Where are the puzzles?!
I’ve been the fan of the Resident Evil series for a long time and the reason for that isn’t because I find the games scary. It may be gory and it is violent but it really isn’t as horrifying as Capcom may make some people believe. The main appeal of the earlier games, to me at least, were the game’s puzzles. While none of these puzzles are as painstakingly difficult as those seen in PC point-and-click adventure games, almost all of them are based on the types of puzzles seen in those games. The real challenge of past Resident Evil games came from solving its puzzles, some of which could easily frustrate a player to the extent where they would just want to stop playing for a week or two. In a move that I find shocking and a bit disappointing, Resident Evil 4 only features a handful of puzzles and these puzzles are a walk in the park for Resident Evil veterans. I’m sure hardcore fans of the past games will lament on this issue in order to lessen the appeal of RE4 and I probably would as well, but since the game’s action element is just so damn impressive it’s very easy to look past this issue and enjoy the game for what it is.

Extras! Extras! Read all about ’em!
The main single player adventure in Resident Evil 4 is just so entertaining that it may never lose its appeal. Many have been saying that the game will take most players approximately twenty hours to complete, although I personally completed the game in just over sixteen hours. Why is that? Not sure, maybe I rushed through the game but if you think that’s too short for a game of this caliber then to each his own because I believe that RE4’s main single-player offering is completely satisfying. Thankfully for those wanting more there’s more to play once the main adventure has been completed.

Like most Resident Evil games RE4 contains its fair share of extras. Once the game is beaten a harder difficultly is unlocked, as is are news costumes that Leon can wear and some new weapons that are given to players to use on their second run through. Goodies like these are found in almost every Resident Evil game but RE4 also contains some mini-games that extend the length of the single player experience. One of these mini-games is called "The Mercenaries" and what players do in this mode is attempt to kill a large number of enemies within a certain time period. Getting a high score in this mode unlocks new characters that can be used in it. Another, which had previously been exclusive to the PS2 re-release are the Ada Wong missions, which puts you into the sexy high heels of this Asian assassin going through a side-story of sorts that compliments Leon’s adventure, which, I must say, is quite the excellent treat.

A strong atmospheric presence
The "Wii Edition" of RE4 doesn’t look any different than its GameCube counterpart. It’s essentially the same game, just re-packaged with the PS2 extras. However, there are some new additions, such as true wide-screen support and progressive scan.

Unlike the Resident Evil remake and Resident Evil Ø for the GameCube, RE4 does not feature pre-rendered environments. While it is not the first game in the series to do such a thing, it’s easily the best looking game the series has ever seen. The game’s environments are beautiful (especially this lava filled area later on in the game). All feature plenty of little details that would take too long to list. The animations of the game’s characters, whether they’re facial animations of just moving limbs, etc... are excellent in execution. They don’t appear to be over animated like in most games and as a result appear lifelike. Of course, this is just the tip of the visual iceberg. The implementation of lighting and other visual effects are executed in a way in which it complements the game’s dark and moody atmosphere.