Biohazard / Resident Evil

Biohazard / Resident Evil (1996) 7/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 2 (1998) 6/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 3 (1999) 6/10

Code: Veronica (2000)

Biohazard / Resident Evil (remake, 2002)

Biohazard / Resident Evil Zero (2002)

Biohazard / Resident Evil 4 (2005) 8/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 5 (2009) 5/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 6 (2012) 4/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 7 (2017) 7/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 2 (remake, 2019) 7/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 3 (remake, 2020) 5.5/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil Village (2021) 7/10

Biohazard / Resident Evil 4 (remake, 2023) 6/10

    As their big-budget return to the main canon, Resident Evil 4 (2005) developed a new engine using the same tank-mobility, but with the camera right over the shoulder of your character which would zoom to aim your weapons, turning the screen into a shooting range inspired by railgun shooters like Time Crisis. The embrace of more action would result in a revolutionary release for third-person shooters, just in time to outshine Suda51's Killer 7, which explored a similar concept. Alongside this would be a more in-depth inventory system that would obligate the players to moderate their items not by sheer number, but by size of the items in question. 

   The fun, lighter tone of B-horror aesthetics would also be honored in a progressive sense, taking clichés and archetypes from cheesy action and spy movies as well. Dialogue-based cutscenes would even echo to the format of codec calls from Metal Gear Solid, a series that also took inspirations from Hollywood cinema. 

   Such a bizarre convolution of tones would only work in a video game, and thankfully it delivered. 

   Development had begun in 1999, and four discarded templates of the new engine would be discarded, one of which would result in the first Devil May Cry. 

    Continuing from the two previous remakes, Resident Evil 4 (2023) added a parry function to deflect enemy attacks, but innovated little else from the same engine from 2019, and is in fact mostly homogeneous to the last two remakes. In terms of aesthetic, the cutscenes and characters are more broody and neutralized compared to their originals, which results in a duller narrative experience. Even less impressive is that the previous remakes were absolutely transformative from the blocky 90s originals, what with the fluid new gameplay making their campaigns more action-oriented, offering viscerally different experiences. But because Resident Evil 4 from 2005 was already an action-oriented third-person shooter, this one is the least transformative of the Resident Evil remakes so far. 

   As for the technical updates to the "remake" 2019 engine, most improve the flow of action at the expense of losing the suspense from the more rigid rail-shooter style (the directional inventory system to skip the briefcase tile-navigation, and mobility while aiming). But some of these are appreciated, such as the more practical reward system for the target range minigame, where keychains add passive perks to the gameplay (higher chances for enemy item drops, efficacy of healing items, store discounts, etc.) rather than pointless character models and money. There is also an increase of Merchant sidequests, which boil down to shooting random items or fighting harder NPCs, motivating extra attention to level design that the original only offered at one sequence near the beginning. And though the stealth mechanics are limited, the Bolt Thrower weapon acts as a convenient silent pistol with ammo you can retrieve after shooting, and also replaces the lame Mine Thrower from the original. 

    On the subject of stealth mechanics, it seemed like an ideal imitation of the Last of Us games was the developers' intent, but the level design doesn't offer much opportunity to exploit stealth tactics consistently. There is a silent takedown option that is useful in sparse times, but the placement of enemies is clearly aimed at making action break out more than anything. 

    But perhaps the most pointless aspect of the game is the return of the briefcase inventory, because its only purpose is to serve nostalgia. The directional inventory button replaces the urgency of item organization as in the original, which was a change made to smooth out the flow of changing weapons in action. Though navigating it is rigid and clunky in the original, this stiffness is actually what emphasized the importance of how the items in your case were organized, so you could arrange them all by your own sense of easy access after hitting the pause button and knowing where you set the grenades, herbs, shotgun, etc. This is not necessary when the directional inventory already provides that easy access.

   Although it may be tedious and superficial to dwell on, the distracting inferiorities in the portrayals of many characters still prevail among my biggest gripes. 

• Saddler has lost the cadence of Bela Lugosi, and in fact just speaks slow and low to sound ominous, but often just comes across as a simple man, not threatening at all. 

• Despite her blatant objectification in the original, Ashley is sexualized more in this version. She is after all "of age" in this version, a sorority girl instead of a high schooler. Because her demeanor is more graceful, warm, and competent, Leon's compliments to her implicate the "you're so mature for your age" shipping signal, doubled by the change of Leon's promise to her at the end, where his casual rejection to Ashley's romantic offer in the original is rephrased as her proposing that Leon could continue working with her as a bodyguard (being with her always, implying a relationship), and Leon's response is not no, but maybe. 

• Ada's outfit is more practical, but her voice may be the most lifeless of them all. 

• Much of the humor and childish insanity of Salazar, including the fun back-and-forths between him and Leon, have been lost.

• Krauser's voice is like a South Park parody of how a dark, raspy bad guy is supposed to sound. 

• The Merchant talks way too much as you browse items. 

    Altogether though, the game is still superior to the 3 remake, as the campaign is much longer. And of course, the priority of action mechanics does improve upon the original's Mercenaries minigame. 

[6/10]