Resident Evil 4 review:
Quite possibly the best action-adventure (emphasis on action) title ever made (no, really) and easily the best game of 2005. Fast, violent, and more fun than I should be allowed to have sitting at home by myself. It's like being the lead in your own action-horror movie.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Resident Evil 4 is an excellent game, and though the many changes may turn off some old time fans of the franchise, the fact is that the game is made far, far better and more easily accessible through them. - Eva Cekanska, Grrlgamer.com
Resident Evil 4 review:
If you’ve condemned the series due to the stale gameplay, Resident Evil 4 will be your bouquet of flowers offering forgiveness. - Brad Hicks (aka Dr. Swank), SwankWorld Media Leave Feedback - About Ratings - Return to Reviews - Return To SwankWorld - Discuss in the Forum
Resident Evil 4 review:
." It took a long time before the series repeated the brilliance of the original title but Capcom have done it, and done it with style. Resident Evil has reclaimed the throne from not only the survival horror genre but it's possibly even become ‘the’ quintessential Gamecube game in the process. Totally flawless on the Cube, this is one game you simply can’t miss out on.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Wading through such a beautifully realised location in the dead of night, the rain lashing down and the odd forked strike flashing up your view, is wonderfully atmospheric. When the game switches to the interiors of a local castle, the crisp design evokes the Gothic feel Capcom were surely going for.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Also, the whole game is letterboxed as if it were on the receiving end of a poor conversion. We're not too sure if this is to create a cinematic vibe or to keep the speed up, but given that there's no option for a full-screen mode we reckon it's the latter. Makes you wonder how the PlayStation 2 is going to cope, doesn't it?
Resident Evil 4 review:
What else can I say about Resident Evil 4? Well, I can say that it's the best gamecube game ever, to start it off. Another thing: if you don't get it, SK will bring da punisher to your doorstep, and interrogate you for sure. So, the verdict? Get the frigin game now, or suffer the consequences. Top in it's class in ever category. Buy. It. Now. Score: 9.8~Thanks to MechAssault for the Review
Resident Evil 4 review:
Never forget 1998…It was the year Raccoon City turned into the city of the undead. Zombies spreading havoc across a seemingly peaceful human society, destroying everything in their path. Although the memories are still stuck firmly in Leon’s mind, the two police officers driving him out to the village see differently. Leon has been sent out to a lost village in search for Ashley, the president’s daughter. What he doesn’t realise is that these are no ordinary terrorists – and Leon will to be dealing with something a lot worse than Raccoon City.GameplayResident Evil 4’s gameplay is astounding in many ways. You must walk through the whole game, which can get a bit tedious sometimes when you have to go from A to B and you know that no bad guys are waiting for you, however it builds a lot of tension, creating fear amongst the strongest gamers. The combat system is designed almost perfectly, shooting, slashing and kicking your enemies around, however there is a slight camera issue. The camera is fixed behind you, but your character takes so long to turn around (unless you use the 180 spin button) that quite often you get attacked from behind in sticky situations. You just have to hope that the thing attacking you from behind doesn’t have a chainsaw!The HUD is an interesting one, and it gradually becomes upgraded throughout the game. Health comes in a variety of flavours including plants, eggs, fish, and First Aid spray. The fish takes up a lot of room in your Attache case, but you can sell them for a pretty high price. Yep, that’s right; there are shops around where a rather creepy guy (who happens to be at every shop in the area) will do business with you. You can sell him your rare items, such as rings, amulets, or even just stones, as well as any weapons or ammo you may have picked up, or you can buy from him. Although he mainly focuses on the sales of weapons, he can sometimes have some useful items such as a treasure map, and more First Aid spray.Save points can be found all around the village, and they come in the form of typewriters. Whenever you see a typewriter we suggest you save because you never know what’s going to be around the next corner, however it does keep track of how many saves you’ve done, so you might not want to use them. The game saves at the end of every level though, and each level takes about 20 – 30 minutes to pass. The game has levels, but it also has overall chapters. Levels can end at any given point, however chapters usually end when something major happens. The game has five chapters, and each chapter has around 3 to 5 levels. You do the maths.The enemies are not zombies in Resident Evil 4, they are something else. They act like zombies more or less, but they still have a certain human side which means they pretty much act human except for when you’re around. You’ll see them chopping