I’ve played Resident Evil 4 so many times that I can close my eyes and picture it from start to finish in my head. Capcom’s seminal survival horror title is so good to play and so memorable in its characters and set pieces that huge chunks of my childhood were spent hitting credits again and again and again. Whenever I brought Leon’s journey to a close, the game offered a reason to jump right back in, and I happily obliged.
Few Games Are Worth Playing More Than Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 was one of the first games I recall having a truly generous New Game Plus option. Your first playthrough is a gauntlet of bombastic horrors as you take Leon Kennedy from a single pistol to an arsenal consisting of shotguns, grenade launchers, machine guns, RPGs, and other deadly firearms, each of which has received ample upgrades and customisation. But no matter how powerful you might be, taking on Los Plagas is always terrifying. There is a sense of progression that was ahead of its time in 2005, and the fact this carried across a multitude of playthroughs and continued to roll out more and more rewards was incredible.
You weren’t just growing more skilled and powerful, either. NG+ offered new firearms like the Matilda handgun and Chicago Typewriter machine gun, while the unlimited RPG provided a power fantasy that to this day remains unrivaled. Resident Evil 4 knows you have made it through the game once, proving yourself against its many horrors, and now it is offering you permission to have fun and deconstruct encounters that were originally intended to terrify. It is a beautiful subversion, and one of the big reasons why Resident Evil 4 is so replayable.
It’s also no surprise that Resident Evil 4 and many other games in the series have attracted such passionate speedrunning communities. It feels like they were made for this.
There are also plenty of optional costumes, ranging from police uniforms to pop star outfits to gangster suits that allow Leon Kennedy to pull off some Michael Jackson-esque moves. The very best is a clunky knight’s costume for Ashley that makes it impossible for enemies to carry her off because the suit is far too heavy. It even clanks with every movement, while the visor will move down to cover her face whenever you aim a weapon at her. Ridiculous, but at this point Resident Evil 4 is leaning entirely into its campy nature.
Every Playthrough Is Fun, Rewarding, And Unpredictable
Putting aside all the cool bonuses, even playing through the game again with your existing arsenal is enough of a draw. Upgrading every gun you own to its maximum proficiency is an immensely rewarding process, making each set piece and boss battle easier but thrilling in new ways because of the risk-free ways you can tackle them. I would focus on speed, spectacle, tactility, and how many weapons I could use in a sole encounter, like I was some sort of emo-fringed superhero. Resident Evil 4 plays so well and is paced so perfectly that playthroughs pass by in the blink of an eye, and by the time it’s over you will be ready for another.
If you aren’t one for playing through the campaign multiple times, Mercenaries is an amazing distillation of the moment-to-moment gunplay of Resident Evil 4, with infinitely more tension leading the proceedings.
Capcom translated this philosophy to the recent remake which, despite changing a decent amount about the layout of the campaign, retains the same perfect gunplay and pacing of its campaign that makes second playthroughs not just tempting, but actively encouraged. It’s begging you to upgrade every gun, conquer every battle, and mine everything there is to find from a survival horror masterpiece it knows is worth savouring. Despite being nearly two decades apart, it’s amazing that I can jump into two versions of this classic and feel like I’m playing something so special, confident, and at the top of its game.
Nearly 20 years have passed since Resident Evil 4 first broke onto the scene, and it is hard to believe how perfect it still is. Yes, some of the controls are archaic, and the visuals are of their time, but putting that aside, I can’t think of a more satisfying game to play over and over again.
Resident Evil 4 sees Leon Kennedy travel to a mysterious Spanish village to rescue the US President’s daughter. While there, he’ll have to deal with a dangerous cult and a deadly parasite.