On a pure entertainment level, there are few games I’ve enjoyed as much this year as Resident Evil 4.
It’s the rare remake that perfectly captures the tone and charm of the original while also significantly improving upon its writing and gameplay mechanics. There’s really nothing quite as satisfying as shooting an infected cultist in the kneecap and then running up to roundhouse kick him into his buddies (read my original glowing review here).
Therefore, I had some trepidation about how that fast-paced survival horror action experience would translate from my 4K TV-connected PS5 to a small iPhone screen. Thanks to Apple’s beefy new A17 Pro chips, you can actually play games like Resident Evil 4 (2023) natively on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Considering such console-quality titles are typically only available on mobile through streaming, it’s quite impressive.
That said, I had some doubts. While early previews were promising, they also were carefully highlighting the tutorial area, so I didn’t get a bearing on how more technically demanding parts of the game would fare. After all, this is the full experience (including the excellent Assignment Ada DLC) without any content removed. Now that I’ve spent a couple of hours with the full game, I can say I’m quite pleased with its performance on iPhone, albeit with some concessions.
First off, there are the visuals. The core game was an absolute stunner, and that’s mostly been retained on iPhone. There’s a minor level of graininess around environments and, more prominently, protagonist Leon S. Kennedy’s luscious locks, but on the whole, it looks good. I’ve spent so much time playing on the Nintendo Switch that the 15 Pro’s visual downgrades are far less pronounced in comparison. That core sense of presentation — featuring everything from dank, rain-soaked forest paths to decrepit, moonlit castle hallways — remains gorgeous on mobile.
The more important element, in any event, is the frame rate, especially for an action-heavy game like this. Once I started playing, I was eager to put the game to its paces in the iconic early village fight, and to my surprise, it held up well. For context, this section challenges you to survive for a few minutes against unending waves of enemies until a cutscene is triggered. You have to use everything at your disposal, including bookshelves to barricade doors, ladders to reach rooftops and windows to dramatically leap through for hasty exits. It’s gleefully chaotic and the perfect distillation of RE4‘s magnificent combat.
On iPhone, I was able to maintain 30fps for most of this section, with a few brief but noticeable dips in between. Otherwise, everything was pretty smooth. Of course, this is just one area, so I wanted to see how other sections handled, particularly the giant lake monster, Del Lago, and subsequent boss, the troll-like El Gigante. Based on my testing, there were another small series of drops per fight, but nothing overly intrusive. I was most impressed during Mercenaries Mode, in which you fight waves of enemies to achieve a high score. It’s basically like the village section on steroids, especially when you use other characters like Wesker (who can hilariously teleport partway across the stage to melee attack stunned enemies). Despite this freneticism, RE4 remained solid.
If anything, the biggest shortcoming surrounding the gameplay is that it’s just too complex for touch controls. Unless you have the world’s most flexible hands, it’s virtually impossible to adequately bounce between moving, aiming, shooting and knife parrying. To be fair to Capcom, I’m not sure how it could have been handled differently, but regardless, this is where we’re at. Thankfully, I have a smartphone gamepad (the Backbone One, which works wonders), but the game would be unplayable otherwise without some kind of controller. (The lack of vibration does admittedly detract a bit from the punchiness of the combat, which is a bummer).
It was also a bit worrying to feel my 15 Pro get so hot. Generally, I would only play for about 30 minutes at a time with the case removed, and even then, the phone’s rear would feel quite heated. MobileSyrup‘s editor-in-chief, Patrick O’Rourke, said he experienced something similar with Resident Evil Village, another high-end game supported on 15 Pro/Pro Max. It’s not an unbearable heat, by any means, but it’s still worth mentioning.
The other issue I ran into, which was more minor, is RE4‘s signature briefcase management system in which you rearrange items to maximize space for new ones. It’s always been a highlight of the franchise, but on a smartphone screen, where certain equipment like grenades now look way smaller, it’s a bit tricky to make things out. The remake did, at least, introduce an auto-sort option, which I ultimately ended up doing, but I do miss doing that myself.
In the end, none of these problems detract from the incredible experience that is Resident Evil 4. Any concessions that have been made are still worth the trade-off compared to what you’d face when streaming a game, and there’s something novel about having that fantastic John Wick-like action playable on the go. I can easily see myself playing a few matches of that ever-addictive Mercenaries Mode on commutes. Sure, you lose some of the atmosphere on the small screen, but RE4 was such an action-heavy and light-on-scares ride, to begin with, that it’s not a big deal. Plus, Capcom supports Apple’s welcome Universal Purchase program, so buying Resident Evil 4 once with your Apple account will allow you to access it on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
If nothing else, Capcom allows you to download the game for free to play a bit before a paywall comes up, as well as a 50 percent discount for the full campaign until January 17th. Therefore, it’s a no-brainer to at least give it a shot. Ultimately, I’m just impressed at this first foray into iPhone 15 Pro gaming, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Resident Evil 4 is now available on iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam).
Image credit: Capcom