The Resident Evil 4 remake is a good-looking game, but it can be better, as it launched with a number of technical issues in March. After a few patches and updates, Capcom has managed to fix a number of the technical problems that were plaguing the remake, but there’s still room for improvement according to analysts Digital Foundry.
In a new technical breakdown, Digital Foundry explained that Resident Evil 4’s recent 1.004 update has further polished the game, addressing several performance issues across PC and console. Not all of these fixes have been equally applied across platforms, as Digital Foundry noted that overall image sharpness is better on PS5 when compared to Xbox Series X|S consoles, which actually look worse when compared to their launch versions due to them using “substantially” more aliasing.
“Capcom perhaps ought to reconsider its approach here,” Digital Foundry explained. “RE Village had a cleaner image on consoles than the RE4 remake while also featuring a fairly foliage-rich world. Perhaps a move towards a less aggressive checkerboard solution or a native resolution approach with a lower pixel count would suit this title more.”
Other fixes applied include replacing low-resolution reflections with cubemaps or ray traced reflections depending on the circumstance, improved frame rates on Xbox Series X, and more consistent performance on Xbox Series S. Deadzone issues on Xbox Series X|S have also been addressed, making the game feel much more responsive now.
“All things considered, Resident Evil 4 is substantially improved from the launch release but there are a lot of areas that still need attention,” Digital Foundry concluded. “Strand-based hair still looks weirdly worse than the default card-based hair; ray tracing is fairly limited and low-res, while there are an overwhelming array of visual options to navigate on premium consoles. With that said, the game has been enhanced over the launch code and the game’s key issues have been at least partially addressed.”
Resident Evil 4’s The Mercenaries DLC is available for free across all platforms right now, but the update also added an unexpected feature in the form of microtransactions. Completely optional, these $3 Upgrade Tickets allow players to upgrade any weapon in their arsenal.
