Is Resident Evil 4 too scary for you? Probably not

Although I enjoy horror movies, jump scares are what make me numb. It hurt me that I had no choice but to quit playing. Dead SpaceBecause I began having nightmares about Necromorphs. However, I was able to get through quite some of it. Dead SpaceThese tips helped me conquer the creepy corridors before I quit playing. These are my tips to conquer its creepy hallways. Resident Evil 4 and its recent remake, it’s worth noting this game is not as scary as you might expect.

There’s a very good reason why Resident Evil 4It was a huge hit with the franchise. Horror is an obscure genre and this movie became a big success. RE4 isn’t a straightforward horror game. It’s an action-shooter with horror elements, meaning it’s more accessible to a much wider audience. I’m not saying that RE4 isn’t scary at all, but upon its first release, the game did get pushback from hardcore horror aficionados who wished that it had been less of an action-shooter and more of a tense trek through a dark, foreboding mansion like the original Resident Evil.

Those hardcore fans weren’t entirely off track in their complaints. RE4 The franchise was able to signal an action-oriented trend, which lasted many years. Resident Evil 5And 6 are often described as the franchise’s least scary entries, skewing more toward bland, repetitive zombie cleanup duty and further away from slow, creeping dread. Resident Evil 7It was an exciting return to form for fans including mine (I can barely even play it). But let’s get back to RE4A game called?, Not too scary for me — and probably won’t be for you, either.

When your first boot up Resident Evil 4, whether you’re playing the 2023 remake or the original game, you might feel as though I’ve betrayed you. This is by far the most terrifying section of the game’s first thirty minutes. Of course, horror is subjective, since your response to it depends on personal experience and what you’ve been desensitized to. Still, there are some situations that inspire just about any human to experience discomfort — darkness, tight spaces, jump scares, scarce resources — and the beginning of RE4All of the above.

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Leon S. Kennedy, the protagonist, comes across a small cabin with dim lighting after taking a quick car ride. He must investigate the cabin and drive to it. Even though he’s a special forces officer, he doesn’t assume every problem can be solved with a gun. Some problems can be solved by a clockwork gear. Leon’s an investigator first and foremost, so in this opening sequence, he doesn’t draw his firearm — nor does he assume that the first person he meets will be aggressive or violent. Before you even run into that first enemy, though, you’ll have to guide Leon through dark hallways, hearing his footsteps over creaking floorboards, all the while aware that certain doom lies around the next corner. Perhaps the next. What corner is it? Ugh!

The introduction to Leon’s first enemy isn’t exactly a jump scare. It’s a slow, drawn-out reveal. “Don’t open that door,” you might yell at Leon, even as you yourself press the button to open the door and meet your first red-eyed, infected villager. The man doesn’t attack right away, though; he sways on his feet, unresponsive as Leon attempts to interrogate him in both English and Spanish. This doesn’t work. Leon will eventually have to defeat him. He must then explore the rest and rid the cottage of any enemies or loot.

It’s a horror classic that shows the slow and methodical investigation of small, decaying houses. Works. The house feels claustrophobic and aimless; there’s no rhyme or reason as to which doors are locked or unlocked, or which ones have an enemy behind them as opposed to the safety of silence. Though Leon is armed, he has barely any bullets, so spraying them in a wild panic isn’t a good option. He has to be careful, keeping all of his senses on alert — along with yours — to meet the challenge ahead of him with limited resources and knowledge about what’s next.

But that’s not actually how it feels to play RE4. It’s not the whole time. There are moments in the rest of the game, but they will not be as good as this section. The next enemy you’ll encounter is walking in open daylight through the woods after you escape this cottage. In other words, you’ll be able to see and hear them coming with ease.

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Then you’ll hit the first significant challenge in the game — an entire village of infected people (one of whom has a very loud and intimidating chainsaw). Even so, the challenge of this village isn’t the same as the one dished out in that first cottage. By this point, you’ve collected more bullets, maybe even some health items. More importantly, this village is expansive, and in this wider, more open area, you’ll notice how slow the game’s zombies actually are — and how easy it is to outrun them. It is possible to move higher or create a barrier for enemies.

The rest of the game isn’t going to be that easy. You will have moments of frustration. RE4Some of the old horror classics are available. But many of the battles that Leon faces take place in open areas, with enough light to see what’s coming, and a steadily increasing stockpile of weaponry and healing items. The best part? RE4’s remake has autosaves, so dying doesn’t suck as much as it used to in the original game.

All this to say, don’t be fooled by the opening sequence in RE4’s cottage. It’s not necessarily indicative of how the rest of the game will feel to play. That doesn’t mean that you might not find RE4 scary, perhaps even too scary to play — after all, these judgments are subjective, and what rolls off my back might stick a chainsaw into yours. But it’s got a lot more open areas and action-packed moments than its predecessors, and it’s definitely not all dim hallways and creaky doorways. Leon, perhaps most important, is very attractive, so that you can be distracted even if the rest fails.