Resident Evil 4: Ultimate HD Edition (2013) [PC / Steam]:
INTRO.
Resident Evil 4 will always hold a special place in my heart, being both somehow my actual first RE game (how is this even possible, given that OG versions of RE1,2, and 3 were also on PC?) & my favorite RE game. For a long time, RE4 to me was the best RE game, until recently RE2 Remake came along & flipped my world upside down.
RE4 a long time ago was brought to the PC at retail (on disc in 2006) & while it certainly was a great game, that RE4: OG PC Version was best played with the controller since the PC controls were a mess (i.e. not mouse-friendly, it lacked mouse-look & you had to use the cursors keys or whatever you mapped them to for aiming) & was unfortunately a very bare bones port of this classic.
Still, it was better to have something than nothing, since RE4 was & still is such a great game - but that original lackluster PC port lacked a lot of the great mouse-look & the proper porting process which later went into RE5 (Resident Evil 5) & pretty much every PC port of a RE game that came here to the PC after RE4. While there was a mod to add mouse-aim & whatnot, fixing the OG RE4 PC version & all - but the problem here was that I could never getting that mod working on Windows 7 or W10 unfortunately. Well, Capcom took another crack at RE4 here w/ a re-release in 2014; enter this RE4: Ultimate HD Edition (2014) which is here on Steam to solve all of those problems, which is easily the best PC version of RE4 by far.
ULTIMATE RE4.
You have plenty of options here in RE4: UHD [Steam-version] here on PC...such as support for higher-resolutions (such as 1080p); AA features; old graphics textures and new graphics textures options; 60fps support this time around is allowed (the original RE4 PC port was locked to 30fps, BTW); & a few other graphical features.
Oh, and there's even support for Achievements here on RE4: UHD on PC, which is always welcome to keep players Achieving things in-game and also for replay-ability. This game straight-up supports the mouse now & mouse-look out-the-box & it plays great, playing how you'd normally play a modern RE game since say RE5. Sure, you can still use a gamepad, if you like - and I use the old USB-based Xbox for Windows PC Controller here, BTW - but now having mouse/keyboard support feels great just for aiming down the barrel properly right out-the-box, as you'd expect from any other PC game with shooting.
Performance was perfectly fine on my aging gaming laptop with an i7 4720HQ, 16 GB RAM, 2 TB HDD, 4GB of VRAM on the GTX 960m & W10x64 at 1080p30fps. I also could easily max this out on my old gaming desktop at 1080p60fps loaded with the following specs: i7 950, 16 GB RAM, multiple HDD's, GTX 970 & W7 x64 - and this new RE4: UHD version ran smooth as butter & both ran & looked much better than the original version of RE4 from retail on disc.
RE4 TWEAKS.
Using a mod called RE4 Tweaks for RE4: UHD, you now have even more options than what the dev's (QLOC and Capcom) intended. With even more graphical features & support - utilizing this on RE4: UHD is a great idea. Not only that, but it also gives the cut-scenes full-blown Subtitles support in English, which for some reason wasn't in any version of RE4 on PC. Having this mod is a must here, even if it's just for utilizing Subtitle-support here - but you can do a lot more w/ that than just that.
MR. KENNEDY. KENNEDY.
In this game, you play Leon S. Kennedy, the veteran cop who was in RE2. The U.S. President's daughter (Ashley) gets kidnapped...and Leon has to basically go down to a foreign country; investigate the village there; find Ashley & try to return her home. Of course, this isn't everything...as there's a mysterious cult causing all kinds of problems there & is up to no good too, as a virus outbreaking is happening there. Of course, some familiar faces from previous RE games return & all kinds of madness here is breaking loose, as Leon is here to save Ashley & the world here.
While the story is rich plot-wise & character-wise & whatnot for its execution - well, it can sometimes get corny, not be not written that hot, over-the-top, and/or things of that sort - though there's still a level of ambition & charm here to it all...even when it sometimes it's not spectacularly written and often can make you smile with its charm, with, cheese, and/or being straight-up campy, whether it's purposely done...or not. Still, for the most part, a lot of this is executed quite well with great cinematic cut-scenes, tons of plot & story to follow and whatnot...and this is especially true for a game during this time period for when this game was first released (2005 on consoles & 2006 on PC).
COMBAT & GAMEPLAY.
