Resident Evil 4

Introduction

Back in 2021 I went off the deep end with the Resident Evil series. I think it started with 2 remake, playing that to death, S+ ranking both Claire and Leon, and enjoying every minute of it. 3 remake had come out the year before and I tried it. Village was then released right when I was finishing up 3, so I jumped on that. I went back and played the original 2 and 3, replayed a bunch of 1 remake and fell in love with it even more. And then a little later that year, I tried 0, 4, and 7 and started to burnout. 0 wasn't 1 remake, 7 had that horrible back-half on the ship, and 4 had issues... Below is my review of 4 from that time, I was frustrated with the controls and visuals but still had seen the vision and appreciated it to a degree. But it's funny how things work and here I am five years later writing about a game I was at one point in time very lukewarm on. So, what changed?

Resident Evil 4 HD Project

I installed Resident Evil 4 HD Project, that's what changed.

resident evil 4 HD project

Our effort to create a true HD experience for Resident Evil 4

resident evil 4 HD project

A big complaint I had when I first played through 4 was how bad it looked; I actually called it the ugliest Resident Evil game in the series! Looking back, maybe this was a bit harsh for a 2004 GameCube game, but then again Capcom did re-release it in "HD" and charged money for it. The video below was what actually put this issue into perspective for me. It helped me understand the fundamental flaws with the Ultimate HD Edition while turning me onto the HD project. And thank goodness because I've now come full circle on Resident Evil 4 and can enjoy it as the certified classic it always has been.

Here's some comparison screenshots, HD project on the left, Ultimate HD on the right. The HD project team really left no stone unturned here. Everything looks better in the most on-point way possible. The updates aren't flashy; this doesn't look like a new game. But it does give the game a crisp, classic feel that was lost in a muddy blur previously.

They even redid all the splash screens for the end of chapters, notes, menus, etc. Each of these are super clean and add character and a vibe to all the away-from-gameplay moments. And I really think that ends up being one of Resident Evil 4's strong suits, a memorable personality.

So, that's what changed. I installed one of the greatest mods of all time and now I like the game. For anyone interested, just to be clear, this isn't one of those optional mods, this is the definitive way to play Resident Evil 4 on PC, no questions asked. But before I go, I need to talk level design because, holy shit, this game is crazy.

Level Design

The level design of Resident Evil 4 is a quintessential double-edged sword and a tipping point for the series. Long gone are the days of designing a map around a realistic location. On this playthrough I really noticed this staggering difference. The original trilogy clearly had different development goals and at the end of the day it felt like the Spencer Mansion, the Racoon City Police Dept, and the Racoon City streets being a relatively grounded and believable place was priority while most other things were secondary. Well, RE4 is where those shackles came off. The design philosophy seemed to be, how many cool and unique combat arenas can we chain together in a row? And this is where the double-edged sword comes into play. Part of my brain loves the creativity and novelty, while the other part misses the tight, logical constraints of something like the Spencer Mansion. So just for fun and in honor of what this game does best, I'm going to see how many different combat scenarios I can name off the top of my head without any research or looking back at gameplay footage just to give the reader a real sense of how iconic the level design truly is.

First and foremost, there's the iconic village center which serves as the true introduction to the new Resident Evil. An open level design with multiple houses to explore, a horde of Ganados to run away from and try to pick apart, an all-important shotgun tucked away for the player to discover, and the arrival of the chainsaw man, the village has it all. You aren't really supposed to clear the area out, you are literally saved by the bell from an overwhelming force, something the prior entries would never do. Later on, Leon and Luis partner-up to hold the line when their cabin comes under siege by another horde of Ganados. In this tight, two-story cabin, the pair must barricade doors and windows, kick down ladders, and blow-back as many Ganados as possible. Again, this is a time-based encounter, you can't kill them all. It reenforces this atmosphere of overwhelming odds. As a finale to the village area, one of the two routes Leon and Ashley can take forces them through a gladiator-like arena where two chainsaw sisters bust out while more Ganados drop-in from above. It's extremely claustrophobic, the pressure of having two chainsaws ripping around is immense and you better have your shotgun ready for some knockback and crowd control. Outside of these three memorable encounters, the village feels like a step up but also a progression of what was done in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis with Racoon City streets. A woven pattern of linear paths that reuse some areas as new paths open and old paths loop back on themselves. I like the village, it feels more expansive than prior levels in the series while still being grounded in a reality that makes some geographical sense.

