Everyone is awesome in this game, thus this game is awesome.
Oh what a surprise. Never thought I'd like this game as much as I do. I'm a huge Resident Evil fan and i've finished every RE out there and this one is the icing on the cake. There isn't a lot you can say on a near perfect game. This is the evolution of the RE system and it is superb.
Although people like to say that the gameplay is drastically different than past Resident Evils, to me it felt like it was the same control scheme except that they put the camera on Leon's shoulder instead of having fixed camera angles. I know it makes all the change in the world but really, he still controls like he did before. But I always liked RE's control scheme (unlike most people out there) so I don't mind if it still feels the same way. The shooting has been seriously upgraded and it feels totally awesome now, although it was cool back then too.
The graphics are unreal, it's hard to imagine the gamecube pumping out graphics like that. Although some textures are bland here and there, it's mostly an amazing visual experience.
Soundwise, the voice acting is great (great voice acting in an RE game? Now you know something is going on!) and the guns sound great. The music really fits the mood although I would have liked to hear a couple catchy themes, as it is I can't remember any song from the game. I'm not so big on atmospheric music, I prefer when you can still hear a melody in your head after finishing the game. Most Resident Evils always had a couple of those before but in this one I can't remember any. Bummer.
The value is also superb. I could see myself replaying this game over and over again, doing the mercenary minigame and completing assignment Ada. I like this game so much that i'll get my hands on the PS2 version to be able to do the Ada side-story.
All in all, a superb game and i'm happy to see one of my favorite franchises heading in the right direction. RE4 traded a bit of adventure for a lot of action, and although I like adventure games better than action games I feel that this new feel fits the RE franchise perfectly.