Resident Evil 4 (2023 video game)

Resident Evil 4 is a 2023 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. A remake of the 2005 game Resident Evil 4, players control the US agent Leon S. Kennedy, who must save Ashley Graham, the daughter of the United States president, from the mysterious Los Illuminados cult. The remake has an updated plot, new visuals, characters, cast, and altered gameplay.

Resident Evil 4 was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 24, 2023. Versions for iOS, and macOS were released on December 20, 2023. The game received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Golden Joystick Award for Ultimate Game of the Year and The Game Award for Game of the Year. The game had sold 7 million units by March 2024, making it the fastest-selling installment in the series.

Gameplay
Resident Evil 4 is a remake of the 2005 game Resident Evil 4. It features "over-the-shoulder" third-person shooter gameplay similar to the original, while drawing other design aspects from the remakes of Resident Evil 2 (2019) and Resident Evil 3 (2020). Resident Evil 4 features redesigned visuals, designed to create a tenser atmosphere, along with new character designs and backgrounds. It offers six control schemes, including one styled after the original game. Occasionally the player must solve puzzles in order to reach certain areas. In some sequences, Leon must protect the president's daughter, Ashley. She uses a simpler health system than in the original, and can be instructed to stay close or far.

As in the original game, the player organizes their inventory with an attaché case. New to the remake, a crafting system enables the player to create items and ammunition using collected resources. The Merchant returns, allowing the player to buy, upgrade, and trade items while providing new side quests that can be completed during the main story. Similarly to the original, the focus of combat is shooting enemies and reloading. However, Leon can now move and use weapons at the same time, allowing him to evade attacks while firing and reload while on the move. Leon can use melee attacks to injure enemies and push them away. A new parrying mechanic allows him to block, counterattack, and kill downed enemies with his knife. Unlike the original, Leon's knife has a durability meter; if broken, the player will have to speak to the Merchant to get it repaired or increase its durability. Leon can carry multiple types of knives with various attributes.

Plot
Following the destruction of Raccoon City in 1998, Leon S. Kennedy (Nick Apostolides / Toshiyuki Morikawa) becomes an agent for the United States government and undergoes training with Major Jack Krauser (Mike Kovac / Kengo Tsuji). Six years later in 2004, Leon is sent by the president to rescue his daughter Ashley Graham (Genevieve Buechner / Akari Kito) from a village in rural Spain with the remote assistance of Ingrid Hunnigan (Raylene Harewood / Yu Sugimoto). Soon after arriving, Leon finds his escorts brutally murdered by the villagers, who are being controlled by the parasite Las Plagas and have pledged themselves to the Los Illuminados cult. Searching for Ashley, Leon meets Luis Serra (André Peña / Kenjiro Tsuda), whom Ingrid confirms once worked for the Umbrella Corporation. Leon and Luis are captured by the village head, Chief Bitores Méndez (Jon Bryant / Takeshi Oda), who injects Leon with a Plaga parasite. After escaping captivity, the pair separate.

Leon rescues Ashley, who has also been infected with a Plaga. They are pursued by Méndez until Leon kills him. With their rescue helicopter delayed by inclement weather, the pair retreat to a castle, but Lord Ramón Salazar's (Marcio Moreno / Chō) forces capture Ashley. Leon briefly re-encounters Ada Wong (Lily Gao / Junko Minagawa) following their last encounter in Raccoon City before reuniting with Luis underground, who provides suppressants for the Plagas and reveals he wants to atone for his actions while working as an Umbrella researcher and for Los Illuminados. The pair use mining tunnels to reach the surface, but Luis is fatally stabbed by Krauser, who has defected to Los Illuminados. Leon and Krauser engage in combat until Luis forces Krauser to retreat. Before he dies, Luis gives Leon the key to his personal lab. Upon returning to the castle, Leon battles and kills Salazar before pursuing Krauser and Ashley to an island facility with Ada's help.

Leon reunites with Ashley, but the pair encounter Osmund Saddler (Christopher Jane / Hōchū Ōtsuka), Los Illuminados' leader who intends to send the infected Ashley back to the United States to infect her father so he can take over the world. Saddler uses their Plagas to control Ashley and incapacitate Leon, separating them again. While moving through the facility, Leon discovers Krauser kidnapped Ashley and brought her to the village out of resentment against the United States government for their handling of "Operation Javier", a mission he narrowly survived two years prior that resulted in his entire unit being killed. Desiring power, Krauser uses a Plaga to mutate himself and fight Leon, who reluctantly kills him. Leon reunites with Ashley, but Saddler returns and attempts to control Leon until Ada intervenes, allowing Leon to take Ashley to Luis's lab and remove their parasites. While searching for a means of escape, Leon rescues Ada from Saddler before joining forces with her to kill him, who drops a vial of Plaga amber. Ada takes the vial and leaves in a helicopter while Leon and Ashley escape the exploding island on a jet ski.

