Astounding graphics, a brand spankin new camera system, interactive environments, and Ada Wong. Now where are the zombies?

Ah, Resident Evil 4, the red-headed stepchild of the Resident Evils. This latest incarnation from Capcom modernized many of its features and eradicated the central zombie theme as usually depicted in the games. Garnering considerable critical acclaim, Resident Evil 4 provided a whole new world for the franchise, as well as expanding upon previously loved characters. Sure, the controls were a bit wonky at first, but the new mechanics took Resident Evil to a significantly new heights. Resident Evil 4 might be the red headed stepchild of the series, but she’s a fiery, sassy and beautiful one. Who said redheads weren’t more fun?

The zombies in the game are replaced by crazed villagers known as the Ganados. Be wary of the man with the chainsaw!

Story
What kind of story can Resident Evil produce without zombies? A pretty damn good one. A brief catch me up in the very beginning informs you that the Umbrella Corporation has fallen. Their devious activities held in Raccoon City had become a public affair, thus destroying ties with the US government and punishing many Umbrella officials. Consequently, Umbrella’s stock dropped and they declared bankruptcy. For now, Umbrella has receded into the shadows and does not play a part within Resident Evil 4.

Leon Scott Kennedy, previously seen in Resident Evil 2, is the sole hero in this incarnation. He’s back, now a highly trained special agent, and he’s got a new emo hairdo and attitude to boot. After being introduced to Ingrid Hunnigan through a new radio screen system, he is dispatched and sent on a mission to search and rescue the President’s daughter, Ashley, from a Spanish town in Europe. He arrives on scene with a couple of drivers, and leaves them for a bit to investigate a cabin. Only a few minutes after entering it, Leon is greeted and then visciously attacked by the owner. He has half a second to react and kill the attacker before he kills him. That’s when you first notice this isn’t your typical Resident Evil: inspect the body and it reads, “He is not a zombie”. The drivers you came with are suddenly driven to madness, the car explodes, and thus, the story begins!

Ada Wong and Leon Kennedy are reunited in this installment, providing for much sexual tension.

Leon’s mission takes him through several areas, and quite an expansive village. During the course, he is introduced to many new characters and reunited with a couple of old ones. Arguably one of the best characters in the game, the Merchant is a static character that serves as a trader of sorts, allowing Leon to sell and buy weapons and upgrades.

Leon also runs into a man by the name of Luis Sera, who is a former Los Illuminados researcher. Los Illuminados is the secret cult and the token Umbrella in the game, making for some rather amusing and interesting leaders: Osmund Saddler and his minion, the 20 year old maniacal midget, Ramon Salazar (who provides much of the comic relief) . The Los Illuminados gained control of the village’s inhabitants by implanting the mind-controlling Las Plagas into their bodies. Their goal is to infect Ashley with the parasite and have her return home to America, eventually causing mass chaos and infecting millions. After a grueling battle with a giant sea monster, Leon finally finds Ashley and learns that she too is infected by the plagas.

In yet another memorable introduction involving a rescue and then a remarkable back flip, Leon is reunited with one of our favorite sexy spies: Miss Ada Wong. She is working next to Jack Krauser, one of Leon’s former comrades from his years in the secret service training (and presumed to be dead), and on a mission to recover the plagas sample for Albert Wesker. Krauser is back from the dead, so to speak, and appears to have been Wesker-fied himself: possessing superhuman strength and ability, he is one of the main bosses Leon must fight.

Leon knows by now that Ada is working for Wesker, so their interludes are a bit colder, yet still possess that undeniable sexual tension as first explored in the second Resident Evil. Ada helps out Leon by being the benefactor behind the scenes, saving his butt when his situation seems hopeless and providing much needed distraction (as if she had to try!).

Through context-sensitve movements, Leon can now ride in lifts, steer a boat, or travel by mine cart.

After traveling all over the village and onto a nearby island, Leon must rescue Ashley yet again (Ashley Kidnap Count: 4/25) and beat a plethora of mutant villains. Aiding Leon and Ashley because of his guilt that his research has caused the infection, Luis informs them that there is in fact a cure for their rapidly spreadly parasites. Sadly, he is impaled by Osmund, and the cure is subsequently taken by Osmund. Leon and Ashley must fight through a T-virus enhanced Krauser, defeat Osmund and find a cure. Leon finally ends up recovering a sample of las plagas, but has it confiscated by Ada at gunpoint. She expertly escapes on their helicopter, but not before throwing a teddy-bear keychain at Leon, encouraging them to leave via jet-skii.

