Resident Evil 4 iPhone reviews suggest it could be dead on arrival
If you haven't played Resident Evil 4 by now, we question where you've been for the past 18 years. Capcom's shuffling zombie showstopper is held as one of the best video games of all time and helped popularise third-person over-the-shoulder games. After all, it's not like there aren't enough ways to play.
While the production of Resident Evil 4 was notoriously troubled, it took a shotgun to the competition in 2005 and had us running out to buy a GameCube. Giving Skyrim a run for its money in terms of ports, RE4 has since found itself on everything from the Oculus Quest 2 to the Zeebo - the less said about that, the better.
Resident Evil 4 gets a rough debut on iPhone
Resident Evil 4 came back in a big way in 2023, with Capcom's new-gen outing debuting to rave reviews and even earning itself a nomination for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. If that wasn't enough, there was the promise of an iPhone port, meaning we can take the horror favourite on the go.
Resident Evil 4 has appeared on both Android and iPhone before, although it's one of the many ports of the original game. Capcom is running that well dry, with 2021's Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake coming to iPhone 15 Pro. Village came out in October, but by the first look, RE4 might not be worth the wait.
Although Resident Evil 4's iPhone release isn't until December 20, the first IGN previews don't make it sound like it'll be the Christmas cracker we were hoping for. Jacqueline Thomas said these versions of RE4 and Death Stranding must be in early porting, "or they're just not going to be that great of an experience on your phone."
Saying that while she was impressed with the iPhone 15 Pro being able to play Resident Evil 4 natively, Thomas explained, "Frame drops were extremely common, especially when aiming my weapon or loading into an area." Saying it came to a complete stop when attacked by a zombie, she had some serious issues.
The scathing preview continues, and although she reminds us it's an early build of the game, "What made it stand out as especially bad was the wealth of excellent mobile games I played on these devices." She points to Apple Arcade games like Sonic Dream Team and The Division Resurgence that have been specifically built for mobile gaming.
Resident Evil 4's price tag is putting you off
Click to enlargeIf a pretty rocky preview wasn't enough to put you off taking Resident Evil 4 on the move with your expensive iPhone 15 Pro, how about the eye-watering price tag? This isn't any ol' Angry Birds $1.99 release, with Resident Evil 4 costing a whopping $59.99/£57.99.
As for Thomas, she concludes that Resident Evil 4 really needs to be played with a controller on iPhone 15 Pro, meaning it's the added cost of an expensive periphery on top of the already beefy price tag. In the end, she sums up that RE4 might be worth it if you couldn't boot up your console and play it (better) for the same price...or even less.
