Resident Evil 4

The Good
Why, it's been ten years since I sat in the dark, trembling, navigating the twisted halls of that horrifying mansion. Yeah, I was a lot younger then, so I guess it was a stretch for me to expect the same level of sheer horror with the fourth installment of this famous series, but the opening scene left me feeling very, very optimistic. No, I guess I wasn't as scared as I once was, but I was more than entertained.

The opening scene leaves you, Leon, trying to make your way through a village of angry, ravenous villagers. Survival horror at its best, this is exactly the kind of game I'd been looking for. They're not zombies, but they're just as stupid, and this time they're armed with pitch forks and knives and torches, and then there's this freaky guy in a hood with a chainsaw!

You quickly find yourself without ammunition, having to barricade yourself in a house, make your way outside along the roof while the never ending flood of angry villagers pour in from the windows and through the door and all seems completely and utterly hopeless.

Wow.

The game goes straight to crap after that, but I'll touch on that in a moment.

There are many improvements over previous Resident Evils, most notably the aiming system. No longer are you bound by the evil camera's placement. Now you view Leon from a sort of "just behind the shoulder" view, and use a laser on your gun to determine where you are aiming. This allows for a lot of very precise aiming. You can use it to easily take the head off a raging villager, or knock the pitchfork out of their hand, or even hit their stick of dynamite, blowing up everyone around them.

The graphics are nice, too. And the inventory system is much more manageable, as well.

The Bad
The Bad? Well, pretty much everything. The game has such a lovely opening scene, I just don't know what happened. The game does a complete 180 at that point. Rather than fighting your way through a hopeless situation where you have no ammunition and angry villagers are trying to kill you and you seriously have to THINK ABOUT HOW YOU ARE TO SURVIVE...you are suddenly given an almost infinite amount of ammunition and hundreds of cult members are thrown at you. It was almost like a really bad version of Serious Sam.

There are no zombies in this game. Not really. Yeah, they walk like zombies, and they groan, and they're not all that smart, but they're not zombies. They're sedated cult members and/or people infected by parasites that cause them to be violent. Violent, but slow. Like a zombie, but not quite a zombie.

The village in the beginning had this creepy guy with a bag over his head and a chainsaw. An absolutely horrifying thing, running from that guy as he corners you in one of the crumbling buildings in the intro...then you realize he's just "Bad Guy #3" and you can just expect him to come by again and again, another lifeless nobody that you have to kill with your never ending supply of ammunition.

The cutscenes look nice, but the dialogue is embarasing. Sometimes I can't tell if Leon was trying to be serious, or if he was just really, really, really bad at comebacks. And the big bad cult leader boss guy was obnoxiously arrogant, or just plain stupid. The fact that by the time you reach the end of the game, and you've killed enough people to fill a small country and he STILL thinks you're a "stupid American" who is no threat to him is just...it's not scary. It doesn't make him seem like a bad guy. It just makes me pity him and wonder how a guy like that managed to get any followers at all.

Resident Evil 4 also allows you to loot GOLD BRICKS and GOLD COINS from the fallen. That's right, Resident Evil 4 has some sort of wacky economy, and Leon isn't too picky with what he grabs off the bloody corpses weighted down with bullets. You can use this money to purchase new weapons and new upgrades for your guns from a strange merchant who has absolutely zero depth and there is never any explanation to why he is there or where he came from or why he shows up in the middle of the cult's sacrificial ceremony. Scary? Mysterious? Intriguing? No, just retarded. At least you can kill him. But you can't loot him.

Resident Evil 4 takes you from Awesome Village Town Intro to Underground Cave to Mysterious Cult Church to Mysterious Cult Mansion to Mysterious Cult Castle to Mysterious Cult Secret Hideout and even Mysterious Cult Island. One muster also wonder who the insane architect was who built Mysterious Cult Castle, what with the sole key to a certain area being the combination of two other keys, one which must be located in the middle of a lava filled dungeon, which would otherwise serve no purpose. Ah, but it wouldn't be Resident Evil without absolutely insane architecture.

The Bottom Line
The game is worth a rental just to play through the beginning areas. Your heart pounding as you run away from a horde of angry villagers, running along the rooftops and through windows and around the farmland in a futile effort just to survive is awesome.

Everything that follows though, it just stupid. It's the same stuff we've been seeing in the last three installments, but with about ten times the amount of zombies -- and they're not even zombies. They're slow, handicapped cult members with the occasional plant growing out of their neck.

Just play Serious Sam. It's more colorful, it controls better, and the weapons are better.

The Good
Resident Evil 4.....

Resident Evil 4..................

Now there is a name which can either be proud to say, or just plain scarred tissue to have in your palms.

Capcoms Resident Evil series kicked off to a good start, original concepts, amazing graphics, hammy acting, great action and suspense.

