For nearly 29 years, Capcom’s signatureResident Evilfranchise has terrified millions of gamers worldwide with its innovative survival horror games, but none have been as impactful on theResident Evilseries and the gaming industry overall as 2005’sResident Evil 4. First debuting on Nintendo’s GameCube with an ingenious third-person perspective, more action-focused gameplay, and a horror-centric yet somewhat comedic story,Resident Evil 4went on to not just become one of Capcom’s most successful games, but one of the most lucrative games in the 21st century.Resident Evil 4’s success helped shape not only futureResident Evilgames but horror gaming on the whole, with its impact still felt today in modern horror titles.
Resident Evil 4’s Experimental and Dichotomous Development
WhileResident Evil 4is a widely celebrated game today, its development was about as complex and unpredictable as traveling through a Plagas-infested European countryside. Following the release ofResident Evil 3: Nemesisin 1999, development on aResident Evil 4project for the PlayStation 2 began, headed by Shinji Mikami, Hideki Kamiya, and Noboru Sugimura. Here, Kamiya planned on introducing a new stylish protagonist named Tony who would explore a Gothic castle setting whilst bombastically killing enemies with special abilities, guns, and melee weapons in a dynamic camera system. Due to these drastic changes fromResident Evil’s tropes and atmosphere, Capcom chose to develop this iteration ofRE4intoa brand-new title calledDevil May Cry.
BeforeDevil May Cryreleased in 2001, however, Capcom signed an exclusivity deal with Nintendo to release the next mainlineResident Evilas well as a remake ofResident Evil 1on the then-upcoming GameCube. WhiletheResident Evil 1remakereleased to widespread acclaim in 2002, development onResident Evil 4was still tumultuous, now being led by Hiroshi Shibata, with multiple concepts being drafted and ultimately thrown out.
These included one where Leon Kennedy investigated Umbrella’s castle headquarters, one where Kennedy fought ghosts and other paranormal beings inspired bySilent Hill, and another where Kennedy saved a girl with a biologically enhanced dog from a castle. The latter concept ofRE4would later be revisited in 2005’sHaunting Ground.
Resident Evil 4’s Gameplay Deviations
ThroughoutResident Evil 4’s development, Capcom slowly began transitioning away from the stationary cameras and pre-rendered backgrounds that the series was known for. Instead, it gravitated toward a more dynamic camera system to make encounters more engaging and hectic.Resident Evil 4’s later iterations further had the game utilizean over-the-shoulder third-person viewin combat and quick-time events to intensify moment-to-moment gameplay.
This is how the finalizedRE4became more action-oriented compared to its rather subdued predecessors. Meanwhile, the new over-the-shoulder third-person perspective set a new benchmark for future survival horror games to build on, such as Capcom’s ownDead Risingseries.
How Resident Evil 4 Broke the Franchise’s Mold
In terms of narrative,Resident Evil 4was very different from its predecessors. Instead of featuring protagonists cautiously reacting to zombie outbreaks, Leon Kennedy was portrayed as a confident, determined, and relaxed lead, always diving head-first into danger to complete his mission. This newfound confidence brought with it a more intentionally comedic side toResident Evil, such as Kennedy remarking if everyone went to play Bingo or Ramón Salazar acting like a cliché Bond villain. Despite the increased comedy, horror elements were still persistent inResident Evil 4, with increased body horror shown with the grotesque Las Plagasmutated forms of Bitores Méndez and Osmund Saddler.
Unpredictable and overwhelming horror can be found throughoutResident Evil 4as compared to the more zombie-filled previous games. Las Plagas infected people could chase Kennedy with pitchforks, hatchets, crossbows, flails, dynamite, and even chainsaws, all while disgusting head tendrils could pop out any moment.
While these common Las Plagas could be taken out somewhat as easily as zombies,Resident Evil 4introduced several new enemies that could only be taken out with smart, precise, or explosive means, including the hulking El Gigante,the xenomorph-like Verdugos, and the iconically creepy Regeneradors.Resident Evil 2may have introduced the concept of grotesque mutated monsters with the G-Virus, butResident Evilexpanded upon that idea tenfold to horrifying results.
Resident Evil 4’s Action-Focused Influence
With the bombastic chaos of Kennedy attempting to rescue the U.S. President’s daughter Ashley Graham, as shown especially with Kennedy’s acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat, Capcom sought to repeatResident Evil 4’s balance of horror and action in future games for a time. However, these games more often than not favored the newfound action side ofResident Evilrather than its intriguing horror narrative. This resulted in games with mixed receptions, such asResident Evil 5,Resident Evil 6,Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, andResident Evil: Umbrella Corps, which centered more on over-the-top action, such as Chris Redfield pushing a boulder into lava by himself.
Capcom later adaptedRE4’smore engaging third-person format fortheResident Evil 2and3remakesin 2019 and 2020 to much acclaim.
Resident Evil 4’s Impact on Horror Gaming
Resident Evil 4was a monumental success both critically and financially, selling 3 million copies on both the GameCube and PlayStation 2 worldwide by the end of 2005. Due to this success, Capcom would go on toportResident Evil 4to nearly every single gaming consoleand platform going forward, including:
By 2022,RE4sold over 12 million units across all of its versions. It even received its own modern remake in the form of 2023’sResident Evil 4, which itself has gone on to sell over 9 million copies.
With such a large successful footprint in the gaming industry, many developers quickly looked toResident Evil 4as inspiration for their own horror titles. One of the most famous games to be directlyinfluenced byResident Evil 4was 2008’sDead Space, which was originally developed asSystem Shock 3. Shinji Mikami left Capcom followingRE4’s release but used its building blocks to help create two other action-horror franchises:Shadows of the DamnedandThe Evil Within.Resident Evil 4even directly influenced the gameplay of horror-adjacent series, includingGears of War,BioShock, and the NorseGod of Warduology.
The Legacy of Resident Evil 4
DespiteResident Evil 4being a 20-year-old game, its roots can still be seen and felt in games released on current-generation platforms.The Callisto Protocolwas designed as a spiritual successor toDead Spaceand, as such, is a spiritual descendant ofResident Evil 4in terms of gameplay and horror elements.
Resident Evil 4even continues to inspire theResident Evilfranchise today. Its latest brand-new entry,Resident Evil Village, is another spiritual successor toRE4, with the two featuring Gothic European environments, diverse terrifying enemies, mysterious vendors, and more.Resident Evil 4has not only shaped the longevity of the survival horror game genre through the 21st century but will continue to inspire players for years to come.
