Resident Evil 4 takes the best of the series and eliminates the worst, possibly creating the best game in the series.
User Rating: 9.6 | BioHazard 4 GC
Reinventing the wheel isn't exactly a new thing in the industry, as plenty games, both present and past, practice this method not only to avoid redundancy and freshen up a genre, but to also entice new and prospective gamers to take on a series that they never thought twice about before. Ninja Gaiden, last years premier action game, was one of those titles, reviving a highly revered and action based game, and it landed with an explosive debut on the Xbox, bringing back the highly fast paced action to the next generation of consoles in full 3-D and remains one of the best titles of last year. Similar to Ninja Gaiden, the Resident Evil series, a series which essentially invented the Survival Horror genre, was taking a stab at "reinventing" itself, as the stigma associated with the series was "tank" style controls with some hit or miss voice acting and the presentation of a old style horror film that the series slowly moved away from as the series began to produce more and more sequels. Thankfully, with the release of Resident Evil 4, Capcom has strayed away from almost every flaw the series has ever had while emphasizing the series strengths and improving upon them tenfold. With a strong emphasis on action the series has been reinvigorated, and the result is not only the best game in the series since the original, but one of the best games released this generation. Resident Evil 4 takes place in Europe, likely in a secluded area of Spain, and stars Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 2 fame. Leon, now working for the US Government as an FBI agent, is assigned the incredibly difficult task of retrieving the current US President's daughter from the clutches of her kidnappers, who is rumored to be located in Europe near the location of a small village. The game begins with Leon riding in a jeep with two locals who are escorting him to the location of of where they may think the president's daughter, Ashley, might be located. Some humorous banter ensues, and soon enough we find our protaganist on his own to attempt and discover where to look first. One of the first things fans of the series might notice is that the game, other than Leon Kennedy and First Aid Sprays, seems to have very little if anything to do with the series. Just like any great sequel, however, the series does start to provide a few connections and ties to the series later on, even if they are a little few and far between than most would prefer. This doesn't take away, however, from what is otherwise an interesting story to add to the ever growing Resident Evil series. The environments in Resident Evil 4 are some of the most detailed and graphically impressive to be produced on any console, not just the Nintendo Gamecube. While the remake of the original released a few years back on Nintendo's flagship next generation console was a testament to graphics then, it looks as though Capcom felt it was necessary to maintain their reputation and likely exceed the previous titles by leaps and bound. The game keeps a very similiar graphical style to the remake in terms of color choices and style, with browns and grays throughout, producing a very creepy and mysterious atmosphere for our protagonist to travel. The setting in this secluded area of Europe takes place for a while at a small village, and later moves to a large castle setting that maintains the very pasty and specific color choices to helps the game to maintain it's look and feel throughout. Even many of the character models are graphically designed with these characteristics in mind, with only a few exceptions for some of the villains to possibly differentiate their place in the game. Our Hero Leon, for instance, retains much of these color characteristics, while some of the villains, such as Salazar, who is introduced fairly early in the adventure, is accentuated with bright blue clothing with the interspered greys and such. Resident Evil 4 not only exemplifies it's presentation through the amazing graphical quality of the game, but also through the fantastic display of sound quality throughout the game. Many small details are here, such as the rattling of chains and sounds of struggle in some areas of darkness and complete silence, while others are the organized voices of the villagers to the loud ripping of a chainsaw nearby. Even small footsteps are sounds that can not only be integral to the experience, but the gameplay as well. A good example is a particular fight with a blind individual who cannot track you as well unless you are running or if he is made alert to some other type of sound. Not to spoil everything, but needless to say sound can play an integral part against this particular type of enemy and provide you the means to eliminate this particular opponent. Other examples include taking aim at an enemy and when shooting others surrounding them are alerted to your presence, as well as taking cover. Granted, this is nothing new, but it's always nice when features like this are included to present a very realistic and convincing experience. All this discussion, however, and there is no mention of what really sets apart Resident Evil 4 from the other titles in the series, and that is the incredible changes Capcom made to the core game play of the series. Instead of taking a third person perspective, the view actually takes place in almost a first person perspective. The viewpoint throughout the game is behind the shoulder of Leon, with a small targeting reticle for the targeting of enemies, in an almost first person perspective but not quite. What this enables the series to do is provide a much more aggressive approach with enemies and such, and gives the game a much more fast paced and action feel. Also, this enables another feature that was popular in Eternal Darkness, where you can actually target specific body parts and such to disable or completely eliminate enemies. A shotgun blast, for instance, can be immediately aimed at the head, from close distance, to destroy any given enemy by performing the obvious. That same blast, from further away, can be strategically aimed instead of playing the guessing game of choosing a direction from installments past, to simulate the spread of a shotgun and knock back multiple foes at once. Another good example is the use of a standard handgun, firing the legs to make opponents fall on the ground to make a retreat, or shooting them in the eye to cause them to stagger for a few moments. These small additions are just some of the excellent gameplay tweaks that will hopefully find themselves as mainstays in the series, and hopefully other developers will take notice and work these kinds of features into their games as well. Resident Evil 4 also doesn't have your standard cut scenes or CG sequences, and are more divided into "quick-time" events. Basically they are interspersed throughout the game, during story sequences and sometimes when just wondering particular areas, and just when you think it's safe to put your controller down, you realize that the game is still being played. These events sometimes require maddening presses of various buttons to run or attack, while others might require you to dodge with specific button presses or perform an attack. This not only keeps you busy during certain story periods, but to those out there who don't always enjoy watching particular sequences over again it can still provide a moderate gameplay experience that helps to once again set the series apart from other titles. Extras and additional bonuses have always had a place within the Resident Evil series, and this sequel is no exception. One of the modes that unlock when finishing the game include a side game involving one of the main characters in the story that is also out for a particular item through the game, but it's played from this particular characters perspective, and gives another insight into the story and this characters motives in the game. Another involves some games including trying to take out a particular number of villagers in any given time, and you can also repeat the standard game with some different weapons and sometimes unlimited ammunition of some very devastating weapons. While none of these can overshadow the main adventure, they are some nice additions and provide some additional gameplay even after the main game is finished. All in all, Resident Evil 4 is a testament to the geniuses at Capcom and their continued ability to reinvigorate what was otherwise becoming a fairly standard series. They have completely re-hauled the gameplay while keeping the core of what is Resident Evil present, and releasing what is easily a candidate for the best game of the year. Resident Evil 4 brings together the best aspects of the series and why fans have continued to flock to it over the years, while providing an enthralling gameplay experience that is sure to bring any who walked away back, and possibly attracting a few new fans in the process. -Foomanchu 
