By Elias Dounis on January 18th, 2005

It seemed that over the years the Resident Evil series had lost its appeal. Just like Street Fighter before it, Capcom had milked the series to the point where most gamers just didn’t want to have much to do with it any more. Of course, hardcore fans of the series stuck by to play faithful sequels including Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Resident Evil Ø, and the GameCube’s remake of the very first game, but these weren’t enough to attract new players since they were just more of the same with beefed up visuals and a continuing storyline. How could Capcom get the series back to its days of glory from the previous generation? That’s where Resident Evil 4 (RE4) steps in.

Umbrella no more; Or so we’re told
Resident Evil 4 is the rebirth of the series in many ways. While the Umbrella corporation has often been the center of the series’ plot, it is not in Resident Evil 4. I’ll save the plot details that are bound to spoil the game for many of you, so I’ll just mention what has been mentioned in previews of the game for the past few months...

In Resident Evil 4 Leon S. Kennedy, one of the star characters of Resident Evil 2, is hired by the President of the United States to rescue his daughter Ashley. Ashley has been abducted by a mysterious cult organization and Leon’s search for Ashley sends him to some remote Spanish village in Europe. The moment he arrives he discovers that practically every living creature around him wants Leon dead for some inexplicable reason. And guess what? They’re not zombies.

Let me just say this, there have never been just zombies in a Resident Evil game. There has always been a variety of ugly creatures to exterminate and not much has changed in that respect in RE4. Okay, there are no zombies, but they have been replaced by an enemy that is a bit more intelligent and they’re called Los Ganados. Unlike the the traditional zombies of past Resident Evil games, these humanoid creatures can wield weapons and even converse amongst themselves; most importantly, they also attack in large packs.

Change can be good
For years Resident Evil games have featured static camera positioning that has always managed to frustrate many players. Directing a character through the game’s environments managed to become a chore and it wasn’t unheard of to have trouble walking a straight line. Resident Evil 4 corrects this issue by finally getting rid of that awkward camera positioning and instead pursues an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective that I must say is flawless in execution. There’s never a need to manipulate the game’s camera (the option to do so isn’t included anyway). However, if this was the only change made to the series in Resident Evil 4 then most players would be disappointed with the final product.

Resident Evil 4 is without question one of the most satisfying videogame experiences in existence. Not much compares to the immediate gratification felt during the game’s action sequences. The intensity of the game is immeasurable. When surrounded by a dozen enemies on all sides you would normally think that there’s no chance in hell that you would be able to get out of a situation like this alive, but with a shotgun in hand you just start buckin’ shots at the heads of every creature in your sights, seeing their brains splatter all over the place and possibly even feeling a sort of adrenaline rush flowing through your veins; a feeling that only a handful of games provide. Resident Evil 4 is the ultimate thrill ride and not only that but it satisfies the most

"without question the best looking GameCube game available"

This may sound disturbing, but I just love blowing the heads off the game’s villagers, monks and other humanoid grunts seen in the game. Why? Because of the game’s new aiming system that allows players to target specific body parts. While many players would’ve liked to have a strafing feature included, the way the whole gunplay aspect of the game is presented is one of the game’s strongest points. Most enemy encounters are head-on, up close and personal and the only way to survive most of these encounters is to target specific areas on an enemy and make sure those hits count. As expected the weakness of almost all enemies in the game is their head or what seems to be a head. If their head isn’t exposed because they’re shielding it with some sort of appendage of a plain ole’ wooden shield, you can choose to blast that object out of the way with a shotgun, which immediately shatters the wooden shield, or send a bullet towards one of your enemy’s knees, making them drop to one leg, exposing their head and leaving you open for a shot to blow their brains out.

Although it may not look like it from images, Resident Evil 4 is a thinking man’s action game. Many will disagree with me but I like to believe that most first-person shooters and third-person action games are mindless in the way which they don’t force players to use specific strategies and different weapons to eliminate their enemies. Well, Resident Evil 4 continously forces players to keep their wits at their sharpest. Some enemies are vulnerable to different weapons and tactics and players must continously keep this in mind because when large amounts of enemies are tossed at you, they’re not all the same easy-to-dispose grunts. Because of this fact the game never becomes tedious and a result you never want to put it down. Not that many games have such a characteristic yet RE4 does and that’s just one of the many reasons as to why it’s one of the best action games ever created.

