Imagine the most epic, action-packed horror movie with the most frightening and disgusting monsters and the most kick-ass protagonist fighting his way through numerous hideous antagonists in a battle to save the president's daughter and secure the fate of the world from an evil alliance bent on infecting the entire world in order to dominate it!
Well, this game is exactly that. It is hands-down the best action game ever made. I can quite easily say that, too. It kicks so much ass that you will play it again and again and still love it.
It does away with the familiar clunky controls of a Resident Evil game and puts in its place a slick movement system and over-the-shoulder gunplay with the more-than occasional button prompt, allowing you to throw yourself from windows or suplex enemies' heads into the ground causing them to splatter. There are still a few puzzles to be found but not as many as previous games which relied on puzzles to enhance the gameplay aspect.
Here in Resi-4 world, it's all about the action - and action is most definately on the menu.
The slow, murmuring zombies of old are replaced with hoardes of shouting, screaming villagers infected by 'plagas' (an evil bacteria) that can run right at you or throw various masonry at your face making gameplay instantly inuitive and suspenseful.
Not only are there villagers (Ganados) there are various disgusting creatures to dispatch along the way as well, such as gigantic locust-like atrocities that can turn invisible and terrifying blind guards with wolverine-esque rusty blade gauntlets that sprint towards you when you make yourself heard.
This game is a rollercoaster of fun and fear, and there are loads of things to find throughout the game, and to unlock after completing it.
You play as Leon, the rookie cop from Resident Evil 2 - he is now a buff ultra marksman who has been sent to a mysterious (presumably) Spanish village to investigate into the disappearance of the president's daughter Ashley, who was sighted near the area.
It's about 3 minutes into the gameplay when you realize that this rustic village and it's inhabitants are not what they seem, and before long you will be fighting for your life against the hoardes of Ganados.

Spending all your spare time on. You will want to see what comes next! When you get smashed up by a group of freaks, you'll want to try again and again until you get it right so you can move on and see where things are going. Also good for Resi fans, but a lot of Resi 'purists' don't credit this as an R.E game at all because of the sprinting zombies and balls-to-the-wall action. I understand, but I also embrace the new direction of the survival-horror series with open arms, and sore eyes.

Apart from 'everything':
-The first major battle in the village. It is an immense thrill the first time you do this, as you're thrown in at the deep end with about fifteen Ganados noticing your presence then all moving quickly towards you while you try and dispatch them one by one without getting attacked or hit by flying scythes and whatnot. It's a taster of the fights yet to come, and it's one of the best opening chapters to any game.
The actual scenery and set-pieces are something to behold as you seamlessly make your way from the rural section of the game, to the castle part to the mysterious island part. There is a lot of detail in the environments and loads of hidden treasures to be found along the way. Ultimately every part, every chapter and set piece is memorable. You will be left trying to think of your favourite scene... and it's hard to choose.
-The bosses. The boss battles in this game are untouchable for two reasons: The design is amazing. The first time you have an El Gigante lumbering over you is hair-raising, secondly the way in which you have to take down each individual boss is spot-on. One requires you to throw harpoons whilst trying not to get knocked off your speedboat, another you must dodge giant tentacles using button prompts, then find/hit the weak spot before it attacks again. They are a good challenge and a couple of them are truly terrifying!
Your inventory has been drastically altered into a briefcase which can hold a hell of a lot more than the usual '6 things' in other Resi games. It is now a grid system that works surprisingly well. A shotgun could fill say, 8 grids. A herb is two. There are plenty of grids to fill and your briefcase can be upgraded to hold more stuff too. This is also good because you will at times have to choose to give up a weapon or some ammo to make room for a new gun.
There are gems and treasures dotted around the game in hidden locations which is always fun. You can even combine certain gems with treasures and sell them for maximum profit.
The mini-game 'Mercenaries' is a whiole lot of fun too. It is unlocked once you complete the game. You must kill as many baddies and rack up as many points as possible (without dying) before the timer runs out.
There are bonus pickups that give you extra time or increase the amount of points for each kill, along with various ammo and health supplies dotted around. You can choose from four levels of increasing difficulty based on different set pieces from the main game, with the appropriate Ganados and sub-bosses thrown in to murderize you. It is a truly jumpy experience as there is nowhere to hide and the enemies just keep respawning and coming at you with a firey rage. Plus, you can unlock extra characters depending on your scores (including Wesker!).
Other creatures and variations on the original villager Ganados are horrific. There are hideous floppy scorpion-spiders bursting out of neck-holes, hell-hounds with flailing tendrils leaping at your jugular, masked freaks with cattleprods rushing towards you and stomach-turning evil grinning corpse-like abominations that regrow lost limbs.
There are still a few puzzles in amongst the chaos - some requiring proper brainpower too. They are generally better than the old 'move a statue somewhere' style of earlier R.E games, and make for a nice break in the general tension of the action. (You actually do have to move two statues into place at one point, but it's more of a homage than anything)

Additionally, the other characters in the game are great too, and all well voice-acted.

