Review: Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition (Nintendo Switch 2)

Resident Evil 4: Gold Edition is a remake of the fourth entry in the long-running horror series that began in 1996. A remake was released in 2023 for most consoles, but this is the first time we’ve seen it on a Nintendo system. Considering the original launched (somewhat) exclusively on the GameCube back in 2005, it’s nice to see the game come home. 

I’m new to Resident Evil. I started backwards, too, first playing Resident Evil 7 Biohazard when it came to Switch 2 earlier this year. I was invested enough to purchase and play the subsequent titles, Village and Requiem, enjoying them immensely. So, when the opportunity presented itself to play and review Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 on Switch 2, I jumped at the chance. Now it’s time to get acquainted with the acclaimed horror-action of Resident Evil 4.

I say “action” because Resident Evil 4 is a marked departure from the original trilogy’s setup. Up until this point, we’d found ourselves in a creepy, claustrophobic setting, dealing with a virus outbreak. This terrible virus mutated its victims, and it ultimately led to Raccoon City’s destruction. The premise was based on stealth as players crept through various buildings, solving puzzles and fighting zombies. While there were moments of action, Resident Evil 4 picks up the pace noticeably.

The story does a good job of recapping the events of Resident Evil 2, showing a “previously, on Resident Evil” type of intro. The game then fast forwards through the next six years. The main protagonist is once again Leon, star of RE 2. After surviving those traumatic events in Raccoon City, Leon joins an elite team of special ops (not by choice) and trains to become a soldier.

For the first time in the numbered franchise, we’re taken out of Raccoon City. Leon is on a mission to find the President’s missing daughter. Along with two local police escorts, Leon arrives at a decrepit, seemingly abandoned village in a remote part of Spain. When one of the cops disappears, Leon sets out to investigate. Naturally, things go wrong from there.

The village is overrun by a mysterious cult of undead devotees. It’s a whole new breed of zombies to deal with. Poor Leon. Despite being a 20-year-old game, I won’t spoil things for those who haven’t played it before. I hadn’t, and it was enjoyable going in fresh, knowing Leon’s backstory but not what was about to unfold. Let’s just say this village has a terrible secret, and plenty of enemies on hand to help keep it.

Speaking of which, I was surprised at the sheer number of enemies. Whereas previous entries featured brief moments of zombie hordes, it relied more on jump scares from monsters popping out when you least expected it. Here, the village is full of inhabitants. Sure, they’re creepy in a gross, deranged sort of way, but there’s so many of them. They just. Keep. Coming! And they’re tough; they take a lot of firepower to put down. Things definitely feel more fast paced now.

Thankfully, to compensate for this extra action, Leon has a much larger arsenal at his disposal and no shortage of weapons on offer. There are other new features, too. Resident Evil 4 is divided into chapters, a first for the series. This remake streamlines things into 16 chapters, compared to the original’s 19. It’s also the first time players can manually crouch with a button. Plus, there’s a shopkeeper to hassle you; that’s new. And everything looks a little more polished than previous entries; there’s a briefcase for your items and a map that expands to all areas. All together, everything helps this outing feel like the start of a new trilogy. 

Thankfully, there are still creepy moments to make your hair stand on end. The beginning is particularly eerie as Leon steps into the village for the first time. Being set in Spain, the enemies are constantly spouting Spanish words at you, a language I don’t understand. It adds to the spookiness when you’re not even sure what these angry civilians with pitchforks are yelling at you.

There are also a lot of standout moments along the way. A brief encounter with a friendly wolf. A sea-based boss battle on a row boat. A chainsaw-wielding dude with a hessian bag on his head. The game has depth. It also runs a lot longer than the previous entries, clocking in at around 16 hours. There are minigames to keep you even further occupied, plus an extra story called Separate Ways, which is played from Ada Wong’s perspective. This is a shorter experience at 5 hours or so, and even more action-based than Leon’s journey. Still, it’s more content and comes packed with the Gold Edition.

Graphically, everything looks sublime. No surprises there. I couldn’t help but notice the texture on Leon’s jacket when he first stepped out of the police car, or the lighting in the firelit room where Leon is first attacked. The water on the lake looks amazing, and the village renders well while exploring.

At the end of the day, Resident Evil 4 is a solid entry that marked a fresh start for the series at the time. While I’m personally more in line with what Biohazard and Requiem were trying to achieve by bringing the series back to its horror origins, this entry introduced plenty of new ideas. It features an interesting premise, excellent characters, and unnerving locations. While there’s more action than I expected, it still feels like it belongs in the Resident Evil universe.