For those who like horror games, series like Resident Evil have always been shining examples of great and scary games. At least from what I?ve heard, I?ve never actually played a Resident Evil game, so this series is completely new to me, but I do know that if Capcom were making the fourth instalment in the attempt to make a horror game, they would have done a pretty lousy job. But does that make the game bad? Well, let?s take a better look at it, shall we?
Resident Evil 4 follows the same sort of sinister plot as the previous games, which includes zombies, viruses that turn humans into zombies, and headshots to the skull. Don?t feel like you have to play the previous ones, I know I didn?t, because this game has only one simple plot that doesn?t need three main games, a bunch of side-story games and a bunch of movies with Milla Jovovich to explain. And apart from the other games, the T-Virus has nothing to do with this. If you feel that you really want to know what the characters are going on and on about in their reminiscing, just go to Wikipedia.
You play as Leon Kennedy, an American agent that has travelled to Europe to save the President?s daughter, Ashley, a helpless, annoying, 20-year old who's voice can get you interested in the whole homicide thing. You go to a small town in some place in Europe (probably in Spain, counting the number of Spanish peasants you kill during the entire course of the game), and discover that the entire population has gone raving mad and is attempting to brutally murder you with farming tools and torches, like you're the monster of Frankenstein. (In that case, why not chase Wesker, he at least sounds like an abnormal freak). It's then your job to use your little gun with paper bullets to brutally murder them. On the way, you?ll go through a variety of environments, murder a bunch of different enemies, and discover a plot by a hoody obsessed cult to destroy?something or someone, I didn?t understand it really, but they probably have some sort of grudge against the US since they kidnapped the daughter of the President. They?re probably planning to take over the States, but in my opinion that seems a bit ambitious for a cult. Then again, nothing ever seems right in this game. Anyway, they infect you and Ashley with some form of parasite that makes you go mad, and you have to go to the Hoody Fortress of Doom to get yourself some painful surgery to get the parasite out. It's maybe not the most complex plot, but it's quite interesting, in a manner that you want to see what will happen next, even though you probably figured out what will happen.
There are a couple of things that makes this game different from classic third-person shooters. And it wouldn?t be a review if I didn?t mention them.
Firstly, the controls are a bit more complex. You use the left analog stick to direct your movement rather than strafing, so the right analog stick has been fed to the dogs in this game.
Secondly, you can?t blind-fire. To shoot you have to hold down R1 to aim, stand perfectly still and then shoot with the X button. It might seem like madness in the beginning, but trust me, once you get used to it, it?s more fun than any other blind-firing, macho emphasized, mainstream shooter that rather wants you to shoot wildly into the air than use some actual precision. What I do complain about it is that you have to stand still while waving your knife at them. I?m pretty sure you don?t have to be careful when only enemies are around. And even if it weren?t, I?d still take the risk.
And thirdly, the game counts on you to not abuse your ammo. In the beginning, and if you?re playing on Easy, like I did, you?ll find ammo and herbs every five feet you go. But later in the game, it expects you to have mastered your head-shot skills, because the enemies can then take around 10 shots to the skull before they?ll realize that sinking into the ground is the right way to go.
That's what you get for not using your gun properly!
The difficulty curve is actually quite interesting; it starts out easy for the first three chapters, then it suddenly flies up into the skies for the last ones. You?ll constantly run out of ammo, the enemies will more often grow parasitic heads (oh yes, if you blow off their skulls, they might grow new ones in form of parasites, did I forget to tell that?), and the boss fights get more and more frustrating. But it doesn?t make the game bad, just makes it a bit more frustrating, which is good, cause games are supposed to be frustrating. We?re not playing games made for your mum here, this is a real game, for those who know how to headshot and impale people (in a game, that is).
It also gets more emphasis on the quick-time events, which seem like a crappy thing, but it?s a good way to keep the player on his/her feet. Don?t think you can just put down the controller and relax during a cut scene, cause before you know it, you?ll have missed the ?Press R1 to avoid? sign, and your skull have been decapitated and served as dinner on the next big cult party along with a nice salad and some dressing. But once you get used to it, it?s actually quite fun, especially with some of the boss battles where you have to avoid attacks through them. What is a little bad is the monotony in them. There are only around two combinations, and once you know that, you have already readied your fingers, so it doesn't get any difficult. What I?m saying is that it?d be better if they?d surprise us a bit more.