wood, going to church, eating meals, but if you intrude on their village, expect havoc. They are a lot smarter than the zombies found in the other Resident Evil games, and they will wait for others so that they can attack in groups – however a shotgun blast can soon fix that. The enemies attack you with anything from a shovel to a pitchfork, and even dynamite, however you are definitely fitted out with the more advanced weaponry throughout the game.It was mentioned earlier that you can eat fish to regain health, and also sell fish. This is very much true, and it means that you can go fishing! However, don’t expect a rod. You can simply shoot them with your gun while onshore, or you can jump in a boat and throw harpoons at them, it’s up to you. However, we liked throwing grenades into the water, as it makes a pretty cool explosion down beneath the water, and then all of a sudden all these fish rise to the surface dead.If you’ve ever played Shenmue II, you’ll be able to relate to this game a lot. Taking control of Leon is very similar to taking control of Ryo, as you can do lots of cool moves, however what’s even more in relation to Shenmue II is during the cut-scenes. Sometimes all of a sudden, you’ll have to press a button on the controller. You may have to just do it once, or it might be a repetitive thing, but either way, you’re going to be watching the cut-scenes like a hawk later on in the game. This type of gameplay seems to be a great idea to keep the gamer from going to get a drink during a cut-scene that developers have worked on for weeks to look good.GraphicsGames don’t get much better on the GameCube. You’ll be truly amazed at the colours and shadings used in Resident Evil 4, and then comes the night time! The night is possibly the scariest part of the game as you’ll find villagers are everywhere, but you pretty much can’t see them until they start attacking. To make things worse, it doesn’t become night time until you rescue Ashley (well who honestly thought that the game ends once you find Ashley??), so you’ll have a girl following you too.It seems Leon has grown up a lot, and his character model is just plain cool. It seems Capcom were aiming to portray Leon as that cool guy at school that never really said much, but you knew he was going to lead a very interesting life in the future… possibly too interesting. Nevertheless, Leon moves like a real life human, and his hair is a perfect example of this. You’ll have to play the game to see what we mean.Resident Evil 4 has everything from a misty lake to an ancient church, and the designers have gone to great lengths to make everything look as realistic as possible. They’ve done a great job, and it truly pays off, especially for the fear aspect. The enemy character models are like no other, and although the villagers start repeating themselves, the “bosses” are “one of a kind” enemies that you’ll have a rough time finding in another game. The most characteristic boss would have to be a giant Ogre that the villagers decide to unleash, only to find that it is more interested than killing them than helping them. The Ogre is at least 10 meters tall, and it takes a lot of bullets.SoundCapcom’s sound development team has gone out on a limb to create the best sound possible for Resident Evil 4. From gun fire noises to the enemies’ voices, Resident Evil 4 is a bone-chilling game to have at a high volume. In fact, if you remove the sound, it’s very likely that you’ll be able to breeze through most of the game without a fear in the world, as you won’t know the sound that these things are making that are coming after you. Even the guy that sells you things will spook you out. Thankfully the game has full voice dialog, so you won’t have to sit through silent conversations, however you do have a phone call contact with support staff from the secret U.S. Agency that you work for. Ingrid Hunnigan will help you in the least expected times, however she is mostly used to continue the storyline throughout the game.OverallIf you’re not fortunate enough to own an Xbox or a PS2, then this is the game that will scare you through to the next generation of gaming. Forget everything you’ve learnt in Metroid Prime: Echoes, because Resident Evil 4 is out and it’s here to stay as a top action/shooter/thriller/horror game. Although the series seems to be going a bit out of whack at the moment, Resident Evil 4 - the sequel to Resident Evil 2 will keep you entertained for around thirty hours. Once beating it, you can always go back and collect the items you missed, or even try it on a harder difficulty, if you have the guts.Thumbs Up A great MA15+ rated game for the Nintendo GameCube Interesting storyline, gets a bit out of hand, but what do you expect? Great graphics and brilliant sound with full Dolby Pro Logic II features.Thumbs Down When you go to a phone call, there’s nothing in the background! Camera issues can cause eager gamers to become frustrated. Nobody likes a fourteen year old girl following them around for too long. full size >>
Resident Evil 4 review:
Anyone who doesn’t yet own the system now has no excuse for not buying one. Resident Evil 4 is already my pick for 2005’s game of the year; other developers will have a hard time to unseat this behemoth in the next eleven months.