Now the castle is where things get wacky. I feel like after putting together a really cohesive and relatively modest first area, the developers went balls to the wall and threw the whole kitchen sink at the player. The village's encounters I'd say are often telegraphed in their intentions and pretty fair in terms of their power level relative to your arsenal. The castle on the hand, while not necessarily unfair, sees that your arsenal has grown considerably and starts to throw a huge variety of enemies and scenarios at you. First there's the water fountain room. Three lanes with shield and scythe-carrying cultists, archers on the parapets, and reinforcements to back them up. It's a real test of your ability to manage space with enemies coming from multiple directions while still forcing you to move. Right after this is the room where Ashley has to jump up on some catwalks and pull some levers while both you and her are under assault from cultists. Be ready to swap between hitting long-range shots with your rifle and dealing with cultists running up on you close-range. Later there's a hedge maze you have to worm your way through while infected dogs ambush you at every turn. Back inside, there's a trap room where spikes thrust through the ceiling and floor to lock you in a cage with a Garrador while cultists circle around the outside. This is an ultimate panic moment because the cage is so incredibly small and the damn cultist can snipe at you from the outside. Leaving the castle, there's a sequence where you descend a tower and when you get to the bottom, a horde of scythe cultists with archers bust in at ground level, while an explosives-launching cultist with archers come in from above. Have fun taking on cultists with explosions raining from above. When you get out the door and make it out onto the bridge, cultists then spawn in from both ends trapping you, shields and scythes in front, maces from behind. Once across the bridge and into the next part of the castle you enter maybe my favorite room yet, the double Garrador room... one of them is even armored up. The icing on the cake is the handful of cultists scattered about that really stir shit up. There's a choke point in the middle too, with only one looping path on the other side of the room, it's a real death trap. And then just when you thought you've reached the end of the castle, Salazaar drops you down a trap door into the Verdugo showdown. I guess the developers just decided they wanted to put the Xenomorph from Alien in the game because why the fuck not. Next there's a mine cart sequence where you're flying, full speed through a mine shaft while Ganados hop onboard trying to take you down. When that ride crashes to a halt you get to the double El Gigante room... and this time one's even armored up. For some reason there's a lava pit in the middle of the room too, which of course you can use to your advantage. But I think I should stop there because you get the idea, the castle is ridiculous, no castle that has ever existed has been structured like this. All these rooms are essentially in a linear path, with very little backtracking or looping, and you never get a good sense of what this place would even look like from the exterior. Buuuttt at the same time, I'm not sure I even care. At a certain point you just start shaking your head and laughing because of how it's just one over-the-top scenario after another, rapid-fire and ridiculous but ultimately a ton of fun.

The island feels like a middle ground between the more restrained village and the wacky castle. On one hand you have the lab areas which are spooky, overlapping, and claustrophobic with the scariest enemies in the game, the regenerators. While on the other, there's the truck ride where Ashley drives this massive dump/digger truck through mines while Ganados harass you from every angle. There's also the outlandish and diabolical centipede monster thing that you get locked into a maze-like cage with and the whole Krauser sequence which is just as ridiculous as it is tacked on. A big machine gunner guy shows up a couple times. These arenas feel very chainsaw man in the village-esque where you have to deal with a ton of normal enemies while figuring out how to deal with the extra dangerous one. At the end of the day though, the island feels a little bit tacked on and long in the tooth. I think this is in part because the castle goes absolutely ballistic and overstays its welcome, but also because it retreads some ground with the machine gunner and truck stuff. What I remember and like from the island is those glowing red eyes, that creepy smile, and that prickly exterior.

