In 2005, Resident Evil 4 exploded onto the Nintendo GameCube and changed action games forever. You can trace a neat line from the game’s over-the-shoulder perspective, impeccable set-piece design, and ferocious pacing to massive franchises like Gears of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and — of course — pretty much every subsequent Resident Evil game.
The game is so beloved that Capcom’s remake had an incredibly high bar to clear. After all, the 2005 original still plays beautifully, is available on practically every modern platform under the sun, and bottling the game’s secret sauce is tricky. Well, once again they’ve pulled it off in style, making this possibly the finest iteration of Leon’s Spanish vacation to date.
Along the way, they’ve thrown in a whole bunch of cool touches. Some are faithfully brought over from the original, some are fun expectation-confounding twists, and some draw from the dazzling remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3. We’ve been immersed in this game since launch, so here are 12 awesome things we spotted that prove Capcom approached the Resident Evil 4 Remake with the care and attention it deserved.
12. Marvin’s knife
Resident Evil 4 picks back up with Leon after he survived the nightmare of Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2. In the opening cutscene, we see how the experience led him to become a special agent for the President, ultimately making him the ideal candidate to rescue his daughter Ashley from the Las Plagas cultists. But it’s clear that the events of Raccoon City are still playing on his mind.
The best example is a callback to the doomed but helpful police officer Marvin, who gifts him a combat knife to help him explore the ruined R.C.P.D. station. In the Remake, the item description reveals that Leon has held onto this knife, revealing that “it’s been Leon’s go-to since receiving it during his time at the R.P.D.” We’ll never forget Marvin, and it seems neither will Leon.
11. Kendo’s Gun
There’s another very subtle Resident Evil 2 callback visible from the start of the game. Leon begins the game with a pistol, though chances are you’ll soon upgrade to a more powerful firearm to take down Las Plagas (Red 9 for life). But it seems that this particular pistol was made by Joseph Kendo, the brother of Raccoon City’s gunsmith Robert Kendo, as shown by a “Kendo” trademark carved into the barrel.
Leon encountered Robert in dire circumstances during the Resident Evil 2 Remake, with him holed up in his gun shop. His young daughter Emma has been bitten and is on the verge of turning, with their stories ending quite conclusively soon afterwards. Joseph went on to become the S.T.A.R.S. weapon instructor and seems to have equipped Leon for this mission.
10. Don’t mess with Del Lagos
Lake monster Del Lagos is one of the earliest bosses in Resident Evil 4, a giant amphibian making life hell for anyone in dire need of the key to the church. One of the most fun Easter Eggs in the original game came just after you arrive at the lake and get a cutscene teasing the upcoming boss. If you stand on the dock and fire a few shots into the water you’ll get a very brief but unique death scene in which Del Lagos hurls himself out of the water and eats Leon.
This is present and correct in the Remake. This is a full Game Over death so you’ll be restarting from a save, but fortunately there’s one at the Merchant’s station less than a minute away. Unless you’re going for a no-deaths playthrough we always make sure to trigger this for tradition’s sake, so we’re pleased it made the jump to the Remake for newer players to enjoy.
9. “Master of Unlocking”
The original 1996 Resident Evil is notorious for its clunky translation and voice-acting, with the likes of “You were almost a Jill sandwich!” going down in gaming history. The Resident Evil games and movies have never been shy about dropping a quick reference to the original in dialogue and trophies and the Resident Evil 4 Remake is no exception.
While escorting Ashley, she’s often boosted over a wall to unlock a door for Leon. At one point, she’ll pull open a door and chirpily say “I’m pretty much a master of unlocking!” We love it when the original gets a nod and we’re very happy to see this long tradition continue.
8. Watch the Throne
Late in the game Leon will come across Lord Saddler’s impressive throne room. In both the original and remake, there’s a unique animation if you interact with it, with Leon posing in an especially regal way. But this isn’t simply a cute goofy moment, this is Resident Evil tipping the hat to another beloved video game horror franchise.
Leon’s pose is an almost exact duplicate of Count Dracula’s pose in the infamous opening sequence of the 1997 PSOne classic Castlevania: Sympathy of the Night. So, all together now, “What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!”
7. “Hey, it’s that dog.”
One of the more memorable early moments in the original Resident Evil 4 sees Leon coming across a dog caught in a bear trap. You can choose to free it or leave it to its grisly fate, though we can’t imagine many players are cold-hearted enough to walk on by while it whines in pain. This pays off during the El Gigante fight in which the dog comes to the rescue.
