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    Resident Evil 4 (56K); by Quadraxis
    Topic Started: Jun 1 2005, 11:25 AM (531 Views)
    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    Resident Evil 4

    Posted Image
    Publisher: Capcom
    Developer: Capcom
    Genre: Survival Horror
    ESRB: M

    Resident Evil 4 is the latest in the long running franchise from Capcom. The series has always been pretty good, sometimes revolutionary, but there were always vital problems holding the games back from being great. Resident Evil 4 changes that. Capcom has taken a series that has rehashed the same ideas over and over again with a few new things added in every time, taken it apart, and rebuilt it to be one of the best, if not the best, game of the current generation.

    RE4 went through a lot of cycles, four to be exact. First, it was going to be exclusive for the PS2, then exclusive for the GC, and then finally for PS2 and GC. Kobayashi, the creator of RE, said that they had to start from scratch four times. They did a lot of hard work and it certainly paid off.

    Story
    The game starts off several years after the destruction of Racoon City. Leon S. Kennedy, the main character from RE2, is hired as the protector of the President’s daughter, Ashley. Soon after Leon is hired, Ashley is kidnapped on her way back from her college in Massachusetts.

    Allegedly, she was spotted in Europe shortly after the kidnapping, and Leon is sent to rescue Ashley. The US asks for troops or bodyguards for Leon in Spain, where she had been spotted, but all they give him are two people to drive him there.

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    [size=1]Screenshot from the opening video.[/size]

    Shortly after arriving, Leon finds that his mission isn’t as simple as he thought. Instead of normal kidnappers, Leon finds that he is faced with Spanish villagers that are infected by a strange sickness, called the Las Plagas. As he delves deeper into his mission, Leon will encounter and discover even more gruesome things. He’ll have a few people to help him along the way, however...

    Gameplay
    One of the biggest problems with the Resident Evil franchise has been the camera angles. Capcom finally addresses this problem in Resident Evil 4, with a over-the-shoulder look that puts you right into the action. The camera is slightly adjustable, but the over-the-shoulder look is a great camera angle that lets you see as much of the action you need to see at once.
    Posted Image
    [size=1]The new over-the-shoulder camera angle.[/size]

    Another huge improvement are the completely revamped controls. Though some people think the GC controller’s buttons are awkwardly placed, the controller seems to work perfectly with RE4. A new addition to the series is the action button. For example, if you walk up to a window, the A button will appear with the command “Jump Through”. This makes for a much more interactive experience than in previous games. You can also run up to an enemy after you’ve stunned them and hit the A button to execute a kick or a suplex.

    Here are the controls:

    A button: Confirm (on menus); Action/Attack
    B Button: Cancel (on menus); Control Stick Up: Run; Control Stick Down: 180 Turn
    X Button: Organize Items in Attache Case; Communicate with Ashley
    Y Button: Open Status Screen
    Z Button: Open Map
    L Button: Rotate items in Attache Case; (Hold): Switch to Knife
    R Button: Hold Weapon Ready; (Hold) + A Button: Fire/Attack; (Hold) + B Button = Reload
    Control Stick/Pad: Move; Turn; R Button (hold) then move = Aim weapon
    C Stick: Move Camera View
    Start/Pause: Open Option screen; Skip movies

    It’s much easier to aim in RE4 than in previous games, also. A red laser-like light is emitted from each gun Leon has and that gives you precision shooting. Is there a villager running towards you? Put the reticle on one of the knees and fire and he falls down. The new camera angle helps with aiming, also, because you can actually see what you’re looking at instead of having to aim blindly like in previous RE games.

    Another new thing to the RE series is the RPG-like gun upgrading. For example, after you’ve bought a gun, you have two options. One, upgrade the gun’s stats. For example: how much ammo it can hold, its firepower, the reload speed, etc. Or two, you can buy a new gun. There’s a traveling merchant throughout all of the games locations and each time you visit a new merchant he’ll either offer new guns or accessories or new upgrades for certain guns.

    The gun selection is amazing, too. There’s over fifteen guns in the entire game, though some of them you can’t get until you unlock them after the game. There are handguns, shotguns, magnums, rifles, and special themed guns like the Mine Thrower and Rocket Launcher. The selection of guns is so large that killing enemies over and over feels fresh all the time because Capcom put so much detail in how the guns look, sound, and fire.

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    [size=1]Walking down a creepy hallway.[/size]

    Of course, it wouldn’t be Resident Evil without being creepy and scary. Some of the enemies looks' are creepy just looking at them, but when you crash land in a boat while it’s pitch dark and it’s pouring rain it gets really scary. When this happens, you sometimes don’t see enemies until they’re a few inches from you. Then you’ll promptly panic and misfire a few times. Needless to say, the atmosphere is great.

