《生化危机4 黄金版》Nintendo Switch 2 评测

System: Switch 2
Release date: October 16, 2026
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that Resident Evil 4 is one of the most influential video games ever made. By replacing fixed camera angles with a dynamic over-the-shoulder perspective and shifting the traditionally slow-paced horror towards aggressive and fast-paced action, it revitalized the survival horror genre and also opened the door for a fresh wave of third-person shooters thereafter. It’s a game that still holds up remarkably well over twenty years later, to the point that when the remake was announced I wondered exactly what Capcom were going to be able to do to improve it beyond a graphical overhaul and some minor quality-of-life tweaks. It turns out that they could do quite a bit with it.

In the six years since the events that took place in Raccoon City in the previous two titles, Leon Kennedy has been keeping busy, having been hired by the government and given training to become a special agent in recognition of his actions. His latest mission is to rescue the President’s daughter, Ashley, after she is kidnapped by a mysterious cult, Los Illuminados. Unfortunately for Leon, this isn’t going to be as simple and straightforward a task as he may have hoped as the local villagers are all extremely hostile, having been infected by a mind-controlling parasite that the cult uses to keep its members in line.

Although it follows the same story beats, Resident Evil 4 ties in much more neatly with the rest of the series than the original. Its central plot points still feel slightly ridiculous at times, but the darker tone makes it feel like a more natural fit, rather than the almost standalone reinvention that it was originally designed to be. Small scenes that flesh out characters’ backstories tie in nicely to previous titles. Leon’s past experiences in Raccoon City, and his time training during that six year time-gap, are both expanded upon, and the games’ main supporting cast, Luis and Ashley, also receive overhauls that make them far more developed characters. One of the biggest narrative changes comes about through Separate Ways, a complete re-invention of the Assignment: Ada mode from the original that significantly expands upon Ada’s side of events, and more closely ties the events of the game to the wider series timeline.

But the one casualty of the improved narrative in Resident Evil 4 is the tone of the dialogue, and I must admit that I vastly preferred the smoothly confident and sarcastic Leon of the original, and I particularly miss Osmund Saddler frequently calling on the radio to affably check on your progress and occasionally gloat, and without this he feels very removed from the proceedings despite being the central antagonist. It feels like a necessary cut to avoid a loss of tension, but it is a loss nonetheless, and the few quips that Leon retains feel more forced than jovial.

Resident Evil 4’s story is largely the same as the original, but it contains enough surprises and changes that it often feels like an entirely new experience. The lake is particularly noteworthy; previously the site for a single brief boss battle, you’ll now have to crisscross it on a boat and explore dark caverns beyond, opening up shortcuts and discovering new treasures along the way, and the castle gardens have been expanded upon into a hedge labyrinth crawling with infected dogs. Some of the more noteworthy set pieces have been cut entirely, but this feels less like a glaring omission and more as if it was done for the sake of streamlining.

Despite his more somber attitude, Leon hasn’t lost his flair for the dramatic, and it gives combat in the game a more strategic and tactile weight that is even more enjoyable. The most noticeable change is that you can now move and shoot at the same time, which takes a little getting used to but gives the game a fluidity that the original lacked, bringing it up to par with modern third-person shooters. A shared feature between the previous two remakes was a noticeable upgrade in the durability of zombies and this has also been carried over to the ganados in Resident Evil 4. They won’t suddenly rise later (if they’re going to rise again they will shake violently beforehand, giving you the opportunity to kill them outright with a knife finisher) but still take several bullets to put down.

Shooting an approaching enemy in the leg to make them stumble and then spin-kicking them is not only satisfying, it now feels as though the game is actively encouraging it for survival: on higher difficulties ammo and resources to craft are not so plentiful that you’ll be able to comfortably put down every enemy you come across with this alone. Leon’s knife has also seen an upgrade as it can be used to parry close range attacks, meaning that being unable to make the chainsaw-wielding ganados stumble before they reach you no longer results in immediate decapitation.

If Resident Evil 4’s gameplay could be said to have one particular flaw, it would be Ashley’s presence turning a large part of it into an escort mission, and this is one thing that hasn’t been fixed. Although her playable section in the game is a notable improvement – being stalked through the darkened corridors by plaga-infested suits of armour with no real way to fight back against them is classic Resident Evil survival horror through and through – when accompanying Leon she is an aggravating hindrance at the best of times, being prone to being carried off in hectic fights, and quite often she refuses to stay hidden. She has absolutely no concept of danger and during the castle segment of the game in particular her tendency to blunder right into it remains just as frustrating as it ever was.

Resident Evil 4 was made using Capcom’s RE Engine, and the result is as spectacular as you would expect: lighting really stands out here, creating a consistently dark and oppressive atmosphere that keeps things feeling tense even during quieter moments. The game has more than its fair share of grotesque, mutated creatures that lean into body horror (it doesn’t get much worse than having an elongated centipede explode out of your neck) that are on full grisly display here, making this easily the best version of the game from a technical standpoint. The level of detail on display when docked is fantastic, and Capcom has done a remarkable job at bringing the game over to Nintendo Switch 2 with minimal cuts.

In handheld mode, the game is functional, but less impressive. The first third of the game is noticeably messy. Rather than cutting out some details, it looks like everything has been left in but at a much lower resolution, and although this eases off in later areas of the game, it doesn’t leave the best first impression when you’re trekking through the village. Character models are also of a lower quality, but are of the same standard as Capcom’s other Resident Evil titles and look fine in motion. The game also skips frames quite regularly when moving between different areas, and some Ganados appear to be rendered at a slightly lower frame rate when there are a lot of them on-screen at once or they’re a short distance away.

As a more recent and therefore more technically demanding title than the other remakes, there are clear signs that Nintendo Switch 2 struggles at times to keep a consistent image quality and frame rate. But this never impedes on the action to the point that it becomes a problem, and I didn’t notice any input lag when controlling Leon outside of a few early game micro-stutters either. At times the game feels as though it could have benefited from the usual performance options in handheld, but while docked, the game delivers a fantastic experience easily on par with the other titles in the series.

Like the other remakes, Resident Evil 4 supports HDR, and again I wouldn’t suggest playing with this enabled if you’re playing in handheld. Nintendo Switch 2’s LCD screen is incredibly dark even with brightness set to maximum. When playing docked this is absolutely the best way to play, but in handheld you’re better off adjusting the brightness with it off. Note that with this Gold Edition, you’re getting a bunch of DLC, including Separate Ways at no extra cost.

I wouldn’t say that the Resident Evil 4 remake improves on the original in every way, but it is the version of the game that I would recommend to newcomers, as it ties in significantly better with the narrative of the series as a whole, even if it does lose that sense of whimsy as a result. The quality-of-life improvements it makes to the gameplay vastly outweigh the cuts it makes, and the subtle shift it makes back towards survival horror gives it a level of atmospheric tension the original lacked, and makes its action-focused gameplay far more satisfying. It’s a more than worthy remake of a classic title and, a few struggles in handheld notwithstanding, an amazing experience on Nintendo Switch 2.

Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition copy provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.