(With Biohazard 4 on Switch. Kill screens: 13 hours 57 minutes and 23 seconds to get through the main campaign; 3 hours 13 minutes and 7 seconds to get through Another Order/Separate Ways.)
It’s said that when you were younger, time past slower for you. My time with both 2005’s and 2023’s Resident Evil 4 sure made me believe that. Back when I was only 16, several weekends were spent on a borrowed PS2 to play Resident Evil 4 in the dead of the winter. I didn’t see the credits roll during that run partially because my understanding of English then was not what it is now. Then as an adult, seeing this game through has been a weekend trip.
I beat Resident Evil 4 for first time on Xbox 360 in 2013. That run took me about 3 days out of a 5-day long vacation. The 20 hours or so I spent on the remake spread from the Friday it launched to the Tuesday after. Then this tour into Biohazard 4 happened on the weekend after Keighley’s 2024. And I got to say Keighley’s 2005 was on the money when this game was awarded Game of the Year.
Be aware the headless
Despite its selling points being a lot of violence plus a little bit sex appeal, Resident Evil 4 is just Mario for adults or “blood thirty” and horny teenagers to be more precise. Players take up the role of a dude tasked with cutting through a rouge galley to save a damsel in distress. Only difference is the arsenals. When the Italian plumber has a stomp and one gimmick attack at one time, Leon S Kennedy has a knife and lots of guns to switch between only through the item menu. No Hideo Kojima bullshit here either, since the game’s end will give you a pat on your back for a job well done.
It’s worth pointing out that Biohazard 4 and Resident Evil 4 are two slightly different gams. Differences between the 2 version are minor but not ignorable. For one thing, Biohazard 4 does not have decapitation unless it’s some parasites’ coming out party. This can change the mindset of playing. In Resident Evil 4’s first chapter, blowing an enemy’s head off is a satisfying moment for player so those parasite-for-head fuckers appearing since chapter 2 feels like a turn. No such turns in Biohazard 4, enemy head gone only means bug hunt. Biohazard 4’s Ashley bit has fixed camera and tank control, poor lass’ deal just got worse there.
Otherwise, this Switch playthrough is identical to what I remembered about my Xbox 360 playthrough. The shoot-or-move setting took me a couple of hours to get used to, just like it did 11 years ago. Actually, there are a few things cannot be done while move, including but not likely limited to reloading a gun and turning in some tight corners. So, I guess not all can be blamed on Gamecube controller’s weird C-stick. Programming for console games was limited like that back then.
It is fine because the enemy encounters in this game encourage the methodical approaches instead of run-and-gun madness. The usual tactic would be run towards some wall, turn around quick with pulling the left joystick combined with down face button to face the enemies and fight back. This is to make sure all threats visible to the player and no chance of being attacked from their back. The horror I felt this time around is definitely from hearing but not seeing monsters rather than backing off from loads of fuckers with torches and pitchforks in the remake.
Still, there is a particular moment during this playthrough made me go “Just let me gingerly side-step to adjust the aim, god damn it!” It involves time limit and shooting someone through a barred door. One needs to shoot 2 people, and getting a good enough angle for both targets is down to luck.
As a relatively long action game, Biohazard/Resident Evil 4 practice the motto “war feeds itself.” Looting is encouraged as much as killing for reasons including but not limited to ammo not purchasable. As player gathering in-game currencies (Either through picking them up directly or getting valuables to sell), they should up their firepower by either upgrading the weapons they have or buying new ones. As someone who finally learnt the fine art of knifing enemies this time, I did find the late-game ones take a lot more slashes to kill. It’s finding out the necessity of more firepower indirectly.
The guest who knows more that the hosts
Despite the game being a million seller on Gamecube, its PS2 port is still considered definitive. Kinda hard not since the late 2005 release was the jumping off point for almost all the versions came after. The other reason is add-on. Namely Another Order in Biohazard 4 or Separate Ways in Resident Evil 4. Turns out Capcom was already teasing 2009’s Resident Evil 5 back then.
Rather than the remake’s meatier expansion, the original add-on is bit thin and has relatively lame opening. It did not provide new perspective into the same place as well as its er, second draft in 2023. The developers were working on this while porting the game to PS2 at the same time after. But the campaign does get better in its later chapters.
Player character here is Ada “the spy who kinda, sorta, not really helped me” Wang. She got a knife and not as many guns. While the remake expansion had the feeling of player following her all the up, this rushed original would keep you asking “where was her during [INSERT CHAPTER NUMBER HERE]?” Still the end games are the same and both are excellent.
Adding up
Playing Resident Evil 4’s 2023 remake and 2005 original with a dozen of months in between is seeing the former as a dark gritty reboot and the later a beloved campy favorite. The pitch dark areas dotted the remake are nowhere to see in this game. It’s the leaner, the meaner plus the more important of the 2. I am quite surprised by how thoroughly I enjoyed it despite the rough edges. You might have told that you should really play this and I am just adding to that volume.