Including information on pre-order prices, gameplay and story details, and more
But this is the first time that RE4 has been remade from scratch: it’s being redone completely in the RE Engine, developed in-house by Capcom forResident Evil 7and used again inResident Evil: Village, as well as for the remakes of thesecondandthirdin the series. In other words, it’s going to be very pretty and absolutely disgusting in equal measure.
Aside from the aesthetics of the thing, though, what else do we know about the Resident Evil 4 remake? On this page we’ll give you a rundown of all the key facts we know, and keep you regularly updated on new developments as we learn of them.
On this page:
Resident Evil 4 remake release date
In addition to PC, the remake will be released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One consoles, with all versions anticipated for release on the same day.
Pre-ordering either version will give you access to the gold attaché case and handgun ammo weapon charm in-game cosmetic items, while deluxe edition pre-orders get both of those plus a classic attaché case and a green herb weapon charm.
There will also be a physical collector’s edition of Resident Evil 4, which includes both physical and digital limited edition goodies, as long as you’re willing to part with £250/$250 for the pleasure. However, it is only available to players who wish to own the game on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, or Xbox Series X. In fact, there isn’t going to be a physical release of the game for PC at all.
In a similar vein to the remakes of RE2 and RE3, the remake of Resident Evil 4 will follow the story of the original quite closely, but with room for enough differences to keep things interesting for long-time fans. Expect the remake to retain the original’s broad outline: returning Resi leading man Leon Kennedy is searching for missing presidential first daughter Ashley, in a rural Spanish village overrun by a mysterious plague. But, as Vid Bud Liamexplained following his hands-on preview, even someone who knows the game inside-out will find plenty of surprises along the way.
Like the original, the Resident Evil 4 remake will be a third-person action-horror game — so, unlike in the recent brand-new entries to the series (which switched to a first-person viewpoint), you’ll be able to admire Leon’s pretty hair even while you’re playing as him. The original Resi 4 was also the first in the series to feature an over-the-shoulder camera, a style that was then incorporated into the remakes of Resi 2+3, so it’s no surprise that the remake of Resident Evil 4 is sticking with it once again.
While our in-house Resi expert Liam has confirmed that combat feels nice and familiar in the remake, it does naturally include some quality-of-life improvements to gameplay, enabled by the technological advances of the intervening 18 years. Leon can finally fire his gun while running, for example, rather than having to stop to aim, which has been the case in every other version of RE4 released up until now. Again, these modernisations are in-line with what we’ve already seen in the recent versions of RE2 and RE3, so expect this game to feel quite similar to the other series remakes made in the RE Engine.
A game with the scope and popularity of the Resident Evil 4 remake inevitably attracts questions of whether it will include multiplayer content. Fortunately, it seems like Capcom continue to resist the urge to shoehorn online play into their Resi remakes, as there’s no sign of anything in the works. This remake promises to be a solid single-player experience, and I for one am all in favour of that!
However, if you’re hoping to scratch that particular itch, the dedicated multiplayer titleResident Evil Re:Versehas so far incorporated characters and locations from every Resi game released in the RE Engine. So there’s good reason to hope that Re:Verse will get an RE4-themed update at some point to celebrate the series' latest new release.