The Remake clearly knows that players are expecting this and does a fun fake-out. Right at the start of the game, you come across a very dead dog caught in a trap, leading you to believe that this moment has been cut. A few hours later you reach the Village Chief’s house, where you’ll finally get a chance to free this brave canine, with it dutifully turning up to distract El Gigante. Leon even repeats the delightfully himboish deadpan “Hey, it’s that dog” when he shows up.
6. The Merchant remembers the original save room theme
The Remake‘s Merchant is one of the best things about the game and — incredibly — is even an improvement on the original. Whenever you’ve blasted your way through parasite-infected hell, he’s always ready with a greeting and a sinister chuckle, and we love him approvingly commenting on your purchases, upgrades, and trades.
His exact status within the story remains a mystery, though one subtle Easter Egg sees him break the fourth wall in a big way. Hang around him long enough and he’ll start humming a somewhat off-tune version of the 2005 game’s save room theme. Does the Merchant know he’s in a video game? Could this even be the same Merchant from the original game? We have questions!
5. Leon is a smooth criminal
Perhaps the most iconic alternate outfit from the original game is Leon’s stylish Pinstripe Suit. This has classic gangster movie vibes, making it pair beautifully with the Chicago Sweeper tommy gun. Leon clearly knows he’s looking sharp in this outfit/weapon combo, as — just as in the original — when you reload the Chicago Sweeper, you get an awesome little dance, with him doing a twirl and grabbing his hat.
But we think this reference goes a little deeper. Leon’s prohibition-era outfit looks quite similar to Michael Jackson in the Smooth Criminal music video, and his extremely Jackson-like dance moves cement the link.
4. “Leon, I think I’m kinda falling in love with you.”
Among the game’s sizeable arsenal is the “Matilda” handgun. Just as in the original, this is a reference to Luc Besson’s 1994 hitman movie Léon: The Professional. In that, Leon trains Natalie Portman’s young Mathilda after her parents are killed. Naturally, there’s a link as both characters are called Leon, but we also note that both that movie and this game see a cool, calm and collected older man protecting a younger woman and a strong bond developing between them as the story progresses.
Sometimes we wish Ashley would take a few more cues from Portman’s Mathilda and help out in combat, but we liked the reference in 2005 and we like it here now.
3. The cheesiest lines from the original make it to the Remake, kinda
The Remake contains a surprising amount of deeply cheesy lines from the original, with our hearts soaring when Leon drops the “bingo” line after the opening village battle. But sadly, some truly gorgonzola-quality dialogue didn’t make it into the 2023 game. Fortunately, the game’s trophy list is here to pick up the slack.
The “Wave Goodbye, Right Hand” trophy references Leon ribbing Salazar by saying “your right hand comes off?” while “Grilled Big Cheese” echoes a line from Luis in the original, and “No Thanks, Bro!” is what Leon memorably says to Salazar on their first encounter.
2. Ring my bell
Many of these Easter Eggs are lifted from the original, references to other games, or the overall Resident Evil series. But players have noted one very cool touch that’s brand new for this version. The opening village fight sets the tone for the rest of the game, seeing you battling a horde of infected villagers, who are soon joined by the terrifying chainsaw-wielding Dr. Salvador.
Your objective in this sequence is simply to run out the clock, as after a certain amount of time, the church bell will chime, knocking the villagers out of their homicidal rage and seeing them troop to the church. In the Remake, Leon can use this to his advantage as if you can get up on a roof and snipe the bell it’ll chime and instantly trigger the end of the battle. Doing this without a scoped weapon may be impossible, but it feels like it’s going to be a mainstay of any speedrun attempts.
1. A striking deep cut
While we’re on the subject of speedruns, there’s an extremely deep-cut reference to a notorious glitch in the original game beloved by speedrunners. This is the infamous “Ditman Glitch,” named after the GameFAQs user that first discovered it. If you aim the Striker, quickly enter the inventory and equip another item Leon will begin moving at 1.5x speed. This obviously speeds up the game and allows several sequence breaks.
Sadly the glitch is absent in the Remake, but there’s still a nod to it in the ‘Striker’ charm winnable at the Merchant’s Shooting Range. This, appropriately enough, gives you an 8% bonus to your movement speed, which isn’t a game-breaking change, but does make almost everything imperceptibly easier.
We’re still digging deep into the Remake and hope to spot more fun nods as we go, but even now, it’s clear that this game has had a lot of love poured into it and the developers were as big fans of the original as everyone else is.
Published: Mar 28, 2023 07:05 am