Resident Evil 4: Gold Edition Review

Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition (Switch 2) Review

An unnecessary, but largely effective, remake for one of the finest video games ever created.

Resident Evil 4 firmly belongs to the pantheon of great video games, not just within the survival horror genre. Its combination of action, atmosphere, and humor add up to a winning formula that the series has skirted close to but never eclipsed. Of all the recent remakes for classic Resident Evil, RE4 was the one that piqued my interest the most, due to my fondness for the original. However, it’s also that same reverence that made me hesitate to pull the trigger; how do you improve upon Capcom’s GameCube masterpiece? Having now played through Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition on Switch 2, I can confirm that while I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the original might still be even better.

Resident Evil 4 follows protagonist Leon Kennedy as he infiltrates a remote village and countryside on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter, Ashley. The beginning of the story is filled with tension as your first encounters with the zombie-like villagers force you to run and evade given your limited arsenal, ammo, and knowledge. There’s a wonderful sense of progression as you build up your stock of guns and upgrade them via the colorful merchant, who’s always a welcome sight among the chaos and disarray of your surroundings. New and expanded cutscenes and areas to explore give more depth to the adventure, even if I found some of these to be more like padding rather than meaningful addition. The tightness of the original was something to be celebrated, whereas some of the remake’s chapters drag on a bit overlong.

Other changes are much more welcome, like an auto-save feature, a weapon wheel, and the ability for Leon to parry various attacks with his trusty knife. All of these came into play whenever I encountered the handful of chainsaw wielding enemies, or the blind foes with claws that put Wolverine to shame. Whenever you want a bit of a breather, there’s an expanded mini-game made out of the Merchant’s target practice, where high scores award medals that can be spent at a gacha machine to acquire equippable perks. I do wish these were either a bit stronger or more unique, as I didn’t feel super compelled to keep earning the medals for the benefit of a 15 percent higher chance of crafting some extra sub-machinegun ammo. Some new element upped the horror quota for Resident Evil 4, with new scenes where Leon has to whip out a flashlight to cut the darkness and one where you control Ashley and need to avoid possessed suits of armor.

Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition includes two notable add-ons: the standalone Separate Ways DLC, and a package of DLC items and costumes. Separate Ways is a fun complement to the base campaign as it sees you playing an abbreviated version of the story through the eyes of femme fatale Ada Wong. It’s about half the length and a bit more action-focused – and most importantly it lets you use Ada’s grappling hook to satisfying effect. The other DLC items include a pair of weapons that you begin the game with, and extra treasures/maps for each area, so you can earn extra dough to spend upgrading your shotty or sidearm.

Performance on Switch 2 is incredibly stable and smooth, both handheld and while docked. I probably spent about 50 percent of my playtime in each configuration, and didn’t feel I was making any major sacrifice when I had to give up the TV and undock the console to continue stabbing infected villagers and the bugs sprouting from their heads. From a technical point of view, docked was giving 60fps with some distant enemies updating at 30fps. We’re also getting a docked resolution of about 576p that is then upscaled to 1080p. Handheld is lower resolution but almost as smooth in terms of framerate. I also appreciated the generally fast load times between chapters and when booting up the game.

There’s no question that Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is both an excellent game and well worth your time if you’re an RE fan or a first-timer to the series. A thought that continues to linger in my mind is that you may want to play the original first, for the point of reference, but also because it’s still a timeless video game that holds up incredibly well in 2026 (not to mention you can buy it on the Switch eShop). The memorable quips and one-liners help cut the palpable tension, and the shooting and enemy variety make for an awesome gameplay experience from top to bottom. However you choose to pick it up, Resident Evil 4 is definitely in “must-play” territory.

Summary

Pros

• Separate Ways DLC is excellent
• Solid Switch 2 performance
• Some nice quality of life changes
• Still one of the best survival horror games ever made

Cons

• Original game is a bit tighter and drags on less

Worldwide Releases

Related Content

• Resident Evil 4: Gold Edition [S2]

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