The slow pace, stop and start action of the original Resident Evil 4 has not been replicated here, however it brings its own unique flavour to the mix that has been excellently pulled off.
Being able to pull off stunts like dual wielding a pistol and a shotgun feels oddly at home in RE4, and adds an arcadey spice to the experience that had me hooked from start to finish. Giving Leon both full 360 degree movement and sprinting makes duking it out with the ganados much easier, and reloading has few stakes compared to other VR shooters as Leon will automatically empty the previous magazine when you pick up a new one, and just like the original, no bullets are lost by reloading an almost full gun.
Bonus modes such as Mercenaries and the Ada Wong campaign are, at the time of this review, not in this version of the game. It's unfortunate that this is the case as the speedier nature and arcadey feel would make Mercenaries in particular feel right at home.
Visually, the game has seen updates, however it's somewhat hard to really tell as textures are still low resolution, and the frequent loading zones are still present. However load times are short and the limited graphics means there's no framerate issues to be found. There's a hefty load time when you first start up the game but after that it's smooth sailing.
The story has been kept mostly intact. Leon's zingers and oneliners are still present, however almost any flirty dialogue has been removed from the game outright. The radio conversations have been turned into a semi-interactive element along with a few interactions previously only done by pressing a button or a QTE. This makes certain cutscenes still being present or presented in the theatre view feel out of place. Showcasing the area up ahead in a flat theatre view feels out of place when I can see it for myself in VR a few seconds later.
Overall, this is not the RE4 that you're acquainted with. While it keeps practically every mechanic, the reworking of the game in VR makes it feel much faster paced, much more arcadey, and much more unique than previous ports of this classic shooter.
Being able to pull off stunts like dual wielding a pistol and a shotgun feels oddly at home in RE4, and adds an arcadey spice to the experience that had me hooked from start to finish. Giving Leon both full 360 degree movement and sprinting makes duking it out with the ganados much easier, and reloading has few stakes compared to other VR shooters as Leon will automatically empty the previous magazine when you pick up a new one, and just like the original, no bullets are lost by reloading an almost full gun.
Bonus modes such as Mercenaries and the Ada Wong campaign are, at the time of this review, not in this version of the game. It's unfortunate that this is the case as the speedier nature and arcadey feel would make Mercenaries in particular feel right at home.
Visually, the game has seen updates, however it's somewhat hard to really tell as textures are still low resolution, and the frequent loading zones are still present. However load times are short and the limited graphics means there's no framerate issues to be found. There's a hefty load time when you first start up the game but after that it's smooth sailing.
The story has been kept mostly intact. Leon's zingers and oneliners are still present, however almost any flirty dialogue has been removed from the game outright. The radio conversations have been turned into a semi-interactive element along with a few interactions previously only done by pressing a button or a QTE. This makes certain cutscenes still being present or presented in the theatre view feel out of place. Showcasing the area up ahead in a flat theatre view feels out of place when I can see it for myself in VR a few seconds later.
Overall, this is not the RE4 that you're acquainted with. While it keeps practically every mechanic, the reworking of the game in VR makes it feel much faster paced, much more arcadey, and much more unique than previous ports of this classic shooter.