Recently I’ve played through RE2,3 Remake, 7 and 8. All fantastic games as a new player of the series.
I’ve always heard 4 is the best in the series, but I’m half an hour into the game and it controls terribly. It’s almost unbearable. I’ve found it’s slightly easier just using the dpad and ignoring the analog sticks but what the hell are these controls ?
Should I just wait for 4 remake and stop playing this monstrosity?
You mean that you have to stop to aim?
Not only that but the analog sticks control very wonky, hard to describe but if someone played this game on their Xbox series console they’d know what I mean
Yes, wait for 4 Remake
I keep telling people the tank controls don’t hold up and make the old games unplayable
Nostalgia is powerful and I say that as a 42 year old.
I said on the show a few weeks back, if you’re new to the series, don’t play 4, wait for 4 Remake
It takes a little getting use to (maybe like 20 minutes), but I honestly didn’t find it that bad.
And this is coming from someone who had never played RE4 until this year.
Pro tip though, from my understanding the starting pistol absolutely blows when it comes to aiming.
I mean… while I agree that people expecting RE4 to control like RE titles made nearly twenty years later, are better off waiting for the remake. As an RE fanatic I would not classify RE4 as the same class of “tank controls” as RE0, RE, RE2, Nemesis, or Code Veronica. Those titles are what RE fans have always classified as such; RE4 brought in far more maneuverability, proper aiming, contextual movements, and such.
Resident Evil 4 absolutely was the shifting point for Resident Evil in adopting modern controls, and arguably innovating the third-person over-the-shoulder style overall. But that was in 2005… and there’s hardly any game from that time that still holds up from a mechanical or gameplay perspective… expecting RE4 is odd.
Never trust anyone that doesn’t “get” tank controls, I’m kidding…kind of
It’s always been weird seeing people new to tank controls struggle, 5 minutes of playing and your brain should adjust pretty easily, press up, character moves forward in direction they are facing, press down, character moves backwards, left or right character turns left or right
RE4 controls pretty much identical to the originals, the only difference is the camera perspective/aiming
Hm, well I am just barely 24, and played RE4 for the first time at 18, and I loved it and think it’s a masterpiece. Then again I even played the original games for the first time in recent years so I guess I just have high tolerance for these controls.
But, yeah, just wait for the remake if you can’t handle the controls. Or try the Wii version (and I think Switch version?) for those actually really good motion controls for aiming.
The invisible game modes were either the best or the worst on Combat.
I can’t fault folks for not liking tank controls. I hated my need to get the “The Right Way” achievement in Grim Fandango, which was to play through the game using Tank Controls. It felt so unnatural after playing it with “normal controls”.
This was my reaction when RE4 HD came out on 360. Its really annoying especially if you play other more modern 3rd person games in between 
it did this on PC with a more civilized input device == a mouse 
RE4 controls great even if it has tank movement controls which is a pretty alien concept at this point (especially for the younger audience), the OP will either be patient and get used to the controls or he should drop it if he doesn’t have the patience and play the remake instead.
If the OP decides to stick with the game (I think they should) here are some tips: get used to the quick turn and always keep a safe distance from the enemies (an important part of the combat is good positioning), shoot the enemies in the head/legs to stun them and go for the melee (which is also a good way to crowd control).
RE4 actually holds very very well in terms of combat scenarios & set-pieces. The variety, amount and quality of content and of course the pacing for such a lengthy game is absurd. Also combat wise the enemy reactions when shot are quite impressive even by today standards and everything Leon does (from shooting, melee, and headshots to even reloading animations) feels very satisfying. The awesome and punchy sound effects help a lot there too.
laughs in the original RE4 PC port
Sometimes having to struggle with the controls is part of the fun, like with some Sim games from Racers to games like ARMA. It supposed to be difficult to do stuff in the game. That’s on purpose. RE4 and RE5 have this kind of limitations in gameplay that gives these games their flavor/identity.
Of course, we’ll never make these games again, because we have moved on and it’s hard to go back, but these games will remain great for that old-school gameplay.
I’m not sure, but the idea was to have the tension of the first RE games and also be like an Arcade shooter : move, stop and shoot, then move again to the next action section.
But yeah, the remakes are still really tense AND let you move (although slower) and shoot, so I think they struck the right balance. Still, it’s interesting to see the evolution and still be able to play these older-games to understand the different approach.
Yea I first played this game back when it first came out and I was still getting used to the modern control scheme but holy crap the controls don’t hold up well at all today. Someone too used to the modern shooter layout will have an extremely hard time getting used to it. I recommend waiting for R4make for anyone new to this game.
The story makes it worth it but that doesn’t change the fact that they could have done something better with the remastered versions. Tank Controls suck having to adjust yourself to such a stupid mechanic is another sign of capcom not caring for people like me. It’s fine for 2005 on the Gamecube I played that but now it’s not fine anymore when they could have fixed it. Just waiting for the Remake I seriously can’t play the game otherwise
