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PRE-GAME

It's been six years since the "incident" in Raccoon City. Leon Scott Kennedy, then a rookie cop, witnessed a virus developed by the Umbrella Corporation turn the residents of the city into hordes of undead zombies. Escaping the carnage, Leon watched as the federal government destroy the city via a nuclear bomb.

After years of climbing the system's ladder, Leon finds himself a member of the highest ranking agency of President; the secret service security. But as fate would have it, his first assignment, protecting the President's daughter Ashley Graham, has taken a turn for the worse.

Ashley has been abducted and taken to a small European Community. Single handily tracking down his charge, Leon comes across a village of the damned, filled with insane locals and creatures that defy the laws of nature.  The ones responsible; sinister cult that goes by the name of "Los Illuminados".

As if finding the president's daughter wasn't enough responsibility for Leon, the agent now must find out what the intentions of cult and the "Las Plagas", and what ties to they have, if any, to the incidents from six years ago.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK:  The survival horror king has returned! The first numbered Resident Evil title in nearly 5 years, RE4 isn't just an updated game with a new slap of paint on it, it's a whole new experience although. The game boasts gorgeous 3D graphics and effects, all new control mechanics, a newcamera system as well as a completely revamped aiming system. Even if you've played EVERY survival horror title to date, I guarantee you've never played a game like Resident Evil 4.

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: This is easily the best looking Resident Evil game to date, if not one of the best looking games out on the Gamecube or any of it's peers. Screen shots do not do this game justice. It's poetry in motion, nearly every object in this game has it's own shadow, and despite the dark environments, their still lush and detailed. The graphics for this game deliver for whatever cause their needed for. Each gun is unique in shape, size and detail, the villains are grotesque and disturbing (as are many of the death animations you'll see if you can't take them down) and the "normal" human leads make the game look like it was unfolding  outside of your television.

Controls? A blessing, Characters no longer control like tanks, as every direction you push on the GC's analog controller will move Leon in that direction. While I've grown accustomed to the controls on the Playstation versions of the Resident Evil series, the GC controller has become my favorite within the first few minutes of the game. The button layout serves this game well, the control stick/pad is used for moving and aiming, the C button is used to adjust the camera (a god sent for any RE veterans) , the shoulder buttons used for wielding guns or knife (yup RE faithful, the knife isequipped ALL the time...and it's ACTUALLY useful for a change!), the A used for actions and attacking, kicking people's heads off or delivering what one of my friends dubbed "Swift Suplexes of Justice." The B,Y,X,Z buttons used for smaller tasks, such as reloading.

My only beef with the controller scheme is that sometimes if your not careful, the action you want to perform won't be carried out. Here's an example. Atop of smaller platform, one of the townsfolk came after me with a pitchfork. Deciding it would be better to take out my opponent from a distance, I went to escape the immediate area via a nearby ladder. When I approached the ladder, I took one step too many and the option of "climbing the ladder" became "kicking the ladder" which was carried out and resulted in me doing my best Aerith impersonation, only that I found myself being done it by a yokel opposed to one of the greatest villains to grace a Final Fantasy game.

HOW IT SOUNDS: Taking a page from the Halo developer's handbook, RE4 doesn't play any tunes until a battle breaks out, like in a horror flick. This succeeds in making creepy environments only worse, as the player, sitting in a darken room (Unless your some sort of sissy who doesn't play survival horror games in the dark), will be walking around in utter silence, only to have it broken by an unhuman howl, the sound of a chainsaw, or something else that will haunt you in your sleep. When the actual music plays, it usual fits the situation, but don't expect any of the score to be stuck in your head for days.

In terms of voice acting and the sound effects, both as are good as the graphics and gameplay.  While some of Capcom's hardcore fan will recognize some of the VAs, the actors delivered top notch performances, which are far superior to the ones of the original RE games ("Jill Sandwich" anyone?) Also worth noting that RE4 is bi-lingual in certain aspects, seeing how none of the villagers speak English. VIVA LA CAPCOM!!

Moving to the sound effects department, if it moves or breathes, you'll hear it. Which will come in handy for surviving situations. Here's a quick hint, if it sounds like there's a axe being thrown in your general direction, move or shoot it out of the air (another cool new feature that I should have probably mention in the controls section) .

EXTRAS: Geez, where to start. Variant costumes? Check. Unlockable weapons? Double check. New Game modes and harder difficulties? Oh yeah! Unlockable characters? Yup, with a few surprises in store for the RE fandom.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: Like a horror flick with the "Lord of the Rings" budget, RE4 delivers great in game cut scenes. While it may sound like a cop-out, they look great and sound even better. While the Final Fantasy quality FMVs may be absent, there hasn't been a FF game that looks this damn good.

