Resident Evil 4 Remake wins the best horror game of 2023 at Horror Game Awards

[John Elden Ring]

After the first day of big reveals, Feardemic’s Fear Fest 2023 concluded last night with the Horror Game Awards. Spread across 13 categories (and one lifetime achievement award), the big winner last night was Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake.

The acclaimed remake of the 2005 classic nabbed all five of its nominated categories, including Horror Game of The Year. Meanwhile, Capcom’s other Resident Evil title, Resident Evil Village, snagged the award for Best VR/AR Horror.

The title closest to equaling RE4‘s total wins was rose-engine’s Alien-esque Survival Horror title Signalis, which snagged the awards for Best Narrative of the Year and Best Indie Horror of the Year.

Meanwhile, the Horror Game Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award went to Mikael Hedberg, lead writer for the upcoming Alone in the Dark remake, as well as Amnesia: Rebirth and SOMA.

• Best Game Design of the Year: Resident Evil 4 Remake
• Best Score/ Soundtrack of the Year: Resident Evil 4 Remake
• Best Audio Design of the Year: Dead Space Remake
• Best Horror Trailer of the Year: Silent Hill 2 Remake
• Best Performance of the Year: Nick Apostolides (Resident Evil 4 Remake)
• Best VR/AR Horror of the Year: Resident Evil Village
• Best Horror Multiplayer of the Year: The Outlast Trials
• Best Horror Content Creator of the Year: The Sphere Hunter
• Best Narrative of the Year: Signalis
• Best Indie Horror of the Year: Signalis
• Best Art Direction of the Year: Scorn
• Best Character of the Year: Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil 4 Remake)
• Horror Game of The Year: Resident Evil 4 Remake
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Mikael Hedberg (Alone in the Dark, Amnesia: Rebirth, SOMA) – Lead Writer

 

[BlueLyria]

Absolutely deserved, Hope it goes on to compete on TGA

 

[Johnic]

It's a game I really dislike as a RE game, on account of it almost killing the series. But man, what a remake. Excellent game.

It's why I hope they do a remake on Code Veronica using RE2 gameplay.

 

[Deleted member 223]

Best art for Scorn is well deserved.

Looking at that list, can hardly disagree with any of the picks. Good jury I guess.

 

[Entropi]

Well deserved. RE4 is how a remake should be done.

 

[arvfab]

I loved the Remake (while I didn't like the original), but I don't see much horror in there.

 

[JAHGamer]

I’ve held off until the PSVR2 release, can’t wait

 

[Killer_Sakoman]

It's a game I really dislike as a RE game, on account of it almost killing the series. But man, what a remake. Excellent game.

It's why I hope they do a remake on Code Veronica using RE2 gameplay.

I agree, while it's good. It's the game that killed the series

 

[Airbus]

Imo remake shouldnt be count in award

 

[Would_you_kindly]

Very well deserved amazing game now where's my dlc capcom

 

[Arc]

It's a game I really dislike as a RE game, on account of it almost killing the series. But man, what a remake. Excellent game.

It's why I hope they do a remake on Code Veronica using RE2 gameplay.

I agree, while it's good. It's the game that killed the series

It’s easy to forget now, but remember both the crashing critical and commercial reception to how old RE was feeling? Tank controls and the general dated-ness of RE was a huge meme, and the consensus seemed to be that if the series couldn’t meaningfully innovate or evolve beyond 1997-1998, it didn’t have a future.

That’s why we got the Resident Evil 4 we did.

While I agree somewhat that it overshot the mark for innovation, and lost or reduced some aspects of classic RE, the devs did make a genuine effort to make it feel like Resident Evil. The atmosphere itself strongly comes to mind. The village in the storm is probably the most atmospheric ‘RE feeling’ location in the entire series, and there’s a genuinely good horror edge to all the action.

I think if anything, RE4 saved the series, and made it a concrete fixture of gaming, so much that instead of having existential troubles five years after it’s debut, it’s stuck around twenty years after RE4.

The problem was that any sequel to RE4 needed to go ahead and reintroduce the classic elements into the brilliant new formula. We’ve seen it since in RE2 Remake, Revolutions, and RE4 Remake, so it definitely wasn’t impossible.

Instead, we got RE5, a kind of Flanderized version of what the developers thought people loved about RE4, and that to me, along with sequel RE6, was really what almost killed the series, at least tonally. That complete misread of the situation, and playing to trends at the time like co-op, and Gears of War’s popularity, which I recall the producer freely admitted.

 

[Johnic]

It’s easy to forget now, but remember both the crashing critical and commercial reception to how old RE was feeling? Tank controls and the general dated-ness of RE was a huge meme, and the consensus seemed to be that if the series couldn’t meaningfully innovate or evolve beyond 1997-1998, it didn’t have a future.

That’s why we got the Resident Evil 4 we did.

While I agree somewhat that it overshot the mark for innovation, and lost or reduced some aspects of classic RE, the devs did make a genuine effort to make it feel like Resident Evil. The atmosphere itself strongly comes to mind. The village in the storm is probably the most atmospheric ‘RE feeling’ location in the entire series, and there’s a genuinely good horror edge to all the action.

I think if anything, RE4 saved the series, and made it a concrete fixture of gaming, so much that instead of having existential troubles five years after it’s debut, it’s stuck around twenty years after RE4.