Gameplay
Forget what you know about Resident Evil. What sets this Resident Evil apart from earlier renditions is most noteably the lack of zombies and the gameplay mechanics. Featuring a new camera angle that places the player directly behind Leon’s back, the controls now have an up close and personal touch. What’s more, you can now aim Leon’s gun with a red laser beam, being able to target specific areas and making those headshots just a bit easier (Though later in the game, choosing headshots comes with some pretty interesting drawbacks). A common complaint, however, is the fact that you simply cannot run and shoot at once. This makes for some great frustration and takes some getting used to.

The environment in this game is now fully interactive: the player can now jump out of windows, dive down holes, dodge falling boulders, or kick down ladders. Action buttons as indicated on-screen also direct interactive actions such as throwing spears or deflecting an enemy attack. For once, your character can now “jump” (but only through the action screen) and even perform a martial arts roundabout kick when an enemy gets too close. Once aquired, Leon can also use a knife to harm enemies, allowing for the conservation of ammo. Unlike in the previous Resident Evils, however, conservation of ammo is not your main objective. Ammo’s a plenty within the game, and should be considering the hordes of enemies you sometimes must contend with.

A new Metal Gear Solid-esque communication system, worked by the amusing Ingrid Hunnigan, informs Leon of his current mission. Don’t miss out on Leon’s attempt to woo her after the ending credits.

In Resident Evil 4, the zombies are replaced by victims of a parasitic infection, known as Las Plagas. The infected are referred to as Los Ganados which, ironically, translates as cattle to English. Notably quicker and smarter than previous Resident Evil villains, the crazed Ganados weild shovels, axes, and hammers at you, as well as storm through walls and being able to dodge your attacks. The many different regions in this game each introduce you to a new, unseen villain that scare you more than that silly Tyrant ever did. (What’s that heavy breathing?! What’s that-ah, not another Regenerator!) Nothing will have you falling out of your chair like your first encounter with the “chainsaw wielder”. Jason Voorhees style, you can hear the chainsaw before he actually comes for you. And he will come for you-the temporary house you hide in is only a mere illusion of safety.

Gone are the never-changing item boxes and menu systems in previous Resident Evils. Instead, this game features an inventory system in the form of an attach case. In it, each item takes up a certain amount of space, and fits together like a puzzle. You can rotate and move around items as you please in order to get the best fit. Later in the game you can purchase a bigger attach case, along with many other items, from the Merchant. He’ll sell, trade, and buy from the player, which reduces the amount of time usually spent searching for items.

In one of the best new changes, Resident Evil 4 has eliminated the use of the ribbon-based save system. No longer must you waste precious space in your inventory for a ribbon; instead, every typewriter you come across offers the save feature. This is a marvelous change and appears to make the game easier as a whole (ha!). Also, there are a series of checkpoints located within the game that automatcically bring you back to that point if killed in gameplay. Capcom has also employed a new map system that displays the current region, save spots, treasures, the merchant, and important paths. Additions like these take Resident Evil to a new platform and exhibit a modernized feel that was lacking in the last manifestation.

After beating the game, you get to choose to play as Ada Wong in Seperate Ways. Backflips, roundabout kicks and swift shots are a plenty in her realm.

Visuals
The graphics in this latest installment far surpass the previous titles and simply astound you in every way. It easily ranks up there with some of the most gorgeous games in the market and puts many to shame. Capcom’s exquisite attention to detail is breath-taking; each decaying infected, charging monk, and larger than life monster almost pale in comparison to the beautifully rendered environments. Flames flicker realistically inside torches and ablazed areas, water lushly slops alongside boats, and rain drizzles onto the ground with candor.

Capcom is fantastic at producing truly atmospheric games, and Resident Evil 4 is no exception. Developed in 3D, the lighting and weather patterns alone do a superb job of setting the tone and providing a bleak world to play in. The cut scenes are also outstanding and entrancing. From Ada’s spectacularly red dress to her devilish smirk, the player is now even more drawn into the scene and the story.

The gore effects top the charts for realism here. You’ll witness incredibly obscene images of exploding heads, spewing body parts, and trailing insides that give a whole new meaning to the word disgusting. This is not Mario Sunshine.

The usual inventory system in Resident Evil has been replaced by an attach case. There, you can rotate and move around objects as you acquire them from your findings or the Merchant.

Audio
The sound effects of Resident Evil 4 are just as high quality as it’s visual counterpart. Lacking some of the dramatic music heard in previous installments, this game still presents a beautiful score and realistic sound effects. Composed by Misao Senbongi and Shusaku Uchiyama, the ambient music never detracts from gameplay or a cutscene and moves fluidly with the situation at hand.

