It's on my Facebook. Here you go. And just so you know, I beat this game and completed the Mercenaries.
I'm going to start this off by saying that this might contain spoilers, but this may not matter because this game is so damned predictable. I am partly writing this to counter the praise given to this game, and to vent my frustration at my failure in Resident Evil 4 (which is a far superior game).
We start off with our hero (The Incredible Hulk Chris Redfield), our hero from the the original and Code: Veronica, where he's in Africa combating bio terrorism as part of the BSAA (I forget what it stands for right now, and I really don't care). He teams up with Sheva Alomar, a a tough native African to do some mission. Things quickly get out of hand and the locals get nasty, attacking The Incredible Hulk Chris and Sheva. They soon discover that some old friends and enemies are involved, as well as some new characters.
I admit, the beginning of the game is good. It builds up tension and gives some hints of the chaos to come before it actually starts. Another area it improves on is graphics, but that's to be expected on a next-generation system. Voice acting is good too. Other than graphics (and the Mercenaries mini game - more on that later), RE4 is superior in every way. I wasn't expecting this game to blow my mind. What I did expect of it is that it give me some entertainment, maintain some links to the rest of the series and make me feel like it was somehow worth playing. It was a fun action game while it lasted but as a fan of the series, I was disappointed.
The only links we have to any of the other games are three characters, who are changed beyond regognition. The Incredible Hulk (Damn! There I go again) Chris Redfield have muscles that would make the Rock jealous. Wesker looks like an old, pissed off Neil Patrick Harris playing an extra in the Matrix. Jill is blonde for some reason. The new characters are decent enough, except for the crazy blonde guy (again, don't remember his name, and don't care to) who looks out of place in a Resident Evil game and probably still wets the bed.
The story these characters are thrust into is a jumbled mess. At least that's how I remember it. It has something to do with a new virus that is very similar to the one in RE4, an Umbrella Inc. ripoff and a plan for new world order. Maybe it would make more sense if I played it again. But I feel no need.
Even the script is sucks. (On a side note: success in RE4). It is cliched ("You are merely postponing the inevitable!") and some words and phrases are just plain out of place ("This is for our fallen brothers!)". Admitted, some other RE games had awful dialogue. But with the rest of the game being good, the most this did was make me take the game less seriously. Here, with the rest of the game being not so good, it just irritates me further.
The inventory system was frustrating as well. While it was interesting to have to make quick, frantic decisions (as accessing the inventory does not paused the game) the inventory space is limited and item managing is frustrating. Maybe a pause feature would have worked to arrange the item swapping before actually doing it. But what we're left with here is an irritating, tedious process that somehow reminds me of Tetris. Not to mention the fact that objects like, say, a green herb take up the same amount of inventory space as 150 machine gun rounds. And bullet proof vests take up an inventory space; wait, don't people usually wear those on their chests? Zero Punctuation said "You're wearing your armour in a pocket of your armour."
The one redeeming quality of the game was the Mercenaries mini game. In fact, it was the best part of the game. And when I think about it, it makes me dislike this game more; it is a bad sign when bonus material is better than the game itself. In Mercenaries, we don't need to pretend there's a story. The developers didn't pretend there's a story. It's just action, and we realize that. It's a good time, teaming up with a friend, fighting different enemies, frantically trying to collect health, ammo and timers while the same time trying to beat your previous score and unlock new characters/levels. There are many more characters and levels to play, which makes it even better. But sadly, this gets old as well. And after we've beaten the story mode and mercenaries, we're left with a shelf decoration, or maybe something to sell for store credit at EB Games.
All in all, this game is NOT worth buying. If you want to play it, rent it with a friend. It will be more fun, and you can make jokes about it. Don't expect a profound experience out of this game.
