Phillip's Resident Evil 4 Impressions
Laptop Battery For several years, GameCube fans and Resident Evil fans alike have awaited the day of the Nintendo GameCube release of Resident Evil 4 the first true next-generation sequel in Capcoms five-year-old series. But that day has finally come. In fact, the day has come and gone for GCA GameCube Editor-in-Chief Phillip Levin as he has spent the majority of the day writing and playing Resident Evil 4 since about 2:00 PM this afternoon.
Nevertheless, hes managed to come up with his quick impressions of Capcoms survival horror extravaganza, and he plans on going back to the goodness that is Resident Evil 4 as soon as he can.
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Originally, I had planned on picking up my copy of Resident Evil 4 from the Gamestop I work at, but when I called my store this morning, it turned out our shipment from Capcom hadnt arrived, and that it wouldnt be coming today, but that it would arrive tomorrow instead. To say the least, I was bummed.
But before five minutes had passed, I changed from my disappointed self back to my regular intense must-find-this-game-no-matter-what state of being. So I walked over to my PC and got ready to start calling around my area hunting for stores that might have received their shipment of the game. But before I could pick up my phone, I heard a loud, heavy knock at my door. I walked over to my door and swung it open. The FedEx guy was standing there with a white, familiar-looking package (the same size that most of our review copies come in). I normally would have automatically assumed it was RE4, considering the game was releasing today, but just an hour before the time, UPS had dropped off another package that turned out to not be RE4. So I was reluctant to get excited.
I signed for it, carried on some small talk with the guy, and eventually said goodbye. I glanced down at the package and noticed that it was from a company called Capcom. I wasted no time, immeaditely opening it and tearing through a bunch of black wrapping paper inside the box. And there it was -- a shiny, beautiful, brand new copy of Resident Evil 4. I grabbed the game and held it in the air like some treasure I had found in a Zelda game. Or something like that.
But enough about that. How about Resident Evil 4, huh? Ive spent about three hours with Capcoms highly anticipated survival horror, and my short impression of the game can be summed up in one word and one syllable: Wow. From top to bottom, its completely polished and terribly immersive. Capcom seems to have completely re-created the popular franchise successfully. And Nintendo has been successful in making sure we can play it on GameCube, because the truth is Resident Evil is amazing.
The opening cut-scenes incredibly cinematic, and thus its welcomed. It features the voice of Leon S. Kennedy retracing the history of the Resident Evil 4 franchise or, actually, dissecting the history of the Umbrella Corporation in particular, naming the dates of the events that have unfolded throughout the past few games in the series. Those that have not experienced all of the titles in the series will be particularly pleased with this quick background course on the franchises plot. Similarly, hardcore RE fans will enjoy it for the quick refresher it offers.
Eventually, the real opening cut-scene unfolds, showing Leon S. Kennedy in a car traveling through a chilly, moody wood area located somewhere in Europe. In the vehicle with Leon are two police men from the country. It seems that Leons been sent to the country to investigate the disappearance of the President of the United States daughter, Ashley Graham, and furthermore, find her.
Once the cut-scene wraps-up, Leon hops out of the car, muttering about the two strange officers that have escorted him to the spooky area. Just before gaining control of Leon, the game introduces one of the newest elements to the series Metal Gear Solid-inspired codec conversations that Leon carries on with different characters in the game. Definitely a surprise.
Resident Evil 4
When Leon enters a small house just down the path from the officers vehicle, he comes in contact with a strange villager. Upon asking the villager if he knows anything about the Presidents daughter, the villager turns on Leon, trying to attack him. A few shots from his pistol, and Leon drops him. A loud roar blurs in the background, coming from just outside the small house where the officers had left him. When Leon runs to look outside the window trying to see whats going on he notices that the engine of the vehicle that had dropped him off was responsible for the loud noise, as the officers were frantically driving off, leaving the echoes of their tires screeching across the mud in the air. And then Leon sees the group of villages waiting for him outside of the house.
Those familiar with the Resident Evil 4 demo that Nintendo and Capcom released a few months ago will recognize the area that Leon first starts in. This first area serves as a tutorial-esque chapter. The game teaches players how to use weaponry and also familiarizes them with how the many scripted events work. For instance, one of these events allow Leon to jump out of a second-floor window, and roll onto the floor, escaping danger he might have faced previously. Gamers also get a taste of item boxes that Leon must destroy along his adventure to collect healing items, ammo and other surprises many of which play a roll in puzzle-solving.
Leon eventually follows a windy, dirt path to a medium-sized village complete with farm life, such as cows and chickens. As he approaches the town, he peeks into his binoculars and witnesses the townsfolk rallied together, burning the corpse of one of the officers that Leon had been escorted by.
Later on in my playtime, Leon came across another brand new facet to the Resident Evil series: the ability to purchase weapons, items and weapon upgrades using the currency he collects throughout his exploration of Europe. This adds a much appreciated element of leveling-up to the franchise.
Perhaps what makes Resident Evil 4 so enjoyable so far, though, is the seemingly perfect balance between action and slow-paced exploration. For example, Leon goes from jumping out of windows and lodging powerful grenades into a group of ten villagers to exploring dark, damp and spooky caverns to fighting chainsaw-wielding villagers with a powerful shotgun, then back to exploring a dark, quiet and creepy forest. The mix between action and atmosphere is just amazing.
Resident Evil 4
Further, the always-changing environments are just as top-notch perhaps more so, in fact. So far Leon has explored moody woods, dark forests, empty houses, farms, wet caves, fog-filled graveyard and most recently a swampy area with rattle snakes that provide some truly cheap scares. But the best part is that its just the surface of what RE4 has to offer and Ive only played for a mere three hours.
The new face of Resident Evil 4 is as stunning as one would expect. There are more cut-scenes than ever, more enemies than before and the experience is the most realistic Ive seen. I have only two complaints, thus far. First, with the more action-oriented gameplay, the experience isnt as scary as past Resident Evil games have been. Second, the adventure has been on the linear side so far. Then again, the rest of the game is so exceptional these small shortcomings seem to matter less and less the more I play the game. In the end, this seems to be one of the best games available on the Nintendo GameCube. I cant wait to go back to it all.
-- Phillip Levin
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