Some of the most enjoyable enemy encounters in Resident Evil 4 are the boss battles. The boss battles in Resident Evil games have always been a test of endurance and strategy. These battles do not follow the Nintendo-like conventions in which you memorize an enemy attack pattern, strike a blow, rinse and repeat another two times. RE4 stays true to the approach used in previous games for boss battles but this time it’s been injected with five different kinds of anabolic steroids. In simpler terms, the boss battles in Resident Evil 4 are some of the best seen in any videogame to date. The creatures you run into in these boss battles are of massive size, whether is giant sea creature, a Lord of the Rings-like troll, or a human/spider thing which looks as if it came out of your most disturbing nightmares. The tactics used for each boss battle vary from battle to battle and since most bosses in the game do not have an absurdly obvious attack pattern, players will have to change their approach accordingly to the situation at hand. One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed is that using a Rocket Launcher, one of the game’s most powerful weapons, can often kill a boss in a single hit when targeting a its weak point, although the Rocket Launcher is only good for one shot and has to be bought repeatedly at a hefty price to use again later on. Most of these battles also feature context sensitive actions which helps make each battle feel more unique than the previous one. For instance, one context sensitive action sends a crane swinging dropping one of the game’s latter bosses to its many knees and in another these context sensitive actions will give players the opening to dodge an enemy’s lethal attacks. In fact, these context sensitive actions are feature heavily throughout the entire game.

Context sensitive actions isn’t a gameplay feature that we haven’t seen implemented into a videogame in the past. Luckily, gameplay features implemented into a game do not have to be original in order to be commended. No sir, it’s all about the execution and quite frankly innovation mean shit if someone takes that idea and puts it to much better use. Resident Evil 4 is an excellent example of putting context sensitive action to good use... Go near a door and an image appears on screen that tells you a certain button will open it. Go near a ledge or a broken window and the same image will appear, telling players to drop down to the next platform, or in the case of the broken window, jump through it to reach the other side. Resident Evil 4 is filled with context sensitive actions such as these but what’s been mentioned so far doesn’t really appear to be anything special. Thankfully, the use of these context sensitive actions are extended to more than just simple actions like those mentioned.

Let’s say a monstrous bolder is tossed at you by your enemies and it begins to roll down a hill after you. In the game, when such an obstacle is encountered, players will have to rapidly tap the ’A’ button to sprint and eventually get out of the way of monstrous piece of rock that would probably splatter you insides in a very disturbing fashion. Fans of Sega’s Shenmue games will definitely feel at home with how these context sensitive actions are used but all of these actions mentioned so far pale into comparison as to how they actions are used during the game’s cutscenes.

If there’s one thing to take note of before playing this game, it’s to never drop the controller or even blink during RE4’s cutscenes because a context

As I finished this event I immediately began to praise it and think of other games in which it could be utilized and what first came to mind was Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid (MGS) series. Many gamers like to joke around and say something like "you don’t play a Metal Gear Solid game, you watch it." While that statement has plenty of truth behind it, if a cutscene heavy game such as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater were to include interactive action sequences that were pre-scripted like Resident Evil 4’s than things would undoubtedly be much more entertaining.

What I find a bit interesting is that Resident Evil 4 will be compared to the Metal Gear Solid series a few other games in a number of ways. While cinematic cutscenes have been part of the series since its creation, the presentation and cinematic style of RE4’s is comparable to how cutscenes in Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid games are portrayed. Furthermore, the codec conversations that the MGS series has been known for is being mimicked in RE4. Although Leon cannot take out his radio and ask his comrades for help, whenever the game goes into a new chapter, Leon holds a video conversation with some key characters to progress the game’s plot. If you’re not a fan of the codec conversations in the MGS games, don’t worry; those in RE4 are usually no longer than a minute, unlike those of incredible length featured in the MGS games.

No need to be conservative
Conserving ammunition, ink ribbons, and healing medicines have often played a big part of the survival horror aspect of past Resident Evil games. You had to make each shot count and at times completely avoid enemies altogether, running by them to conserve the limited ammo the game gives you. Also, you were forced to limit the amount of times you could save your game, because the ink ribbons used to save your progress on the typewriters found throughout the games were limited, as were the healing medicines such as green and red herbs.

There’s no denying that these limits placed on us could often become incredibly frustrating. If you by chance would encounter an enemy that required a specific weapon to defeat and you had no ammo for it, you’d often be forced to restart the game from an earlier segment and conserve your items in order to get passed this enemy later on. While this may have put emphasis on being a conservative player, it could become annoying to the point where you would just want to give up on the game because of the frustration felt from going through events over and over again. Luckily for those of us who found this conservation aspect of the past games frustration, Resident Evil 4 does away with it all.

