Despite that I figured perhaps the remake would be a chance not to surpass the original, but rather to offer a different take on it. Make it more horror focused, remove the melee, the action prompts and tell a tighter more startling story, perhaps to stand beside it's original instead of trying to exceed it or improve it.

This was however, not the case. The Resident Evil 4 remake in nearly every way takes its notes entirely from it's parent. Melee is still in, the game holds a fast paced action focus, and a lot of the campy dialogue is still in, if maybe played a little less tongue in cheek and more straight laced. And despite every expectation I have held...The remake is absolutely, and entirely excellent. An achievement of the highest order, holding the original in high regard with love, appreciation and thought in how to re-do some of the games systems for modern gameplay styles.

Infact there are many improvements to the original throughout, whereas RE4 (2005) is a fairly linear game, the remake offers a lot more in the way of backtracking and exploration for the purpose of treasure, secrets and other little micro missions, nothing to overwhelm or pad the game, but simply offering the player more agency in the pace they want to complete the story, rewarding a player who wishes to explore each nook and cranny for treasure to upgrade their guns and find little boosts. And unlike the Dead Space remake from some months earlier in the year which is more of a 1 to 1 remake, the 4 remake seems to be more of a greatest hits record with some unreleased tracks added in. More than a fresh coat of paint, the Remake feels in many ways its own unique game, despite the gameplay and story being deeply inspired and a direct retelling of events, There are enough new rooms, and new events to keep veteran players engaged and on their toes.

Perhaps not everything is a direct improvement, there are cutscenes and dialogue, individual sections that I believe the original captures better, but there are enough moments in the remake that I believe genuinely improve of what the original does. And truly few that I believe it does worse. However a change I believe many players may enjoy is the deeper inclusion to fan favourite character Luis Sera into the story. Whereas in the original his motivations and dialogue in the story is far less, in the remake we get to spend far more time with him, learning about his backstory and understanding his involvement, caring far more when we lose him. And while the mysterious central villain holds a lesser role in the remake compared to the original, through the Separate Ways campaign we get a bit more insight into what the series main villain, Albert Wesker may be up to and what will be happening in the highly likely remake of Resident Evil 5.

So, as someone who is a deep purist for the original Resident Evil 4, who has played it over 30 times, and loved each and every moment of it, who was entirely sceptical and dismissive of this remake. I can only genuinely recommend this game. It is a fantastic remake, made with love and adoration of a game with a massive legacy. A must play for anyone who is a fan of the original or those who simply want an excellent game.