#06 - N-Europe: Let's Talk Games (Resident Evil 4)

[tapedeck]

Resi4 is pure genius. They arguably killed survival horror and birthed action survival/adventure. A genre they (and others) are still entrenched in today. It was more empowering and engaging for the player focusing on combat and placement in the environment, arguably ushering in a new genre of games. The setting was perfect. The characters varied and the set-pieces acted as a great way to make the game memorable and to keep the player engaged.

 

It has done so much for gaming and the fact it was on the cube was brilliant for Nintendo fans but also suiting the controller perfectly. The fact that DMC was also born of the Resi4 experiments shows how much Mikami and the team were on fire back then.

 

Great memories.

 

Great game.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Mine will no doubt be a controversial opinion. While it's a good action game it is not a good Resident Evil game.

 

For me this is when the series fell from grace. I'm heavily invested in the Resident Evil story and this one was REALLY lacking. There was also no short supply of ammo, no back tracking, no Umbrella. The Umbrella thing still annoys the hell out of me to this day.

 

If you had played the series from the start then you had built up this hatred for the Umbrella corporation and you wanted to get revenge and bring them to justice. Who can forget the ending of Code Veronica? If you did then here it is. Skip to 1:10.

 

 

Hell yeah!

 

How does Umbrella get taken down? They went bankrupt.....YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?

 

So from the start the game had already lost me.

 

There was a new kind of tension created in this game. As I mentioned earlier, the lack of ammo wasn't really an issue now and you were never really looking around the corners to see what was ahead. This was replaced with the sheer number of enemies attacking you, as well as better AI in the enemies.

 

I actually prefer Resident Evil 5 more than I do 4 purely because it has more of a connection with the rest of the series. I can see why Capcom went the way they did with it but to me this should be switched with Code Veronica, with that being Resident Evil 4 and this one being the spin off title.

 

It's still a great game but not a great Resident Evil game.

 

Agree with most of this.

Except the series died with RE4. It's never been the same since and we've lost something special.

I can understand how RE4 changed things for many. But, personally, it's up there with films such as the Blair Witch Project or those...annoying films that are filmed from a first person perspective/video camera, Paranormal Activity and whatnot. Just because it changed things, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. The story and characters of RE4 equally blew. Big time. Gone is that hatred for Umbrella, as you pointed out. I don't even know what we're left with.

 

The one thing I can say that I will reminisce of are the awesome Wiimote controls. Aside from that, the rest of it was forgettable for me.

[Captain Falcon]

Whilst sequels are normally an excellent opportunity to improve on the flaws of their predecessor, sometimes even that isn’t enough to stave off the feeling of a series in decline. Tweaks here and polish there can’t mask the overriding sensation of a franchise that is starting to outstay its welcome. At this point, you are left with three options. The first is to let the series go with what dignity it has left. The second is to carry on churning out games that only see diminished sales as the series fades into irrelevance. The final, most daring, option is reinvention. It’s a risky move to be sure, and the results can vary wildly from disastrous to great. With Resident Evil 4, Capcom have gone with the third option and whatever expectations you have, be prepared to come away more than a little surprised.

 

This transition from old to new is not likely to please those looking for more of the same. Fixed camera angles? Gone. Shock scare tactics? Goodbye. Needlessly complex background stories? Who cares?

 

What we have here is a new camera that follows the player and expertly captures the intense action. The exquisitely rendered 2D backdrops of the past have been ousted in favour of equally impressive 3D graphics that set the standard for this generation of hardware. Cheap shocks give way to genuine tension building both in the run-up and execution of the multitude of excellent set pieces. Running out of bullets is rarely a concern but running out of time and space to manoeuvre genuinely is. As a trained agent, capable of pin point marksmanship and close range combat techniques, a one on one encounter doesn’t pose much threat with the average foe yet never does the game provide you with such fair fights. When you do find yourself in a standoff against a single enemy, it will be against one of the many and incredibly varied boss encounters in cleverly designed arenas. Just because an enemy can’t see you, it doesn’t mean it can’t hear you and cut you down at a moments notice and when you can't see them, well, that's when you're really in trouble. And the story, often delivered with a wink and nudge to the player, provides enough reason for the events that transpire without ever bogging down the experience for those unfamiliar with past games. Quick time events are peppered throughout the game but never do they feel intrusive – quite the opposite in fact.

