Resident Evil 4 remake: Everything we know

Resident Evil 4 remake's Leon Kennedy
(Image credit: Capcom)

The Resident Evil 4 remake has big shoes to fill. Ask a few members of the PC Gamer team, and you'll hear that Resident Evil 4 is one of the best videogames of all time. RE4's B-movie banter and over-the-shoulder shooting made it the first Resident Evil to feel like a true action game, an approach that held up a decade later when we reviewed it in 2014. And now, RE4's been given the remake treatment, with a modernised overhaul for its visuals and combat.

How is Capcom handling a remake one of the most-beloved games, after almost 20 years? Leon's big day out is going through some changes, leaning into RE4's horror moments for the remake with the addition of stealth sequences and new enemies. But even with a suite of updates, the remake still hews closely to the original game's spirit. Now that the RE4 remake is out in the wild, here's everything we knew in the run-up to release.

What is the Resident Evil 4 Remake release date?

The Resident Evil 4 Remake released on March 24, 2023.

The RE4 remake was rumored for years before it got an official Capcom reveal during a PlayStation livestream in June 2022. The broadcast began with the RE4 announcement trailer backed by flamenco guitar, a slick reference to the unnamed rural Spanish town the game takes place in.

Read our review of the Resident Evil 4 remake

As you'll read in our Resident Evil 4 remake review, Capcom gave itself a big order to fill by revisiting one of its most-celebrated games. We found plenty to celebrate in Leon's revised adventure, particularly in moments when updated enemy AI and combat mechanics add a new thrill to some of the original's best fights. But the remake's modernization ends up sacrificing some of its original charm: it's a satisfying second outing for RE4, but it doesn't quite meet the watermark set back in 2005.

Here's Resident Evil 4 remake gameplay from Game Informer

This new footage from Game Informer's cover story is our first look at RE4 Remake's fifth chapter, several hours into the game. Leon has met up with Ashley, and the chapter ends with the cabin fight with Luis Serra. (Note that it seems chapter numbering is different in Remake, as this takes place in Chapter 2-2 in the original game).

The footage includes a few things we haven't seen from Remake before:

  • Big, fat rain droplets
  • The mechanic for rescuing Ashley from a ganado with an execution
  • Leon shooting bird nests to get eggs
  • A chat with the merchant, who definitely has re-recorded dialogue
  • You can now upgrade knives in addition to guns
  • The Red9 pistol in action
  • Fighting a dog las plagas
  • Blue Medallions are still in, though in different numbers
  • A new cow-headed enemy type called The Brute (he's got a giant hammer)

What systems did Resident Evil 4 Remake release on?

The game is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Surprisingly, despite releasing a VR version of the game just last year, Capcom also announced it's developing "PSVR2 content" for this remake. That seems to imply the full game won't be playable in VR, but we'll have to wait and see. 

How is the Resident Evil 4 remake different?

A RE4 Ganado

(Image credit: Capcom)

RE4 Remake seems both deeply faithful to the original, and open to tweaking little things here and there. Here are some of the notable differences between the two so far: 

  • Stealth is an option now: Leon can crouch
  • There are new execution moves with knives, and knives can now break, so you won't be using the same one throughout the game
  • Ashley's AI has been reworked. You can no longer tell her to stay somewhere while you go off and fight enemies
  • There's at least one new enemy type, a hammer-wielding ganado called The Brute
  • QTEs are out, but some events that were handled with QTEs in the original may be in the game in new form
  • The laser sight is now an upgrade
  • There's a new crossbow weapon
  • There's some dismemberment on enemies now
  • Capcom's added additional sidequests
  • Despite the more serious, horror-forward tone overall, Leon's one-liners are still there

Russ has been playing PC games since the top of the line graphics were in ASCII and has been obsessed with them just about as long. After a coordinated influence campaign to bamboozle his parents into getting a high speed internet connection to play EverQuest, his fate was well and truly sealed. When he's not writing about videogames, he's teaching karate, cooking an overly complicated dish, or attempting to raise his daughter with a well rounded classical education (Civilization, Doom, and Baldur's Gate, of course). He's probably mapping in Path of Exile right now.

Read more
Alice from Resident Evil movie holding a big gun and a regular gun
It's been about four years, so yeah, let's go ahead and give Resident Evil yet another movie reboot
Lara stands in the cut training area from the Paris level of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
The worst Tomb Raider game is getting cut weapons, areas and voice lines restored as part of its upcoming remaster
Silent Hill 2
Bloober's Silent Hill 2 was more remix than remake and that's why it was great
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Metal Gear Solid Delta
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater finally has a confirmed release date: August 28
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black review
Latest in Resident Evil
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
Terrifyingly good Humble Bundle deal nets you 11 Resident Evil games for less than the price of Resi 4 remake
Chris Redfield fights a zombie in 1996's Resident Evil.
I spent the last week roaming the Spencer Mansion and I'm here to tell you not to sleep on the new GOG release of 1996's Resident Evil
Resident Evil 7
Capcom announces the next mainline Resident Evil is in development, and the great news is it's being helmed by Resident Evil 7's director
Resident Evil 1 zombie
GOG is bringing the original Resident Evil trilogy back from the dead, and to digital PC storefronts for the first time
Box art for the original Resident Evil, showing a man with a weird face holding a shotgun.
A PEGI rating for the OG 1996 Resident Evil has me once again preparing to enter the world of survival horror
Latest in Features
A vampire with a dark castle and swarms of bats in the background.
We need to decide on a genre name for Vampire Survivors-like games before a really terrible one sticks
Olivia, Alma and a palico
I wish Monster Hunter Wilds wasn't so afraid of letting me play Monster Hunter
SteelSeries QcK Performance mouse pads overlapping on a desk
The SteelSeries QcK Performance series has reignited my excitement over the simple pleasure of a quality mouse pad… and trying to click skulls with pinpoint accuracy
OneXPlayer 2 pro on a table
I never thought a handheld PC bloated with Windows could replace my Steam Deck, but after gaming on an old OneXPlayer 2 Pro I can see now I judged it too harshly
A screenshot from the original Assassin's Creed game
Assassin's Creed: Shadows is just around the corner, so come and see the last 17 years of the series' PC graphics at max 4K settings
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 screenshots
I’m not sure what’s weirder: that someone made a sequel to a completely forgettable 37-year-old game I played as a kid, or that it was actually worth the wait