The problem was that any sequel to RE4 needed to go ahead and reintroduce the classic elements into the brilliant new formula. We’ve seen it since in RE2 Remake, Revolutions, and RE4 Remake, so it definitely wasn’t impossible.

Instead, we got RE5, a kind of Flanderized version of what the developers thought people loved about RE4, and that to me, along with sequel RE6, was really what almost killed the series, at least tonally. That complete misread of the situation, and playing to trends at the time like co-op, and Gears of War’s popularity, which I recall the producer freely admitted.

Problem with RE4 is that it COMPLETELY changed the series' genre. RE2 remake is a perfect example of how to take away tank controls and fixed camera angles and still make an excellent horror game. RE4 completely threw away what the series was and made what was popular at the time.

RE5 gets a lot of crap but all it did was take what people praised about 4 and turned it up. And it all sent the series down a spiral. They could have saved the series without killing what it used to be. The Evil Within 2 did a great job of adding more to the series, without sacrificing what it was.

Speaking of RE, I have no idea what Capcom is doing with the series now. You have RE1 and RE2 remakes, both excellent showcases of what their respective styles can do well and we still get something like RE8. And I hear 9 will be even more over the top with ghosts, witches and Vendigos. It's like they're restarting the cycle again, leading them down a path where they'll have to try and reinvent the series again like they did with 7.

 

[Killer_Sakoman]

Problem with RE4 is that it COMPLETELY changed the series' genre. RE2 remake is a perfect example of how to take away tank controls and fixed camera angles and still make an excellent horror game. RE4 completely threw away what the series was and made what was popular at the time.

RE5 gets a lot of crap but all it did was take what people praised about 4 and turned it up. And it all sent the series down a spiral. They could have saved the series without killing what it used to be. The Evil Within 2 did a great job of adding more to the series, without sacrificing what it was.

Speaking of RE, I have no idea what Capcom is doing with the series now. You have RE1 and RE2 remakes, both excellent showcases of what their respective styles can do well and we still get something like RE8. And I hear 9 will be even more over the top with ghosts, witches and Vendigos. It's like they're restarting the cycle again, leading them down a path where they'll have to try and reinvent the series again like they did with 7.

They finally got the right formula in RE2 remake just to go back and fuck it up in RE8. It feels as if they want to make new horror IP but afraid not to call it Resident Evil

 

[avenovah]

They finally got the right formula in RE2 remake just to go back and fuck it up in RE8. It feels as if they want to make new horror IP but afraid not to call it Resident Evil

The team behind the second and fourth remakes should take on RE9.

 

[Arc]

Problem with RE4 is that it COMPLETELY changed the series' genre. RE2 remake is a perfect example of how to take away tank controls and fixed camera angles and still make an excellent horror game. RE4 completely threw away what the series was and made what was popular at the time.

RE5 gets a lot of crap but all it did was take what people praised about 4 and turned it up. And it all sent the series down a spiral. They could have saved the series without killing what it used to be. The Evil Within 2 did a great job of adding more to the series, without sacrificing what it was.

Speaking of RE, I have no idea what Capcom is doing with the series now. You have RE1 and RE2 remakes, both excellent showcases of what their respective styles can do well and we still get something like RE8. And I hear 9 will be even more over the top with ghosts, witches and Vendigos. It's like they're restarting the cycle again, leading them down a path where they'll have to try and reinvent the series again like they did with 7.

Well, it’s easy to do the in hindsight thing and optimize this and that perfectly. 100% RE2 Remake instead of RE4 would have been more series faithful.

But that’s rarely how life works out. They innovated, they overshot the mark a little, thinking this action-horror and feeling of being pursued wasn’t dissonant. In fact, we don’t know that the systems that make RE2 Remake so good, and that unique (at the time) perspective, would even exist if RE4 hadn’t been what it was.

They innovated, they hit a home run, but their form was wrong.

The correct answer is to immediately have a sequel that follows, that polishes and fixes issues like that, building upon the game.

Instead RE5 rips anything RE-like out of Resident Evil, and doubles down on all the wrong things, while adding its own troubling contributions.

Btw, agreed on 8 and 9. Had a great time playing 8, but it’s a strange RE game. It feels like RE2 Remake is really ideally what the series should be.

 

[Arc]

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I had the power to erase one RE game, I still love RE4 despite getting away from the series a little bit. I still love it as a Resident Evil game.

But I would nuke 5 in a second. As a Resident Evil game, I see nothing redemptive in it whatsoever.

 

[Johnic]

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I had the power to erase one RE game, I still love RE4 despite getting away from the series a little bit. I still love it as a Resident Evil game.

But I would nuke 5 in a second. As a Resident Evil game, I see nothing redemptive in it whatsoever.

RE6 for me. I've played all others several times before but could only play through RE6 once.

 

[Danja]

Resident Evil 5 is excellent, that's all I'm gonna say.

Where's the RE-Make announcement Capcom?

 

[Would_you_kindly]

Resident Evil 5 is excellent, that's all I'm gonna say.

Where's the RE-Make announcement Capcom?

As a single player game it's not the best resident evil but still enjoyable , playing with a friend through co op it's really fun

 

[Danja]

As a single player game it's not the best resident evil but still enjoyable , playing with a friend through co op it's really fun

Well I thought it was a good action game and yes Co-Op was kinda revolutionary for its time. I had a blast with it. I don't have a hate boner for it, like some RE fans do. It definitely expanded the RE whether people will admit it or not.