Resident Evil 4 Remake (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £54.99)
The verdict: Classic, refreshed
evaluation: ****
There are a few public holidays coming up, how about a trip to Spain? You know: sun, sea, sangria and – what is that?! Slave, parasitic sectarians who want to throw your bones into their paella.
Ah, this is not a tour operator website on my screen. It is the remake of Resident Evil 4, a game originally released in 2005.
We’re back with floppy-haired cop Leon S. Kennedy and his mission to rescue the President’s daughter – though now in higher definition, with even more formidable enemies, and a few more tricks and rewards in store.
In Resident Evil 4, we’re back with floppy-haired cop Leon S. Kennedy and his mission to rescue the chief’s daughter – though now in higher definition, with even more formidable enemies, and a few tricks and treats in store.
It’s one of the all-time horror and action classics and has been made available on every device from Nintendo’s old GameCube to modern VR headsets.
It influenced all the Resident Evil games that followed and even, in a roundabout way, the ones that came before it – 2019’s Resident Evil 2 was very much an attempt to make that more like 4
At this point, it’s worth saying that Resident Evil 4 never really went away. It’s one of the all-time horror and action classics and has been made available on every device from Nintendo’s old GameCube to modern VR headsets.
It influenced all the Resident Evil games that followed and even, in a roundabout way, the ones that came before it – the 2019 Resident Evil 2 re-do was very much an attempt to make that more like a 4.
It helped give birth to a new type of fast-paced, over-the-shoulder shooter.
So this remake takes on the challenge of turning the all-too-familiar into something new again – and mostly succeeds.
Improved graphics help, of course, even if the more realistic gore isn’t ideal for squeamish types like myself.
But it’s the gameplay changes that are most impressive.
Leon’s new stealth abilities look like they’ve been in Resident Evil 4 the whole time. However, even with its freshness, this one isn’t quite as straightforward as remakes of Residents Evils 2 and 3 – perhaps because there was so little to reveal. We’ve been to this corner of Spain time and time again. And we’ll be back again next year, even with the parasite-infested.
Nuclear War Simulator (PC, £23.79)
Verdict: Information war
evaluation: ***
This is not a maneuver. In fact, it is hardly a game. This is Nuclear War Simulator – and the name should tell you what you’re in for. A, erm, nuclear war simulation.
When you open Nuclear War Simulator, you are introduced to the Earth itself, spinning through space.
On this land there are small icons that represent nuclear silos, submarines or planes. You click on one and order it to send a missile—in anger—to a faraway country of your choosing.
This is not a maneuver. In fact, it is hardly a game. This is Nuclear War Simulator – and the name should tell you what you’re in for. A, erm, nuclear war simulation
When you open Nuclear War Simulator, you are introduced to the Earth itself, spinning through space
On this land there are small icons that represent nuclear silos, submarines or planes. You click on one and order it to send a missile—in anger—to a faraway country of your choosing
A red triangle travels across the sky before descending in what appears, from this height, to be puffs of smoke. Trance, not terrible, radioactive blast.
Except you know it did a lot of damage – because you can check. Nuclear War Simulator does its best to describe the repercussions of each bomb.
Now click on Destruction, and you’ll see many accurate mathematical measurements of what happened.
If that makes Nuclear War Simulation sound annoying or grating, don’t worry – it’s not. This is a low budget version with abstract graphics and boxes full of numbers. In fact, in design and appearance, it’s much closer to an instructional CD from the ’90s than it is to a Call Of Duty-style explosive war game from today. Its purpose is to inform, not to entertain.
It is also a limiting factor for it. There are many scenarios you can “play” with – or you can design your own – but the experience isn’t really one of tactics, strategy or victory. It is about artificial intelligence calculating all the variables and showing the shocking results in black and white.
Which makes Nuclear War Simulator interesting, intelligent, and perhaps even human – although rarely fun. But maybe that’s the whole point. Nuclear war will never be fun, right?