The voice acting in this rendition is top notch. From Leon’s sarcastic one-liners to Salazar’s maniacal quips, each character’s tone is not over-done and easily recognizable. Additionally, Capcom detailed the cinematic sequence so that each character’s facial expressions matched the tone of their voice. This allowed for an even more realistic Resident Evil experience.

Alternate Versions
To this day, Resident Evil 4 remains one of the most widely played games. This is due largely in part to the fact that it is available not only for the Playstation 2 and the GameCube, but also for the PC and the Nintendo Wii, which is a gimmicky, highly successful platform.

The PlayStation 2 port included two bundles, a standard and a collector’s’ edition. The standard package included the game and a dark blue t-shirt with a picture of the game. The collector’s edition included the game, a Leon Kennedy figurine, a t-shirt, and a black Biohazard Sound Chronicle Best Track Box, that contained six discs in solid black cases and a CD booklet with information on lists of selected songs. This version was highly coveted, as it sold out fairly quickly. This led to a second release, that included an Ada Wong figurine instead. Finally, a premium edition was also released and it feature the game packaged in a Steel media case, an artbook, a documentary dvd, and a cell art of Ada. The playstation 2 port also featured a few new differences in the game: poorer graphical quality than the gamecube version, but had the inclusion of Separate Ways, Ada’s Report, Amateur mode and a movie browser.

Welcome to Lake Placid. The monsters featured in Resident Evil 4 are bigger and badder than those in previous titles. This Lochness-esque monster alone out-weighs Leon's boat by at least five times!

The GameCube version featured two different collector’s versions of the game as well. The edition included the game, Prologue Art book, and a t-shirt. Gamestop offered another limited edition remiscient of the playstation version: the game in a tin box, an artwork book about the story of the series, a cell of Leon, and a soundtrack CD. Australia also featured an exclusive collector’s edition that included the game, a bonus game with interviews, and creator’s footage of all Resident Evils.

Lastly, a Wii edition was released just two years ago in May of 2007. It features a new control system utilizing the Wii Remote and the Nuncheck extension (sold separately), along with the ability to use the classic GameCube controller. The Wii Remote is able to aim and shoot anywhere on the screen without the use of the laser beam found in the other versions. It can also be flicked to use the knife to instantly target an enemy. This makes for quite the interactive experience, but ultimately, not the quintessential Resident Evil experience. The Wii edition does however, include the extra content in the Playstation 2 and PC versions as well as a trailer for Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles made for the Wii.

Ashley, the President’s daughter, is also briefly playable at times, equipped with just a flashlight.

Lifespan
Supplying over 20 hours of gameplay, Resident Evil 4’s playthrough offers quite a unique experience in comparison to the previous titles. Capcom has almost entirely eradicated the need for backtracking and keeps you at a steady pace for moving forward. The usual puzzles are not as obscure as before and make a little more sense this time around. Additionally, the need to start all over once killed off has been abolished thanks to the ribbon-less save system and new checkpoints. Capcom has really outdone itself this time: the 20 hours of gameplay are all completely unique and dazzling adventures that won’t have you throwing your controller in frustration at the fifth attempt at starting the game over.

Resident Evil also houses a plethora of unlockables and minigames once you beat the game. These include new outfits (Leon’s mafia one is the best, hands down), new weapons, playable characters (Hunk is back!), alternate title screens, and of course new levels to play through. As usual, a grading system decides whether or not you get to unlock certain characters. A couple minigames, including Ada’s Separate Ways and the Shooting Range, provides a boatload of entertainment and even ties up a few loose ends. For example, in Ada’s minigame, we see the story from her point of view, including viewing Leon in his battles. You learn that the church bell heard in the beginning of the game to distract the villagers has to be pulled by Ada.

Recommendation
Capcom has triumphantly created a a highly successful crossover hit with this latest manifestation. This modern marvel not only has redefined the meaning of survival horror, but has also paved a new path for many titles to come. The mind-blowing visuals and heart-stopping audio presentation chalk up a mix that leaves the player properly satisfied—and terrified. Add to that a suspenseful and lengthy storyline with enthralling FMV’s and you’ve got your self a Game of the Year contender. Though different and straying from the zombies that made the Resident Evil franchise so popular, Resident Evil 4 still delivers, and delivers so remarkably well. Prepare for total domination.

Resident Evil 4
System: GameCube, Playstation, PC, Wii
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Find: Amazon - Gamefly - Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.

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