It's early 2005, and with the exception of one game off the top of my head (Legend of Zelda for Gamecube), I can’t conceivably see anything else beating this title out for game of the year in 2005. The title I speak of is the highly anticipated, and even more touted Resident Evil 4 for the Nintendo Gamecube (GC).
The best thing to do in this review is quickly list off the minor grievances that kept the game from receiving a perfect score, because quite frankly: there aren’t that many things to complain about.
Those of you who come into this game expecting to play a first person shooter (FPS) will definitely have major trouble getting through it. You cannot move and shoot at the same time, there’s no strafe button, and you can’t switch weapons on the fly (you must go into your inventory to do that). And although the controls have been tweaked and improved from previous versions of the franchise your character still moves very much like a tank. It comes down to this: if you come into Resident Evil 4 thinking you’re playing a FPS you’re going to stumble badly out of the gate before you finally settle into some serious killing.
Now onto the love fest -- That really was it folks. Those issues are what kept me from giving the game a perfect score, and in all fairness anyone who’s played any Resident Evil games before will pick up the game and feel like the controls have gotten infinitely better then they remember them.
Graphically this is the flagship title for the Gamecube. Nothing out there touches it, and in all reality it could be argued these are the best visuals seen on any console to date. Characters look and animate with such lifelike realism that you’ll be officially spoiled for the remainder of this generation of hardware. The towns you venture into are beyond surreal, and might just keep you looking around at the wrong things at the wrong time.
The game is also presented in widescreen format, so if don’t own a TV capable of that you’ll be playing with black bars on the top and bottom of your screen (letterbox format). Another technological feat which just adds to the frightening experience of RE 4 is the lack of load times. You won’t be catching your breath waiting on a load screen. The action and suspense will be with you at all times.
The audio you could argue is even better then the visuals. This has to be a first for the Resident Evil series. Finally voice actors have been brought in who don’t immediately stink up the joint when they open their mouths. There are some instances where the lines they’re asked to deliver are kind of corny, but in truth, if those lines were told by lesser actors they might have become issues – here they’re not.
The game supports Pro Logic II, and unless you know Spanish you better invest in a receiver that can give you that surround sound. Enemies will come at you from all sides, and if you can’t clearly make out through the audio where they’re coming from you might find yourself dead of a surprise attack.
The game will put you in command of Leon S. Kennedy; a character familiar to most Resident Evil fans, as he tries to rescue the US Presidents daughter from a European village filled with... Humans. That’s right, the mindless Zombies are gone. In their place you’ll find 'not quite right' human villagers who are smart enough to attack in groups, sense impending danger at your hands (dodge it), and work in complex ways to bring you down. Enemies also sport target specific areas on their bodies. Shoot a crazy villager in the knee cap and he’ll fall to the ground. Shoot him in the arm that’s holding that deadly axe and he’ll be powerless to swing it at you. Finally aim high, and watch as heads explode from your precision shooting (although be warned that some enemies don’t go down that easily from head shots). The AI in Resident Evil 4 isn’t quite that giant evolution we’ve been waiting for in enemy intelligence, but it’s a leap towards it.
Leon will sport some serious fire power that he’ll both find and purchase during his gameplay. There’s also the introduction of Role Playing Game (RPG) elements into your weapons. When you visit shops you’ll have the option of either buying new weapons, or upgrading your existing ones to give you such things as faster reload times, more bullet capacity, and on and on. This element of the game will and should cause you to think long and hard about your weapons choices.
The boss fights in Resident Evil 4 are also some of the best experiences you’ve had to date with these important segments of video games. You won’t just be shooting away at the boss; many times you’ll have to dodge attacks which you’ll activate using random (yes I said random) button presses. The result is a great cinematic battle sequence between you and some of the best looking enemies you’ve ever seen. Be forewarned though: don’t fall asleep during your gameplay because those random button presses occur quite a bit.
If you should happen to die at any point during your gameplay (and you will), don’t be too worried. Capcom has placed checkpoints, and save points so perfectly throughout each level that you’ll almost never have to back track too far after your demise.
Everything about Resident Evil 4 has been designed to provide you with 20 plus hours of non-stop thrills. No expense has been spared to insure that suspense is high at all times, and rarely interrupted by poor game design decisions. In fact the quiet moments have such a profound effect, because Capcom has essentially scripted them for you, and your gaming experience will tell you that they can’t possibly last long. Surely enough they don’t -- but the anticipation of what bumps in the night will get you each and every time the game goes silent.
Resident Evil 4 is the highest rated game in the short existence of WHAM! Gaming. It’s not perfect, but it's as close as this reviewer has seen it in the last 2 years. If you don’t own a Gamecube, you owe it to yourself to think long and hard about purchasing one to play the best survival horror game ever made.
