It seems Capcom’s anticipated remake of Resident Evil 4 will largely be taking a warts-and-all approach based on early trailers and footage. Of course, iconic moments like the showdown with Chainsaw Man and the infected villagers will return, but even quirkier aspects (looking at your Ramon Salazar) are being retained. That said, one thing we haven’t seen is any hint of the original RE4’s final act, which is set on an industrial island and features a more action-movie approach, including a showdown with Leon’s rival Krauser. The Island is considered by many to be the weakest part of RE4, and the combination of a lack of confirmation from Capcom and assorted rumors has led to speculation the section may have been cut.
Well, not so fast. In a recent issue of Edge (grab your subscription here) it was confirmed that the island will be returning. In fact, it sounds like it may even be expanding. According to Resident Evil 4 remake director Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, Capcom took a unique approach to developing the RE4 remake, splitting the team into three, with each focusing on a major area – the village, the castle, and the island. These teams then brought their work together to create a unified whole.
“Our approach was quite granular. Rather than saying, ‘Oh, this is a bit that we struggled to make in the original due to technological limitations that we can now perfect,’ we took a hundred individual small elements that made up the original gameplay experience and remake and polished those building blocks. […] This remake is very much the sum of many parts.”
Hirabayashi also promises there will be more of a focus on characters and drama this time around…
“We’ve developed the character drama, specifically the interactions between characters and their personalities. The original game was more ‘gamey’ in that sense — story scenes were mostly there to serve the pacing of the gameplay. Single-player story games have developed since then, so it’s been important to integrate the storyline elements. We’ve tried make sure that this remake feels like a thoroughly modern, story-based single-player experience in that sense.”
The Resident Evil remake launches PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on March 24, 2023.
