Finished: Resident Evil 4 (2005) | PC
Last night I beat Resident Evil 4, the original action survival game from 2005. I beat the game on the Easy difficulty and played on Steam Deck (about an even amount docked and undocked). Overall, I really enjoyed the game!
Here are my clear stats from my playthrough:
Resident Evil 4 is one of those stone cold classic games, an all-timer, that I've never played. I always though the RE series were too scary for me, so I never gave the series much time. (I did play Resident Evil: Revelations on the 3DS though. I was watching a video of someone playing Resident Evil 2 on the PS1 and it got me thinking, Hmm, what's up with Resident Evil? That led me to trying out the original game on PS1, where I was having fun exploring, but I was getting frustrated by running out of ammo and getting stuck. I knew that Resident Evil 4 is more action focused, while maintaining some of the horror aesthetic. I also knew that it's essentially universally beloved. So I thought I'd jump in and give it a play!
I haven't been so sucked into a game since I played through the first three Metal Gear Solid games in the summer of 2024. Resident Evil 4 pulled me in with its tight action gameplay. I love the way it controls and the balance of tension with the horror elements. It's not upsettingly scary, it's just the right amount of eerie for my tastes.
I flew through the game, beating it over the course of about 4 days with two major play sessions. The real standout for me is almost arcade-like gameplay. The design of the maps and encounters is so satisfying to roll up, clear out the map, and progress. There's great variety in the encounters and enemies and weapons.
The story is a whole lot of nonsense and not particularly well told. The president of the United State's 20 year old daughter has been kidnapped by cultists in Spain with a particular love parasites that have taken over the area. You play as Leon S. Kennedy, sent to rescue the president's daughter. A simple enough premise. Leon is a cheesy action hero and the overall story is pretty schlocky, which works well enough given the settings and what you're setting out to do. I couldn't help but think that with a little bit more time spent on the script, the story could have been told a bit better. There notes left behind to tell the story come off as silly, there's really not much time spent establishing Luis or Ada or even Leon's old mentor. It almost felt like certain cutscenes were missing or something. Resident Evil 4 is contemporaneous with Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, both of which do a better job of storytelling while also offering tight, fun gameplay.
But the messy storytelling isn't a huge deal because the game is so fun to play. I love the modal design of combat where you're either moving or aiming. I liked the dynamic of opening the menu to switch weapons and heal, as it gives a certain pacing and break to the combat, allowing the player to take a breath and strategize a little. I used the d-pad to move Leon and to aim, which felt much more manageable than the analog stick. I can't say that I've ever played a third-person shooter before where I primarily used the d-pad, and I thought that worked super well.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the escort sections with Ashley. While she did die a couple of times, it was never frustrating for me. Between hiding her in dumpsters and her popping out, or strategically having her wait in areas, or keeping her nearby, it made the gameplay dynamic, challenging, and ultimately fun. I was worried going in that I'd hate those Ashley segments, but by the end, I really did feel like I rescued her and guided her out. While I don't love the damsel in distress trope, I thought the game was designed around it quite well.
I primarily used the Red9, Shotgun, and Rifle in my playthrough. I had most of those from the beginning village areas and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I absolutely loved getting to upgrade my weapons throughout, it was a fun and motivating part of the design. And since you can't carry or afford every weapon in the game, I very much want to go and replay the game to try out the different weapons.
Easy difficulty was perfect for what I was wanting when I played the game. The game is by no means a cakewalk on easy. I died 18 times and had to replay and strategize in a few key sections (the chainsaw sisters area and the castle entrance in particular). I was regularly running low on ammo and being forced to use a weapon other than which I preferred, which added to the tension and satisfaction when getting through an area. I'm interested in playing on Normal (and eventually Professional) mode to see what's different. But I thought Easy was a great balance of fun yet challenging while not being frustrating.
I had a surprisingly good time doing the four shooting range challenges, collecting all the bottlecaps. RE4, for me, was at it's best when it was towing the line between being serious and silly. Like the bottlecaps or the jetski key at the end with the cute teddy bear on the chain:
I like it knows it's a game with goofy elements and aspects. Yet I can still be freaked out when I hear enemies chattering and knowing they're in the area. The use of music throughout to cue whether or not there are enemies around is used to great effect. It was a huge relief for me to blast an enemy and have the music track change and know I could explore a little bit with no risk before moving on to the next section.
The game ran great on Steam Deck, both docked at 1080p and undocked at 720p. As one would expect of a 20 year old game. I did have some weird audio crackling, likely due to Proton/Linux, but it wasn't too detrimental to my play experience.
All-in-all, a really excellent, fun game that has aged well. The storytelling isn't anything spectacular, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.
I'm going to spend some time playing the bonus content: the Ada missions and the Mercenaries mode. I want to try out other weapons in New Game+, and I want to try out the Normal difficulty. It's pretty rare that I finish a game, let alone want to replay it right away.
Playing Resident Evil 4 reminded me how much I love third-person shooters. There's something about the movement and aiming and play that I enjoy compared to first-person games (first-person games also tend to make me motion sick). I don't know exactly what I am going to play next! Vanquish comes to mind, as I loved that when it came out and would enjoy revisiting it. I want more of that arcade-y third-person shooting action. Or maybe I'll keep exploring the Resident Evil series.