Resident Evil 4, despite it’s name, is not the fourth Resident Evil game. There have been several resident evil games not in the direct storyline, such as Resident Evil: Outbreak and Resident Evil Gaiden. However, you do not need to have played any other Resident Evil games to throughly enjoy Resident Evil 4.
In Resident Evil 4, you play as Leon S. Kennedy, a government agent with the task to protect the President and his family, and in this case, the President’s daughter. Just after being assigned with this job, the President’s daughter, Ashley, goes missing on her way home from college. The government gets a lead that someone that looks a lot like Ashley has been seen somewhere in Europe, and Leon is dispatched to go find her. At the start you are investigating a village when you are attacked by a mysterious man. You explore the village and other places on your quest to get you and the President’s daughter out of there and back to U.S. soil. Despite getting help from a couple people, Leon is pretty much on his own. The good news is Leon really doesn’t need the help. He has just enough techniques and weapons at his disposal to make you think that he just might make it out of this nightmare alive.
The camera is an important factor in the game. It isn’t first person and it’s not really third person either. It is over the shoulder much like the camera in Ghost Recon 2. It lets you get a great angle when shooting enemies and still shows off the great character models.
The story is pretty good, but the spotlight is on the action. The combat is outstanding. It isn’t very fast paced, but is still very satisfying. You can’t move while you’re aiming which adds to the realism, and Leon’s aim isn’t perfect which really isn’t a problem. You start out with a basic handgun, but as you progress your arsenal expands to rifles, magnums, and automatics. All of which can be upgraded. Upgrades come in four different types, firepower, reload speed, firing speed, and capacity. You can’t upgrade them all to maximum at the start, nor can you purchase all of them to begin with, but eventually you will be able to upgrade them all the way when an “exclusive” upgrade becomes available. The exclusive will skyrocket either firepower or capacity, making it definitely worth your hard earned cash.
This leads me to my next point: money making. Resident Evil 4 is a game with tons of secrets. If you look just a little harder you will almost always find a useful item or treasure to sell. Treasures are obviously to be sold for money, which makes buying the stuff you need a lot easier.
To hold all the stuff you buy, you need to have a case. You start out with a small case and as you play the game you can upgrade it to medium, large, and extra large. Buying the bigger cases should be your number one priority considering you need to hold everything you own in them. The different things you keep in your case are your guns, attachment for guns, ammo, herbs, and grenades. The case system is yet another great system used by Resident Evil 4.
The healing items in this game are herbs. Herbs come in three different types. Red, Yellow, and Green. You can combine them to make powerful healing items. As well as herbs, you can also find a couple other types of healing items, but they do the same things.
Aside from the weapons you use, you the enemies are a true pleasure to kill. There are tons of different enemy types and each behave in their own way. The AI is great. When you put your laser sight on an enemy, they will sidestep, duck, and charge at you before you get a chance to shoot. Just when you think the last enemy you fought was tough, the game introduces you to another threat to deal with. The game also has some awesome boss fights. All of them have a weak point, and it is pure joy when you figure out what it is and take them down.
Resident Evil 4's cutscenes are interactive, meaning you will have to press buttons to dodge attacks that are done against Leon in cutscenes. There aren’t buttons to press in every scene, which just makes it even better when they come up and you aren’t expecting it. Not only to you have to press the buttons (usually L1+R1 or X+Square) but also to dodge fatality moves or other attacks that will severely damage you. At other times in the game you use the action button (X) to make Leon do special moves like jumping out windows, climbing ladders, kicking down ladders, jumping down off of things, and tons more. This entire system works unbelievably well and is one of the major highlights of the game.
The graphics are another great thing about Resident Evil 4. They are absolutely stunning and probably the best on the PS2. Enemy models aren’t recycled too often, and all the major characters have a very distinct look that always fits well with the character’s personality. The environment are awesome as well. Every place you go looks different than the last and the variety of areas really shows off the graphics engine’s power.
The sound is a major accomplishment of Resident Evil 4 and shouldn’t be overlooked. Villagers speak in their native language which is Spanish so all of you Spanish speakers will be able to understand what they are saying. Other enemies have their own sound effects, such as chanting or heavy breathing. The other sound effects really enhance the atmosphere. Such as when you are in a dungeon and never know what enemies are waiting for you around the next corner. The music picks up when you are in combat, then gradually dies down as you begin to dominate the battle. Small other sounds effects that you don’t really notice unless you try to are outstanding as well. Such as when you blow off an enemy’s head and they fall to the floor, or when your head is cut off by a chainsaw, promptly ending the game. Several other parts toward the end of the game will take the suspense even farther by putting stray noises in places where there is really nothing there. Without the superb sound, the game would not be what it is.
The game takes a good 20 to 25 hours to get to it’s explosive conclusion. Even after beating the game there are plenty of reasons to stick around and keep playing. After beating the game once, you can start a new game with alternate costumes for some of the main characters, raise the difficult, or purchase the new powerful guns that are available only after the first play through. You can unlock even more guns by completing other game modes that are unlocked. Assignment Ada is a mini game in which you play as Ada Wong, a mysterious woman Leon encounters during the game. By completing Assignment Ada, you get extra weapons for the game Separate Ways. Separate Ways is the whole story from the main game from Ada’s perspective. It isn’t as long as the main campaign, but it explains why some people in the game act and behave the way they do. Completing that unlocks even more guns for the main campaign should you choose to play it again. The final unlockable game mode is The Mercenaries. It is a fairly casual mode and will appeal to people who don’t want to play another campaign but still participate in the fantastic gameplay.
Resident Evil 4 will appeal to long time fans of the series, as well as newcomers. The story is definitely geared towards players who know the story of the previous games, but still adds enough new story to draw in new players. With everything considered, Resident Evil 4 is a resounding success, and is by far the best survival shooter of all time.
Final Score: 9.6