Another thing that I noticed with the game is the inventory system. While other games have limited slots and weight measuring, RE4 uses a system where you have to fit all your items into a neat little portfolio. It makes for some realistic organizing, except for the fact that a sniper rifle seems to be as large as 7 small herbs, but what the hell, we?ll roll with it, I don?t think there is a portfolio big enough to fit 6 different types of guns and still be light enough to carry, so I guess they had to change the fabric of reality a bit. The only downsides are that you have to pause the game whenever you want to change weapon, which breaks the flow a bit, and it?s hard to choose how much you want of everything. I did the tactic of having as many weapons as possible, probably cause I?m compensating for something, so after having the best weapons of every kind, it was hard o fit in enough ammo and herbs to keep me satisfied and at full health. There were times when I had to run away from enemies just because I didn?t have the right ammo or were out of herbs. Speaking of which, even though I played on Easy, I still complain over the absurd amount of herbs you step on during the game. Doesn?t seem like a real complain, but I had to choose to either have lots of herbs or lots of ammo, and it seemed like a waste to throw most stuff I found away.
Another complaint I?ll throw out while I?m at it; the dialogue is a bit annoying, even though the voice acting is great. While Leon is bad ass at many times, his attempts to stay that way with ?witty dialogue? are a bit feeble at times. That combined with the events through the game makes everything a bit cliché. One of the silliest things that I still found entertaining, however, was when you fought against a small Napoleon dressed kid who exchanges laughable dialogue with you and tries to look serious and dangerous, but cries whenever he gets a knife in the arm. I seriously don?t think the developers went into that with a serious face. But I guess that was part of the idea from the beginning. It?s at least better than the dialogue that you get from today?s mainstream titles where every character is a meathead that either is 100% serious or 100% jackass or both at the same time.
Vive la France!
So what I?m trying to get to is that if you like a good third-person shooter that requires precision and carefulness, or even if you just like shooters in general, I highly recommend Resident Evil 4. It?s fun, it?s hilarious, it has a lot of replay value with all the extras, it?s better than most shooters out now, and despite the flaws, it sits proudly on my top 10 games list, which is unusual for a shooter. So take this long rant as a heartily recommendation, cause unless you have a fear for great game play and a distinguished hate for guns, you will most definitely love this game. And if you do suffer from those things, you might as well fold your gaming in altogether, cause you will at least find one of those two things in today?s games, you weirdo.
If you liked this review, feel free to see my other reviews at my blog. You can find it on my profile.
Resident Evil 4 follows the same sort of sinister plot as the previous games, which includes zombies, viruses that turn humans into zombies, and headshots to the skull. Don?t feel like you have to play the previous ones, I know I didn?t, because this game has only one simple plot that doesn?t need three main games, a bunch of side-story games and a bunch of movies with Milla Jovovich to explain. And apart from the other games, the T-Virus has nothing to do with this. If you feel that you really want to know what the characters are going on and on about in their reminiscing, just go to Wikipedia.
You play as Leon Kennedy, an American agent that has travelled to Europe to save the President?s daughter, Ashley, a helpless, annoying, 20-year old who's voice can get you interested in the whole homicide thing. You go to a small town in some place in Europe (probably in Spain, counting the number of Spanish peasants you kill during the entire course of the game), and discover that the entire population has gone raving mad and is attempting to brutally murder you with farming tools and torches, like you're the monster of Frankenstein. (In that case, why not chase Wesker, he at least sounds like an abnormal freak). It's then your job to use your little gun with paper bullets to brutally murder them. On the way, you?ll go through a variety of environments, murder a bunch of different enemies, and discover a plot by a hoody obsessed cult to destroy?something or someone, I didn?t understand it really, but they probably have some sort of grudge against the US since they kidnapped the daughter of the President. They?re probably planning to take over the States, but in my opinion that seems a bit ambitious for a cult. Then again, nothing ever seems right in this game. Anyway, they infect you and Ashley with some form of parasite that makes you go mad, and you have to go to the Hoody Fortress of Doom to get yourself some painful surgery to get the parasite out. It's maybe not the most complex plot, but it's quite interesting, in a manner that you want to see what will happen next, even though you probably figured out what will happen.
There are a couple of things that makes this game different from classic third-person shooters. And it wouldn?t be a review if I didn?t mention them.
Firstly, the controls are a bit more complex. You use the left analog stick to direct your movement rather than strafing, so the right analog stick has been fed to the dogs in this game.