Well, that's what I felt from the first Resident Evil game! The first game holds a lot of nostalgia for me, maybe that's why I like it so much? The re-make on the GameCube proved that it still stokes my coals.. But did I like Resident Evil Outbreak?

No, I did not.

I thought the resident evil series has had it. Two average films, Outbreak.. lightgun games.. Outbreak file 2... There simply isn't anything around which is resident evil that lives up to it's first great masterpiece.

And then I was proved wrong.

Set in a "european village" Leon S kennedy sets out to rescue the presidents daughter from her captors. But who and why was she taken captive? Its up to Leon to find out!

Resident Evil 4 starts of with all it's motifs intact "This game features violent and disturbing images" etc, etc. It's even got it's familiar title voice over, saying "RESIDENT EVIL FOUR!!!" when you begin a new game. Brilliant!

Ok, what to expect... You can choose 50 and 60hz, and also progressive scan. Handy for the future! 60hz is a blessing!

The controls are pretty much the same deal, which is neither good nor bad. If there was too much emphasis on new controls and what-have-you, then the game could become complicated and frustrating to play. Even though the character can be a little sluggish, you cant shoot and run at the same time (although, its hard to aim whilst standing still, let alone running!). The controls fit the game well, and it's surprisingly fun to have the similar control method intact.

The first thing you will notice is the camera angles, the "over the shoulder" or "just behind the shoulder" viewpoint you have to contend with. Although quite limiting in certain areas, it is absolutely perfect for you to feel completely immersed in this game. You actually feel like you are Leon, not just controlling him. Sometimes the viewpoint zooms out a little, or concentrates on a particular angle, but it's all part and parcel with the environments. It blends really well, and easy to use. Gone are the days where "no! press up to go forwards, not to go up! you have to turn to go up!". the camera turns with you, so its almost like controlling in a first person point of view.

The aiming and shooting system is great, its a little slow and can be sluggish, especially when into heavy enemy-polluted areas. But it all adds to the tension, if they changed it any more it wouldn't be resident evil! Aiming can be tough at times because enemies can dodge around and suddenly run at you, but it is easy to get a hang of, and id say after about ten minutes or so of play and exploring you would get the controls down pretty well enough to get into some thick action.

The plot is very cool, sometimes vague, but there is so much to do, its nicely paced, and there is plenty to shoot so you really don't care about the plot at times. I actually forgot about any kind of plot during heavy action scenes, that's how good the action is in this game. The enemies are not exactly zombies this time. As with any resident evil sequel, the enemies become stronger, more intelligent. To say what these zombies are would spoil the plot a bit for you. So i will just leave it to this - they are more intelligent, they are smarter, faster and a lot tougher than any resident evil zombie to date! (ok, except the crimson heads from the gamecube remake of resident evil...)

All the enemies vary from horrific zombified villagers, to fast moving insects. And there are plenty of surprises along the way!! Trust me! If i say what enemies there are later on, it would kind of spoil that too. So i'll just say that there is more than just one type of enemy!

The first part of the game is in the village, a series of events unfurl before your very eyes and you get dragged into this sick plot deeper and deeper. The plot is really interesting, sometimes the one-liners are a little too much like the original hammy resident evil for my liking. But its still really cool. Just don't expect any tear jerking moments.

Your inventory system is really cool, you get to sort it out, buy and upgrade your weapons, sell items you collect (this part is very cool) and all from the comfort from your very own zombified village salesman which pops up from nowhere without any explanation... stranger....

The weapons range from pistols to magnums, shotguns to rocket launchers. The weapons are realistic, and work really well for the game. The selection of weapons is also well balanced and a nice addition to the proceedings.

Graphics... Hands down, greatest PS2 graphics ever. Gran Turismo eat your heart out with a pitch fork! You could almost think that you are looking at a CG movie, or photo-realistic environments.. they are really that good. Even though some of the locations look entirely different to others during the course of the game, the visuals still keep up the good work. Some environments don't work as well as others and can take away some of the atmosphere. But they all are a joy to be in and look at. And one most important thing is that the frame-rate is perfect. it doesn't slow down one bit and i can honestly admit that i am proved wrong. I thought that this game was too powerful a concept to have on a PS2. Although the gamecube version is a little better, it's nothing really noticeable. I played both of them side by side to compare for this review, the only difference is that the gamecube version has slightly better colour saturation (looks richer) and some textures are smoother. But really, the frame-rate is the same, it doesn't drop once. Even in huge spanning areas like forests and ... well, you will just have to see!

ooh! And there is a little motif kept in there if you are a fan of the first Resident Evil film. What that event had, this game re-creates it even better! You will just have to play it through to find out!

The Bad
Whats not to like huh?

