By the time I entered the sewers of Castle Salazar in Resident Evil 4 VR, my understanding of Capcom’s beloved 2005 horror game had been warped considerably by the new perspective that virtual reality brings. After hours of staring at rotting corpses, decaying walls, and thorny parasites in first-person, I felt like I was playing a different game, one that I was struggling to put down. That is, until a previously invisible Novistador lurched at me, and I threw my headset onto the sofa.
When you hear that a classic game like Resident Evil 4 is getting a virtual reality port, the easy reaction is to roll your eyes and groan. Most VR games, especially those that lean on an established property, tend to cash in on its popularity by providing you with a watered-down amusement park version of the real deal. They jab your ribs with nostalgia, letting you relive some great scenes before you put it down after a few hours and never touch it again. Easily the most surprising thing about Resident Evil 4 VR is that it is not that at all. This is the full game from 2005, with barely any compromises. Expect Chicken Eggs, Blue Medallions, and plenty of Ashley shouting “Where are you going, Leon!?”
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It’s still not the version of the game I would recommend to everyone, however. If you’re looking to tick Resident Evil 4 off of your gaming bucket list (and you should), I would play it on a PC or a modern console first, as it holds up really well and has been ported everywhere. Rather than first-timers, Resident Evil 4 VR feels targeted at returning players who understand the original’s quirks and want to experience the game through a new and surprisingly brilliant lens.
When you’re being pulled around the lake by the Del Lago, firing harpoons into its mouth while hearing the water rush around you, Resident Evil 4 VR pulls you into the action in a way the original game couldn’t. But when you get kicked into a theatre room to watch a short animation or a pre-rendered cutscene, the atmosphere takes a beating. This is the game’s most pressing problem. There are so many set pieces that have been lovingly recreated in virtual reality, but there are also plenty of simple scenes that I wanted to play but instead had to watch.
The cuts between the theatre and gameplay can be so immediate at times that they feel like whiplash. Resident Evil 4’s quick-time events — cinematic moments where you must press specific buttons in time with on-screen prompts — have also been transposed onto the Quest controllers well, but they come complete with tacky sound effects and UI elements that made me feel like I was standing in a busy arcade. The regular reminders that you’re playing a port instead of a full remake make the comedown feel immediate, though it’s easy to look past these low points given how incredible Resident Evil 4 VR feels to play.
When Resident Evil 4 VR hits its stride and you’re exploring areas in first-person with full motion, it stands tall as one of the most accomplished virtual reality games ever produced. It’s not quite Half-Life Alyx, but the gameplay feels so tight and moreish all the way through that the only thing holding you back will be the battery on your Oculus Quest 2 – I managed about two and a half hours per play session before I had to recharge it.
All of your weapons and items are held on your person, with forgiving area-based prompts that let dropped guns or ammo zip back to your hips or shoulders for easy access. This is crucial when you get into a busy combat encounter and start yanking at your limbs to survive. The control scheme is simple but very effective and stops short of embracing the typical complications that make other VR shooters hard to stick with.
One of my favorite moments in the entire game was the road to the castle in Chapter 3, which, when equipped with a semi-automatic sniper rifle, felt like a mission from GoldenEye 007. I was peeking corners and stealthily popping heads off of priests while dodging catapult fire. Aiming down sights or using a scope feels accurate and rewarding, which is important in a game that is so concerned with headshots and careful shooting. If you’ve not played your fair share of Pavlov or Alyx, I would definitely consider knocking the difficulty down to Easy, as Resident Evil 4’s difficulty remains unchanged from the original release. It can be seriously brutal when the game throws a horde of Ganados at you, especially if you aren’t using teleportation movement to cheese Leon around them. The first encounters with the chainsaw-toting enemies felt less tense because of the more refined movement tech in virtual reality, but for the most part, the combat doesn’t suffer due to the format.
You just get used to dealing with enemies in a new way. Spot-kicking dudes off of bridges or shotgun blasting through spiky shields is, as you might expect, even more satisfying in virtual reality. The dynamic enemy physics are retained too, so you can make Ganados fall as they clamber over fences or explode by shooting the lit dynamite in their hands. Boss battles have also been leveled up for virtual reality. El Gigante’s leering Shrek-like face is imposing, and the arena feels even more claustrophobic. Leaping up onto his back to physically slash the parasite with Leon’s knife is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in virtual reality.
The scene where Leon gets locked inside a cabin and must maintain its defenses as he slowly gets pushed upstairs by a wave of angry farmers really stuck out too. The first-person perspective made it feel very similar to some of the best moments in Resident Evil Village. Being forced into a corner by a spiky parasite and haphazardly throwing grenades sent my heart rate into the stratosphere. The knife is, unfortunately, a little clunky, which puts more emphasis on sustaining your ammo and consumables rather than the typical stagger and slash Ganados-killing combos of yore. I imagine it will come to other platforms in time, but I think it’s a shame that Resident Evil 4 VR is currently stuck within the walled garden of the Oculus platform, especially when the shooting and movement could feel even more reactive on a Valve Index with the finger-tracking Knuckles controllers.
Once you’re done with combat, looting enemies is a simple grip button press, and shooting nests or engaging with side quests feels less tiring than ever thanks to how present you feel inside of Resident Evil 4 VR’s rich world. Even sorting through your inventory is far less annoying, as you arc attachments and grenades like Tetris blocks to fill out your Attache Case. Daft little details like having to type your name on a fully-functional typewriter to save also brought me a lot of joy. The puzzles with long memory sequences (which you’d probably look up anyway in the original) don’t translate all that well, but it’s still nice to see them retained in their original form.
I was really shocked at how Resident Evil 4 VR didn’t give me the same fatigue as many other virtual reality games. It’s a rare feeling to not want to stop playing after a few hours, but I think that speaks to the accessibility of the control scheme, and how well the story and set pieces of the original game hold up. Seated mode is fully functional too which pulls a lot of weight when you start to get tired.
The game also feels smooth and looks great up close. Textures are upscaled but left mostly unchanged, which maintains the stunning art direction of the original. The framing of areas like the walk up to Mendez Manor is gorgeous in virtual reality and big animations like overturned trucks and thrashing Garradors play out with fluidity. You get to appreciate the game’s many beautiful vistas in a new light too. The distant moonlit castle seen from the gondola and the open water below a rickety bridge are things I wouldn’t stop for in the original but was more than happy to sit and appreciate in virtual reality. And even though it’s not all that important, being able to see the engraved number on the wooden grip of the Red9 or the gem slots on the Beerstein treasure was a nice touch.
Resident Evil 4’s superb pacing is retained too. Enemies develop slowly from hopeless peasants to murmuring priests and grotesque beasts, and the varied environments all have distinct, unsettling vibes. If you thought the line of priests in the Hall of Worship was bad in the original, think of how it feels to walk in there with a headset on and see them looking at you in that agoraphobia-inducing space, the subtle score accenting the terror. I’m also not ashamed to admit that I have desperately shotgunned a few serpents after slashing open a crate and finding a scary snakey surprise…
Conclusion
Resident Evil 4 VR is an impressive port that delivers a classic to a brand new audience with very few compromises. Clever mechanical tweaks, airtight shooting, killer boss fights, and thick tension make it easy to recommend to anyone with an Oculus Quest 2, even if it isn’t the version I’d suggest to Resident Evil 4 newbies. Even with its over-reliance on cutscenes and annoying Quest exclusivity, Resident Evil 4 VR is one of the best virtual reality games on the market, providing great value for money and comfort for those with varying levels of headset experience… as long as they can deal with plenty of jump scares!
Written by Jordan Oloman on behalf of GLHF.
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