Combat here is in 3rd person viewpoint, right behind the character that you're playing as...which mostly will be Leon, throughout this experience. A lot of survival-horror games didn't have this viewpoint, as it was usually fixed camera angles wherever the developer(s) wanted the camera to just be & sit there - so this was influential to the genre. One of the things worth noting here is that combat does not allow you to move you feet, once you aim - you stand-still and you aim & shoot - which to me always seemed weird, as I'm used to PC games like FPS's where you can both move and aim & shoot simultaneously.
Though, while this isn't a cover behind a wall type of mechanic - it still has that feel of pop & shoot even, like say those cover-based games have...since you can't move your feet when aiming. Other than that minor & odd complaint, the player still can get used to this quick, once you realize it ain't that big of a deal...and also how well this game itself & its levels and enemies are actually designed. The controls for combat are smooth & all here, getting away from the tank-controls and fixed camera angles in previous games and other survivor-horror games like earlier Silent Hill games. This new style here in RE4 is basically the foundation for the future of RE franchise....except in future RE's, you will be able to also both move your feet & character while you aim & shoot too.
Also, during some cut-scenes & whatnot, you'll have to properly match up the controls on-screen with what the character is doing on-screen, in Quick-Time Events (QTE's), which are similar to these QTE's you've seen in Shenmue games and/or in David Cage's games from Quantic Dream. This game had them on & off and here & there, doesn't beat you over the head with them thankfully unlike some other games do, so that you don't grow tired of the QTE's.
Also, the Inventory here is a separate screen here & pauses combat when used - and you will be constantly jumping between this & combat constantly while playing; especially later on when you got more weapons, enemies & whatnot on-screen. More modern RE's like RE2 Remake & RE3 Remake also have you access a Quick-Inventory style Inventory (similar to Fallout 4's Quick-Loot) not on a separate screen entirely, but also while you're in the middle of gameplay & combat, not stopping any action on-screen, which still can keep the flow of combat going.
PUZZLING.
As usual per RE titles, there are puzzles here - though, there's nothing ridiculous & outlandish here on that front. No obscure puzzles and/or answers...and/or anything of that sort. You'll often have to get through an area and/or labyrinth of a level; defeat a bunch of monsters; find some items; see if you can combine said items; and then advance to the next part. Some enemies and boss fights, you can't just use straight-up taking them down, as you'll need to use smarts and/or figure out how to defeat them, in a puzzle sort of way. Some boss fights, are a combo of smarts and/or using the right weapon or item to hurt them...and then defeat them.
UPGRADES & TREASURES.
Throughout the game, you'll run into a Travelling Merchant, who you can buy equipment from. You can buy all kinds of different items, guns, armor, and/or other stuff. You can also sell items to the Merchant & even upgrade you equipment too - giving the game a somewhat lite-RPG feel here. While you can't upgrade yourself, you can upgrade your weapons & equipment here. It's always keeping you playing & aiming to get that next weapon, upgrade, item, equipment, or whatever. Some treasures you find, you can actually combine and then sell them for more $, if you can figure out which ones to combine to make a special items more valuable & whatnot.
OUTRO.
After almost 28 hours here (around 27h24m) or so w/ the Base-Game, RE4: UHD version was finished & added to the book. That certainly isn't the end of things, as there is an extra campaign here too (Ada's Campaign of Separate Ways - and yes, I will get to that at some point) & other modes (like Mercenaries) that you can unlock when you finish the Base-Game's Campaign.
Regardless, RE4: UHD on Steam is a major improvement over the original RE4 Edition (2006). as this newer UHD Edition on Steam for the PC has improvements across the board w/ much better mouse-look controls for PC-style gameplay, better performance with also 60fps support, extra resolution support, more graphical bells & whistles, Steam Cloud Support, Steam Achievements, and improved support in other ways too.
RE4's UHD Edition on Steam is the best version of the game found on PC currently & the best way to play my personal favorite RE game, which is often - for very good reason - regarded and on many lists of critics & gamers alike for The Best Games Ever Made. Throw the RE4 Tweaks Mod on top of this version for a few more improvements & features and here you have absolutely the best way here to play RE4 on the PC.
Simply put: RE4 is nothing short of a masterpiece here as a game & to experience it in its best form in this UHD Edition with also the RE4 Tweaks Mod equipped is nothing short of awesome & a joy to play. This UHD version is a must-play game & a must-play version of this survival-horror classic.
