Official Resident Evil 4 Website

Official Resident Evil Website

Platform: PlayStation 2, GameCube

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1

The evil has returned.

Nintendo has certainly held onto the Resident Evil license for quite some time and Capcom has given GameCube owners a fantastic new version of the original game as well as a few other entries into the growing series. PlayStation 2 owners however have been stuck with rather bland RE games like Outbreak, but those days are now at an end. Capcom promised a port of Resident Evil 4 onto the PS2, and they haven't let fans down, though the trash talk started shortly after the announcement regarding polygon counts and graphics, but as I've always said, that isn't necessarily what makes a game successful. In this case, it's simply name and fan following alone.

Resident Evil 4 is set six years after the events that transpired in Raccoon City; the outbreak, the hordes of zombies, and the government destroying the city with a single nuclear missile. The attention is now focused on Leon Kennedy, the former member of the Raccoon City Police Department introduced in RE2, and now Leon is a US Agent working for the President of the United States. He's come to Europe on a rescue mission and is trying to track down the President's daughter, Ashley, who has recently been kidnapped. However, evil isn't far behind.

Leon soon finds himself alone in somewhere in Europe (though never actually mentioned, it's obviously Spain) searching for Ashley, but he soon discovers that things aren't quite right. The villagers in the area have been taken over by a mysterious plague and are incredibly hostile to him. They all seem to be at the beck and call of one man who seems to have orchestrated the outbreak and now both Leon and Ashley have been injected with the same disease. Time is running out, and Leon must get the President's daughter to safety as well as unravel the mystery of exactly what is going on, not only in the small village, but also with himself.

Most gamers have played at least one Resident Evil, if not all of them, and there have been complaints arising after the first couple of games. Without listing all of them, the main concerns have been the limited inventory, the limitations the game has regarding checking your surroundings, the targeting, and the list goes on from there. Let me start by saying, this is NOT the Resident Evil that you all might be familiar with, and there have been a number of changes that should please most.

The limited visibility is now gone and RE is a fully three-dimensional world. You can look around, you aren't stuck with simply see what the game has given you as you've entered into an area, and this brings a bit more realism to the game. However, there are a few things that you will need to get accustomed to as well. In the past, it was usually easy to see a zombie as they walked onto the screen, but since the game is now 3D, it's not quite as easy as it was in the past. Also, you won't find any zombies at all, unless you count the mindless villagers that will tend to swarm you and continue to assault you until they have all been slain. They will get worse with time as well, especially after the disease has gotten further into its development and they being sprouting tendrils once you think you have killed them.

The knife isn't as useless as it was in the past, and since this RE has limited ammo like the others, you may find yourself in a pinch and needing to use the blade. You guns now have a laser site attached, making that all-important head shop that much easier. The weapons can also be upgraded to improve firepower, ammo total, rate of fire and reloading speed. This is all thanks to a robed stranger who happens to appear at just the right time to sell you new weapons, items, or improve what you already have in your possession. This is where money comes in handy, and you'll find gold as well as valuables that can be used in this capacity. You can also increase the size of your attaché case that eliminates the need for a storage box. You can bypass items, you can discard them, and you're free to move them around.

There are more changes in RE4 however. You may find yourself in a building with a window close by and villagers everywhere. You can opt to jump out, though you can always stay and fight. You will also find that villagers can and will use ladders when available, but there can be pushed over. While they will put them back up, this can buy you some valuable time. You also will find occasions where the game will allow you to kick enemies that are close by or struggle free if you're dealing with some massive behemoth that has you in its clutches. Resident Evil has become a little more than just shooting and running. Later in the game, once you've saved Ashley, you will have to get her to jump from locations to get father into the stages and you can even have her hide in certain areas. This will become another important aspect as you will need to worry about both of your health status, and yes, herbs will play a vital role once again. Health though is now onscreen, so it is much easier to see when you need to replenish instead of just guessing.

Saving is done as it has been in the past, with typewriters, though there are no ribbons this time. You can save without the fear of running out of "ink" and between stages; you will also be given the opportunity to save your progress. This will also give you your tally as far as kills and such for the level as well as your overall game totals.

The lack of zombies is a bit sad, but the villagers are no less entertaining. You can blow their heads off with the shotgun and get that smirk on your face as the pieces of skull fly about the screen. You will also have some enormous foes to contend with, such as a creature that looks a bit like the cave trolls seen in the Lord of the Rings films, a gigantic aquatic serpent, and a number of other monstrosities. There are enemies you will begin to dread seeing as well. My least favorite would have to be the chainsaw wielding madman who seems to have been slightly inspired by Jason in the second Friday the 13th film (the burlap bag over the head is where the resemblance comes into play.) The key to success here; kill everything (except for that dog in the beginning of the game.) If you see a crow, shoot it; you'll get something out of it, at the very least, gold. RE4 also has plenty of cut scenes, dialog, and some sequences with Leon speaking with mission operatives that seems to have been "borrowed" from the Metal Gear Solid games.

RE4 isn't quite as puzzle driven as the past games, and they are not only few and far between, they are also very simple to solve. That usually has been the case with the previous games, but even more so here. Also, I'm a gamer who honestly has been highly desensitized thanks to watching countless horror films, and although I've often felt that the Resident Evil games lacked a true "scare factor," that is even more true in this fourth installment (more like 15th, but let's not get into that.) There aren't any portions of the game that I would call frightening, there are moments that I felt like I should turn on some lights or that I was going to jump out of my seat. Instead, this really is just a straight-ahead action title.

No zombies, no scares . . . . but it's fun. The PS2 version also offers those who have been patient some other goodies like new costumes, new weapons, and the option to play as Ada Wong and fill in some more details from the games. It might not be the Resident Evil that I'm used to, and most of the changes are welcomed, but I also can't say that this is a game that should be avoided like the plague (no pun intended . . . okay, maybe.) I'd love to see the next game go back to some of the "old" style. Let's be honest, I want the zombies back. Resident Evil 4 though is a solid title and is taking the series in a much better direction than it has been in the past. The waiting has paid off, and there's a new evil to contend with. The question is; are you ready for it?
 

-mike-