Resident Evil 4 Review

Resident Evil 4 became available on store shelves back in 2005, and it was one of those titles that truly solidified Capcom as torrid video game company. It appeared as if they were in a downward spiral after the debut of the abysmal games like Devil May Cry 2, Resident Evil Outbreak, and Resident Evil Outbreak File #2. Gamers began to question whether or not the company was a one trick pony or here to stay for the long run. However, Capcom ultimately redeemed themselves and silenced the critics with the release of Resident Evil 4. The storyline transpires approximately six years after the events of Resident Evil 2. Umbrella is put out of commission by the United States government, and members responsible for the prevalent virus are incarcerated. The protagonist is Leon S. Kennedy and is no longer an employee of the Raccoon City Police Department. Since he is currently working for the United States Secret Service, Leon is on a job to rescue Ashley Graham. She is the president's daughter and just happens to be held captive by a perverse group of individuals that are known as The Illuminated Ones. Avid Resident Evil fans will fans will recognize Leon reprising his role from Resident Evil 2. The gameplay is a departure from what is a prototypical Resident Evil game. Gone is the absurd camera angles that were disorienting and enter is an original third person behind the back perspective. This is a welcome addition that needed to be done to further immerse the player into the teeth of the action. Pressing and holding the L1 allows Leon to use his knife for short range fights (most of the time it for cutting open boxes). Aiming a firearm is done by holding the R1 button and targeting a laser. This system works well and requires less guessing than in previous Resident Evil adaptations. Furthermore, the view zooms in to provide a better grasp of what you are aiming. The drawback is that the peripheral vision is limited, but that sort of thing is expected and gives a realistic feel to the gameplay. One gameplay feature that did not make the PlayStation 2 edition is the ability to move and shoot. After three Resident Evil's, you would think that Capcom would have finally received the message. Apparently, they did not get the memo because it must have been lost in the mail. The inability to fire and be in motion is inexcusable. When you think about it, what kind of United States Secret Agent cannot even run and gun? On the bright side, Leon can do a 180 degree turn to quickly dodge a few but not all attacks. Additionally, there are contact sensitive moments where a button is required to successfully perform an action. There is some light puzzle solving, but the emphasis is on the action. The three most cumbersome parts of the gameplay has to do with Ashley. First of all, you are coerced into playing some dreaded escort missions after Leon speaks to Ashley. These sections can be a real nuisance because it is easy to lose track of Ashley with the endless stream of monsters that approach you. Yes, there is a place where you can tell here to hide (ala garbage dumpster). But those areas are seldom and arduous to discern. Secondly, there are other segments that require Leon to rescue Ashley within a certain time limit. The problem is that there is such a small window of opportunity, and the margin of error is slim to none. There is nothing wrong with a challenge, but this is not feasible when a plethora of demons are honing in on Ashley. The last and final thing is when you are actually in control of Ashley. This only last for approximately twenty minutes; nonetheless, it is still frustrating because she has no weapons. By the end of the game, you will be fairly pleased if Leon put a grenade in Ashley's mouth just to make her shut the hell up. Sadly, that never came to fruition. At its time, the graphics were stunning. Environments looked clean with rich detail. The animations are also brilliant as you will see adversaries act accordingly. For example, shooting an enemy in the head could result in an instantaneous death. Firing at a foes' hand will prevent them from throwing a weapon at Leon. A bullet to an opponents knees can cause them to drop to their knees or temporarily stun them by holding their legs in pain. This is a technique which should be applied on some people: stun and kick. If an enemy is baffled and you are near it, then you can execute a devastating kick that knocks them backwards. A tip for the start is to do this as much as possible in an effort to conserve ammunition for the more tougher creatures. Speaking of enemies, there is a diverse array of them that flank Leon from all angles. The first new revelation was that there are no zombies at all. Instead, all of the opponents are infected with a plague called Las Plagas. They look normal but are continually attempting to murder humans. Fortunately, there is wide assortment of weapons at your disposal which entail handguns to grenades and everything in between. The manner in which you go about upgrading the weapons is bizarre. For instance, a foe leaves treasure after it is defeated. This treasure can be used to upgrade weapons and purchase new gear from a merchant. The merchant is odd enough that he will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He makes comments like �€Å"What are ya buyin?�€� and �€Å"What are ya sellin?�€� At first he seems like another atrocity ready to attack you, but then it turns out that he is as innocuous as the leaves. The audio has its fair share of pros and cons. Music and sound effects are right on par with other titles, but the voice acting is dreadful. Clearly, the voice acting is not done with any enthusiasm and is definitely not on the same level as God of War. Too be perfectly honest, I have had more fun listening to Kevin Federline's music that this egregious acting. After beating Resident Evil 4, players are treated with an optional mission with Ada Wong. It takes around six hours to complete and does do a better job of fleshing out the plot some more. This playable mission shows what Ada was doing while Leon was rescuing the daughter. Moreover, there is a feature that gives Leon infinite ammunition after the end credits roll. Overall, Resident Evil 4 is the best in the series so far and a must play for any devoted aficionado of the survival horror genre.
Final Verdict: 9 out of 10

Resident Evil 4

Credit: Capcom

Copyright: Capcom