There isn't much I can say that hasn't been said already, so I'll make
this short. Resident Evil 4 is one of the best Gamecube games to be
released, and one of the best games to ever be made. This is the
pinnacle of the Resident Evil series and I would love to see Capcom top
this.
There's a ton of differences between the classic
Resident Evil games and 4, as the controls and camera angles have been
completely revamped. There's no more pre-rendered backgrounds or tank
control movements. The 3rd Person shooter perspective gives Leon more
and faster movement to keep the game at a faster pace. So it's hard to
compare this game to the classic RE titles, but they share enough
qualities. While I loved the early RE titles as much as anyone, RE4
clearly tops them.
----------Battle System----------
Resident Evil 4 is a 3rd Person, Over the Shoulder view, Action /
Adventure game. This is so far the most action packed Resident Evil
game I've played, atleast out of the main six titles. Resident Evil 4
kinda drops the survival element of the previous games, you have
unlimited saves, you can buy weapons and health, and you find more ammo
through out the game than the previous ones.
There isn't
much puzzle solving in the game, that was my biggest disappointment,
but it wasn't a huge loss as there was still a few interesting puzzles.
Resident Evil 4 also requires you to babysit Ashley in some missions,
but you can use her as a tool in some cases, similar to the extra
characters in Windwaker or Beyond Good and Evil. The babysitting
missions aren't tough and you rarely have to watch over her, but you
can tell her what to do like; wait, follow or jump into that dumpster.
So you can keep her out of danger is a flood of enemies start to roll
in. Ashley has her own health meter, and if she dies or gets kidnaped
then gameover.
Even though this is the easiest Resident Evil
I've played, I still died more often in this than the previous ones
combined. There is a ton of moments in the game that will kill you by
suprise, but starting over is pretty simple and they usually leave you
at the last door you came in.
There's moments in the game
will a required button combination will pop up, even during cutscenes,
and if you don't tap the right buttons fast enough then Leon will die.
So you can't even relax during cutscenes.
----------Characters / Story----------
You play as Leon (from Resident Evil 2), who is sent on a mission to
save Ashley the kidnapped daughter of the President of the United
States. As Leon is investigating around the area of Spain, he
encounters a hostel village and all hell breaks loose. Leon eventually
saves Ashley, but by then they're both poisoned by the Plauga virus,
and they're behind enemy lines and need to escape a giant castle to
survive.
The story is a bit cheesy, but still very fun with
a ton of surprises and interesting characters throughout the entire
game. There's moments where Leon will talk through his walkie-talkies
type thing, which is very similar to Metal Gear Solid, these scenes are
especially cheesy with stupid one-liners.
----------Graphics----------
Wow.. I just can't think of any other game that surpasses Resident Evil
4 in the graphics department this gen. The character models are so
freakishly humanlike it's scary. The gore is fantastic and extremely
creative. The level designs are huge, complex and highly detailed.
There's a ton of enemies, huge bosses, a large assortment of weapons,
items, and so on. The cutscenes are all in-game made. The game is fully
3D and don't use the pre-rendered backgrounds like the previous
Resident Evil's and still manages to look better than those. I can't
think of any blemish or flaw in the graphics.
----------Sound----------
The voice work is great and over the top (not in the original Resident
Evil sense). The music is minimal but effective. The sound effects are
great. There's really nothing bad about the sound either.
----------World Map----------
The world map is a typical 3rd Person Adventure style map, where you
linearly go from room to room. The game is separated in chapters. Each
chapter has it's own sub-map that tells you which rooms you've been in
and what goals you need to accomplish. The sub-map will tell you what
room to go to, where items are, save points and merchants. Some
chapters end with a boss battles or mini-boss battles. You can save at
any typewriter in the game without the use of ribbons, so save as many
times as you want.
----------Time to Complete Game----------
Final Stats
Hit Ratio: 76%
Enemies Killed: 970
Number of Times Killed: 87
Clear Time: 20:01:05
Number of Saves: 105
I played it on Normal. After you beat the game you unlock two new weapons, and two new mini-games.
