Pros: Free Aiming
Beautiful Graphics
Authentic Spanish Dialog
Excellent Pacing
Cons: Ashley's Voice
Ada's Story
Interactive Cutscenes
The bottom line: A world apart from mainstream Resident Evil, RE4 is excellent in what it does different. A MUST OWN
An instant classic that deviates from its origins, Resident Evil 4 is sure to be a crowd pleaser. For those of you expecting more static camera angles and limiting controls, you’re in for a big surprise. The only thing that feels like Resident Evil is the name Leon Kennedy.

Let me start by saying that I have been a long time Resident Evil fan. I’ve played every incarnation of Resident Evil (1) and almost all of the other games. Keeping it short, I know my Resident Evil. It’s the play mechanics that make this seem like a whole other series. Previously, you had the static camera angles and movement was all about the basic four. Basic four, meaning: forward, backwards, turn right, or turn left. Now, Leon can free run, meaning that if you hit a direction on the analog stick, he’ll move that way. You’re probably thinking,”OK, so how’s that make the game different?” Well, my friend; Resident Evil 4 is now a graphically superior shooting gallery compared to previous titles (which is especially obvious when you find the hidden shooting gallery mini-game). When you pull the right shoulder button, Leon raises his gun. At this point, a laser sight is activated. Where ever you hit the enemy will determine their action. A great deal of physics comes into play here, as shooting an enemy in the foot may not only make him fall, but can cause him to trip enemies behind him. Unload the shotgun into an enemy’s chest to throw him back into a ground. The unsuspecting enemies catch this rag-dolled body and fall backwards. In some cases, enemies cannot be killed with a simple headshot as before. You may cap their skull, but a mutant will spring from it that forces you to realign your sights and begin anew to terminate the same threat. Basically, quick thinking is required in choosing where to hit an enemy and with what weapon.

As you know, the Knife was always a last ditch effort. At this point, it’s a main weapon. Pulling the left shoulder button causes Leon to raise his knife. You can use the Knife to open boxes or cut bacon strips off of enemies. This knife is your quickest weapon to use, yet the weakest. Slashing at an enemy’s throat (however) can have surprising results. Since this game offers ammo-a-plenty, don’t expect to have to fall back on the knife frequently. The purpose of the knife is more a compliment to your arsenal. Speaking of arsenal, there are more guns in this game than you can shake a stick at. The overview is six basic types (pistol, machinegun, magnum, shotgun, rifle, and explosive). You can buy different versions of each weapon. As you get further and further in the game, the power of the weapons available increases. You can also choose to spend money (earned from killing enemies) on upgrading the weapons you already have. Because early on, there isn’t a need to upgrade, I recommend saving your hard earned cash for buying newer guns or upgrading weapons once you hit disc 2.

The basic story puts you in every gamer’s nightmare. The president’s daughter (Ashley) is kidnapped by a Spanish cult. Traveling to Spain, Leon must find and protect Ashley from the cult to ensure her safe return. If you didn’t figure it out already, this means the game is like one huge escort mission. Thankfully, Leon can stash Ashley in dumpsters and other locations so you can get alone time to kill. Back to the story, which begins with Leon entering a village with questionable ties to the cult. As the investigation starts, Leon soon realizes that Raccoon City (Resident Evil 2) was a piece of cake compared to this place. Villagers screaming in Spanish start to surround him and try to kill him with pitch forks and any other weapon they can find. As Leon progresses through the story, he meets the usual psychotic villains Resident Evil is notorious for. They all seem very content with their role in the masterminded plot, and eventually end up either being killed or huge, disgusting creatures you must kill. Ada Wong (Resident Evil 2) resurfaces in this game; however, her motives are very unclear. Thankfully, there is a bonus game called “Assignment Ada” that sheds some light on her purpose (but not enough to avoid a Resident Evil 5).

Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe the graphics on this game. The scenery may not be photo perfect, but it rivals anything we’ve seen on Xbox (original, not 360). Panning the camera around while in the forest makes the trees and woodlands seem go on forever. Castles and other building interiors have detailed wall textures that make them look realistically old. My personal favorite aspect of the visuals is the enemies. Unlike other Resident Evil games where you fight Male Zombies 1 & 2 or Female Zombie, Resident Evil 4 features a cast of villagers. I counted at least 6-7 unique character models before I was killed by a guy with a gunny sack over his head wielding a chainsaw. Speaking of chainsaws, that is just one of the many unique ways Leon can die. Capcom put quite a bit of attention into dismembering the main character. The boss characters are the same cuddly, slimy creatures that we all have come to expect from Resident Evil. Not only do they drip slime, but Capcom has put a surprising amount of detail into them, which makes the game seem even more realistic. Mandible dripping stringy saliva, spinal columns with chunks of flesh on them, even bubbling eyes from joints are just a few of the vividly rendered horrors used to make this game eye candy like no other.

There are two possible experiences for players. The first, the game comes off as just a shooting gallery and the villagers seem to be grunting at you. The second (which was my experience) is really quite freaky. All of the enemies speak Spanish. To be honest, it’s creepy listening to them coordinate attacks and notifying each other of your location. If you are fluent in Spanish, you will not only be able to predict some of their attacks but also experience the game’s authentic setting. The voice-overs for the villagers are very well done. They not only nail the accents correctly, but sound demonic in doing so. I can’t stress enough the world of difference it makes being fluent in Spanish. My friends and other people I know who don’t speak Spanish just simply disregarded all the voices as random taunts or growls. They knew something was being said, but probably because the Japanese throw random phrases into their games, these were mostly ignored. There’s just something about a villager yelling “detras de ti” (behind you) that can give a startle as you spin around to take an ax in the face.

The rest of the ambiance does what it needs to. I honestly feel that the voice-actors for Leon and Ada did much better than their Resident Evil 2 counter parts (which stunk with a cheese factor that’d put Wisconsin Dairy outta business). The dialog doesn’t seem forced, but the writing is cheesy in some points. Considering what they had to work with, I’m fairly pleased with the voice-overs. A surprising addition to the cast is Carolyn Lawrence (the voice of Ashley). I couldn’t shake that I’ve heard her before, and point-in-fact, she plays Cindy Vortex in Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron. This would probably explain why I found Ashley to be the most annoying character in the game.

Well, it’s that time again. It’s time for me to tear up what a good game I’ve built with random complaints. First, although Ashley can be repeatedly slashed by monsters and survive, if you barely nick her with the knife, she dies and it’s game over. Every cinematic sequence requires you to be on your toes. At key points, you’ll have to hit something to prevent Leon from dying. This means, that you don’t get to enjoy the show as much as you would’ve liked to. Ashley’s voice; I can’t stress enough how annoying she really is. If you have the mine launcher equipped, shoot a mine, then switch to another weapon, your mine will not detonate, but simply disappear. Because they give a warning before a sudden attack, the horror has been completely removed from the game, yet it’s still considered “Survival Horror”. In most cases, the sudden attacks WILL kill you if you miss the button press.

I can’t say that there is a whole lotta replay on this game. I restarted then got bored before fighting El Gigante (a giant creature that’s the first major boss). Mercenaries is a nice diversion. In this mini-game, you must kill as many villagers as possible before time runs out. You can unlock additional characters to play in this mini-game, but other than that, it’s more of a side than a main attraction. Assignment Ada gives slightly more detail as to her role during the events of Resident Evil 4; however, it plays more like the Survival Mode from Resident Evil 2, meaning that you run through a scenario without much story telling. Ultimately, I didn’t find much replay value in this title.

As Resident Evil 4 may possibly be the last Resident Evil title in its generation of gaming, I can’t help but feel satisfied with it as an action title, but disappointed as a survival horror. The game wasn’t nearly as scary as I would have hoped. Although, the freshness of run and gun makes it a good addition to the series. The ending started out cool, but then Ashley opened her big mouth and said something stupid. Overall, I highly recommend this game. A dubious purchase, I picked it up for $15, but can now see that it’s still worth the $50 price tag.