What is Resident Evil 4?
26
Jan 23
22 years had passed since that horrendous incident...
Resident Evil 4
What is Resident Evil 4? Do I seriously need to answer this question? Resident Evil 4 is considered by many to be the best game of all time. Since its release on the Nintendo GameCube back in 2005, many others have tried to emulate it, from Dead Space to the rest of the Resident Evil franchise itself. However, they cannot compare to Leon S. Kennedy's deadpan snark and roundhouse kicks. It’s been ported to every console under the sun, and people have several dozen playthroughs under their belts. So why does it continue to endure even after 20 years?
Taking place six years after the events of Raccoon City, Leon isn’t exactly the happiest person on the planet. While the Umbrella Corporation went bankrupt thanks to causing a zombie apocalypse and nuking the city, and after surviving the ordeal, Leon has a new job as a member of the Secret Service. When the U.S. President’s daughter, Ashley Graham, is kidnapped by a cult and taken to Europe, Leon is sent to rescue her. However, he soon discovers that the cultists are infected with an ancient parasite, and there are a lot of people who will do anything to stop him.
At the time, the game took a departure from the series’ fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, instead switching to an over-the-shoulder perspective in a fully 3D environment. Along with the change of perspective, the tone was shifted more towards action than horror, filling the experience with quick-time events and over-the-top action scenes. There are still plenty of scares, but not many horror games feature a slow motion knife fight. It’s not a knock against the game, it’s what makes it so memorable. It was carefully made to be approachable to both newcomers and veterans of the franchise. It helped create the standard of what a third-person shooter should be, all while mixing cheesy action, horror, drama, and comedy.
The game wasn’t without its flaws, though, most of it directed at Ashley. Once you rescue her, she needs to be escorted around for a third of the game. She can’t defend herself and can cause many game overs. Her voice also wasn’t the most pleasant to listen to, especially since she uses the same screams over and over again. Thankfully, there are no boss fights where you need to babysit her. In addition, there are no item boxes so inventory management is essential, and the QTE’s have unskippable cutscenes, so screwing up will make you watch them again until you get it right.
However, this might be fixed in Resident Evil 4’s remake, which was announced during a State of Play last year. Much like the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis remakes, Capcom has been redoing the older games to focus more on atmosphere and horror while also keeping the original’s essence and what made it fun. While it does miss sometimes, it’s much better than the full-on action movies that were Resident Evil 5 and 6..
Resident Evil 4 release date will be on the 24th March 2023
