While it isn’t entirely fair, Capcom has found themselves in a bit of a contentious relationship with fans when it comes to cut content in their Resident Evil remakes. This wasn’t the case with Resident Evil 2, which included all the key moments from the original, and even added some content, but some segments were in fact cut from the Resident Evil 3 remake. Given how beloved Resident Evil 4 is, fans are understandably on edge about what may or may not be included in the remake.
Well, while we don’t have precise details on what's going to be in the Resident Evil 4 remake, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has assured PC Gamer that the new game’s length will be about the same as the original.
“When we started production on RE4 we looked into what people thought was good [in the RE2 and RE3 remakes] and what could've been done better. One example is the play time for RE4 is about the same as the original game.”
The original Resident Evil 4 is probably the most substantial game in the series, with a core campaign that weighs in at around 15 hours. So, the Resident Evil 4 remake is going to be meaty! But again, we don’t know exactly how the new RE4 will arrive at its similar runtime – perhaps some things will be cut and other scenes will be extended to make up for it. Or maybe entirely new sequences will be created.
That said, the latest Resident Evil 4 remake trailers showed a game that sticks pretty closely to its roots. Leon is still a spin-kicking, quipping goofball, and characters like Ramon Salazar are still around, so I don’t expect too much to hit the cutting room floor. Haven’t been keeping up with the RE4 remake? Here’s Capcom on their goals for the anticipated project…
“This time, the game is being developed to achieve state-of-the-art quality for a survival horror suitable for 2023, while preserving the essence of the original game. We aim to make the game feel familiar to fans of the series, while also providing a fresh feeling to it. This is being done by reimagining the storyline of the game while keeping the essence of its direction, modernizing the graphics and updating the controls to a modern standard.
Six years have passed since the biological disaster in Racoon City. Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the incident, has been recruited as an agent reporting directly to the president. With the experience of multiple missions on his back, Leon is sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of the president of the United States. He tracks her to a secluded European village, where there is something terribly wrong with the villagers. And the curtain rises on this story of grueling survival horror and rescue.”
The Resident Evil 4 Remake hits PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on March 24, 2023 (those who buy on PS4 can upgrade to PS5 for free).