 

This may not be Resident Evil as you know it, but as a game in its own right, it’s all the better for it.

 

Not only does the game breathe new life into its own franchise, it does so into all the game mechanics it touches. Normally the bane of any gameplay experience, the concept of the escort mission is raised to a whole new level thanks to two simple ideas: being able to interact with your ally and them having more than the most basic path finding routine doubling as their AI. In most games, these sections are barely good enough to be described as a chore but Capcom never ceases to find new ways to weave this element into the rest of the game in a way that appears effortless. And that goes for everything else as well - the simple act of managing your items masquerading as Tetris for government officials and proves just as addictive. It’s not that the game does anything especially new; it’s that it does everything far better than everything else that came before it.

 

By the time you’re seeing the credits roll, you’ll have passed through rural villages, castle courtyards, garden mazes, cavernous mines, secret laboratories and whole lot more. The game refuses to wait before attempting to dazzle you one more time and even when you factor in a generous runtime, you’ll still be surprised just how much is packed in. In a further bid to show how well they understand their game, the team have provided a post-game reward that morphs the existing gameplay elements into a final tuned and richly rewarding experience that simultaneously rivals and complements the main game itself.

 

Resident Evil 4 is the result of a team coming together at their absolute peak and delivering on all the potential they hold within them. It’s a relentless rollercoaster that’s been precision engineered to be as close to perfection as possible. By letting go of past conventions, they’ve made the game they wanted to make, the game they will always be remembered for, and the game you need to play.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Captain Falcon

[Fused King]

Some lovely opinions on this one and even a little bit of a discussion.

 

 

Onwards!

[Jonnas]

Some lovely opinions on this one and even a little bit of a discussion.

 

Discussion that spilled into another thread, no less

[Beast]

Life-long Resident Evil fan, own all the games and completed them all and this is one of my favourites. The game is near perfection but as a Resi game, it's great. I still think that the Merchant from the game should be a playable character in RE: Mercenaries 3D

[sumo73]

I've played all the RE series on console and handheld so far across many systems but to me the game which sticks into my mind is the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil.

 

Resident Evil 4 did what it set out to do, it changed the system of game play and most importantly won back old fans of the series who had lost interest in Resident Evil and also it won new fans to the franchise.

 

It's a great game and I bought it three times on other systems but it's not my favourite of the series.

[Glen-i]

This and Revelations are the only Resi Evil games I actually enjoyed.

 

The Wii version will always be the definitive version to me. Those controls make the game so much fun to run through. Especially with a Chicago Typewriter.

 

That and the corny dialogue makes me smile every time. ("Your right hand comes off?")

 

I never was that much of a fan of the Mercenaries mode. I'm not quite sure why, I loved Mercenaries 3D. It's probably because of the lack of co-op.

[Dcubed]

This and Revelations are the only Resi Evil games I actually enjoyed.

 

The Wii version will always be the definitive version to me. Those controls make the game so much fun to run through. Especially with a Chicago Typewriter.

 

That and the corny dialogue makes me smile every time. ("Your right hand comes off?")

 

I never was that much of a fan of the Mercenaries mode. I'm not quite sure why, I loved Mercenaries 3D. It's probably because of the lack of co-op.

 

You know that it's all about the Infinity Launcher though Nothing is funnier than using it to free That Dog from the bear trap at the start of the game, or coming across The Big Cheese and killing him in one hit completely non-chalantly

 

Also I was hellishly addicted to RE4's mercenaries mode. Sure it's not as complex of fleshed out as the 3DS game (which makes sense, it WAS a minigame after all!) but the simplicity of it made it all the more endearing for me. Also I like the simpler mechanics of it too (RE: Mecenaries 3D was based off of RE5).

Edited May 13, 2014 by Dcubed