Resident Evil 4

    Resident Evil 4 was released on the Gamecube back in January 2005.  It received much critical acclaim and won many Game of the Year awards.  Later on in the year, it was released on the Playstation 2 with more content.  In summer of 2007, it was released on the Wii with the content of the Playstation 2 version, and the awesome control scheme of the Wii.  This review focuses on the Wii version, but I do own all 3 versions.

    If for some reason you still haven't played Resident Evil 4, the story is an awesome and compelling part of the whole experience, so no spoilers will be given in this review.  It revolves around a government agent named Leon S. Kennedy (of Resident Evil 2 fame) who is sent to a village in Spain to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter, Ashley Graham.  However as soon as Leon starts investigating his mission, crap hits the fan.  All the villagers in the area are hostile for some reason, and strange creatures are running a muck.  Along the way you will meet many characters, some old, some new.  Leon will have to rescue Ashley, fight for his life, and figure out what the Hell is going on in this messed up area of Spain.

    One of the things you'll notice right away is the awesome story telling.  For a first in the Resident Evil series, the dialog is well written and each of the characters have a personality that really connects the player with the game and just makes sense.  There's no boring or monotone characters here.  The voice acting is quite well for the most part.  The only complaint I have is that Ashley's voice is so annoying, and it feels as her voice doesn't really fit her.  Another cool thing is that you'll find memos, and notes throughout the game that tell you of the villain's plans or certain bosses.  This adds a pretty cool amount of scare to the game as you'll be saying to yourself, "I really don't wanna go around this corner after reading this."

    The graphics for this were awesome back in 2005, and they still stand the test of time.  Although they aren't necessarily the best the Wii can do, they still look fine for the most part.  The character models are very detailed with realistic animations.  The textures look just fine for the most part, unless of course you get really close to the walls, then you're just looking for problems.  The lighting works pretty well for the most part.  There are a lot of dark areas that provide an eerie atmosphere and make the game much more fun.  The only real graphical problem that exists in this game are some clipping issues.  Every once in a while you'll see an enemy's weapon coming through a door, but that's about it.

    The gameplay in Resident Evil 4 is just really awesome.  The camera is put behind Leon and over his shoulder when you draw your weapon.  The camera provides a cinematic and just plain cool way to look at the game.  No problems with at all.   As with any Resident Evil game, you have to draw your weapon before you can use it.  Doing this puts the camera over your shoulder (as previously mentioned) and the laser on your weapon is activated to assist you in aiming.  There are many weapons in Resident Evil 4, all upgradable, that you can receive from a mysterious merchant that follows you around through the game.  You can pick up money from dead enemies and crates which is then used to buy things.  The thought of buying a new weapon, or upgrading a previous one adds a unique strategy to the game.  The weapons include various pistols, shotguns, magnums, rifles, and unlockable power weapons.  These weapons all sound like guns, and have awesome reload animations.  Also, what these guns do to people is just plain horrific..... hooray for gore.  Shooting a shotgun into someones face causes blood and skull fragments to fly around in a gruesome manner.  The many enemies in the game will having you using these weapons moreso than any other Resident Evil game.  Most of these enemies are a surprise that I would not like to ruin however.  The enemies can scare you, charge you, throw crap at you, and just plain make you run for your life.  They will make your blood curdle.  You will get into epic firefights which will have you running from house to house and hiding, hoping they will give you a break, but they don't.  They will do everything they can to hunt you down like break windows, doors and other obstacles.  Whether its just a standard battle or an epic boss fight, you will be on the edge of your seat fighting for your life.  You'll also have to give Ashley commands.  She follows them for the most part, but she gets in your way a lot, and you just hope that something bad happens to her.  Just watch out though, limited health and ammo make the game such a challenge, but it has the perfect difficulty level.  It's really hard at some points, but never frustrating.

    There is a lot to do in Resident Evil 4.  Upon completion you'll unlock new weapons to buy, 2 new modes featuring another character, and an awesome mini game called the mercenaries, in which you kill as much as you must kill as much as possible in the time limit.  Are you hardcore? Can you beat the game on Pro? Can you get 5 stars on every mercenary level?  Just go ahead and get the game.  You'll play it 40 times through and still be happy.  If you couldn't tell already, I love this game, and it's worth any price tag.