Separate Ways
Prior to Leon's arrival, Ada frees Luis from Salazar's dungeon so he can procure a vial of Plaga amber he had hidden for her, but gets infected with a unique Plaga parasite by one of Salazar's enforcers, Pesanta. While attempting to rendezvous with Luis and evading Pesanta, Ada covertly assists Leon in his fight against Los Illuminados. As her infection worsens, Ada's increasingly impatient boss, Albert Wesker (Craig Burnatowski / Jouji Nakata), periodically checks in on her. She eventually reunites with Luis, who realizes she is infected and convinces her to collect ingredients for a suppressant to slow her, Leon, and Ashley's infections. Complicating matters, Ada's condition worsens further in the amber's presence, forcing the pair to separate once more until her suppressant takes hold. While Luis helps Leon and Ashley, Ada kills Pesanta, which causes her to vomit her parasite. After killing it, she tries to find Luis again, only to learn Krauser killed him for the amber.

Ada helps Leon reach Los Illuminados' island facility before secretly placing a tracker on him and breaking off to find Krauser. She witnesses him give the amber to Saddler before Wesker provides a device to help her bypass the facility's security. Upon learning Wesker also intends to detonate the island, regardless of Ashley's survival, Ada uses Luis's files to sabotage the bombs before using Leon's tracker to locate Saddler. She rescues Leon and Ashley and defeats Saddler, but he catches her off-guard and captures her. Leon eventually rescues Ada, who joins him in killing Saddler before retrieving the amber. As she leaves, she contacts Wesker to inquire about his intentions for the amber. When he promises a new dawn will break at the cost of billions of casualties, a disgusted Ada forces her pilot to change course.

Wesker learns of Ada's betrayal and that the island is still intact due to the bombs not detonating correctly. Having obtained Krauser's body, an undeterred Wesker proclaims the "age of man" will soon end.

Development
The original Resident Evil 4 was released for the GameCube in 2005. Development of the remake reportedly began around 2018, led by the studio M-Two. Capcom brought the development in-house in early 2021, led by the Division 1 team, with many staff members who worked on the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 returning for Resident Evil 4.

Producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi said he found the idea of remaking Resident Evil 4 challenging as a result of its popularity. Kazunori Kadoi and Yasuhiro Anpo, who worked on the Resident Evil 2 remake, were selected as directors. Kadoi supervised gameplay elements, most notably how to use Leon's knife and its durability after encounters with enemies. Capcom minimized the use of quick time events in comparison to the original game. The development team was split into three groups that worked on three areas: the village, the castle and the island.

The team aimed to expand Ashley's characterization and relationship and make the story more horror-focused. The visuals were developed to improve the idea of horror. The game was developed using the RE Engine.

While the Japanese voice actors for Leon and Ada in the Resident Evil 2 remake returned to reprise their roles, the English-language voice of Ada was recast to Lily Gao (who previously portrayed the character in the 2021 film Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City), replacing Jolene Andersen. D.C. Douglas, the long time voice of Wesker, did not return to voice the character, who was instead portrayed by Craig Burnatowski. As with previous Resident Evil remakes, an additional cast provided likenesses, 3D modeling and performance capture.

Combat
The team modernized the gameplay to be in line with the most recent Resident Evil game, Resident Evil Village (2021), and the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. To assist in aiming, the original game used a laser sight on each weapons; this was replaced with a reticule. To appease fans preferring the laser, Capcom included it as an attachment early on. As with Resident Evil 2, the knife has limited durability and becomes worn with use, but can be modified. A new addition is the bolt thrower, a crossbow which can be used to stealthily kill enemies.

The Ganados were reworked as more dangerous, forcing the player to use the environment against them, such as igniting flammable objects or barricading doors and windows. Changes to the environment are saved in the game, so return visits to the area will acknowledge the moved or destroyed objects. When grabbed by an enemy, the player can press buttons or use the knife to escape. As the Ganados' signature move is for their Plaga parasites to erupt from their bodies, work was done to incorporate this into gameplay, with them dropping to the floor and convulsing instead of them immediately erupting; this action forces the player to ignore nearby enemies and prioritise killing the downed Ganado, putting themselves at risk.

