I've never played Resident Evil 4.

Okay I admit it, are you happy now? I wasn't into games that much during the last decade since my family was pretty poor at the time. Luckily we've bounced back and I can now happily spend money on games and other junk. Excuses aside I have always wanted to play RE4 as it is recognized as one of the greatest games of all time. So I finally decided to check it out this week and start playing it. So how did I fare you ask? In short I got my ass kicked.

I knew coming in that the controls would be old school Resident Evil. While it isn't as bad as tank controls the act of moving and using the camera would be awkward for me. I was right in a way. I did play RE5 before and while it is more modern than RE4's controls it is still searching for shots and firing at precise body parts of an enemy. Games these days give you enough aim assist for aiming and shooting. The actually act of shooting isn't as stressful as RE4 and that is a big plus to me. The camera is still a big issue to me and I don't buy the 180 button spin to cure my problems with the camera issue. I love the atmosphere so far of being all by myself and coming into some strange spanish village. This is true survival horror as I had limited ammo and constantly had to run away from enemies. My trusty knife would be my last alternative during fights. My inexperience with RE4 also meant that I ran out of ammo quick due to me missing so damn much. I don't find the game to be scary as the enemies are most peasant spanish workers with rakes and knifes. Horror games need to have some super natural monster to truly induce fear into me. I'm sure that RE4's famous horror design will kick in at some point. I've played enough RE games to realize that.

Atmosphere is hard to do in games. You want to make your world believable and liveable. What I mean by this is that you have to look beyond it being a video game world. It has to feel like people have lived here for centuries and do that you have make it look populated. Adding buildings and cattle to make it seem like these people have been working together as a community is important in setting this atmosphere. Making idle animations for people walking around and tending to their duties makes it feel like this are regular people that wouldn't be horror enemies for the player to shoot at. I appreciate that in games and it helps set a tone for a game. With RE4 it's the sense of isolation and unfamiliarity. Leon is a stranger in a strange land in many ways. Hell, Leon doesn't even speak spanish. Most modern games are too busy with explosions and cut scenes to let you get comfortable with the world that you're in. Sure there are cutscenes in this game too, but they aren't as important as settling you into the game world. The novelty of the situation that Leon is in hasn't worn of yet. RE4 may not be the best looking or playing game out right now, but it does things that modern games have been missing. It has a deliberate pace to it that you can abide by or simply fight in many ways that either keep you well stocked or scavenging for more supplies. I appreciate what RE4 is trying to do and at 1 hour in I'm still going to keep playing it.

So stay tuned for another one of these trips back to games that I've never played. I'll probably do one for this game once I finish it. Who knows.

/Matt

(I don't like the quick time events.)

Yup, that was my first experience with Resident Evil 4; you're not alone. I couldn't even get past the first level. THE VERY FIRST LEVEL. But I finally got to the point in life where I sucked less at video games and was able to take it on. It takes some time getting used to, but eventually it does sink in. Looking back yeah, the quick time events aren't fun, but I played RE4 at a time where I didn't scorn it as much as I do now. That one event later on in the game with a certain key character sucks though. I'm not gonna give it away, though I'm sure people know who/what I'm talking about.

RE4 really nailed the atmosphere part, and you do feel like you're in an unfamiliar and creepy place. The game wasn't scary by all means, but I was always tensed up because I just didn't know what to expect next, and I was always keeping an eye on how many bullets and herbs I had left. RE4 isn't in my all time favorites list, but if a discussion about the "Greatest Games of All Time" would come up here and there, I'd definitely mention it.

I've recently dug back into it because of the XBLA 50% off, and I can say all my nostalgia for this game is here, it's been a while and I'm still remembering specific item and treasure locations..

That said I had forgotten how swimmy Leon's aim was, his lasersight is all over the joint, I've run into a few times when I wish it wasn't so all over the place..

The village segment always scared the crap outta me because I just wasn't goo at dealing with it, the chainsaw guy, nowhere to hide, limited ammo, it's an amazing part of that game to slowly introduce the enemies and then 10-15 minutes in oh yeah here is like 20 enemies and a guy with a chainsaw (One thing I wished they stopped carrying over).. But with the knowledge that I can run in circles till they trigger, makes that segment way different for me..

I've played a lot of RE4 in my time, so when I headed back in recently (I needed to digest the filth I had ingested while playing RE6), I was surprised to find it's... all pretty easy. I'm adept enough at the gameplay at this point that even Dr Salvador (chainsaw fellow) doesn't really faze me all that much, either. Then again RE4 never was much of a scary (nor difficult) game even back when it was new, but it definitely does still continue to this day to have some sublime atmosphere and pacing. I've got all of the secrets and tactics wired in into my brain at this point as well (which is basically the same across practically all RE games for me), but despite that, RE4's great gunplay and variety is still able to keep me engrossed. However, Ashley is also still a fucking annoying bint.

It's a great game in any case and one I've enjoyed playing through for another 26 or so hours (combining a full playthrough, along with Separate Ways, Assignment Ada and Mercenaries) and I'm currently going through another. I've also been playing some RE5, and while RE5 technically does have better controls, I still prefer the way RE4 plays. In fact whenever I play RE5, I always use the classic control scheme (type A) without the ability to strafe ect. I still don't care for the fact that I've always got to have an AI tagging along, and I've always wished for a version where it could just be Chris on his lonesome; all I could have wanted (thinking realistically of course) from RE5 is for it to basically be a prettier looking RE4, but the addition of coop and the faster, more action-focussed tone drags it all down for me. Plus the final third of the game is just so meh... as soon as you reach the ship deck, that's when it all starts to dip. It's still a whole heap better than just about anything to do with RE6 mind you.