Not a remaster, just a re-released, modded version. Call it for what it is and don't be afraid to do so. Played the 360, PS3 and PC on 780/3570k and 12800Hx/3070ti and this version on a 4090, 9800X3D. Repackaged under a new name just to charge another £35. I have spent the dosh so you don't have to. If it dropped so much off % wise to the OG owners, then it would be a bitter pill people could swallow and a 3/5 easy. Buy the original choo-choo from a key site; you are not missing anything special bar the multiplayer, which will eventually fade in my opinion to another dead online game. I reviewed The Thing and will do the same for this; remasters being released are just modded base PC versions with the old issues and some engine tweaks with a slap of new paint texture-wise. Yes, it looks nice, but it feels more like a free patch than a full release. Can still cheese the campaign… Hard feels like it's normal. The only time I struggled was when I got a black screen with the crosshair still showing, and after a minute Titus would insta-death and be thrown back to the checkpoint; this can happen a few times in a row and really P you off. -never encountered that in the OG. Executions are still long-winded, so don't go looking for chain kills unless you do the foot stomp; then you might be lucky enough to get two in succession. A.I. is still brain dead and melee battles are health drainers; just hang back and pick enemies off and leave one or two for health farming if needed. You can still aim behind cover and shoot through cover, as the aim is tied to the main crosshair. The game features a dynamic HUD, but it lacks a dynamic crosshair, resulting in a constant presence of the crosshair which pulls you form the game. Weapon wheel is tied to the greande LB... So, you will end up lobbing grenades when you want to instant change weapons, OG had it on the directional pad, major step back. "Pure nostalgia bait at best." State of gaming. I love this game, but not this...
Played it on the PS4 and PS5, yet the PC version truly excels in graphics, feel, and the extensive customization options. Restoring the gore that was in the base game before being silently patched out, increasing freaker count to insane amounts, and cut-enemies, cut weapons such as the growler, P90, flamethrower, RPG, and other tweaks and fixes for melee weapon values, getting rid of laborious stuff that becomes a chore, or just rocking it as HUNK, mods really refresh the game; hell, you can play Daryl Dixon... Running on a custom Unreal Engine, this game is BEAUTIFUL! Weather effects WHACK, sound WHACK, guns WHACK... Car, I mean bike WHACK, fuel consumption WHACK. I typed "car" because, technically, you are driving a car; the other two wheels are invisible. Please refer to the DEV videos for further details. Is it a 5/5? It is close, but a solid 4>4.5/5. The game has a lot of "fade to black" and cut stuff 'cutscene wise' where it's clearly rushed, including Deacon himself, where some of his dialogue is spliced as his attitude can change from one sentence to the next. Regrettably, the removal of choice options was likely due to time constraints, given that the game's initial release on console was a buggy mess with shader issues. Combat, freaker-wise, with hordes is the focus, as you need to plan out your approach from beginning to end; guns blazing will only get you so far as your ammo supply, but you can always buy more; traps and bombs need to be crafted and will make you get to the finish faster, but you will need to go out searching for supplies. Human enemies are just straight-up gun battles/ambushes, which are great until it happens near a horde; you can bait hordes to clear outposts if you have the time or patience. Upgrading the bike is exciting, but you must strike a balance between the camps and their trust, as each requires building; they don't stack up from one to the next, and it's not wise to put all your eggs in one basket.
Is it great? No. Is it bad? Again, no, just medicore. No way in any sense, is this game a 5/5, let alone worth the £24.99 price tag. £19.99 is the area i'd say; wait for a sale unless you really want it. The only 'The Thing' about this game is having a flamethrower in one hand and an extinguisher in the other while burning some aliens as they try to run; in that moment, you feel like Mac... sadly, it fades fast and rears its head for a nostalgia high. Completed two runs, one on 'Normal,' during which I encountered three minor glitches that were not worth mentioning, but they resolved themselves after a quick reload, and another on 'Very Hard,' which ran without a hitch. Issues for me are the "ammo, ammo," the same for items: torches, extinguishers, plentiful nades, weapons, oh, the weapons... Yup, you will be packing a lot of doubles of guns and plenty of health packs before and after you get stripped clean, and the only time the "stop and go command" is actually used as it should have been intended is in the lab area where JC and 9mm become friends. The infection system is improved in how it should have been than scripted events; on my second run, it surprised me when the flamethrower hypochondriac turned on me but the other guy didn't; he got cooked all the same before turning. Enemy variety drops in the later part as you mostly fight the one-armed bladed types mutant miss piggies, and the norris wannabes. Tall boys needed more game time. Infected NPCs now drop weapons/ammo you gave them; this, to me, breaks the game in the balance of giving ammo and weapons out and losing them for good; they should have kept it like that or tied it to a separate difficulty that would have played better with the updated infection system and made use of the test kits that I only used once at the start for Pierce due to the abundance of "guns, guns, guns..." Soldiers don't turn; it would have been good for infighting and the vault extra is barebones.
DON'T JUST READ MY REVIEW, WATCH YOUTUBE AND IF YOU LIKE IT GO FOR IT! BUT BEWARE OF SMALL ISSUES. Captivated by the DVD trailer of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," as well as magazines, what I would give to experience this from a blank start and memory. I would consult the PCGamingWiki for minor fixes, such as the Vsync-related door bug. Sadly, the game has been forgotten, and you are going to be the one to tweak and fix the game yourself; don't rely on EA. I'm not here for the remake. I am here for the OG Chad. Kellion go crash and from there it spirals out of control, (Kendra and Hammond) rely on you and your skills in: "Fixing stuff and stomping along the way." Don't read that as they are useless; they have their uses but are purely background characters. You and you alone are the key to the ever-evolving locks that show up on each level and the coming story. Combat is what RE:4 should have been: "Move and shoot." The HUD itself is all-inclusive to your suit: health, stasis, inventory/map, compass, and likewise, ammo appears on your guns. When you open up the map, Isaac looks down; when you scroll through the menu, he moves his head—really nice details that add up. Audio is fantastic as are the logs, do a service and play with a headset. If you aren't careful, you can easily go through ammo/health/stasis. In the early stage you have to be careful if you are playing on higher difficulties. The environment itself is your friend and enemy if you let the enemy pin you in a corner and it hides valuabe items/ammo/nodes. You can exploit the game, but I am not here to do that and ruin your run; just have fun. Enemy variety is scripted but you get what you get for an older game; weapons are varied with upgrade paths with nodes that pushes for New Game+ and it its fun taking your stuff into the next run as a walking tank. 4/5 since the game needs some tweaking.
