The Resident Evil 4 VR port coming later this month is apparently receiving heavy censorship.
An individual who was able to play a recent build of the game reported the censored dialogue to The Happy Warrior. The cut content primarily centers around flirtatious interactions between the game’s characters. Facebook, the company who owns Oculus, reportedly requested these changes to avoid social media backlash. Publisher Capcom approved the censorship made by developer Armature Studio.
Although many of these changes are minor, Resident Evil 4 fans remain outraged. Previously, Facebook promised they would rarely interfere with the original game’s dialogue and story. However, the leaked scenes reveal major changes to dialogue, text pop-ups and achievements. In some instances, Armature Studio even removed entire scenes.
The most targeted scenes from RE4 involve interactions between Leon and Ingrid. Throughout the game, Ingrid acts as Leon’s support in the form of video transmissions. During their interactions in the original title, Leon occasionally flirts with her. In Resident Evil 4 VR, however, the developers cut the flirtatious dialogue. The complete removal of the game’s ending, when Leon asks Ingrid for her phone number, especially annoys fans.
Additionally, the developers heavily altered certain scenes involving Ashley Graham. In Resident Evil 4, Ashley is the president’s daughter, who Leon is sent to rescue. One notable scene with her censored involves a suggestive comment Luis Sera makes upon meeting her. The developers opted to cut the “ballistics” innuendo from the VR port. They also removed the line at the end when Ashley asks Leon if he’d like to do some “overtime” with her.
YouTuber BagoGames uploaded a video venting his frustration towards the censorship. The video also shows the original scenes back-to-back with the VR port censored versions.
About Resident Evil 4 VR
Resident Evil 4 VR launches October 21 for the Oculus Quest 2. The game is a direct port of Resident Evil 4, originally released in 2005 on the Nintendo GameCube. Because the original game is in third-person, developers modified gameplay to support the first-person perspective associated with VR.
Resident Evil 4 is the second title in the franchise to get a VR port. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard launched with VR compatibility. Additionally, a modder is developing virtual reality capabilities for both Resident Evil 2 and RE3.
With the new controversy involving censorship, it will be interesting to see how the game’s sales perform at launch. What do you think? Does the censorship damage Resident Evil 4? Or are the developers right that the cut scenes promote misogyny? Let us know what you think down below.
Via Bounding into Comics.
