noangels's Full Review: Resident Evil 4 for GameCube
Chiming in late on this one, but there is a reason for the madness. Every holiday season, I get in a game-oriented nostalgic mood. When I was younger, this meant hooking up my old Nintendo Entertainment System (at this point, we had a Super Nintendo) and playing Super Mario Brothers. These days it means whipping out the GameCube and taking a trip back to a time before Miis and motion-sensitive controllers. Resident Evil 4 was my pick this year, in anticipation of the next installment’s release in March and inspired by my husband’s purchase of the Wii version as a friend’s Christmas present.
Game Play
Leon Kennedy is back, and searching for the President’s daughter in Resident Evil 4. Without revealing the details of the story, it’s a given that you will encounter lots of zombies and even a few familiar faces. The story is interesting and well thought out. In addition to game play and cut scenes, you will find communications that help build the story. The twist at the end is satisfying.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Resident Evil series, they’re horror-based adventure games. Much of the game play consists of shooting and using various weapons; sniper rifles, shotguns, handguns, semi-automatic guns, hand grenades, incendiary grenades, flash grenades, mine throwers, and even rocket launchers. The weapon diversity kept me interested and added a strategy component, as I tried to determine the best weapon to use in each situation. At one point, while fighting a baddie in the castle, I found that using the rifle then the shot gun allowed me to kill him before he reached a huge machine gun that would have made the fight much more difficult. Some much bigger baddies were able to be one-shotted with the rocket launcher.
Managing my inventory and tuning my weapons added a role playing-like component that I enjoyed. I liked being able to buy larger attaché cases and decide what I wanted to put in them. I could fill the case with mine throwers and rocket launchers if I so desired, and I liked the control that gives me in how I play the game. It may be childlike, but I also enjoy finding treasures, ammunition, and other pick-ups. Spotting a sparkling gem in the rocks, or opening a cabinet and finding a spinel makes me giddy. I always skip happily over upon spotting the blue flame (marking the mysterious merchant who seems impervious to danger despite parking himself in many zombie filled buildings) to trade in my finds!
Puzzles are also a large component of the game. Figuring out where to go next or finding your way out of a room (or into one in some cases) is often a trying, but entertaining experience. There was only one puzzle in the whole game that I found frustrating. I felt the variety was sufficient and they were challenging, but not so much so that you’ll find yourself putting the game down for a time when you have more patience.
I was also pleased with the variety of enemies. Who knew that many creatures could be affected by parasites in so many ways? Baddies included zombie villagers, chanting monks, infected dogs, and invisible bugs. The mini bosses and bosses are tough (enough to chop your head off a few times before you get through a chapter), but not so much so that you’ll need a cheat code or 2 hours for one boss battle. I thought these were sufficiently diverse and entertaining as well. The game is free roaming enough that it allows you to choose how you will beat mini bosses, allowing several combinations of weapons usage do the job.
The whole game is very immersive. I felt connected to the storyline, which was facilitated by the game play, sound (which I’ll discuss further later), and continuity. Even the cut scenes involve some player interaction. I spent much of the game unnerved, on the edge of my seat. It was enough so that a lawn service with a lawn mower outside the window scared me to the point of a full blown screech during a scene involving a chain saw wielding zombie. The only times I felt a disconnection was when implausible situations occurred. Occasionally a pick-up would result in enemies spawning behind Leon (where I had just come from) or around me. Most of the game had realistic mechanics but these situations were frustrating. I’d think I was being cautious, hanging back to survey the situation, only to discover enemies appearing directly behind me. It made strategizing in those few situations hard. I’m glad this was infrequent, but it’s definitely something that could be improved upon in the next game. Cheap shots are for lazy developers. Controls
To date, the GameCube controller is actually my favorite game controller. It fits my hands comfortably and has very intuitive button placement. Gone (for me, at least) are the days of sore thumbs. I felt this lent itself well to the intuitive controls that were developed for this game. I found the controls to be easy to pick up as they felt very natural. Targeting was easy, as was reloading and equipping each weapon. Normally I don’t mesh well with games that require me to shoot weapons, but this game lacks the feeling of a shooter. The camera angles are sufficient and can be adjusted slightly. It’s not the most flexible system I’ve seen, but certainly not the worst and the game was very playable. Graphics
The graphics in this game are very good, especially for the GameCube. The colors are very earth tone based and there is a lot of detail in the environments (some of which can be interacted with). The animations are good as well, especially walking, running, and combat. The conversational animations during the cut scenes could be improved upon, as they often look out of sync with the audio. In addition to detailed environments, the characters are detailed. This extends to the fighting, as sometimes the game is quite gory. Leon will spend some time with his head chopped off or blood oozing from his eyes. It’s not at all appropriate for young children (to put it mildly).
I did encounter a number of graphical glitches and anomalies. Sometimes I would encounter visible edges or corners were the graphics has minor imperfections. Enemies on the other side of a door would often be partially visible, either because of stray limbs or weapons. Audio
The music in the game was very atmosphere appropriate. It sounds like it could easily be a horror movie soundtrack and certainly keeps you wary, even when no danger seems to be in sight. The voice acting is great; very believable. The sound effects (the monk chanting comes to mind) were effective in furthering the eeriness of the environment. It all shows a lot of attention to detail, as the volume changes based on the proximity of the source. As if zombies and gore weren’t enough to scare you, the audio does a number on your psyche. Price and Recommendation
I purchased this game for $40, a year after it came out. It has since dropped dramatically in price as a “greatest hit” game. If you haven’t already played the game, I highly recommend picking it up. This is not only one of the best GameCube games I've played, but also one of the best I've played on any system.
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
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