It is an interesting quirk of video game history that one of the greatest ever horror titles debuted on the Nintendo GameCube, a toylike console better known for the cutest titles in the Zelda series and Animal Crossing. But in 2002, Capcom revealed five exclusives to boost the beleaguered platform – and among them was Resident Evil 4, technically the 13th title in the franchise, which on its release three years later would be considered its zenith. It was an exciting new lease of life for the survival horror genre.
Not that you’d guess all this from the game’s extraordinarily pedestrian setup. Six years after the fall of the Umbrella Corporation smouldering cop Leon Kennedy has been dispatched on a mission to retrieve the US president’s kidnapped daughter, who has been spotted in a tiny village in rural Spain. For some reason best known to the Secret Service, he’s going in alone.
Yet from this B-movie premise, it radically challenged the conventions of the Resident Evil series and the survival horror genre itself. By moving the action away from the grim, rainy midwest of Raccoon City and into the Spanish countryside, Capcom thrust Resi fans (and Leon himself) into utterly unfamiliar surroundings. This sense of dislocation continued when the traditional lumbering zombies (clearly inspired by George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead trilogy) were replaced by brutishly fast, axe-wielding country folk, infected with parasites by evil aristocrats in a gothic castle. These sprightly creatures were much more in line with the infected maniacs depicted in Danny Boyle’s modern take on the zombie flick, 28 Days Later, surely an influence on Resi 4 director Shinji Mikami. Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the obscure Lovecraftian horror Dagon, which is actually set in Spain, have also been put forward by fans as potential inspirations.
In interviews, producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said that theme of the game was “fear of groups”. Throwing swarms of Ganados at the player rather than small groups of zombies ramped up the pressure, and prompted many moments of sheer panic. The game’s rudimentary AI allowed foes to circle behind the player rather than stumbling brainlessly straight at them.
But most importantly, Resi 4 yanked the player’s eye-line downwards from a floating third-person perspective to an intense over-the-shoulder viewpoint. This made it easier to aim at enemies compared with the frustratingly obtuse early Resident Evil games, but more importantly, it accentuated the sense of embodiment and proximity. The action feels raw, the teeth and axe blades frighteningly close. Mikami has since said that he never realised this would be such a revolutionary feature, but it inspired a whole generation of brawling adventures including Gears of War (and the 2018 reboot of God of War).
Elsewhere, Dead Space designer Ben Wanat has referred to EA’s cosmic horror shooter as “Resident Evil 4 in space”, and The Last of Us designer Ricky Cambier has spoken about his ambition to recreate the tension of Resi 4. And when you look at it now, the sense of interdependence between Leon and Ashley certainly foreshadows the vulnerable relationship between Joel and Ellie.
The new shoulder camera, with a heightened emphasis on action and gunfights, altered the whole tempo of the Resi experience. There were still tense minutes of quiet as you explored dank, carcass-strewn farmyards and castle grounds. But then there were bloody sieges as waves of monstrous warriors came at you through the muddy lanes and murky industrial tunnels. The set-piece encounters have become the stuff of legend – from the rabid dogs lurking in the ornate garden maze to the giant serpent beast in the lake, the game has a thrilling menagerie of boss enemies to contend with. Amazingly, even the inventory management is fondly recalled, with players obsessively repacking their attache case to fit in more goodies bought from the shadowy trader.
In 2023, Capcom released a wonderful updated version, which introduced a new generation to its thrilling, Grand Guignol pleasures. But go back to the original and it still works. Once in a while, a video game comes along that fans love, but that game designers love more – and these games end up altering the approach of the entire industry. Super Mario 64 was one, Doom was another. To that list we must surely add Resident Evil 4.
