Resident Evil 4

Written by Chris Reiter  on February 21, 2005

Second Opinion: What has four limbs, two heads, and wears yellow pants? Well uh, that'd be me... after ya know, another "bathroom accident."

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So magnificent. So elaborate. So lifelike it's eerily real. Resident Evil used to be a predominantly pre-rendered series. Gore and other scare-oriented backgrounds, which were configured exquisitely beforehand, were placed into positions to paint the feel of a horror game occurring before your very eyes. These descriptions worked out very well with the non-interactive dynamic camera angles that had players surviving through a series of one-camera-focal-point rooms. Though Resident Evil 4 isn't actually the first in the franchise to dispose of that graphical tradition (Resident Evil: Code Veronica on the Dreamcast used real-time instead), Resident Evil 4 is the first to take real-time into a whole new astonishing direction. For years, Resident Evil 4 has been touted by onlookers for being the best looking Resident Evil you'd ever seen. Those spectators weren't pulling our leg either. Evident in all forms and mannerisms, there is a distinctive element of naturalism overlapping any and all environments and figures. Supremely textured surfaces oozing with dramatized effects (i.e., sparking wire, thunderstorm, fire and electronic reflections) give to areas like craggy cavern passages, dried forest and village surroundings, and add to a castle's rich and murky dwellings a much needed touch of brilliance. You'll dive headfirst into a dead swamp, where the silence throughout the air is only enhanced by the heaviness of fog veiling foes waiting on and around the broken up wooden platform leading to the other side of the map. Along the walls of a castle's dungeon, reaching into the mountain tops, slowly scouring across the hillside of a graveyard, and tossing Leon "chew toy" Kennedy into a hedgemaze full of monstrous wolves, you'll witness some of the most astonishing environments ever conceived, all from the smallest details (of wavy flames bouncing light off Leon as he passes back into darkness seamlessly), to the grandest spectacles of all (as when a boss of giant proportions rips trees and rocks from the Earth to crush Leon like the little ant that he is). For every new territory you'll embrace, there's always something new, interesting, and shockingly accurate that you'd be hard pressed to think Capcom could outdo itself ever again.

Indeed, the attention to accuracy coursing throughout the veins of Resident Evil 4 is complimented with the miscellaneous creatures that get this game's engine really going. After all, a nice looking house is pretty boring until the party guests arrive. Shredded clothing, decayed flesh, and anything else you can imagine your typical zombie as regularly displaying is now erased by the neatly groomed "normal" guys and gals of Resident Evil 4's neighborly community. By the droves, zombie people look just like you or me (uh...that is if I were to disguise my zombie self with a human outfit). That is in a way true, as the zombie persons here are plain looking people as if the year were still 1897. Bearded men and women clothed in old country villager outfits, the zombies of this game are only brain dead in the sense that all they know how to do besides garden in the earlier parts of the game is kill. As Leon crawls into the thicker, stickier portions of the pipeline, he'll start to encounter new forms of zombie folk and other "things" too. Zombie persons robed in black monk outfits sporting crossbows, shields, maces, and flails will begin forcing Leon to choose alternate firing strategies to successfully dispose of these newbies. There'll even be other types of non-human attackers present, from invisible insects to alien organisms that can regenerate lost body parts. Blasting all these baddies back is one of the best parts of gazing upon the never-ending messes. Throw a grenade into a group, and Leon will react by lifting his arm up over his face as the flash and dust settles. Fire a couple rounds of ammunition at one zombie person's shoulder while a whole group charges across a wooden bridge, and you might just see that single enemy lose its balance and drop off the side. Point the red laser beam at the head instead, and soon enough that temple will explode like a jelly filled melon. Partially, it's the way you can target any part of any enemy and watch the different reactions to every type of gun in all the refined elements of quality, that makes Resident Evil 4 into one of the best damn games you've seen.

A most quintessential factor used in making every great horror game scary would be provided by its excellent use of sound design that'd pump frightening noises into your body to get your heart jumping. Though Resident Evil 4 lost the vision for producing "those" type of bone chilling noises, its present collaboration of sound elements still maintains the excellence that the series is known for. Every weapon, every footstep, and every movement made fixes up all good things (right things) to listen to whenever an appropriate action is executed. The sound of shots fired at approaching danger will vary based on the weapon you're using. Standard fire from the handgun, rapid fire from the uzi, strong but short bursts from the rifle, destructive defilement from the rocket launcher, and all the rest you'd come to expect -- like shell noises being discharged and bounced around on the floor, to a juicy splattering when an enemy's head disappears. Environmental ambiance helps add character to the scene as upset water rattles the empty boats by the lake, magma bubbles in the mine pits below the surface, and rain trinkles down in heavy splashes at one point. Adding to that, sweeping segments of dark musical scores fill the void. Without enemies, the music is of a calmer, yet ominous flavor. When enemies are around, the rhythm will unsettle into a quicker, more bizarre melody. And when the zombie people do see Leon, you'll know it from their Spanish-spoken obscenities. Screaming outrightly to alert the others to your presence, you'll view all your attackers lining up and walking or running toward Leon as they'll slightly whisper even more incomprehensible dialogue -- well, unless you're fluent in a Spaniard's tongue. Through the game's story parts as well, Leon, Ashley, a few head bad guys, and a couple of interesting surprise characters all speak their mind. Leon's brash, witty banter carried between himself and the head honchos is funny at times and suitable, as the actor portraying Leon really seems to become Leon. Certain other characters seem to fit their respective roles as well, such as the sniveling French shorty apparently reminiscent of history's favorite emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Some other vocals, on the other hand, are a little iffy. Ashley is a bit too high pitched to appear like she's a 20-year-old daughter of the President. The merchant's heavy British accent with his repeated and overly exaggerated lines like, "What are ye buying?" and "What are ye selling?" can be a bit annoying just as well. Somewhat hokey, somewhat tense, not scary and not perfect either, but definitely reaching a certain quality on other occasions, all the sound elements are pretty good as they work their way into the game.