An incredible title that is the standard of which all games should aim and remains king of genre, even after Resi 5
User Rating: 10 | Resident Evil 4 PS2
At the time of resi 5's release i thought it appropriate to review its predecessor that influenced it and all survival-horror games after it- a good example would be the incredible Dead Space which borrows so heavily from it, so on with the review. The game sets the scene instantly as a non-descript European country in the first cut-scene where players see Leon Kennedy return from resi 2 in fantastic fashion. After an intro as to why he's here - saving the presidents daughter (possibly the most cliche reason to kill things ever) players take hold of Leon and find that the incredible graphics used in the cutscene carry over into gameplay, perhaps being the best ever seen on ps2 or gamecube and that action was fairly relentless from the get-go. The use of weapons is instantly a cut-above with the now famous laser sight attached to every weapon, alleviating the need for a crosshair and enhancing immersion instantly. The use of weapons and items was carried out expertly, with all aspects of all weapons upgradeable, and stored in a rectangular suitcase that forced you to choose what was important through means of size and think tactics with common and uncommon ammo types and what guns used them. This was perhaps the most unrealistic portion of the game, but really added to the sense of adventure. This was sadly dropped in resi 5 for a simple any nine items method which didn't work and invited more gung-ho gameplay. the shop was also expertly managed by a highly interesting, if not slightly repetitive character who was unnamed, commonly known as the mysterious stranger, who would appear in all sorts of odd places around the map offering wares. This too was unfortunately dropped in resi 5 for the less interesting "buy it from the game" option. But perhaps the best feature of the weapons was simply firing them, which sounded and looked amazing and were devastating to enemies. Though most of the game is gunplay, there is also a puzzle element (which again has been dropped from resi 5) which added depth and allowed players to catch their breath or distract them from the horde of foes awaiting. Boss fights are suitably epic, and offer stunning set pieces that remain incredible amongst competition today- this is evident in resi 5 tearing one boss- a giant golem, almost completely from resi 4 with little change-this is one amongst many other copied aspects of the game including soundtrack and control style. Another aspect of gaming completely revolutionized by resi 4 was the use of quick time events, of which are rarely used well in games even today, interactive cutscenes and epic fights are enhanced by their use, not dulled-this has successfully been translated through to resi 5. The control scheme overall is appropriately simplistic and complex and is yet to be paralleled in the world of 3rd person shooters. Environments are well realized and filled out with detail, from the initial village stage to the castle and later Egyptian inspired themes, scenery will rarely get dull, the only thing hampering it would perhaps be the linear quality that the later chapters have which is put into contrast to the earlier chapters, in particular the lake and village, which offered considerable choice. Enemies are completely convincing, from the blind raging variety (not sure of a name) that were clearly inspiration for gears 1's freakish beserkers to the unnerving "oil slicked hulking mass" that required you to exterminate the 3 hosts via infrared scope on you're rifle, they were all incredible-special mention to the chainsaw guy! Perhaps the only blemish there is that the villagers are comprised of the same 4 character models. Perhaps the only thing i haven't mentioned is the incredible sense of adventure you get from resi 4 that cannot be experienced until you sit down with the game and get in yourself. simply put, nothing else even comes close, for adventure, horror and just plain fun resi 4 is still the best place to go. 