BEST PLAYER: I have to split this down into three categories. In the actual story mode, you're not going to get any better that Leon, seeing how he's the only one available for it. After you beat the game, the same rule applies to the hidden female character's mini game. For the OTHER unlockable mini game, let's just say the best character is someone who's been in nearly EVERY RE game, but hasn't been playable to my knowledge. Up til now. There you go, a spoiler free answer to your question.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: None available.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT:  Having the unlockable character available in the story mode. That would be crazy go nuts.

OH MAN! MOMENT: Any of the boss fights on the professional (aka Harder) level without any custom weapon or rocket launcher.

GLITCH ITCH:  Some bad collision detectation at time. Like a shot gun going through a guy’s face and the blast not killing him. And the camera can be pretty bad at certain times.

FAN SERVICE: On the pervert side of the fence, you can look up Ashley's skirt if you position yourself right, which leads to some pretty funny results (unless there's something evil behind her, then it's HILARIOUS, I mean tragic). On the reference side, most of the references are to previous installments of the Resident Evil franchise, although there's a gun named after the upcoming Capcom GC/PS2 title Killer7.

END GAME:

Damn. It wasn't supposed to be this good.

Truth be told, I never though Resident Evil 4 would come out as good as it did. While I loved the original two games, I felt the franchise was beginning to lose it to touch after the games that followed. When Capcom decided to port the series to Nintendo little purple cube, I was less than thrilled. Here am I, four years later, gushing over Resident Evil 4 and ready to eat my words. This has to be the best project, let alone game, ever to bear the RE name.

After 3 false starts during development, I've spent over 20 hours with the final product and loved every second of it. It seems too good to be true, this game delivers on nearly ever aspect. It looks amazing, achieving a level of graphics that aren't possible on any of Sony's platform (until the game is ported over to PS2 later this year). And choosing the European backdrop is a welcomed change, as you have no clue what to expect as the game progresses. You'll find yourself fighting in villages, churches, castles, and a few other locales new to the series.

Speaking of which, the plot to RE4 is great. Not only is it accessibly to new RE players, but those player the game for the last several years with appreciate how RE4 fits into the storyline, an features the return of a few familiar faces that aim to shock and delight. There's several twists that will make your heart skip a few beats, not to hit you like a freight train. Abandoning the typical zombie plot allowed Capcom to play God with this new installment, and the players benefit by not knowing what they'll run into yet. And why seasoned RE vets probably won't be scared by most of the things you'll encounter, they'll keep you on the edge of your seat as you fight to stay alive. And for the record, don't except much in the character development area, which isn't a bad thing, because you're going to find yourself being more concerned about staying alive than what Leon did this timelast year at 5:32am.

The reviving of the franchise didn't stop at the graphics and storyline department. The controls of the game finally do this game justice. While the characters in the previous installments controlled like tanks, Leon and friends controls have more in common with such games as Capcom's own Devil May Cry or last few console installments of the Legend of Zelda games. These excellent controllers are only enhanced by the new camera system, that is constantly positioned behind Leon and can be moved with the C button to fit the gamers need. Head's up though, RE returns to it's fixed camera roots when you play as Ashley. And aiming has improved as well. Now a manual task, the damage dealt to your opponent is all relative to where you shoot with where what weapon.,meaning you can take out some enemies with a single bullet, or several. And not all of Leon's attacks are all based around firearms. Inflict an opponent with enough damage , Leon can finish them off with his knife, punt their head off of their shoulder, and remove said head via a suplex. Be careful enemies don't tend to travel by themselves.

Which leads me to my next topic. The enemy A.I. has greatly improved in this installment. Since your enemies are no longer zombies, intelligence is now a factor you have to keep in mind when fighting your opponents. Stairs, windows doors, ladders, barricades are no longer means to stop them, as they will overcome them one way or another, which forces the player to be aware of their environment as well as their enemies. And keep in mind, not only are they smarter, but most of them are armed, with such weapons as knife, chainsaws, throwing axes, flaming crossbows, scythes and later on in the game, firearms. And if that wasn't bad enough, most of the bosses are twice as big, if not bigger than Leon. Ad while I’m on the topic of improved A.I., once you rescue Ashley and have to escort her through the game, her A.I. will respond well to your actions and orders, which will keep the both of you alive longer.

As if all this wasn't enough, Capcom included not one, but two new addition mini games that not only beef up Resident Evil 4's plot, but access certain weapons previously not available in the game the first time around. Plus the unlockable characters are insanely cool, and posses moves and tricks that Leon could never pull off. 

Other than forcing the player to use a relatively useless unarmed female character and some problems with actions, Resident Evil is just about perfect. Everything on this game makes it worth the 50 dollars you'll have to pay for it, and it lives up to the hype surrounding it, unlike some of the "blockbusters" that were released this past holiday season (Halo 2, I'm looking in your direction). 

Without out a doubt, Resident Evil 4 is not only the best installment of the RE franchise, it's the best survival horror game to date, and possibly one of the best games you'll ever play on Nintendo's current console.

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