The same Resident Evil we all know. But, with a improved control scheme that makes this the best game on the genre.
In Resident Evil 4, players took control of Leon, a survivor from Raccon City from Resident Evil 2. After the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon became a government agent. Right in Leon first mission, he had to rescue the president daughter, Ashley Graham, who was kidnapped and took to a village in Europe. But Leon soon realizes that the village isn´t the best place to spent a vacation. The villagers attack Leon with everything they have in hand. From an axe to a pitchfork, Leon was chased by the village populance, who carried a no number of weapons, everything they could use, during his whole mission. Leon never knew why they wanted his head or why they kidnapped Ashley, but one thing he knew: ''These are not zombies''.
This was the story from the Resident Evil that was originally on the GC, and later on the PS2. While the PS2 had worse graphics and sound, it had some extras. The Resident Evil 4 from the PS2 had a new mission system, where players took control of Ada, named Separate Ways, a new weapon, the P.R.L. 412, and the movie browser.
The wii-edition of Resident Evil 4 is basically the PS2 version with the GC version improved graphics and sound, what mean you´ll finally be able to play separate ways with the quality it deserves. But, in top of that, the control scheme is superior. Aiming with the wii-mote feels incredible. It´s faster, easier and better to aim this way. If it wasn´t enough, the game also allows you to use the knife by shaking the wii-mote. This new knifing system ( now called quick-knifing ) is something that works so well, that it´s hard to believe how could CAPCOM not think of it before. The quick-knifing will ''aim'' for you, meaning that, if an enemy is on floor, you knife exactly where he is, making not only killing foes but breaking crated and boxes easier.
But now let´s see each point of this amazing game.
GRAPHICS
Many complained with CAPCOM because this version features exactly the same graphics from the GC version, when the wii was capable of more. But they forgot something, RE4 offers some nice graphics ( at least they´re better than Zelda Twilight Princess graphics ) to a plataform like the wii, that want to bring a more immersive gameplay over realistic graphics. Don´t be afraid, this game is absolutely gorgeous, and, since many play Zelda Ocarina of Time with those old polygonal graphics, here we see some beautiful environments, that are still beautiful, even if they´re 3 years old.
SOUND
Very nice. From the enemies chants to the voice-work of the main characters, everything sounds well. A cool feature is that the reloading sounds and weapons bullet sounds comes from the wii-mote speaker, what feels very nice. The background music adds some sense of claustrophobia. The enemies will say things like ''an outsider'' or ''kill him!''. This feature is great because it helps you to enter in the ''Resident Evil 4 world''. No complaints with the sounds. The game looks great, and sounds great too.
GAMEPLAY
This is where this game shines. You won´t notice any difference in the game interface until you´re playing the true game. This means no pointer in the menus, in the inventory screen or in the merchant menu. These are all controlled by the nunchuck analog stick. The inventory screen will take some time to be used as well as it should. But it won´t take as long as you think. When you notice, you´ll be using your herbs very fast in the middle of a boss battle. But, this isn´t important. What really matters is basically the true fighting. Using guns, knifes and even the rifle is better. Every gun ( except the rifle and the rocket launcher ) aim. To aim hold down B, to fire your weapon press A. That simple. Another thing different from the original scheme is that now, the camera and the aim will move independently from each other. Move the camera with the analog stickwhile aiming. To reload, shake the wii-mote ( or press down on the D-pad ) while aiming. To use the knife, shake the wii-mote for the quick-knifing or hold c for the standard knife. To run, hold Z. The gameplay is easy and fun to use. If, what may not happen, you dislike this new control scheme, you can use a GC controller. Everybody happy. This control scheme works so well, that the game seems to be a bit easier, when it´s not. Easily, better than anything you´ve played before.
LENGTH
The main game isn´t too short, nor it´s too big. If you take your time, you may finish it in 20 - 30 hours. The Separate Ways is short, may take from 4 to 7 hours. But, you´ll unlock one mini-game after you finish the game that will keep you busy for a long time. The called Mercenaries mode is all about killing ganados, what is the cool thing of the game. The game length is all right, nothing special, but still bigger than any other game in the genre
REPLAY VALUE
There´s a lot to do and to see after you finish the main game. You can play again with all the itens you had from your first run, you have the mercenaries, you have the Separate Ways and you have a good reason to play the game all over again: it´s fun
GRAPHICS: The game is gorgeous. Everything is detailed, still could have been better.
9,5
SOUND: Very good. CAPCOM wanted everything to look and sound well. And they made it.
10
GAMEPLAY: Perfect. If you dislike it, you can still use a GC controller.
10
LENGTH: The main game is big, and there are a lot of extras. This wil take time to be finished completely.
OVERALL SCORE: 10
10
REPLAY VALUE: You can replay the whole game with the same itens. Just this is enough to keep anyone happy, but ther´s even more.
10