Resident Evil 4
One of the more interesting games that was at last year's E3 was the latest installment in Capcom's survival-horror franchise, Resident Evil (or Biohazard, in Japan). There had been little to no buzz about it up until the show, and it was considered for Best in Show among a number of gaming publications.
RE4 was released earlier this year, after the Christmas rush had abated and the big names (Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2) had run their course in the market. I picked it up on launch day, and proceeded to play the hell out of it.
I had never been a wholehearted fan of the Resident Evil franchise, having played only RE2 and RE: Code Veronica X to completion. I always found the survival horror genre to rely mostly on cheap "surprise" thrills, such as something coming out of nowhere to attack you, making you jump as they did it so quickly. Adrenaline does not a horror game (or movie) make. I've always thought the better horror was in the atmosphere and creeping sense of unease spaced with adrenaline-laced moments.
Resident Evil 4 does that, and brilliantly. Set in a remote hamlet in Europe (probably in Spain), you play Leon Kennedy, a US agent sent in to rescue the President's daughter Ashley, who has been kidnapped and is being held by a religious cult called the Los Illuminados. Through the entire game, there is a pervasive feeling of decay and disgust that permeates every location that you venture through. The world looks like it is on the edge of dying, existing only in shades of grey and sickly green.
The enemies that you take on also reflect this, perhaps taking on the characteristics of the place in which they dwell. The horror is not that they break out of windows to attack you, but in the action you must take to keep them from harming you. This means that although they appear human, they have been so long in this environment and have become something else. So you must remove them. Graphically, the enemies appear human yet demented and animalistic enough to let you know at a glance that they are no longer human where it counts.
That is the horror of Resident Evil 4, and it is done astoundingly well by the people at Capcom. I admire the fact that they were able to pull it off so brilliantly. They have taken Silent Hill's over-the-top seething evil and put it into a world that looks beautifully realistic. That makes the game feel even more creepy, as it seems closer to our daily experience.
Even better than the world is the ability to linger in it. Capcom added in a number of unlockables that add incredible replayability to the game. "Mercenaries" is a series of 4 locales in the game where the sole objective is to eliminate as many enemies as possible in a given period of time. It is insanely addictive and great fun, albeit a bit frustrating at times. There's also a parallel storyline that is playable after defeating the main one which, although short, is a very nice addition.
The controls are actually less of a hindrance than previous RE titles. Shooting and running are smoother and more responsive. Apparently, someone realized that making a character difficult to move shouldn't be one of the pillars of the survival horror genre. RE4 is seamless in its interaction between the player and Leon.
Needless to say, I enjoyed this game thoroughly. It's definitely in the top 3 games for the Cube, and will be the standard by which I'll be measuring most of the games of 2005.
RE4 was released earlier this year, after the Christmas rush had abated and the big names (Halo 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2) had run their course in the market. I picked it up on launch day, and proceeded to play the hell out of it.
I had never been a wholehearted fan of the Resident Evil franchise, having played only RE2 and RE: Code Veronica X to completion. I always found the survival horror genre to rely mostly on cheap "surprise" thrills, such as something coming out of nowhere to attack you, making you jump as they did it so quickly. Adrenaline does not a horror game (or movie) make. I've always thought the better horror was in the atmosphere and creeping sense of unease spaced with adrenaline-laced moments.
Resident Evil 4 does that, and brilliantly. Set in a remote hamlet in Europe (probably in Spain), you play Leon Kennedy, a US agent sent in to rescue the President's daughter Ashley, who has been kidnapped and is being held by a religious cult called the Los Illuminados. Through the entire game, there is a pervasive feeling of decay and disgust that permeates every location that you venture through. The world looks like it is on the edge of dying, existing only in shades of grey and sickly green.
The enemies that you take on also reflect this, perhaps taking on the characteristics of the place in which they dwell. The horror is not that they break out of windows to attack you, but in the action you must take to keep them from harming you. This means that although they appear human, they have been so long in this environment and have become something else. So you must remove them. Graphically, the enemies appear human yet demented and animalistic enough to let you know at a glance that they are no longer human where it counts.
That is the horror of Resident Evil 4, and it is done astoundingly well by the people at Capcom. I admire the fact that they were able to pull it off so brilliantly. They have taken Silent Hill's over-the-top seething evil and put it into a world that looks beautifully realistic. That makes the game feel even more creepy, as it seems closer to our daily experience.
Even better than the world is the ability to linger in it. Capcom added in a number of unlockables that add incredible replayability to the game. "Mercenaries" is a series of 4 locales in the game where the sole objective is to eliminate as many enemies as possible in a given period of time. It is insanely addictive and great fun, albeit a bit frustrating at times. There's also a parallel storyline that is playable after defeating the main one which, although short, is a very nice addition.
The controls are actually less of a hindrance than previous RE titles. Shooting and running are smoother and more responsive. Apparently, someone realized that making a character difficult to move shouldn't be one of the pillars of the survival horror genre. RE4 is seamless in its interaction between the player and Leon.
Needless to say, I enjoyed this game thoroughly. It's definitely in the top 3 games for the Cube, and will be the standard by which I'll be measuring most of the games of 2005.
posted by Galenblade at 12:02 AM
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