TwiddleGeek

Rating:

While I may have missed the original Resident Evil, I’ve been an on again, off again fan of the series since Resident Evil 2. RE2 and its family of games always appealed to me, always made me want to love them, but somehow always fell short of my expectations. It wasn’t the horrible voice acting or laughable dialog, it was the complete inability to put up a good fight.

Resident Evil 4 does away with all of that and revolutionizes the series. Leon is back and ready for action. No more hiding, no more running, no more tank like controls as you struggle not to waste your last clip. Resident Evil 4 is all about head shots, spin kicks, explosions, and guns. It falls more into the horror/action category than survival/horror, but it’s a change of pace I can easily forgive. This is Resident Evil as it should be, and the Wii controls fit this game perfectly. Headshots and limb sniping are easier than ever, and much more fun.

RE4 has some slight RPG elements as well. You’ll upgrade your guns throughout the game, always getting slightly more deadly and slightly quicker. It gets pretty addicting. A lengthy game clocking in at over 25 hours with extras, there’s plenty of replay to be had including a Professional mode, the ability to restart with all of your items, and several unlockable super weapons. RE4 finishes what Code Veronica started long ago, easily making it the best of the entire series, even over the classic Resident Evil 2.

I really enjoyed Separate Ways and Assignment Ada. I kind of wish they would have woven these into the actual storyline, much like the brief Ashley mission, rather than as a end of game extra however. Separate Ways alone easily added another 4 1/2 hours to my already 20+ hour play though. Quite a beefy bonus mission and a lot of fun to boot, glad to see it included on the Wii.

Assignment Ada could have benefited from a lot more ammo, but the challenge was pretty good because of the scarceness. To whoever put her in some decent tactical gear rather than that ridiculous red dress: Thank you.

Finished up RE4 and was pretty satisfied with the ending, even if Ashley’s suggestion of some “overtime” was a little creepy. I’m almost sorry I never played this for the Gamecube, yet glad I got to experience it for the first time with the vastly superior Wii controls. If this is any indication of things to come, I’m solidly convinced of the Wii control scheme now. I can’t wait to play Umbrella Chronicles.

The only thing that could have made this game better is if they’d dumped the whole stupid parasite storyline and gave us freaking zombies. It’s Resident Evil for crying out loud, you gotta have zombies. It’s a non-issue to some, but frankly zombies are cooler and scarier than mind-controlled / body-snatched villagers any day.

Ashley dresses like a bad Rikku cosplayer, and I don’t mind. Honestly, I keep waiting for the part of the game where I hate her, and it just doesn’t happen. Between being hilariously carried away over the shoulder by cultists (way to keep them busy; go team!) and getting recaptured every third step, she’s just too dang amusing. I just want to know where she suddenly produces that flashlight from. (Nevermind that Leon can carry a whole arsenal of weaponry.)

It’s the little touches that help make this game so great. Things like the shielded enemies, whose makeshift spiky shields splinter and break apart realistically under gunfire. Things like the satisfyingly bloody explosion of a good headshot, made all the better by the point & click Wii controls. Things like upgrading guns for even more firepower. And of course, things like the shooting gallery. Though I hate to say it, I think Ashley actually improves this game. She keeps the ’survival horror’ feel in tact even with a guy like Leon as a main character.