Oh, and you can upgrade all your weapons now in many aspects - Reload speed, Damage, Fire rate etc. This makes finding and combining treasures to sell off important as you will be spending most of your money fully upgrading your best weapons until you are an unstoppable force.
The guns are solid too. They sound real, feel weighty and are really satisfying to use against hoardes of Ganados. There are some secret unlockable weapons too...

This section will be short.
I didn't like Ashley, the president's daughter. You pick her up in the first quarter of the game and you have to escort her and take care of her for most of the rest of the main storyline. She is a pain in the arse. You have to constantly make sure she isn't getting hacked to death or carried away by the Ganados and she is the archetypal blonde chick; she screams, she can't defend herself and she's got the voice and actions of a girl in a chick-flick. She kind of doesn't fit into the whole evil villager action horror scenery. It might be her bright orange cardigan. You can command her to hide in bins though which isn't only handy, it's funny. (in a misogynistic kind of way)
Some of the technological aspects of the game are a bit unfitting. For example, you retrieve a glass eye at one point fairly early on that you then use at a gate - Leon puts the eye up to the lock thing and an orange scanner beam comes out and unlocks the gate. Things like this don't sit well in a rural, cut off environment and it's never explained where this advanced technology is produced. That said, it's just a game, and using a glass eye to open a gate is quite cool anyway. I accept that much.

...I think that's it. Yep.

Play it again. You will have undoubtably missed treasures, and you will want to experience all your favourite parts all over again. It's that good. Plus, you get to keep all your upgraded weapons from the last playthrough which is massively helpful. Thanks, Capcom.

Badass. Quite badass. Even though Leon has floppy dirty-blonde hair, he is now a tank - and can kick seven shades of sherbert out of anything coming at him. I loved the first part of the game for the 'something's gone wrong here' aspect of the game, then from thereon in I was transfixed with the several top quality set-pieces, boss battles and 'mash the shit out of the buttons' button prompts, such as the scene where some villagers push a massive boulder off a cliff which then hurtles down the narrow path you're on causing the X button to flash on the screen, prompting you to tap it repeatedly until suddenly L1 + R1 pops up - you click it and dive out of the way, the boulder just missing you and crashing into a wall, breaking to pieces. Oh jesus, thank you for this game!

The fact is that Resident Evil 4 was not made by Jesus. Not even Bishnu, or Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was created by the revered Capcom, who have made other such hits as the original Resident Evils, Devil May Cry and Dead Rising to name a few. They are videogame pioneers and continue to make groundbreaking titles.

It's one of the best games you will ever play. I can say that without any niggling doubt or strong feelings of Resident Evil fanboyism. it is, quite simply - The best action game - ever. It is a thrill to play, and there's nothing else quite like it (apart from R.E 5).

You might have strong feelings of Resident Evil fanboyism. You might hate the fact that there are no actual zombies and that these 'infected' humans are in their place, sprinting towards you rather than shuffling slowly. You might not like the fast pace of the game compared to that of earlier titles. I must stress now though that this ISN'T an R.E game as you know it: It's evolved into a high-octane action thriller where you are more in control and have a lot more things coming at you at one time than previous titles and gunplay has become a lot more important issue this time round.
You might hate ashley. She is irritating and a bit dumb, and she needs her hand held throughout most of the game which breaks the 'tough guy' visage a little.
The puzzles are few and far between, and there's a lot less running around corridors looking for items like in the games of yore, in that respectable slow-burning manner they did so well.

-The merchant character that you trade with throughout the game is one of the best side characters in any game (in my opinion). He turns up in odd places just standing looking at you, and when you go to barter with him you will discover his voice - his voice being the best voice acting in the game! (you'll see) He always makes you smile.
-The weaponry includes pistols, shotguns, snipers, SMGs, Magnums and explosives. There are different types, like the riot gun and the broken butterfly; a magnum with immense strength.
-The 'zombies' and creatures are brilliantly designed, and can dodge your attacks. They all require a different strategy or weapon to take down and are plentiful throughout the game.
-There are 3 (maybe 4) shooting galleries in the game that start to appear after about a third of the way through. Shoot enough targets and you'll be rewarded with little R.E.4 action figures you can examine in your inventory. Doesn't sound like much but you WILL try and get them all. It's addictive.
-You can shoot fish and eat them!

buy it buy it buy it

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Resident Evil 4   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jun 07, 2010 at 11:58am • Submit your own review...