Verdict

★★★★☆

Crisp and clean. That's what comes to mind playing through Resident Evil 4 with the HD project installed. This mod completely flipped my opinion on this game. It turned something I was annoyed with into something I find quite endearing now. In a similar turn of events, I've completely come around on the 3rd-person thank controls too. I don't know if it's separation from the playing the traditionally controlled 3rd-person remakes or that it has simply grown on me, but I now find this control scheme really fun and super crisp feeling. Movement feels restricted but snappy, the 180-degree quick turn is essential here and aiming has just the right amount of FOV zoom and stick sensitivity to make it fun and claustrophobic. Enemies are also tuned precisely to your abilities. For the most part they are slow and methodical, telegraphing every attack quite heavily. Awareness of the enemies around you and how they can hurt you will inform how you should space yourself and what weapon to have on hand. Where I start knocking this game is with its nonsensical story and characters. I don't love it but at the same time I don't know if I'd change it. Half of Leon's lines are perfect levels of cringe, the other half of the time they all fall flat. The silly story and over-the-top villains tie in with the crazy level design that I was both complaining about and praising earlier. Overall, the game is a touch long for me. If the castle and island were trimmed down a bit and the runtime was closer to 15 hours, I think I'd find the game more replayable and enjoyable. Right now, I have the classic urge you get after finishing an RE game to run it all back, but this one feels like a marathon, not a sprint.

Bonus Section: The Impromptu Mod Hall of Fame

So here's an impromptu mod hall of fame, because RE4 HD project got me thinking about the mods I've played over the years. As I thought back, I realized how special something like RE4 HD really is. I'm not that big into modding my games and when I do, I usually have a take an approach of keeping things simple and minimal. I typically focus on tweaks and quality of life improvements that help the game run and play better on my PC in the current day. When it comes to big overhauls or packs, I usually shy away, preferring a more vanilla experience. So, that's a little context that lets you know where I'm coming from.

I think it makes sense to start off the list with the mod that has me writing this review in the first place: the Resident Evil 4 HD Project, see above for more details. Nonetheless, I'll say it one more time, I can't thank this mod enough from flipping my view of this classic on its head. I did not like RE4 that much before, now I think it's great. What more can be said. An honorable mention for the Resident Evil modding scene would be the Resident Evil 2 Remake Fixed Camera mod, which I've highlighted in a past article. What a fun idea and what an excellent job executing on it. The game looks and plays great to the point you could trick someone into thinking it was designed this way.

The only reasonable second entry has to come from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. modding community. While the options are extensive, two mods standout for me: Gunslinger and Anomaly. I think Gunslinger gets the edge though because I prefer Call of Pripyat over the sandbox. Gunslinger, which I've also covered before, is an animation and texture overhaul for Call of Pripyat that was my re-entry point to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. It sanded off some rough edges and made the notoriously jank series more approachable and I can't thank it enough for that.

The next mod falls into the QoL/tweaks category but is too important to not be mentioned and that is: DSFix. DSFix was the mandatory mod everyone had to install to get Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition running reasonably on PC. Dark Souls is an all-time classic and one of my favorite games ever so by default DSFix has to be here, end of story.

 The last specific mod I have for this hall of fame is a recent discovery. It's definitely just a quality-of-life improvement but it so drastically improved my play and understanding of the game's core mechanics that it feels right to include it here. Factorio's Rate Calculator mod helped me immensely in understanding how to scale my factories. After installing this mod, I better understood all the recipes of the game and what limitations exist for different item transport methods, belts, inserters, etc. Knowing ratios of how many x assemblers you need to feed the y assemblers can be daunting for newcomers as it can require you to pull out a calculator or wiki. But with the Rate Calculator mod and the newly added Factoriopedia, all the information and utility you could ever need is built right into the game.

And finally, here's some honorable mentions to modding communities that are incredibly impressive, that I'd still like to recognize despite not having that singular mod that stands out above the rest. The Rimworld and Project Zomboid modding scenes are nuts. I've played quite a bit of both of these titles, most of the time modded to some degree, but I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to taking in the sheer breadth of content on offer. With Rimworld, my playthroughs have had dozens of QoL and tweak type mods installed and I love them all. I've been enticed by the impressive overhaul mods but haven't actually dived in to play any of them. Same story with Project Zomboid, most of my playthroughs have had a bunch of these tweak-type mods alongside a handful of content additions like SWAT gear or Range Rovers. I've tried a few of the community-made maps and they have been super cool. Dense, city maps with skyscrapers or I remember spending a lot of time with a map that encircled a lake. Nevertheless, these sandbox games thrive alongside their strong modding scenes.