Knives Out: Talking Resident Evil 4: Updated combat with the game’s producer

At the beginning of this year we celebrated Resident evil 4 as one of the most anticipated games to be released in 2023 – and not for nothing! This remake takes on the monumental challenge of not only following up on two recent stellar remakes, Resident evil 2 and Resident evil 3but with the goal of recreating everything that the original survival horror classic had to offer when it was first introduced in 2005.

We recently got a look at some pre-release gameplay footage Resident evil 4 in action, and we couldn’t help but notice that the combat seemed to be a little faster than we remember. Ducks, dodges, and quick melee counters (and of course spin kicks) seemed to hit faster. Of course it is has it’s been a minute since we last played the original. To get a better understanding of what combat is like in the upcoming game, we were happy to have the opportunity to speak with Resident evil 4 Produced by Yoshiaki Hirabayashi for details.

“First of all, speeding up the combat wasn’t one of our goals—our overall goal was to remake the game while keeping the pace and content of the original,” explains Yoshiaki. “I think you’ll find it RE4The balance between horror and action — and the elements that give you a little break from that — all feel like the original.”

“Our main goal was to remake the game while maintaining the pace and content of the original.”

Yoshiaki noted that all of these combat elements have been revamped, including the control scheme, to make the remake more modern, similar to games made today. “Instead of being faster, combat is more flexible,” he says.

This flexibility in the movement of the remake comes down to the changes made to the controls. In order to maintain the pace of the game, the development team adjusted the behavior of the enemies and the level design of the environment accordingly. The ability to parry, for example, was a feature that was born out of these trial and error adjustments.

“We asked ourselves, how can we replicate Krauser’s knife fight in real gameplay,” he says. “From that point on, we realized that parrying was good for the game systems in general, and we used it throughout (the game)… You can find yourself in a situation where the fight is heavily focused on the use of the knife, so if you have some skill with parrying, that’s will be very useful and the time to successfully parry will vary depending on the difficulty level of the game.”

Maybe not only a knife Resident Evil 4 to be is used to attack and parry, but it can also be used as a follow-up attack to hit downed enemies – and to perform a stealth kill if you can approach an enemy from behind without being seen.

“Stealth, while not required to play, is an important element that expands the variety of strategies available to you. However, this is also only one possible option,” Yoshiaki continues. “I hope when you play the game you just remember that it’s available to you and that you use it when you think it’s a good idea.”

“Stealth, while not required to play, is an important element that expands the variety of strategies available to you.“

Aside from the knife, there will also be new weapons for Leon this time around, including a bolt thrower (which apparently fires bolts) that will bear some resemblance to the mine thrower from the original game. “You can use an arrow thrower to attack without making noise, and if you return the arrows you shot, you can use them again. In addition, explosives can be attached to the bolts,” explains Yoshiaki.

The team also tested how enemies react to Leon. For example, allowing Leon to move even when he’s armed will now lead to more flexibility in how players can fight enemies. Speaking of which, the enemies have also been tweaked to accommodate some new ways for players to control Leon, using their strength in numbers to a greater extent than in the original game.

One example we’ve seen that illustrates this in action was during a moment in the game where Leon accompanies Ashley. Cornered in the ancient chapel, numerous fanatics with medieval scythes and flails rushed in to quickly gather and surround him. Ducking and dodging (and running away) from enemies, he quickly reloaded and fired his pistol until he ran out of ammo. If it hadn’t been for the swift spin kicks and knife parry, Leon would have been finished.

We’ve also covered some ways to slow down these enemies. In one case, a fanatic grabbed Ashley and started running away with her. After a quick shot to the back of the leg, he drops to his knees, dropping Ashley and leaving him open for a wrestling suplex (because why not?).

“Enemy weaknesses played a big role in the original, and we kept them for the remake,” says Yoshiaki. “Defeating enemies from afar with ranged weapons such as firearms and defeating enemies with close-range attacks after targeting certain points is (still) possible.”

The development team didn’t drastically change any of the animations in how enemies were dispatched, so all your favorite clumsy enemies will fall to the ground just like you remember. Instead, the focus was on preserving the variety and attack methods that could be used to destroy them. As for a personal favorite? Yoshiaki was eager to share.

“Enemy weaknesses played a big role in the original, and we kept that for the remake.“

“Personally, I like to mainly use the pistol to target parts of the enemy’s body, no matter how close the enemy is, and once they’ve been stunned, follow up with a melee attack to dispatch them – I hope you find a playstyle that matches your preferences. , and I hope you enjoy the modern controls, advanced strategies and fighting even more formidable enemies!”

Best of all, we can start testing new strategies today, even before release Resident evil 4 later this month thanks to a new demo now available for Xbox Series X|S players. You can choose it here.

Search Resident evil 4 on Xbox Series X|S on March 23, 2023. It can be pre-ordered today on the Xbox Store in any Standard or Luxury edition.