The remake of Resident Evil 4 is probably my favorite game released in 2023. It's also the game I've played the most; it took me 7 plays to get the platinum trophy on PS5. It's a terrifying experience. But there's something even scarier than my virtual achievement obsession: the VR Resi 4.

Before the game's release, Capcom revealed that the PSVR 2 will have a virtual reality mode for zombie lovers. It was a welcome (if not monocle-dropping) announcement, as both Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 7 have had great VR updates in the past.

Now, RE4's VR mode is almost here, with the free expansion releasing tomorrow on PS5. And since this is a project that Leon's undead-slaying adventure has been working on since it hit gold earlier this year, it's clear that it's not a half-baked addition to the already sensational remake.

According to the official PlayStation Blog, Capcom's Masato Kumazawa and Keisuke Yamakawa (the project's director and producer) have revealed exciting new gameplay elements in VR mode that are different from the main game. And honestly. Honestly, it looks freaking scary.

Fighting Crowzers. The regular campaign is already a terrifying scrap, with Mr. Kennedy's former military commander relentlessly stalking the claustrophobic city walls and the two doing their best to tear each other to shreds in a tense knife fight.

In VR, however, the encounter is even more intense, this time with two blades to fight Krauser. 'I can use both hands at the same time,' Yamakawa reveals. 'We've tried to incorporate mechanics and actions that utilize this ability into the game as much as possible.'

The fact that Leon is a white-haired governor agent also led the Capcom team to decide to pivot away from some of the design decisions they made for the VR mode of Village. In that game, Ethan Winters was just an average Joe, desperately trying his best not to become the Lycan's lunch while the player was flailing his arms around in a frenzy, blocking attacks.

However, given Kennedy's natural badassery with guns, Capcom was keen to make the firearms feel more realistic and comfortable.

"You can hold and use guns in ways that were impossible in 'RE Village. We wanted to make gun handling feel as realistic as possible, even if it wasn't directly related to gameplay."

Example. Unlike in "Village," where Ethan's weapon falls carelessly to the ground when he lets go of it, in the VR mode of "RE4," Leon can return the gun directly to its inventory slot with appropriate physical manipulation by the player.

In another cool addition, knives, which deteriorated at an alarming rate when blocked by attacks in the non-VR campaign, can now be returned to Leon's holster if manually sheathed, restoring some of their durability. Required. Do not use. Use. Ernie. 'Stick with it. Pun intended. Damn.

Another adjustment to VR is the ability to shoot while crouching. Although, if you are physically forced to bend down to crouch, it will hurt your increasingly lousy knees.

Later in the interview, the two Capcom employees discussed how impactful it actually is that enemies appear much larger in VR mode, that ...... They also talk extensively about how it certainly looks.

Kumazawa, as expected, referred here to the iconic El Gigante boss fight, where Capcom intentionally gave players the option to enable the third-person perspective during certain segments (such as when a giant mutated troll grabs at you in battle) to reduce dizziness when playing in VR admitted that they gave the player the option to.

The new mode also makes use of PS5's unique audio options. We put a lot of effort into the 3D audio," Yamakawa said. "So you'll be able to detect the location of enemies based on the sounds they make, and when you're fiddling with your gun, you can hear it ticking in the palm of your hand." VR's RE4 seems like the perfect opportunity for Sony's Pulse 3D wireless headset to shine.

It's clear that a great deal of effort has gone into porting the full "Resident Evil 4" remake to virtual reality, and while the PSVR 2 is a great device, its software library needs as many must-play games as it can get at this point. Luckily for the headset, this big-budget add-on is going to be the killer app Sony's VR headset needs.