    The gameplay is great, but what about the story? I explained the premise of what it’s about above, but many surprises are in store for you as you progress through the game. It’s definitely a great storyline and it’s very creepy at times. You’ll not only have a blast experiencing the refined gameplay, but you’ll want to keep progressing to figure out what happens next.

    Posted Image
    [size=1]One of the amazing boss battles.[/size]

    Then there’s the boss battles. These are probably the most amazing boss battles I’ve ever fought in a video game. They’re not easy either, some of the early ones are very hard because of the lack of powerful weapons. Nearly every boss battle is probably the equivalent of some end boss battles in other games.

    The only complaints I have about gameplay in RE4 is the lack of a strafe ability and a weapon switch on the fly. In certain boss battles, it would be nice to have a strafe ability even though the game is still amazing without one. As for the weapon switch, when you’re in the heat of battle you have to pause the game and that takes some of the nonstop action away from the game. If you could just hit a button and pick a weapon from a short list it would have been nice.

    Graphics
    Wow. That’s what I said after playing through the first level of RE4 for the first time. These are probably the best graphics in a video game I’ve ever seen. Half Life 2 might come close, but I think RE4 is the victor.

    Posted Image
    [size=1]The best lighting effects I’ve ever seen.[/size]

    The lighting effects are amazing. In one boss battle, against a giant troll-like monster, as you fight it lightning flashes in the background. The lighting effects on the troll’s face and Leon’s hair and face are simply amazing as illustrated by the picture above.

    Each and every character model in RE4 is very detailed, not only Leon and some other characters like Luis Sera, Ashley Graham, and Ada Wong, but all of the enemies are too. A prime example of how much work was put into this game: in each villager there are 5,000 polygons and in the next generation game Perfect Dark Zero it’s said that the main character, Joanna Dark, has 5,000 polygons in the model. There are a little over 60 villagers in RE4 and there’s one Joanna Dark in Perfect Dark Zero.

    After reading about all of the amazing lighting effects, detail, and graphical power, you must be thinking that this game probably lags a lot. But, even though RE4 pushes the Cube’s graphical
    power to the limits, RE4 is a solid 30 frames per second.

    There are also beautiful cutscenes that are all done in real time. Except, RE4's real time cutscenes look better than most games that have cutscenes that aren’t in real time.

    Posted Image
    [size=1]One of the real time cutscenes.[/size]

    This game isn’t for the weak at heart, though. It’s gory, as have all RE games have been. You can shoot people’s heads off and blood sprays everywhere which for some gamers will be sick and some cool. It’s also very violent but you’d expect as much with a game that has over fifteen guns.

    Only problem: there’s no real widescreen mode. Instead there’s a zoom mode, but I’ve read across many sites that the zoom function works well.

    Sound
    RE4 supports Dolby Pro Logic II Surround Sound. If you have this, you’re in for a very immersive gameplay experience. As you’re creeping along a path in one of the levels, and you suddenly hear some movement behind you, it’s going to scare the crap out of you.

    The sound effects are something Capcom clearly worked on a lot, from the Spanish speech almost all of the enemies use from how they yell when they get shot or attacked, all of the sound effects are very accurate. Also, the guns each have their own unique style. If you got the Making of Resident Evil 4 DVD, it tells there that Capcom went out and recorded the sounds of actual gunshots from real guns for each different gun.

    The music sets the mood, effectively. For example, when a villager discovers you're sneaking through somewhere, they yell out to alert the other villagers. Then the music changes pace or get louder to sort of express a sort of urgency that you've been discovered.

    There are also codec-like conversations between characters throughout the game like in the Metal Gear Solid games. These, and all circumstances where characters talk, are fully voice acted. It’s not bad voice acting either, the guy that does Leon never sounds over expressive and the person that does Luis Sera’s, a Spanish character in the game, is spot on with his Spanish accent. One drawback to the dialogue is sometimes the humorous things characters say are kind of cheesy, but that’s not anything to put you off from this game.

    Value
    On top of the great gameplay, beautiful graphics and immersive sound, Resident Evil 4 has a meaty single player adventure of 20 hours. Most games that have all the qualities I’ve already listed are very short with only 10 hours of story.

    Posted Image
    [size=1]Another beautiful screenshot.[/size]
    Even after you finish the long story, you unlock two minigames: The Mercenaries and Assignment Ada. You can also unlock alternate costumes, a new difficulty level, a new opening background, and secret weapons.

