Resident Evil 4 revolutionized third person shooting combat when it first launched in 2005, and though its remake is obviously not going to have quite the same impact, expectations from it are high nonetheless. Now, a new look at the remake’s combat has emerged courtesy of Game Informer, as part of the outlet’s ongoing coverage of the game.
The majority of the gameplay showcased focuses on the game’s village section, offering glimpses of Leon using a variety of weapons, melee attacks, bits and pieces of new stealth gameplay, and more. Enemies and their aggressive attacks are shown off, including the iconic Chainsaw Man, while we also get to see Luis Sera as an AI companion in a section of the game that fans of the original will be quite familiar with.
Meanwhile, art director Hirofumi Nakaoka also speaks about the process of redesigning iconic characters for the remake, including Leon and the aforementioned Chainsaw Man. Speaking about the latter and how the developers decided not to deviate too much from his design in the original, Nakaoka said, “When we heard that he’d return in this remake, we really gave a lot of thought to how he should look. Talking with the director, we tried a lot of different things during the design process, like making him really muscular, or super tall. Maybe giving him this really long coat.”
“We tried a lot of different things with [him], but it just didn’t feel right,” he continued. “So we went back and played the original once again and took another look at the chainsaw villager, and we realized the thing about him is he’s pretty normal. He looks like a normal guy, but he’s got a cowl on his head and he’s holding a chainsaw. If he was really muscular or looked non-human while holding the chainsaw, he’d just be a monster. It’s not scary. When there’s someone who looks like they should have intellect, but they’re wearing a cowl and holding a chainsaw, that’s scary.”
While the core design of the character is faithful to what it was in the original game, the remake does make introduce some additional details and flourishes. “We preserved him, but we did make some changes by taking advantage of graphical improvements,” Nakaoka said, “like details in his clothing, or the eyes you can see peering out from under the cowl.”
Of course, the chainsaw village won’t be the only terrifying enemy type you’ll be crossing paths with in Resident Evil 4. Capcom has also revealed The Brute, a new cow-headed hammer-wielding maniac who’s been created specifically for the remake.
Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PC.