Resident Evil 4 is the latest in a series of excellent remakes of Capcom’s legendary survival horror games. If you have played the new versions of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, now is the time to remind yourself or get acquainted for the first time with one of the most beloved games in the series, which also receives a complete remake treatment.
As it is a remake and not a remaster, the new Resident Evil 4 is a completely fresh experience only based on the hit game from 2005, so it is powered by a completely new graphics engine. What engine is the Resident Evil 4 Remake running on? Let’s find out.
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What Engine is the Resident Evil 4 Remake Running On?
So on what engine does the Resident Evil 4 Remake run? The answer is, as expected, Capcom’s RE Engine. The engine that is named after this series (although Capcom claims that RE stands for… REACH FOR THE MOON ENGINE!) was made during the last generation for the purposes of well, making new Resident Evil games and all other Capcom titles. RE Engine is the next-gen successor to Capcom’s MT Framework that served as the engine for all their releases during the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 generation and to some extent beyond.
The first game with the new RE Engine was Resident Evil 7: Biohazard in 2017, and then it was used in the mega-successful Resident Evil 2 Remake, and in all later Resident Evil games that followed. In addition to the new RE games, this engine was also used for Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, as well as, you would never believe, the 2D game Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection. Also, the upcoming Capcom games Street Fighter 6 and Exoprimal will use the RE Engine.
The Benefits of RE Engine in Resident Evil 4 Remake
The specifics of RE Engine are well known to everyone who has played at least two games made in the same engine, but let’s start with the good stuff – this graphic engine renders human skin and other organic materials extremely well, giving them an almost life-like look, which only Unreal Engine 5 will be able to match. Also, many other materials look impressive in the RE Engine, which you will notice best when zooming in on the models in the 3D model viewer mode that every new Resident Evil game has – including the remake of the fourth part.
Ray-Tracing support was brilliantly implemented in this engine that didn’t support it from the beginning, but with games like Resident Evil Village and especially the new Resident Evil 4 Remake, the lighting got a whole new dimension!
The Usual CONS of RE Engine That are Present in Resident Evil 4 Remake as Well
A well-known problem with this engine, especially in Resident Evil titles, is the excessive insistence on lens distortion and heavy chromatic aberration effects – which luckily can be turned off completely. However, due to these effects and the strange camera, many players had problems with motion sickness while playing Resident Evil 7 and even Village, so Resident Evil 4 Remake comes with an anti-motion sickness preset that turns off these effects and that horrid camera wobble.
Related: Resident Evil 4 Remake Graphics Modes – Optimization Guide
Also, since the Resident Evil games moved to the RE Engine, the menus, inventory, and items somehow look the same in every version. Although in Resident Evil 4 Remake we have a recreated attache case with Tetris-like stacking of items, still all menus and item manipulation look more or less like every other RE Engine Resident Evil game. Remember when each RE title had its own unique menus?
Not Ideal on the Last-Gen!
In general, RE Engine was a logical choice for Resident Evil 4 Remake, and thanks to it, the game looks so much better now and also works very well on next-gen consoles and PC. But, if you’re still on last-gen PlayStation 4 or Xbox One hardware, RE Engine games on these systems don’t run as well. Even though this engine debuted in that generation until the next one came around, not a single RE Engine game on the old systems achieved to get past the 30fps limit, which is also the case here. Sure, RE Engine scales just fine on the old hardware, but being stuck with 30fps in the new version of the game that ran in 60fps back in 2005 is not really the best way to experience this fine remake.
Resident Evil 4 Remake comes out on March 24, for last-gen and next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles and PC.
