PSA: You might not want to play the original Resident Evil 4 on PS Plus

Just a couple more weeks…

If you’ve got a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription and a desire to revisit Resident Evil 4 ahead of its long-awaited remake, you probably know that the original game is included in the Classics Catalog. But the version included in the Classics Catalog probably isn’t the one you want to play.

See, the version of Resident Evil 4 included with your PS Plus Premium subscription isn’t the 2005 PlayStation 2 port or the HD remaster for the PS4. Instead, it’s an earlier version of the game released for the PS3. You might already be aware of this, but PS3 games in the Classics Catalog aren’t emulated, nor do they run natively on the PS4 or PS5. They’re streamed. And that’s not ideal.

The problem

The PS3 version of RE4 is simply not as good as the PS4 version. It runs at 30FPS, it’s got slightly more awkward controls, and it just looks a little uglier. I’m actually not sure whether the visual difference can be chalked up to the older iteration of the game or its streaming status, but the fact remains that it’s just not a great way to play the game.

In streaming RE4, I’ve encountered ugly, flickering textures, bizarre audio issues, and the kind of latency that often plagues these streamed games. I find streaming convenient for certain kinds of games, but for Resident Evil 4, one of the most revered action games ever, it’s just not quite up to snuff.

What are ya buyin’, stranger?

Thankfully, Resident Evil 4‘s been ported to nearly every platform imaginable, and it’s fairly inexpensive everywhere you look. The PS4 version, which runs at a gorgeous 60FPS and plays much more smoothly from the jump, is only $7.99 at time of writing. You can get a similar experience from the Nintendo Switch port, which is $9.99 right now. It’s also under $10 on PC and Xbox, and it plays well on all those platforms. If you’ve got some more money to burn and a Meta Quest 2 collecting dust somewhere, I’m quite partial to the VR version.

All told, just about every currently accessible version of Resident Evil 4 is better than the one included in the PS Plus Premium subscription. Most of them are also only going to run you a few dollars. If you truly can’t afford any of those options, then playing it on PS Plus won’t kill you.

It’s still Resident Evil 4, and it’s still a great game. It’s just not ideal.