Resident Evil 4 review:
So overall not only is it one of the best Gamecube games around it’s also one of the best games on any format, just amazing in every department. There are also things to unlock to add extra longevity to an already long game (by Resi standards) and a lot of enemies to kill along the way (my total was over 900!). You’ll also bump into a few familiar characters. Go buy it.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Ultimately, this review comes across harsher than the actual score, largely because the score takes into account that first venture into the Spanish countryside. But like Franz Ferdinand, time is not kind to the game. On occasion, you'll go back and play the first few levels, just like last week I went back and listened to 'Michael.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Also, having a separate button for only the knife helps you out of some tight fixes.The only downside of this game is that it ends. After only sixteen hours in heaven, the game ended, leaving me with nothing to do. I suppose now that I've beaten Resident Evil 4 I can begin my search for the game of the year runner-up, because no game this year will come close to Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil 4 review:
In “Resident Evil 4,” the camera will politely follow you from behind, always showing you exactly what’s ahead of you. If you aim a weapon to fire, the camera will zoom up to an over-the-shoulder point of view, which brings about the second most-awesome thing about “RE4,” which is the game’s aiming system.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Folks, if you were looking for not only the best survival/horror game ever made, and not only what is arguably the best game to ever grace the Gamecube platform, but one of the best action/adventure games of this current era of video games, your search is now over.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Anyone looking for a good action title would be a fool not to own this game. Don't wait for an inferior version to come to the PS2 at the end of the year. This game will sell GameCubes, and if you already have one, you should go out and get Resident Evil 4. Right now.
Resident Evil 4 review:
Resident Evil 4 isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn close. Capcom has created a game that offers the total package; every facet of the game is so well done, so surprisingly polished, that you can’t help but be amazed while playing it. As a good friend of mine said, “It’s Zelda good.” I can’t think of any higher compliment.
Resident Evil 4 review:
The story kind of falls off the map towards the end, and the final boss doesn’t offer much resolution for the overarching storyline, but the roller coaster provided from five minutes into the adventure until over 20 hours later is certainly worth the ride. Score: A -- Ernie Halal
Resident Evil 4 review:
It has been six years since the destruction of Raccoon City and in that time, the U.S. government has been able to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation. Fast forward to 2004 and players rejoin Leon, who is now a U.S. agent with a top-secret mission. He has been tasked to look into the abduction of the President’s daughter and his investigation has led him to a mysterious location in Europe.
Resident Evil 4 review:
If you have no idea why everyone wants you dead, at least you know why you’re there. Resident Evil 4 marks the triumphant return of Leon Kennedy, former S.T.A.R.S. agent and Racoon City survivor. Since the destruction of the Umbrella corporation, Leon is now considered a more mysterious “U.S. Agent.
Resident Evil 4 review:
What do you think of when you hear the name Resident Evil? For me, fond memories of my best friend and I completing the first two brilliant games in all-night gaming sessions quickly pop into my head. Following the brief trip down memory lane however, thoughts of sluggish controls, clunky fixed-perspective camera angles, cheesy voice acting, archaic inventory systems, item fetching, and copious amounts of item and switch puzzles begin to shroud my view of what started as a grand franchise but has lately grown into a tired, played-out series offering nothing but more of the same. When all hope seemed to be lost though, Capcom delivers on their promise to reinvent the series with the release of Resident Evil 4. Not only does RE 4 reinvent the Resident Evil brand as a whole, but it also redefines the survival horror genre as we currently know it, and presents one of the most viscerally intense, emotionally entrapping, and downright gorgeous gaming experiences to ever hit a home console. Look out world, Resident Evil is back and better than anyone could have ever imagined.
Resident Evil 4 review:
This game is the new high watermark for the genre. It takes what was done right before and infuses it with fresh and engaging gameplay to deliver an experience that already so early in the year will no doubt be remembered when it is time to recount the greatest titles of 2005. It is appropriate that the franchise that spearheaded the genre has come back to perfect it.
Resident Evil 4 review: