Resident Evil 4 marked a very important point for Capcom’s survival horror franchise. Not only did this game kickstart the move towards a more action-oriented focus for the series with the over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective, it also brought about a change in tone. Resident Evil wasn’t going to be scary anymore; it was going to be action-packed, and the protagonists were going to start making quips. And nowhere is the latter more obvious than in Resident Evil 4.
From Leon’s iconic “bingo” line in the intro to all his silly back and forth with Salazar, Resident Evil 4 felt much more pulpy B-movie than any other game in the series. While the upcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake is clearly going for a more grounded tone than before, don’t fret. Leon’s still full of awful jokes and puns in this one, at least from what we’ve seen in a hands-off preview of the game.
This past week, we got to check out 20 minutes of new gameplay footage of Resident Evil 4 Remake, and the hype is indeed real. Just like the beloved RE2 Remake, Resident Evil 4 looks set to stay incredibly faithful to the original game, while making a few meaningful changes and additions here and there. For the most part, the remake wants to be taken just a bit more seriously. We didn’t catch Leon doing any ridiculous suplex finishers on the Las Plagas, which admittedly had me a little worried that this game was going to take itself too seriously. But then, he busts out a silly line just as he’s shooting the face off a Las Plagas enemy with a shotgun.
“No food for you!” Leon yells with gusto, and he kills the tendriled monstrosity and reloads his shotgun with impunity. Not Leon’s best line for sure, but his sense of humor is intact.
The preview then cuts to the sequence where Leon and Ashley enter the castle, and they’re immediately greeted with catapults hurling flaming balls of fire at them. Ashley is understandably scared. Those things will kill you. But Leon, ever the Cool Dude, simply says, “This must be their idea of a warm welcome!” And I love it.
A big part of the appeal of the original Resident Evil 4 was how silly it could be at times. Capcom wasn’t afraid to make its characters look like complete goofs, and the insanely, overly dramatic knife fight between Leon and Krauser still lives rent-free in my head. That sequence has actually been toned down in the remake by the way, much to my disappointment, but it is still delightfully melodramatic at certain points.
The more I see of Resident Evil 4 Remake, the more excited I am for it. I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t too sure about the darker tone of the remake when it was first announced, but it’s clear that Capcom understands the importance of campiness to its iconic series, and if Resident Evil 2 Remake was any indication, this is likely gonna end up being a huge success as well.
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