cyrusviedra's Full Review: Resident Evil 4 for GameCube
Good things come to those who wait. After years of frustrating delays and even rumors of cancellation, Resident Evil 4, the most highly anticipated game in the Resident Evil series has finally arrived on the Nintendo GameCube and far exceeds what anybody could’ve expected.
I'd played the Resident Evil 1 remake and loved it. Then I played Resident Evil 0 and was disappointed to discover that it was only more of the same. I approached Resident Evil 4 with cautious optimism, but after just playing the game for a few minutes, all of my anxieties melted away in a hail of bullet-spitting, head-smashing, monster-bashing bliss.
The story of Resident Evil 4 revolves around the character of Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 2. Several years have passed since the destruction of Raccoon City. As Leon, you've been put in charge of rescuing the president's kidnapped daughter. Your mission takes you deep within the Spanish countryside, where the damsel in distress is rumored to have been taken hostage by a mysterious religious cult.
There’s two major differences in Resident Evil 4 that fans will notice immediately. First, RE4 ditches the pre-rendered backgrounds of its predecessors. You’ll now see things through a free-roaming third-person perspective. As a result, your character moves far less like a robot, and there are no more blind camera angles. Having the freedom to roam around where you please in RE4 provides an infinitely more surreal, adventure-like feel to the game.
Another inherent difference in RE4 is the noticeable absence of zombies. In a bizarre move, Capcom decided to scrap the undead (the staple of the Resident Evil series) in favor of possessed Spanish villagers. The decision spurred quite a bit of controversy among RE purists during the game’s production. These new adversaries are quite remarkable, however, as unlike their slower, deader counterparts, the villagers can run, wield weapons and dodge and weave when you try to aim your gun at them.
Speaking of guns, Resident Evil 4 has a healthy plethora of them. From machine guns, to grenades, to rocket-launchers, to….eggs? Your character is armed to the teeth this time around. Running out of ammo is a rare occurrence, especially now that item boxes are gone and inventory space has been increased exponentially. There's also a merchant who you can periodically buy new weapons from, in addition to upgrading your current ones (for a price, of course).
If you think you can simply blast your way through Resident Evil 4, though, think again. During the game, you will often be forced to engage in action-timed button presses. If you fail to press the right buttons at the right time, it could mean Leon being crushed by a rolling boulder or having his leg amputated by a giant monster fish. Even during the game’s cut-scenes, there’s no time for the player to rest, as those button presses come into play when you’re most likely to have your guard down.
Overall, Resident Evil 4 totally reinvents the Resident Evil franchise. The result is a marvelously polished game filled with riveting cutscenes, memorable boss fights and non-stop action and suspense. The graphics are flawless and filled with incredibly detailed characters and backgrounds. It’s some of the best visuals the GameCube has to offer. The audio is also truly creepy. Couple all of this with tons of replay value and side missions and this is pretty much as close to a perfect game as you can get.
Resident Evil 4 is an absolute, 100% MUST-HAVE for the GameCube. If you don't have this game and you're still reading this review, you have my permission to stop right now and sprint to your local videogame store.
Resident Evil 4 is a terrifying new chapter in the world renowned series exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. Based on the popular Resident Evil ser...More at eBay
Advanced AI makes enemies smarter than ever and use their cunning in deadly attacks Use the Action button for better player control New 'Aim and Shoot...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.