Resident Evil 4 HD Remake (PS4)

Resident Evil can’t die. But after the departure of creator Shinji Mikami, two entertaining but increasingly muddled follow-ups to the excellent Resident Evil 4, and countless dodgy spin-offs (Operation Raccoon City might be a genuine biohazard), the progenitor of the survival-horror genre isn’t quite the force it once was either. Capcom understands that many fans want to wind the clock back to when Resident Evil was about zombies and creepy mansions, and so has reanimated the 2002 GameCube remake (or 'REmake' as it's known) of the 1996 original once again as a budget-priced HD REmaster. That means upscaling it to 1080p, offering a widescreen mode, and grafting some fresh skin onto the long-dormant corpse, too. And even though the flesh is sloughing off this patchwork monstrosity in places, the infectious strain of gameplay it bears is one you still shouldn't miss.

It helps that the GameCube REmake was always an incredibly pretty game. With pre-rendered backgrounds and idiosyncratic static camera angles, Capcom Production Studio 4 managed to squeeze visuals from the little purple box (other colours were available) to rival that generation’s best. The bigger win, however, was the art direction, sandwiching opulent neoclassical oak-and-marble between unsettling dilapidated corridors and discomfortingly surgical lab spaces. Despite being layered with fresh textures - the fabric of a rug here, a pane of stained glass there - and gorgeous refreshed models for its S.T.A.R.S. and enemies, the REmaster doesn’t always live up to 2015’s high technical standards. Even so, the lick of paint and that artistic vision ensures the Spencer Mansion’s disquieting sense of place remains intact.