This truth had been met with both praise and contention from fans, with many purists arguing that Resident Evil 4 is responsible for the radical shift in horror games from the classical style into something more action oriented, despite a change towards emphasizing action being present in almost all genres of gaming over the same time frame.
It remains one of the best reviewed games of all time and is considered one of the most influential to come out during the 2000s the simple truth being that beloved series like the Gears of War games, the Batman Arkham games, and even the Ratchet and Clank series would not look the same without Resident Evil 4’s influence. By fixing the camera over the player character’s shoulder and emphasizing quick reflexes and precision aiming in its gameplay, Resident Evil 4 completely redefined the genre and was quickly embraced by both critics and players, many of which were completely new to the series and had never played a previous title. Departing from the fixed camera angles and strong survival horror of the originals, Resident Evil 4 was a third-person shooter unlike any other at the time. Upon its release in 2005, Resident Evil 4 was unlike any other title in the series. Leon fights off mutated villagers, gigantic beasts, and even sinister cults, eventually reuniting with mysterious spy and one time fling Ada Wong along the way. Kennedy, one of two protagonists from Resident Evil 2, who has been promoted through the ranks and is now on a mission to rescue the President of the United States’ kidnapped daughter in totally-not-bizarro-Spain rural Europe.
So imagine how I felt when I heard that the latest Resident Evil entry to get the HD treatment would be Resident Evil 4.
I’ve played nearly every game, despite the original being released when I was only four, and my profile image on this site is a shot of my Jill Valentine cosplay so it’s fair to guess that when I hear one of the games is getting an HD re-release I get a little excited. If there is a series that I can claim near encyclopedic knowledge of, it’s Resident Evil.