Though temporarily successful in halting piracy, Digital Rights Management (DRM) tech is seen largely by the gaming community as counterintuitive and harmful to the quality and performance of any title it is utilized in. An analysis of the recently-released Resident Evil 4 remake has reportedly revealed that it uses four different DRM solutions, which quite likely put a significant dent in the game’s performance.
In recent years, developers’ usage of increasingly powerful DRM programs to safeguard their games against piracy has been the source of much controversy, with gamers routinely pointing out the difference in performance numbers between the official titles and pirated releases with DRM either disabled or removed altogether. While we at MP1st largely abstain from reporting on developments in the piracy scene, we feel that such information about the negative effects of DRM and other anti-piracy measures on games is valuable to fans and their investment in quality video games.
A prominent video game cracker within the scene has managed to crack the Resident Evil 4 remake, and has reportedly found that besides Denuvo V18, the title also uses Denuvo SecureDLC V2, an in-house Anti-Tamper solution, and VMProtect. Said cracker’s release does not remove these programs, however, instead choosing to simply bypass them while keeping them running in the background. As such, the cracked release might not exhibit a significant difference in performance as compared to the official version, but the usage of four layers of DRM is still worrying, leading one to wonder what the title’s actual performance may be when such software, known to hamper the in-game experience, is absent.
If you’re still on the fence about the Resident Evil 4 remake, our review of the game in which we found it “the gold standard when it comes to remakes” should make that decision much easier for you. For those already exploring the reimagined Valdelobos, check out our selection of Resident Evil 4 remake guides that should make your quest to rescue Baby Eagle much easier.
Source: DSOGaming
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