Resident Evil 4

"It feels different to other resident evil games"

Firstly, this new installment of the series is excellent. The atmosphere remains tense, the enemies are crazy, and the graphics are amazing, it's definitely edge-of-your-seat stuff. But somehow, the more you play it, the more superficial, or 'plastic' it all feels. It doesn't feel like a resident evil game.

Graphics - they are simply amazing for a ps2. The autumn appeal of the village is effective, but it's a shame that only a small part of the game is in daylight. The castle and island locations are very well done, but they are not as detailed as the village. The enemies are brilliantly created, and they come in sheer numbers making you feel so intimidated. The bosses are predictable, but really detailed nonetheless. The end boss in particular looks great, in a bizarre sort of way. The characters look incredibly realistic, especially Leon and ashley, who move with fluid animation. The game's distinct graphical style is appealing, similar to the style used in other games in this genre, where graphics seem quite grainy and coarse, but close up detail is very smooth.

Gameplay - it feels quite repetitive because you have to wade through armies of villagers, castle dwellers and island soldiers to progress through the indepth storyline. At first, this system works well; Enemies surround you, surprising you with their intelligence. But later, it all wears off and you just want to simply get on with the game without fighting anymore. Boss battles are excellent, especially the first few ones as they you must use an array of skills to dispose of them. Those chainsaw people are best! The weapons are detailed, and there is also a merchant that you meet along the way who trades weapons for money you find on your journey. The more money you have, the better weapons you can buy, and this is essential if you want to progress. Also, it is now possible to customise your weapons in regards to their firing speed, capacity, power etc...
After you complete the game, there are plenty of extras including a mini-game that's almost half the length of the main game. There is also the return of the mercenaries, which made its appearence in resident evil 3. Completing all these extras results in bonus features being unlocked for the main game, including new costumes and weapons. The game's difficulty is standard, on easy mode enemies tend to fall quickly, whereas it takes many shots to kill enemies on the higher modes. One final thing about the gameplay, as you progress through your mission objective in the main game, you have to free the president's daughter and rescue her from the clutches of evil. When you escort her, she sometimes feels in the way, and a chore to protect. Although she does help you out in times of need, it would have been nice for Capcom to give her better A.I, so she would know what to do when under attack rather than just stand around.

Sound - the villagers cooperate with each other, and you can hear the remarks they say as they stalk your every move. Then suddenly, you hear the sounds of a distant chainsaw, or the trembling footsteps of a giant man. Everything sounds fantastic and adds a great level of realism to the game. It seems as though this game was made to be played with the volume really loud so the player can hear those minor sounds. The voice acting is good, but not amazing. Some characters' voices seem over or under exhagerated in places, but this doesn't really affect the game too badly, in fact, most of the time it's very difficult to notice.

Lifespan - this game is very long. Some chapters are much longer than others, and you spend quite some time in each of the three locations (village, castle and island). As mentioned above, there is so much stuff to unlock, without revealing too much, playing this extra stuff will make the main game more interesting with added weapons and items. Also, there is a big chance that you might have missed many valuable items on your journey the first time round, so it seems as though this game was designed to be played two or more times, which is great if you're the type of person who likes long games.

Now although the game redefines the resident evil series, it doesn't really seem to redefine the survival horror genre. It is more action-oriented, and less scary (apart from the bit where you control Ashley!). The constant shooting means it feels like a chore killing enemies, when really it should feel as if you're killing to survive. This is evident on the island section of the game, when you just feel like running past enemies instead of killing them. It all becomes long and laborious. One other thing to mention, I am getting tired of stereotypical roles given to the characters in this game. Ashley appears so fragile and helpless, and most of the time she is just in the way. It would have been nice to have seen more from this character.

Finally, I would just like to say that this is the best in the series in terms of its style, graphics and sound. But I prefer the creepy appeal of the first three games, and the outbreak games too. But, no doubt, this is definitely a game worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/06