During today’s third-party focused Sony State of Play presentation, Capcom unveiled a new trailer for their upcoming remake of action-horror classic Resident Evil 4. As with previous previews we’ve gotten of the game, it’s impressive.
Today’s trailer, officially titled “3rd Trailer” by Capcom and PlayStation, is rather all-encompassing. We get looks at gameplay from environments fans of the original game will recognize as being from the halfway point (the Castle) all the way to the end of the game (the Island). Luis appears to serve a much larger role in the remake, sharing new dialogue with Leon and even tagging along in some previously solo gameplay segments.
Nearly the entire cast is featured, giving us looks at the high-fidelity makeovers that Leon, Ashley, Ada, Luis, Krauser, and Lord Saddler have received in the new remake. Stressful setpieces like the battle against two massive El Gigante monsters, taking out the Ganado’s flaming catapults, and a cramped onslaught by cultists on an elevator return with new animations, rendered in stunning 4K. The Las Plagas parasites have also become much more realistic thanks to Capcom’s RE Engine. They’re delightfully disgusting.
Leon’s Got New Moves (And Old Ones)
The trailer showcases a few of Leon’s new combat options, like ducking incoming attacks or parrying the zombie-like Ganados’ weapons with his knife. Combat all around seems to be more dynamic. Capcom seems to have taken care to ensure the action remains just as stressful even with modern updates to Leon’s controls making him a bit more mobile. One melee option that fans are surely pleased to see return is the suplex. When an enemy has fallen to their knees, Leon can run over, grab them torso-to-torso, and quickly slam them backward. It never gets old.
The Resident Evil 4 trailer ends with a teaser for the fan-favorite Mercenaries mode, before flashing the release date (March 24, 2023) and announcing that a demo will be coming soon. When this demo will launch and if it will feature Capcom’s signature odd demo restrictions is unknown at this time.
Coincidentally, the father of Resident Evil and director of the original Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami, was announced to have departed his company Tango Gameworks earlier this morning.
Stay tuned to Final Weapon for more news on the Resident Evil 4 remake.