There is no limit on ammunition or healing medicines and you can save your game an unlimited amount of times. Because of this, there is no need to make multiple saves in RE4 in case you screw up and waste certain items that you may have needed, because it’s very likely that you’ll come across them again later on since the games enemies often drop ammo and healing herbs when killed. Additionally, there are large number of checkpoint included in the game, so you don’t necessarily have to start from your last save point if you’re killed, that is unless you turn the game off. Of course, you must still attempt on making each bullet you fire hit its mark because later on in the game ammo isn’t as easy to come across as in the game’s earlier segments. There had been many times where I had no ammo for multiple weapons in my possession, but often enough, once you’re ammo is depleted, an enemy conveniently drops what you need at the last moment.

Now, in order to acquire newer and more powerful weapons in the game, you don’t come across them as you would in previous Resident Evil games. Instead, you buy them from a merchant who is often found in the same room where a typewriter is located, or very nearby. Not only does this merchant sell you new weapons, but he also allows you to upgrade each weapon’s firepower, reload speed, and capacity. It’s very much like "leveling up" in an RPG sense but it costs money in RE4, opposed to experience points in RPGs.

I’m quite fond of the inclusion on the merchant in RE4, although I have to admit that his existence makes very little sense. The whole area is infested with bloodthirsty creatures that practically kill every living thing that isn’t one of their own and this merchant just so happens to freely roam around these areas. It’d be wise not to think about this much because RE4 is indeed a videogame. It’s not a written rule that videogames have to be ultra-realistic to be deemed fun and RE4 is undeniably fun and addictive. Adding to the fact are these shooting range mini-games that the merchant hosts and a number of them are included throughout the game and reward players with items.

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 I don’t think it will ever 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 a "new" costume that Leon can wear and some new weapons that are given to players to use on their second run

A strong atmospheric presence
In order for a game such as RE4 to be deemed impressive, it needs to offer an atmosphere that is realistic but at the same time out of this world. The only way this can be done is by offering and audio and visual package that is awe inspiring and, of course, this is another area in which RE4 delivers.

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. In all seriousness you’ve never seen flame effects this good in any game this side of Half Life 2.

As always, there’s more that players can ask for. For instance, I would’ve liked if the game’s environments could be interacted with more than just picking up ammo, key items, weapons, medical herbs, or random notes. There are many areas in the game that feature extravagant furniture and ornaments, and I would’ve loved to destroy some of this stuff, but even if you were to fire a rocket at them, you won’t find single scratch. In that sense the game still has that "static" feel of its predecessors, although, despite this little demand of mine, Resident Evil 4 is without question the best looking GameCube game available and it doesn’t seem as if there will be anything else in the future that will surpass its visuals.

Resident Evil 4’s auditory traits are just as great as its visuals. The series has always been known for its eerily disturbing soundtrack and RE4’s stays true to the series but also adds more color to the game. "How" you say? Well, whenever Leon is surrounded by a number of enemies, or whenever you’re in danger, the intensity of the game’s soundtrack picks up as blood is being spilled. While that’s not anything too out of the ordinary for games in modern times, the execution of it in RE4 is well done and the only game that I can think of that does this little sound trick better is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Interestingly, it’s not the game’s soundtrack that makes the RE4’s audio aspect so great. The sounds of gunfire and other ambience are just so incredibly satisfying. The thundering sound of firing shotgun rounds into the skull of an enemy, while seeing and hearing his skull splatter, is disturbingly satisfying. Also the moaning and cursing of the game’s enemies really add to the game’s eery atmosphere. You’ll know if an enemy is near you but where it exactly is you don’t.

Many people like to claim that a staple of the Resident Evil series is its sometimes laughable voice acting. Well, the newer installments in the series have continously improved the voice acting in the games with each new game and Resident Evil 4 is the best example of good voice acting and dialogue in a Resident Evil game. There had never been a time when I questioned or cringed at any of the game’s dialogue and it seems that some people like to act as if Resident Evil 4’s voice acting and dialogue is terrible but I think it’s more like some people want to keep an old joke alive.

"Impressive; Most Impressive"
There had been a number of great games that were released in 2004. Oddly, most failed to impress me since many were sequels that failed to really offer something spectacular that their predecessors hadn’t already. The great thing about Resident Evil 4 is that it doesn’t give me the same feeling those games did. Not only has it impressed me but it has left me floored. I will go as far as to say that I believe that Resident Evil 4 is the best action game I’ve played to the date, in the same league as the great Ninja Gaiden and a handful of other notables. However, I do believe that there are a number of improvements that could’ve been made to the game to make it even better. In particular, I would’ve loved if the game’s puzzles were as difficult as those featured in previous Resident Evil games. Although, it’s possible that if Capcom were to include more challenging puzzles in a sequel to RE4 that many of the new fans they’ve gained with this game may feel a bit alienated when playing the sequel. Unfortunately, that is a risk Capcom may have to take in order to create, in my personal opinion, a better game.