Ada Wong has been iconic ever since her first appearance in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil 2. The double agent with a heart of gold is keen to side with those offering the biggest payout, but always knows when to turn tail and point her gun against the oppressors if it’s for the greater good. We all know her love for grappling hooks, red dresses, and taking advantage of himbos like Leon Kennedy, but her presence in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Resident Evil 4 isn’t everything it should have been.
Part of me expected the remake to tie in the Separate Ways and Assignment Ada modes that first launched with the PS2 port into𝓀 the overall campaign. While some cute references are made in lines of dialogue and the ending changes up her relationship with Wesker, fans have now datamined parts of the game that suggest a more robust expansion could arrive at a later date. This way, we’ll see more of Ada, and hopefully, a stronger side to her character.
Resident Evil has never been known for its stellar acting performances, the original game especially becoming infamous for its droll monotone and endless selection of classic lines. Decades have passed, and we still talk about Jill sandwiches on the regular, poking fun at a game that, despite its camp origins, still managed to terrify. Things have changed though, and Resident Evil is far more aware of its campy reputation and when exactly it can lean into it. Editor-in-Chief Stacey Henley recently wrote about how Resident Evil 4 is so wonderful as it embraces its own stupid🐲it🐬y, and 🥂even in a remad♎e form keeps all of its quirkiness intact.
It’s scary, tense, and unpredictable - yet deep down, we know it’s all a bit silly. Leon is oddly self-aware of how ridiculous the situation is as he ignores impending doom to shoot targets in a firing range or sell shiny gems to a merchant who b🅺ends time and space to his will. It’s so cool though, with action-heavy set pieces and narrative beats landing with appropriate impact thanks to the stylish execution. Ada Wong is a part of that, and plays much the same role here as she had in the original. Her signature red dress is swapped out for a longer woolly jumper and a gorgeous leather harness, doting on Leon like the adorable himbo he✃ is.
I love her character and the black widow-esque candor she always radiates, but sadly the vocal performance doesn’t nail the self-aware camp everyone else in the cast deals out in spades. She sounds almost bored half the time, her delivery seldom doing justice to her own feminine gravitas or the power she holds over those working with her. One-liners are dry and disinterested, as opposed to tongue-in-cheek, meaning big moments fans can’t wait to hear land with a whimper. Ada is almost in a different world altogether, or doesn’t express a campy irreverence in🐻 her femme fatale performance seen in other takes on the character.
Resident Evil characters know when to double down on serious conviction and to cast that aside in favour of goofy catchphrases and playful jokes, while Ada leans much too far in one direction to be memorable. The end result is a beloved character who feels ou❀t of place, and this isn’t something I hold against the actor, but perhaps the direction she was given or the role she was asked to inhabit that falls so far out of line with what we know and love. I hope the Separate Ways datamine leads to a full-fledged expansion since I believe in my heart this version of Ada is capable of so much more. Merely having her replicate a role we saw her play in the original was the wrong move, even more so when others are provided room to grow. Ada isn’t, and stunning new o🌸utfits aside, the remake doesn’t do her justice.
The ending has her turn against 🦄Wesker in a way that solidifies her status as an unlikely hero, with Ada knowing that the deathsꦫ of billions aren’t worth a massive payday when it results in a world where money doesn’t matter anymore. She holds up the helicopter pilot and demands he change course before hanging up on Wesker. This new twist teases a future for both her character and Resi in its entirety, and I hope both are more than bright.