There is a lot not to like actually. But only because I am an experienced gamer! sometimes the controls can become repetitive, run, shoot, run, shoot. There is a lot of shooting going on here. Not that much puzzle solving, not much tension. But it does keep the scares coming (don't expect many "its in the wardrobe!!!" moments here, but what does frighten you, you will fear it later on in the game. The plot is a little strange, a little too vague, the notes scattered around are not like notes found in previous games. Its more like someones personal diary, or characters you have already met. There aren't really any notes or stories written by people who have been in that particular area. For me, this kind of took away some of the atmosphere. It was almost as if the plot took a backseat for a little while and then when you had enough shooting, there is a page to read lying next to some bullets saying about a character you have previously met. Easily something which could of been explained in a few seconds of cut-scene.

Another thing with this new game is the cut-scenes. although often breathtaking to watch. You also have to be on your toes, don't just sit back... or you will die! Seriously! You have to press a combination of buttons which gets leon out of a jam on screen. You watch him talk to a character, suddenly something comes rushing in with a large axe! Press the buttons which appear on screen before you die! And you have literally a second to press them before you die.

Although, this is a really good way to keep the tension up, it can become really frustrating. And its not just for cut-scenes. It happens on boss sequences, events and sometimes out of the blue like (like what happened to indiana jones in the first film...) It's great that Capcom had this implemented into the game, but it is rather more frustrating than anything else. sometimes you have just under a second to press it, and that's it, if you fail, you die. and continue from a particular point in the game, usually at the beginning of the sequence. And this is what was a bit frustrating. You die, just to do what you did before. There is no real consequence expect live or die. It would be great to have a little more, actually, a lot more consequences for losing to these button action sequences. Things like maybe losing a chunk of your health, or losing an item, or going on a different route. Something which makes these sequences a little more rewarding to actually get right the next time you get lazy! Its well implemented with boss fights, because you can dodge attacks if you get the right button on screen pressed in time. But for most of it, you either win or die.

There is a lot of ammo in this game, when enemies die, you get something to pick up (like shotgun shells..) why would an insect be holding shotgun shells or herbs? were they rasta murderers or something? things like this make this game more of an action survival horror, than a conventional survival horror which the first game was. Also, the game is split into chapters, and after you get to a certain point, you get what is similar the the end of every resident evil game... a points and "save now?" screen showing you how many kills you had etc etc. Although its a good breather for some, others may see this as its too much like an arcade type of feel to it. Another thing which takes some of the atmosphere of the game away (even though if what it took was barely noticeable)

The Bottom Line
An intense thrill-ride of blood, thrills, cool shooting and exploring action and .. thrills!

The visuals are the best ever on PS2. The enemies are astounding, especially later on in the game. Its also a very long game. I feel its important not to mention how long, or where you get to go.. because I thought "right, there is a large battle going on now.. better get my good guns out!" but then.. once you used all your best weapons, there is more to kill! It never lets up!

The game is very scary, although its no "silent hill", what it does with the plot and the atmosphere works brilliantly and is a joy to play and look at.

Prepare yourselves for some tactical thinking! Enemies are going to kill you, by any means.. even if that means climb through the upstairs window and corner you off whilst your'e shooting their mates in the kitchen!

Prepare for some jumpy moments and real jaw dropping enemies to fight against!

Prepare for some amazing visuals, a game which resident evil outbreak is not and pretty much the best resident evil game yet!

This game holds out right next to resident evil 1. All the classic moments are here, fantastic threats, fantastic feats and exhilarating moments.

You'ed better get your generals cap on, get your guns out, and prepare for some killing! Its either kill or be killed. A game which is not for the feint hearted, a game not for the RPG or tomb raider types. This is a game entirely of its own class. Everything this game does, other games tried to do. But they did not achieve as great a things as this game does!

Resident Evil 4 is definitely worth the full price it is now, if you can, get the chainsaw controller! its really cool! All parts of this game ooze quality, presentation, sound design is top notch (although some more variety could of been good at times). This game is worth the investment, its long, has lots to achieve, poses a rather enjoyable and challenging.. challenge! and above all, its a game you will want to play again once you finished it.

Resident Evil 4, by far the BEST game of 2005.

The Good
I completed the first playthrough of Resident Evil 4 on the Xbox 360 two days ago. There are no other games like it on this console, and I often wonder why a GameCube/PS2 game gets a release on the next gen Microsoft console at all. They didn't have to port it for us Xbox gamers. They could've easily made it a Sony exclusive and made us feel bad for not buying the machine that runs it. But they did port it and we get to play it right here on our console of choice. That's the number one reason I respect and support this game, and its publisher.

A few important aspects of the gameplay need to be discussed, for you to understand why it is not like any other shooters out there, and why it's often the superior one.

