Frightfully Good
| Platform | Presentation | Controls | Variety | Audio | Depth | Value & Fun | OVERALL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameCube | 10.00 | 8.75 | 9.25 | 9.50 | 10.00 | 9.50 | 9.46 |
| Presentation | 10.00 |
| Let me start by saying that for any form of media, Resident Evil 4 has done the absolute best job of a scare factor. What attributes to that more than anything is the graphical prowess Capcom has shown; everything looks real. Just real. Resident Evil games were always at the top of the scale in terms of visuals, but the still camera always helped attribute to that; what's amazing is that without the still camera, RE4 has the absolute best visuals of any Resident Evil game, or even GameCube game. Resident Evil 4 is truly the yin to The Wind Waker's yang; two games with entirely different styles and that are equally amazing in execution. | |
| Controls | 8.75 |
| Capcom took their biggest chances on the controls, but to their credit, went about it exactly how every developer should. It is clear that for no other game could Resident Evil 4's control scheme be considered at all good. Leon moves as if he were a tank -- turns slowly, has to stop to shoot, has to take wide turns -- but it's this control scheme that makes the game work. If it weren't for the fact that you have to stop to shoot, and have to move rather slowly, the game would be entirely different, and no doubt not as good. Realism should always take a back seat to gameplay, and Capcom, I salute for that. That said, the turning is too slow. You can turn around quickly by pressing back + B, but it would be a benefit to the game if Leon were capable of turning a little more quickly. Also, you can't free look nor very well adjust the camera. The camera is very good, for the most part, but there are definitely times where you'll want to take a look in a certain direction and can't. For specific things that are excellently done for control, one is that the map is absolutely perfect; completely clear, incredibly helpful, and available at the touch of the Z button. The other is that the laser on your gun will land, forming a dot, on whatever will have a reaction when you shoot, while the laser will just go through anything in which shooting will do nothing. It's a subtle feature, but one I expect to be copied in many future games. | |
| Variety | 9.25 |
| My stats, if you feel them helpful to trusting my review, came in as Hit Perc.: 75%, Enemies Killed: 971, Times Killed: 61 (stop laughing :P), Completion Time: 17:10'58". Seventeen hours is somewhat on the short side (it would be nice to clear 20 hours), but frankly, there are a lot of enemies, many guns that have that unexplainable perfect feel, and environments that ooze creepiness. There are also several boss battles that are a little hit or miss, although always intense. RE4 uses a technique of telling your to quickly press either L+R, A+B or repeatedly tap A or B, which at first feels a bit tacked on. Throughout the game it improves though, and it really wouldn't be the same experience without it. One boss in particular, I found it to be a pain but I'll leave it at that. Once the game is completed, you'll unlock a couple new weapons you'll be able to purchase if you play through again, along with a new mission and a minigame. The new mission takes about an hour to complete and there's no saving (although there are well placed checkpoints, as the main adventure had). It a nice perk, but doesn't come off as all that great. Complete it to unlock another gun. And the minigame is a game in which you eliminate as many enemies as you can within the time limit and without dying. This isn't really what Resident Evil 4 is about, though, so I don't find it all that interesting. | |
| Audio | 9.50 |
| An engaging story, clever dialogue and memorable characters; it's...Resident Evil 4? That's right, a RE game that actually has good story, writing and voice acting, and that's not even the real story when it comes to the audio. The sound is your lifeline. You hear enemies, you hear those blasted chainsaws, you hear when they yell out in Spanish when they have spotted you. The music will pep up when enemies are approaching to attack, so that will alert you, but you'll still be checking behind you because it isn't fool proof. The music cues are really a sign of where Capcom chose gameplay over presentation. If they were going for presentation, they would have made it as scary as possible, which would have meant removing the music cues (that way enemies could attack at any time). However, this would get frustrating and the gameplay would suffer. The guns sound excellent (particularly the old rifle). There are only a couple issues I have with the sound, one of which is that the enemies voice clips are repeated over and over (although it's not really a bother), and that I don't find some of the tracks to quite fit in. | |
| Depth | 10.00 |
| For a game of this style, Resident Evil 4 has unparalleled depth. The ammo is incredibly well spaced out so that you can't be lax with bullets, the suitcase which was more of a hassle in previous Resident Evil games becomes a tactical tool in which you maximize every inch, and money becomes a serious balancing act. All this must be kept in mind as more sneaky AI attack. Due to the variety of enemies, different tactics must also be used, while conserving ammo, while making sure you aren't attacked from behind, while protecting Ashley (the girl you have to get home) and while conserving health. One giant, yet brilliant balancing act. | |
| Value & Fun | 9.50 |
| You may have noticed that I have captioned this review as "Old School". RE4 may have cutting edge graphics and incredible presentation, but it goes back to basics with the gameplay. Get Leon working correctly. Get enemies working correctly. Get puzzles in correctly. Get weapons feeling correct. Then upgrade visuals and presentation. It is clear that the focus was on the almost rail shooter like gameplay and was built from the ground up with everything set to feel creepy yet addictive. The only places in which anything feels out of place are the fight with Krauser in which hit detection is a bit spotty, and the extras unlocked after already beating the game. Despite that 17 hour length, the fact that those new weapons are unlocked basically forces you to go back and play it again, so that's really double the length right there. Now, there are two trends I have noticed in games and are featured in Resident Evil 4 that I would like to address. The first is that this is the third game in 3 months that I have played in which there have been sliding tile puzzles (where there is a picture to be formed and you slide the tiles around until it forms the picture). These the other two were Castlevania DS and Zelda: The Wind Waker. In Castlevania DS, you just had to form a path, and Zelda it was just an extra; however, in RE4, you MUST complete the puzzle to advance, which I find a pain, mainly because I am no good at them. The second trend is the easy last boss trend, which I have had complaints about back to Ocarina of Time. RE4 has a shockingly easy last boss, especially considering how difficult earlier boss were. | |
| Overall | 9.46 |
| Resident Evil 4 takes me back a decade. It takes me back to where perfection wasn't sought, only fun was; and in that, were treated with games that really felt special. I can't say that the game is perfect, but maybe it's not supposed to be. What Resident Evil 4 provides is a game that lets you know to come back anytime, stranger. | |
Posted by Ellyoda Thu, 16 Feb 2006 00:00:00
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