16 years ago, Resident Evil 4 set an industry standard for AAA survival horror games when Leon Kennedy’s latest endeavor took him to vastly different frontiers from the ones seen previously in Resident Evil games. The majority of levels in the original trilogy took place in dimly lit claustrophobic corridors, whereas Resident Evil 4, taking a leap in technology and fidelity, shoved players into more open spaces that shifted things quite a bit.
Resident Evil 4‘s action-focused campaign came bundled with some tense set pieces and anxiety-inducing quick-time events that took the series veterans by surprise and enticed an entirely new set of audience. And while Resident Evil 4’s success inspired many other popular video game series later down the line, including Dead Space and The Last of Us, not everything it did was perfect.
Resident Evil 4 was, all in all, an escort mission for Leon Kennedy. Leon, now a US government agent, is sent to a mysterious rural village in Spain to rescue US President’s daughter Ashley Graham. While this sounds simple on paper, rescuing and escorting Ashley wasn’t that simple due to her tendency to get easily caught. It’s believable that Ashley’s vulnerability was part of the gameplay experience and was there to keep the tension at its peak. However, it didn’t take long for this to become a redundant and frustrating affair.
Modern classics such as The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite were also an escort mission in a sense, but character AI in those titles was far better than in Resident Evil 4. For a significant chunk of the campaign in The Last of Us, Ellie wasn’t useful during the combat, but she at least stayed out of enemies’ way. While this was also immersion-breaking, given how enemies would walk right by her, it wasn’t as frustrating as Ashley shouting in Resident Evil 4 every now and then. On the other hand, Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite would toss health packs and salts to the player that could prove essential in a tense combat encounter.
Ashley isn’t nimble like Elizabeth, nor she’s ruthless like Ellie, but most of her problems boil to the outdated AI the game uses. With Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 Remake, Capcom has proved that it can make some quality of life changes to make these twenty-year-old experiences more accessible to the modern audience. Resident Evil 3 Remake was different from Resident Evil 3 in several ways. For instance, Jill Valentine could perform a swift dodge which served as a welcome treat while dealing with the Nemesis.
Although improving Ashley’s AI in Resident Evil 4 Remake would significantly alter the gameplay, there are still ways to refine the experience. Capcom could give Ashley a small defensive object like the torch Moira Burton has in Resident Evil: Revelations 2, as one potential example. This could give a little room to defend herself while Leon makes her way towards her. Obviously, she isn’t going to be a character to kill and fight, but a few fixes in her behavior would go a long way.
Recent rumors suggested that Resident Evi 4 Remake is undergoing major developmental changes as the game’s development transitions from the hands of M-Two to Capcom Division 1. Unlike M-Two, reportedly, Capcom Division 1 wants to make necessary changes to the original game to make the remake a unique experience of its own. While there’s plenty of room for skepticism, this could also mean that Capcom is committed to fixing this major issue that still plagues Resident Evil 4 years after its release, among others.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is rumored to be in development.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply