Quick Opinion: Resident Evil 4

I think I have figured out why RE4 feels more like an action game than a slower-paced 'survival horror' title - the backtracking, fetch quests, controls and camera were all HEAVILY streamlined.

In RE4, more often than not, an item you need to solve a puzzle or open a door is either in the room you are in or placed in an easily accessible adjacent one. Thus, there is less down time between action sequences, and as a result those shooter-heavy events reside in the memories of players much longer.

As for the horror element of the series, past games were 'scarier' because there was one important element used to frighten players beyond the zombies, jump scares and monsters - the game itself. The controls and camera placement were fighting against you, and playing within those constraints while being hounded by various monstrosities worked in the face of knowingly 'bad' design choices.

RE4 has certainly kept me stressed and tense, though. With greater finesse and a more robust array of weaponry comes a greater amount of enemies, and their impacts on your health greatly outclasses those weak zombies from the old days.