Item conservation in games was great...until RE4

All right, now before all the flamers come in here with their hate against anyone who can find anything wrong with RE4, just know that I do like RE4. It's a fun game, with lots of great levels, some of the best boss fights I have ever played, and weapons that are just plain fun to shoot. However, there is something I have always had a problem with, and here it is:

Item conservation in a survival horror game is expected. The idea is that you have to SURVIVE with limited resources (hence the "survival" part in the genre title) which creates tense situations. The problem is that the idea of item conservation goes up in flames when you are forcing people to conserve the only thing that can be used to kill enemies. The other major problem, is that avoiding enemies in this game is difficult, ill-advised and sometimes not even an option. This forces the game to shift from "tense situations" to the rather annoying "now I have to redo that entire part because I used way to much shotgun ammo, and I am going to need it later." Now, Fatal Frame II used a similar formula. You have limited film to work with...but from the very beginning of the game, you have a very low grade, but infinitely supplied film type (called Type 7). The film does crap damage, and is suicide to use if you are facing down a group, but the point was that you could use it to take down ghosts that came at you alone, so you didnt have to waste major film stocks. Also, avoiding enemies wasn't all that difficult either (well...the teleporting ones got annoying) which meant if I was low on film, I could always just go ahead and run away, and, while I would lose the upgrade points, there really wasnt anything wrong with it.

Let's jump back to RE4. In RE4, you can avoid enemies easily enough, but you will lose out on cash. Also, there are plenty of situations where it is very difficult, or even impossible to proceed without killing all the enemies. This game's version of the Type 7 film is the knife. Guess what...that's USELESS, unless you are fighting one foe (which almost never happens). Even when you are fighting one foe, you still need to shoot him in the knees to knock him down. The major problem is that Capcom tried to make an action horror game, which was obviously action oriented, but had horror customs...which works in theory, but not in execution. At least, it doesnt work when it comes to this ammo crap. If enemies were easier to avoid, or if I had an inexhaustable ammo type (even for a low damage pistol that took forever to kill the easiest of enemies) then it wouldn't take away from the game, but as it is, the overall experience is marred by the fact that I am constantly replaying rooms to maximize ammo efficiency.

Why post this topic? Mostly because I am praying that in RE5, the ammo is a little more plentiful, considering there are more enemies to fight against, and they look just as harder (or maybe harder) to kill or avoid.

Wait...you're complaining that RE4 didn't give you enough ammo?!?! Try playing the first one. I thought they gave way too much ammo and it made the game far too easy compared to the older ones. Still an excellent game though.

And I would like to know why you're posting this on the PS3 board, a system that RE4 isn't even on...

tl;dr

But yeah I don't think RE4 is even in the survival horror genre TC. Its an action game, and a great one at that. Item conservation wouldn't have worked in RE4. Its the same with MGS4. In previous MGS games you had to find stuff, or take it from enemies, but in 4 all the stuff you would need is basically a drebin call away if you cant find it on the field. Oh well, RE4 isn't survival horror, if you want that you gotta play the older titles.

And what gives with you guys saying RE4 beat the guy down? That game was about as easy as they come.

Wait...you're complaining that RE4 didn't give you enough ammo?!?! Try playing the first one. I thought they gave way too much ammo and it made the game far too easy compared to the older ones. Still an excellent game though.

And I would like to know why you're posting this on the PS3 board, a system that RE4 isn't even on...

BlueTsujin

Oh thought he was complaining that RE4 was easy to get items in! XD

TC if you think RE4 limits you, then god help you. That game was cake walk. I dont think I was ever worried about being short on ammo.

wow, somehow you all managed to fail sooooo badly, but I will try to rectify this situation by answering every stupid question posed against me. Here we go:

1) The first one that sticks out is why I posted here. Because there isnt a PS2 forum genius, and that was where I played the game (well, I started playing it on that, and then that disc broke and I got it on Wii), and seeing as how the PS3 is the PS2 successor, I thought it logical to post it here)

2) Why post it now, because as you stated, the game came out years ago. You are so intelligent. I mean, it isnt as though I could have just purchased the game not to long ago or anything. Nope, the game has to purchased on release day, or you cant get it. I guess logic isn't something you were properly instructed on legend.

3) To those people who say that I got "pwned" by the game and now I am "whining"...first of all you should be shot for using the term "pwned" and second of all, maybe you missed the ****ing first part of the post where I said that I did genuinely enjoy the game. Also, the thing about me is that I am OCD. If I used one more shotgun shell then I meant to, it means restarting until I get it right. It hampered some of my experience.

4) I did play the original RE (the remake on the GC) and after I got over the controls, I enjoyed that game too. I didnt find it overly difficult, nor ridiculously easy, but a decent balance. Also, I hardly shy from challenge, as I am a fan of NGS, DMC, as well as old school games like Bionic Commando.

5) I have played Condemned and Condemned 2 and the main difference was that your character didnt have the physical capabilities of a mentally retarded senior citizen when it came to actually playing the game. Leon cant move while shooting (yet he can do backflips and all sorts of other crazy stunts), and he has the one retarded knife swipe which doesnt do much good if someone decides to plant their mace in your cranium.

I hope I addressed all of your retarded response comments, and if not then honestly you can go ahead and keep spamming insults until I respond. Somehow you all managed to miss the FIRST FREAKING SENTENCE where I said I ENJOYED THE GAME! In summary, you all fail at reading.

lol we fail? bud noone cares about your opinion on this game. Just because you suck at conserving ammo doesn't mean you have to make a rant thats long and boring as poo poo All your whinning led to was responses that you didn't want to accept so you whined more. Lol I don't give a crap if I didn't read you're whole post because listening to someone whine doesn't interest me. Grow up and stop being a litte C. UNT!! hahah.

You DIDN'T have to conserve ammo at all in RE4. What are you talking about? I loved the first and second one but did not like that you had to conserve ammo. However, in RE4 this was not a problem at all. I shot every zombie and never came close to running out of ammo. Even most of the reviews, like IGN stated that conserving ammo (a staple of gameplay in the series) was nonexistant as you had more than enough to blast everyone.

Now if you shot and only had a 10% hit rate, then you would run out, but if this is the case...then I suggest giving up as you clearly are not good at this game. By the way, shoot them in the head...it makes everything much easier.