The upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake is shoulder the unenviable responsibility of modernizing and improving upon what’s widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever made, and based on all the information that Capcom has shared on it so far, it looks like it’s making a number of changes to the original experience. From the new knife parry mechanic and the removal of QTEs to the addition of new stealth and exploration options (among other things), the remake is making a number of changes that, put together, are promising to expand upon the original game in a variety of ways.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, the remake’s co-directors, Yasuhiro Ampo and Kazunori Kadoi, offered new details on a couple more new mechanics that are being implemented in the remake. One of these is an improved quick turn mechanic that will allow for much better mobility during combat, which, in turn, has also led to new enemy behaviours being added in.
“In the remake, you can turn around very quickly,” said Ampo. “The original had a quick turn, of course, but even so it wasn’t that easy to look behind you. And because of that it was difficult to fight enemies behind you. To account and adjust for this difference, in general, enemy behaviours have been added, or have been changed quite a bit.”
Meanwhile, Resident Evil 4 will now also feature a new dodge mechanic that will allow players to dodge to the side when enemies unleash their attacks. According to Kadoi, the development team’s primary aim was to create an experience that felt fresh and different rather than treading the exact same path as the original game.
“You can now quickly dodge to the side if an enemy comes at you, which is very different from the original,” Kadoi said. “But on a basic level, if we remade the game so players do the exact same things as the original, that’s not really going to be fun or interesting. For that reason, we’ve intentionally made various arrangements here and there.”
Several other variations to the original game have been confirmed for the remake as well, such as changes to how Ashley will operate in terms of both story and gameplay, the addition of new enemy types, and more. It’s also been confirmed that the remake will launch with a New Game Plus option and a Photo Mode.
Recently, Capcom unveiled a new gameplay trailer for the remake, while also confirming that it will be receiving the fan-favourite Mercenaries mode as free post-launch DLC, and that it will be getting a “special” pre-launch demo. A VR mode for PlayStation VR2 is also in development.
Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PC.
