Leon Kennedy spouts some incredibly corny one-liners in theResident Evil 4remake, but one of his best lines from the originalResident Evil 4was nearly cut during production. The iconically silly line that spawned dozens of memes was nearly replaced with something else that may not have worked as well.
Resident Evil 4’sremakehas been a rousing successso far. Critics and fans have praised its modern reinterpretation of a classic released nearly 20 years ago. Its changes, of which there are many, are so organically integrated that they can make even anRE4veteran wonder if the additions were in the original or if it’s something brand new that’s been so well implemented that it feels like could have been in the original.
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In a video posted to IGN’s YouTube channel,Leon Kennedy’s voice actor Nick Apostolidestook questions from commenters. A commenter named ILikeYourFace posed less of a question and more of a passionate statement when they said that it just wouldn’t beResident Evil 4without Leon’s memorable line about the game Bingo. As fans of the original might recall, soon after the game’s tense opening moments when Leon must take on an entire small town of infected villagers, the villagers are stopped dead in their tracks by a ringing church bell. They drop their weapons and shuffle into a church, leaving Leon all by himself mere moments after being swarmed. Leon then wonders aloud, “Where’s everyone going? Bingo?”
Apostolides said that the now-iconic line of goofy perfection that led straight into the game’s opening title cardwas nearly cut from the remake. He went on to explain that the script for theResident Evil 4remake initially had a completely different line to end that scene. While Apostolides didn’t specify what the new line was, he said that he and the game’s cinematic director agreed it just wasn’t working on set. The cinematic director decided to try something new by going with something old: he suggested that Apostolides just repeat the same silly “Bingo” line from the original. Apostolides performed the famous line, and it worked so well that it made its way back into the game.
There’s a difficult balance to strike when deciding what to overhaul, completely cut, or keep the same when remaking a beloved game, or any piece of commercial art.Resident Evil 4’sremake strikes a good balanceof new and old, like how the horror elements are more pronounced, it adds auto-saving but retains the typewriters, and Leon can parry now, just to name a few changes. But Leon’s also a little gruffer than he was the first time around. Thankfully, he’s not gruff enough that he’s above saying some of his classically dumb action movie hero one-liners.
TheResident Evil 4remake is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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