    It’s also very replayable. If you start a new game on the same file you beat the game on you can use the weapons you ended the game with. Then you can breeze through the first parts of the game. And, as you unlock secret weapons, they’ll become available from the merchant.

    Tilt
    After reading this review, you know I love Resident Evil 4. I don’t know a person who doesn’t. This is easily the best third party game on the Cube, the most beautiful game on the Cube, probably even the best game on the Cube, and maybe even the best game this generation. For me, it’s the best game I’ve ever played.

    Resident Evil 4 is the Halo and Grand Theft Auto of the Gamecube and if you don’t own a Cube, this is more than reason enough to buy one. RE4 came out 11 days after the start of 2005 and back then it was already my contender for Game of the Year and it still is now. I can’t recommend this game highly enough, so just go buy it

    Scores
    Gameplay: 9.5
    Graphics: 10
    Sound: 9.5
    Value: 10
    Tilt: 10

    Overall: 9.9
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Zane
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    Wiiplus.net
    that is a great review and so so true!! the game rules and so does this review
    .
    .
    ............................................ Posted Image
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    .................................................. [Wiiplus.net] [Nintendo Wii]
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    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    Thanks! I worked really hard on this review because it's one of my favorite games!
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Pulse
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    Amazing review! I am getting this game soon, because all I have heard is that it is a great game. I have a feeling this might be the ROTM winner... ;)

    I have a question however. Are there any modes other than the Story mode?
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    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    Thanks for the feedback.

    There aren't any modes as big as Story mode. There are two minigames as I said, and they are very replayable. The story is really replayable too, though.

    You really should buy this game, I wouldn't get the chainsaw controller, though. :P
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Quadraxis
    Jun 1 2005, 08:30 PM
    Thanks for the feedback.

    There aren't any modes as big as Story mode. There are two minigames as I said, and they are very replayable. The story is really replayable too, though.

    You really should buy this game, I wouldn't get the chainsaw controller, though. :P

    Lol, why? :P
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    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    MattB22890
    Jun 1 2005, 07:42 PM
    Quadraxis
    Jun 1 2005, 08:30 PM
    Thanks for the feedback.

    There aren't any modes as big as Story mode.  There are two minigames as I said, and they are very replayable.  The story is really replayable too, though.

    You really should buy this game, I wouldn't get the chainsaw controller, though. :P

    Lol, why? :P

    Well..it doesn't exactly look comfortable. :lol: Here's a pic..

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    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Blaze
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    Gone But Not Forgotten!

    Nice review. But I disagree with the score.

    9.9 :mad: Where's the [size=7]10[/size] at?
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    Quadraxis
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    Blaze
    Jun 1 2005, 08:19 PM
    Nice review. But I disagree with the score.

    9.9 :mad: Where's the [size=7]10[/size] at?

    I gave it a 9.9 because I don't think any game is perfect.
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Blaze
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    Gone But Not Forgotten!

    Quadraxis
    Jun 1 2005, 08:51 PM
    Blaze
    Jun 1 2005, 08:19 PM
    Nice review. But I disagree with the score.

    9.9  :mad:  Where's the [size=7]10[/size] at?

    I gave it a 9.9 because I don't think any game is perfect.

    Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64
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    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    Blaze
    Jun 1 2005, 09:45 PM
    Quadraxis
    Jun 1 2005, 08:51 PM
    Blaze
    Jun 1 2005, 08:19 PM
    Nice review. But I disagree with the score.

    9.9  :mad:  Where's the [size=7]10[/size] at?

    I gave it a 9.9 because I don't think any game is perfect.

    Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64

    They both get 9.9s in my book. :P
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    Stu_J
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    Kirby
    I agree, no game can be perfect, RE4 comes pretty close, gr8 review man well dun!
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    Quadraxis
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    ChuChu
    Thanks! I rated a few games 10 a long time ago, but I soon learned not to do that. B)
    Review of the Month Winner: Resident Evil 4

    Previews: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow | Nanostray

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    l33t m4n
    ChuChu
    brilliant review for a brilliant game, i agree with the 9.9
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    Nintendo_Golfer
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    Sheik
    MattB22890
    Jun 1 2005, 09:59 PM
    Amazing review! I am getting this game soon, because all I have heard is that it is a great game. I have a feeling this might be the ROTM winner... ;)

    I have a question however. Are there any modes other than the Story mode?

    awesome review....I think RE4 is definitely the BEST game on the cube.
    (until zelda comes out again)

    ---I told you to get it a while ago matt....
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