Secondly, you can?t blind-fire. To shoot you have to hold down R1 to aim, stand perfectly still and then shoot with the X button. It might seem like madness in the beginning, but trust me, once you get used to it, it?s more fun than any other blind-firing, macho emphasized, mainstream shooter that rather wants you to shoot wildly into the air than use some actual precision. What I do complain about it is that you have to stand still while waving your knife at them. I?m pretty sure you don?t have to be careful when only enemies are around. And even if it weren?t, I?d still take the risk.
And thirdly, the game counts on you to not abuse your ammo. In the beginning, and if you?re playing on Easy, like I did, you?ll find ammo and herbs every five feet you go. But later in the game, it expects you to have mastered your head-shot skills, because the enemies can then take around 10 shots to the skull before they?ll realize that sinking into the ground is the right way to go.
That's what you get for not using your gun properly!
The difficulty curve is actually quite interesting; it starts out easy for the first three chapters, then it suddenly flies up into the skies for the last ones. You?ll constantly run out of ammo, the enemies will more often grow parasitic heads (oh yes, if you blow off their skulls, they might grow new ones in form of parasites, did I forget to tell that?), and the boss fights get more and more frustrating. But it doesn?t make the game bad, just makes it a bit more frustrating, which is good, cause games are supposed to be frustrating. We?re not playing games made for your mum here, this is a real game, for those who know how to headshot and impale people (in a game, that is).
It also gets more emphasis on the quick-time events, which seem like a crappy thing, but it?s a good way to keep the player on his/her feet. Don?t think you can just put down the controller and relax during a cut scene, cause before you know it, you?ll have missed the ?Press R1 to avoid? sign, and your skull have been decapitated and served as dinner on the next big cult party along with a nice salad and some dressing. But once you get used to it, it?s actually quite fun, especially with some of the boss battles where you have to avoid attacks through them. What is a little bad is the monotony in them. There are only around two combinations, and once you know that, you have already readied your fingers, so it doesn't get any difficult. What I?m saying is that it?d be better if they?d surprise us a bit more.
Another thing that I noticed with the game is the inventory system. While other games have limited slots and weight measuring, RE4 uses a system where you have to fit all your items into a neat little portfolio. It makes for some realistic organizing, except for the fact that a sniper rifle seems to be as large as 7 small herbs, but what the hell, we?ll roll with it, I don?t think there is a portfolio big enough to fit 6 different types of guns and still be light enough to carry, so I guess they had to change the fabric of reality a bit. The only downsides are that you have to pause the game whenever you want to change weapon, which breaks the flow a bit, and it?s hard to choose how much you want of everything. I did the tactic of having as many weapons as possible, probably cause I?m compensating for something, so after having the best weapons of every kind, it was hard o fit in enough ammo and herbs to keep me satisfied and at full health. There were times when I had to run away from enemies just because I didn?t have the right ammo or were out of herbs. Speaking of which, even though I played on Easy, I still complain over the absurd amount of herbs you step on during the game. Doesn?t seem like a real complain, but I had to choose to either have lots of herbs or lots of ammo, and it seemed like a waste to throw most stuff I found away.
Another complaint I?ll throw out while I?m at it; the dialogue is a bit annoying, even though the voice acting is great. While Leon is bad ass at many times, his attempts to stay that way with ?witty dialogue? are a bit feeble at times. That combined with the events through the game makes everything a bit cliché. One of the silliest things that I still found entertaining, however, was when you fought against a small Napoleon dressed kid who exchanges laughable dialogue with you and tries to look serious and dangerous, but cries whenever he gets a knife in the arm. I seriously don?t think the developers went into that with a serious face. But I guess that was part of the idea from the beginning. It?s at least better than the dialogue that you get from today?s mainstream titles where every character is a meathead that either is 100% serious or 100% jackass or both at the same time.
Vive la France!
So what I?m trying to get to is that if you like a good third-person shooter that requires precision and carefulness, or even if you just like shooters in general, I highly recommend Resident Evil 4. It?s fun, it?s hilarious, it has a lot of replay value with all the extras, it?s better than most shooters out now, and despite the flaws, it sits proudly on my top 10 games list, which is unusual for a shooter. So take this long rant as a heartily recommendation, cause unless you have a fear for great game play and a distinguished hate for guns, you will most definitely love this game. And if you do suffer from those things, you might as well fold your gaming in altogether, cause you will at least find one of those two things in today?s games, you weirdo.
If you liked this review, feel free to see my other reviews at my blog. You can find it on my profile.
