Resident Evil 4stands as an icon in the gaming industry. The game has been ported to nearly every electronic device that can play games, including IOS. Though the game is divisive among many, it stands as a mile marker in the transformation of action shooter and third-person action games. As such, the game has a wide fan base with tons of passionate people.
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There is perhaps none more passionate than the creators of theResident Evil 4HD Project for PC. Thismassive mod has been in the works for yearsand years, spearheaded by a man named Albert. For years, Albert found the source locations that the originalCapcomdevelopers and art teams used for in-game locations, and he took his own photos andpainstakingly recreated nearly every texture in the entire game.Players looking to learn more about the mod should visit theofficial website, and those looking to install it should gohere! The mod offers more reasons to be installed than just making the game look better too!
10Complete Texture Overhauls
This mod doesn’t just cover characters. One complaint withResident Evil 4is that the village was plain, rocky, and brown. The HD Project reimagines the village while maintaining its original feeling. Rocks have beencompletely re-texturedand trees have thicker leaves. The ground beneath Leon’s feet looks realistic now, complete with fallen leaves and twigs. The area where the HD Project’s work shines best is Salazar’s Castle though.
The castle looks simply beautiful. The paintings throughout the castle have all been remastered and the floors have gotten shiner and even reflective in some areas. There areareas inside the castle that rival the reflective abilities of modern ray tracing!Simply put, the world of horror that Leon goes through inResident Evil 4has never looked more alive.
9Texture Overhauls For All The Extra Modes
The HD Project didn’t stop at the main story. Albert and his team were determined to give this treatment to the entire game, and that includes all the extra modes.Ada Wong’s story,“Separate Ways” and the non-canon “Assignment Ada” have been remastered as well.Every cutscene and character in these extra modes received the same detailed glow-upsthat Leon and Ashley got in their story.
Fans of the Mercenaries mode will be happy to know that the HD Project has affected every playable character and their unique load-outs. Fans can play as HD versions ofAlbert Wesker,Jack Krauser, andthe legendary HUNK.The developers of the HD Project really left no character behind!
8Many Small Textures & Models Have Been Changed
Fans who grew up playingResident Evil 4will be more prone to spotting small texture changes. Interestingly enough, this is perhaps the HD Project’s largest undertaking. Countless models have been remade or outright changed tofit a more modern look while maintaining the feeling of the original game.Doors have warning signs in Spanish that are actually legible, control panels have company names, andthe merchant’s belteven has a stamp that says, “Made in China.”
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Though these changes might go unnoticed by players less familiar with the game, they are certainly a welcome addition. As the phrase goes, “The Devil’s in the details,” andthe Resident Evil 4 HD Project has no shortage of details.Even the smallest props have been remade and remastered to fit into a completely redone world.
7Performance Enhancing Features Have Been Added
ThoughResident Evil 4was originally released in 2005, there are always ways to make a game run better! The HD Project allows players tobring up a handy settings menu with a simple press of the F1 key.Here, players will find several menus and among them will be graphics and display options. Here, players can turn Vsync on or off, an option that was missing in previous iterations of the game.
Players can also fix aspect ratios here as well as broken game filters. There are plenty of options to customize how the game runs and optimize it to run perfectly on the desired PC. A welcome quality of life improvement offered with the final version of the HD Project is theautomatic integration of the 4GB memory patch,which is necessary to run the mod and to prevent the game from crashing, even without the mod.
6The FOV Slider
After jumping from fixed camera angles to third-person over-the-shoulder view inResident Evil 4there have been many fans who’ve had to shelve the series due to motion sickness complaints.Resident Evil 4 & 5were bearable butResident Evil 6was nigh unplayable for many people with motion sickness. In order to alleviate these feelings,the team behind the HD Project added an in-game FOV slider!
This change was unexpected with what appeared to be a texture pack from the outside, but it was certainly a welcome change, especially for people who struggle with motion sickness. The FOV slider can befound in the F1 key menu,and it can pull the camera quite a ways back from Leon. Thegame starts in its original FOVand custom FOV changes must be made in-game. The FOV slider is a great addition and makes the game even more accessible to more people, which is always a plus!
5Customizable Graphics Settings
The F1 key menus have tons of neat little options for players to customize their playthrough with. There are color filters and blur optionsthat can be toggled on and off. For a look more akin to the original GameCube release, players can keep cutscene background blur on.
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These can becombined with the features listed above to create a unique lookand feel forResident Evil 4. Keep in mind that theremay still be bugs in the mod that the developers are ironing out though,and changing too much with the visuals could lead to some issues.
4Improved Controls For All Devices
For as long asResident Evilhas been on PC, it has been given some odd binds for keyboard and mouse players. These are particularly noticeable during quick-time events where players are expected to hit two seemingly random keys on the keyboard to avoid some horrible on-screen death. The HD Project’sF1 menu allows players to edit binds if they’re playing on the keyboard and even allows the default QTE keys to be changed!
Controller players aren’t left out either.Players can tune controller stick sensitivityin the F1 menu to better suit their playstyles. These changes are small but welcome, especially for keyboard and mouse players who have previously been left behind when it comes toResident Evilcontrol schemes.
3Fixed Camera Angles For Ashley’s Section
During the castle section ofResident Evil 4players take overAshley Graham, the girl Leon is supposed to be protecting. She’s cut off from Leon and has to find her way back to him. Unfortunately, this means traversing through narrow stone halls with nothing but her flashlight and her wits to save her. It also just so happens that there are a few Granados trying to get her alongside countlesslivingsuits of armor.
Inthe original Japanese version of the game, players would play this section with traditional fixed camera angles,just like the oldResident Evilgames. For some reason,this feature never made it into the Western releases.The HD Project changes this though andallows players to play through Ashley’s section with fixed camera angles.Needless to say, this section is even more frightening with this setting enabled! Playerslooking to turn it on can find it in the F1 menus.
2A Brand New Area To Explore
After the cabin sequence where Leon and Luis fend off dozens of enemies, the player is left with a choice of paths. The left path takes them through armies of Ganados whereas the right-hand path will have them battle another El Gigante. Players with the mod installedshould definitely take the left-hand path if they want to find the secret roomadded by the HD Project developers. It is somewhere in this zone without spoiling exactlywhereit is.
The secret area has a few items in it includinga special item that Leon wouldn’t be able to obtain normally.There’snothing completely overpowered or game-breaking though,so don’t worry about that. Without revealing the contents of the secret room entirely, it can be said that this area is a testament to Albert’s seven-plus years of work in the HD Project. Players will simply have to find it and learn its contents themselves for the full story!
1Experience Resident Evil 4 In Its Best Form
There have been countless rumors surrounding a possibleResident Evil 4 Remake. They have been circulating for years now and Capcom has been mostly tight-lipped on them. Players playingResident Evil 4on PC don’t have to wait for a remake though, as the HD Project essentially gives the game a true remaster. Simply put, this is the best way to currently playResident Evil 4.It is the definitive version of the game, and the HD Project team’s passion for the game bleeds through in every small detail.
Players looking for the best running, best looking, and best performing version ofResident Evil 4should look no further than the HD Project mod. The process of installing it is explained carefully by Albert on thedownload pageand updates to the mod or project can best be seen through the officialTwitter page.
Resident Evil 4is available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Oculus Quest 2, and many other platforms.
