Best game on the PS2?? It must be..
Resident Evil has changed a lot since the previous games. Instead of the classic "Survival Horror", in which you played under a fixed camera in environments packed with zombies and a very limited ammo supply, Capcom have now opted for new style "Survival Action".
The camera is now in an over-the-shoulder view giving you a wide view of what is coming up ahead. Aiming is simple, holding down R1 will make Leon raise his gun and you can use it's laser sight to shoot at your enemies.
Ammo is more available in RE4, but it is still neccessary to be extremely careful. One minute you might think that you have a huge amount of ammo, and the next minute it could nearly all disappear thanks to an bullet guzzling boss. At various points in the game you will come into contact with a mysterious merchant who will sell you weapons, items and will buy equipment which you dont need. You can also tune-up your weapons which is a good thing because you will need the firepower later in the game, in particular your handgun, shotgun, rifle and magnum.
Without spoiling to much, lets just say that if you're expecting zombies to be back in RE4, you'd be very wrong. You will find this out at the start of the game when you approach a building in the middle of a creepy forest and find a strange man with an axe.
The graphics are simply outstanding compared to any game out there on this generation of consoles. You would barely notice any difference if you have played the Gamecube version, but if you had the two versions side-by-side the Gamecube game is still the better looking of them.
The best thing about Resident Evil 4 has to be the sound. A big part of the game is creating fear and suspense through the audio. One second you could be walking along a quiet path just minding your own business and in the next the creepy soundtrack will kick in warning you of an approaching encounter with the "locals". It can be truly frightening at times, awesome job Capcom.
With the PS2 version of RE4 you certainly get value for your money. Once you have blasted your way through the lengthy story mode, you will unlock a variety of extras. You can replay the game on the unlocked Professional difficulty for an even more challenging adventure. Also there are new modes exclusive to the PS2 version in which you will follow the adventures of Ada Wong, and find out what she was up to when you were playing through as Leon, and Mercenaries, which is like a survival mini game, you have a time limit and you basically have to kill as many enemies as you can racking up points to unlock new characters to play as.
If you are still looking for the best game for your PlayStation 2, you may well find what you are looking for in Resident Evil 4. It combines the qualities of an action shooter and a survival horror in one complete package, making the game totally worthy to be known as probably the best game available on the system. I have given the game a perfect score, as I simply can't find any fault in any area of the game.