First of all, there is a map. A clear, informative, immensely useful map screen, that can be brought up with a simple press of the Y button. Locations of secret collectibles are marked right there on the map screen, because the designers understood that no gamer enjoys finding small objects blindly without hints. The average gamer can actually find a large number of treasures and items in this game. Meanwhile in Gears of War 2 and 3 I managed to find a total of 4 collectibles in two games (I looked it up and LOL there are 83 of them), which adds nothing to the experience.

Second important aspect: Resource collection. Let's look at how some other modern games do it, for example Dark Souls. There are chests, barrels, corpses and such everywhere in Dark Souls. But how often do you find something good in it? Not often, not often at all. Once you have a reasonably strong set of weapons and armors, there is almost nothing you can find that will mean much of a difference.

How about a modern day shooter such as Max Payne 3? In Max Payne 3 you will pick up many guns and lots of ammo in the levels. However you don't actually need that many guns, nor would you need all that ammo. The only thing you probably wanna pick up every time is the painkiller. And I'm talking about Max Payne which has a Painkiller mechanism. In most modern games you just heal by yourself automatically.

In Resident Evil 4, things are the polar opposite.

In RE4, there are strong weapons and weak weapons, sure. But having a strong weapon doesn't mean squat, because you cannot fire without ammunition for that weapon. Ammunition cannot be bought with money, but can only be found on enemy corpses, or placed on the ground or inside barrels. Enemies do not respawn. That means the total amount of ammunition in this game is limited. Once you miss it, it's gone forever.

Even healing items are limited. Each level gives you a max supply of about 4 first aid sprays, and some Herbs. If you run out of those, then that's it. I don't believe the game dynamically places more herbs in the levels if you run out of health. You can really run out of healing items and have no way to regain your health, AT ALL.

Let's put it this way: you will want to pick up EVERYTHING you can possibly find in the levels. EVERYTHING is useful in some way. There is absolutely no filler material in the barrels, chests, on enemy corpses, or anywhere else in the game.

I know this because I have fought quite a few battles where in the end, I got absolutely nothing left in my inventory. No bullets. No grenades. No herbs. No first aid sprays and barely alive. It's a great metaphor, like a black hole that absorbs all I've got, a rainstorm that washes me clean.

And the Max Paynes and Dark Souls's in this world have no idea what that feels like.

Now let's move on to talk about the third aspect of gameplay - the headshot system. Too many games do this wrong. In your average shooter, you can accidentally get a headshot when you aren't actually aiming for the head, or you can aim for the head on purpose but the enemy moves right before you can headshot them. Neither is good shooting gameplay.

Prior to RE4, the absolute best example of "headshots done right" came from a YouTube walkthrough of the XBLA tower defense game Orcs Must Die. The guy in the video was like, "look at me headshot these orcs", and every single time, he managed to get a headshot, for real. I eventually tried it myself and found that I could do it too, if I knew where to aim and how to adjust the angle.

The idea is that, if you want to get a headshot, you can. And that's exactly what's going on in my Resident Evil 4 playthrough. By the fifth world "Island", I was good enough, and confident enough, to be saying, "look at me headshot you, headshot, headshot", and each time I say that, I really get a headshot. There's no other shooter gameplay as satisfying as this. The headshots are out of this world. The crisp sound, the animation of heads being chopped off, the controller vibrating in my hand, all contributing to a full headshot experience that will always remain a highlight of my gaming life.

I would even go so far as to say that no other game can pull this off ever again, because Resident Evil 4 may be the last major title to use the LEFT-ANALOG stick for aiming. That's right. Completely against the modern gaming industry standard, this is a shooter played with the left-analog stick alone, a.k.a. the "Tank Controls" scheme. That means when you're shooting, your right hand is entirely focused on the Trigger button, and nothing else. I feel that this allows for a more steady and reliable shot. But we might never know for sure, because Resident Evil 5 no longer had this control scheme, and likely no modern shooter will ever have it again. The shooting in Resident Evil 4 is a product of its time, and due to its incredibly high quality, will forever remain timeless.

The Bad
Not enough female character scenes / storyline. I have no idea why character Ada is in the story at all.

Final boat escape sequence is the worst level in the whole game. The boat controls are quite possibly the worst boat controls the surface of the earth has ever seen.

So Leon rescues the girl, and that's it? Nothing more? Seriously? I know she's probably a minor but game producers should give us what we want and let Ashley become our wife in the end.

The Bottom Line
The first playthrough of RE4 is an essential experience, for any gamer who enjoys guns, shooting, and a mildly scary atmospheric adventure. It is 90% shooting, and the only truly scary parts are in Chapter 5 "Island", other than that it is not only not scary, but also very friendly to the player and provides a very rewarding feeling after every battle.