Resident Evil 4 Remake’s Raingate, Explained

This is the rain in question. What do you think?Gif: Game Informer / Capcom / Kotaku

First, there was Spider-Man’s infamous Puddlegate. Then there were the not-so-watery roads of Cyberpunk 2077. Now it seems that the next watery pre-release controversy for video game fans involves the heavy rain seen in some early games of the Resident Evil 4 remake. Some think it looks like as bad as the awful looking rain of GTA Trilogy remasters. Others are convinced it’s just video compression. And remember: none of them have played the game yet.

Rumored for some time, Resident Evil 4 was officially announced by Capcom in June 2022. This new remake will update the game’s controls and combat, while keeping the same core story and characters. Once again players will play as Leon as he travels to a rural part of Western Europe to rescue the President’s daughter and gets involved in a terrible mess. But based on gameplay just released by Game Informer, some Resident Evil fans seem to think that Leon’s biggest threat won’t be giant monsters or infected villagers, but the disgruntled rain.

All over Reddit and Twitter, you can find many gamers who think that the rain in the game looks terrible in the upcoming remake. While I’m not sure who was the first person to share these concerns online, they quickly spread through the community. Some have even suggested that the rain looks just as bad as the infamously awful rain seen in the critically-acclaimed Grand Theft Trilogy: Definitive Edition. The rain was so bad that it made the game nearly unplayable during storms, and was eventually fixed by the developers via a post-release patch.

Anyway, here’s the rebuilt RE4 rain that’s causing such a stir:

Capcom / Game Informer

I will fully admit that I watched this footage twice when Game Informer first posted the video and thought nothing of the rain. But even in the YouTube comments, you can find people concerned about how intense and distracting it is.

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Kotaku has reached out to Capcom about weathering the upcoming remake.

Others think people are being too cautious and suggest that the real problem isn’t the rain, but YouTube’s terrible video compression. I’m inclined to think that YouTube’s compression definitely isn’t helping this rain look good, but I can also see how some might consider large, distinct white water droplets to be too much.

Of course, this being the internet and gamers, some people are going too far and suggesting that the developers are lazy or that this is a sign that the entire game is going to be a giant, rushed “cash grab”. This is completely stupid and absurd. Remember: None of us have played the game, which isn’t even finished yet.

Resident Evil 4 is expected to be released on March 24, 2023 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Maybe it should include a rain intensity slider.