Oculus Gives An In-Depth Look At The Resident Evil 4 VR Remake

Oculus held its first livestreamed game showcase this week, and Resident Evil 4 in VR--a Quest 2 exclusive--was a major part of the presentation. New footage gives us a good look at how combat will feel in the game, as well as a rundown on which systems have been changed and which have been left the same. This is a classic horror game live you've never played it before, and given the number of times it has been ported thus far, that's saying something.

Most notably, the VR port adapts Resident Evil 4's third-person viewpoint to a first-person experience, and a lot of tweaks have had to be made to accommodate for that. Using weapons will be a more physical experience with the Quest 2's motion controls, allowing for finer melee weapon control, dual wielding, and the ability to manually reload firearms--which also adds the threat of fumbling a reload in a tense situation.

While the game offers VR-style teleportation as a movement option, as well as Roomscale tracking, the developers expect most people will navigate with the analogue stick as they would in a non-VR game. The developers also have made sure the VR version of the game is comfortable to play while seated, given the game is longer than most designed specifically for VR. Enemies have been balanced to adjust for the increased difficulties of navigating in VR, but Oculus expects the game overall to feel scarier and more tense in VR.

Notably, all the cutscenes will exist in their original forms, meaning there will be some shifting between third-person and first-person perspectives while playing. Many of the world's textures have also received a revamp, given the age of the original game and the shift to a first-person perspective.

The port is coming exclusively to the Oculus Quest 2 later this year, though no specific release date has been given yet.

With the first three Resident Evil games having received full remakes in recent years, fans have long expected Capcom to announce a full, non-VR remake of Resident Evil 4. While nothing has been officially announced yet, Resident Evil Village is due to release soon--and developers have said the upcoming series installment is heavily inspired by RE4.