Ashley
Ashley's role in the gameplay was reworked to reflect Capcom's intention for her to remain with Leon "because, realistically, she would never want to be left alone in such a dangerous environment". In the 2005 game, players could command her to "follow" them, "wait" in place, or "hide" in a dumpster. In the remake, however, Ashley follows Leon either closely ("tight") or remotely ("loose"); "tight" formation is used to escape enemies together, while "loose" formation helps prevent Ashley from being attacked by enemies. The "hide" command appears in a small part of the game where players can ask Ashley to hide inside lockers, primarily when Leon is expected to fight difficult enemies.

To maintain the challenge, Ashley's health bar has been removed and can no longer be boosted with the use of yellow herbs. When Ashley takes severe damage, she falls and must be revived to avoid a game over, a similar idea used in Resident Evil 6. Like the original game, Ashley can be sent out at times, with the player being able to lead her through holes to unlock doors. Unlike the original game, Ashley can descend a ladder on her own, rather than force the player to assist her.

Other additions
While conducting their replays of the 2005 game for ideas, the developers took notice of the Blue Medallion mini-quest in the village, which was not replicated elsewhere in the game. New mini-quests were added to the village, with Leon being rewarded for finding certain items and hunting target enemies to the Merchant.

Release and marketing
The first teaser trailer was released as a part of the PlayStation State of Play presentation on June 3, 2022. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 24, 2023, with upcoming support on PS VR2. A version for macOS and iOS on select iPad, Mac and iPhone models was released on December 20, 2023.

A second trailer and additional gameplay were shown during a showcase in October 2022. Preorders include Leon's briefcase and Leon's handgun ammo as charms. A third trailer debuted as a part of PlayStation's State of Play on February 23, 2023. After the rain effects in preview footage drew criticism, Yoshiaki said Capcom would release a patch on the day of the game's release to modify it.

A playable demo was announced during a Capcom Spotlight livestream on March 9, 2023, and released immediately afterwards for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. On March 20, 2023, Capcom released a television commercial in Japan that parodies the anime series World Masterpiece Theater. A collector's edition was made available for the console versions, featuring extras such as a Leon figurine, a hardcover artbook, a village map poster, and a digital soundtrack.

Following the release of the game, Lily Gao, who provided the voice of Ada Wong for the game, was harassed on social media by players who were unhappy with her performance.

Downloadable content
On April 7, 2023, Mercenaries, a mini game from the original game in which players must kill as many enemies as possible in a time limit, was released as a free DLC. On the same day, Capcom added microtransactions to allow players to pay extra to upgrade weapons faster.

On September 14, 2023, during a PlayStation State of Play presentation, Separate Ways, a side story from the original game featuring Ada Wong, Luis, and Albert Wesker was announced as paid DLC along with a title update for The Mercenaries. Both were released on September 21, 2023. Capcom featured Separate Ways during Tokyo Game Show 2023.

Critical response
Resident Evil 4 received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. The website states that it "modernizes the graphics, controls, and story while retaining much of what made the original a survival horror classic." 98% of 193 critic reviews recommend the game on OpenCritic.

Writing for IGN, Tristan Ogilvie praised the updates to the gameplay and story, writing that "at every step of the journey there are enhancements, both big and small". GameSpot's Kurt Indovina lauded the improved characterizations of Leon, Ashley, and the Merchant, writing that Leon now "acts like a human being". For Destructoid, Zoey Handley criticized the remake for not improving on some of the weaker aspects of the original, writing "it's just as atonal as it was originally" and that "the best section of the game is when you first enter the village, and it never reaches that height again".

The director of the original Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami, said on Twitter that he had finished the remake and "enjoyed it very much".

Separate Ways
The Separate Ways DLC received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to Metacritic. 96% of 57 critic reviews recommend the expansion on review aggregator website OpenCritic.

Sales
Resident Evil 4 sold over three million units in the first two days of release. The game sold four million units in the first two weeks, making it one of the fastest-selling Resident Evil games. By July 2023, it had sold over five million units. By December 2023, it had sold 6.48 million units, making it the fastest-selling game in the series. By March 2024, it had sold 7 million units.

In Japan, it was the best-selling retail game in its first week, selling 89,662 units on PlayStation 5 and 85,371 on PlayStation 4.