Resident Evil 4

STORY: 5/5: Leon S. Kennedy, four years after participating in the Raccoon City incident, is working for the Secret Service, and his first assignment is protecting the President's daughter, Ashely Graham. The day before he starts, she is kidnapped. Following a possible sighting, Leon is sent to what is apparently a small farming community in Spain. When he arrives, he is attacked by the villagers, and his two police escorts are killed. He must find Ashley, and unravel the mystery behind the village and its mysterious cult.

The length of it is good, as every step of the way uncovers new details and you are never left in an overly long sequence with no plot advancement. I am really surprised the plot was this good.

GAME DESIGN: 25/25: As you go through the plot, you are must go through five chapters, each with a certain number of subchapters. You will travel to three main areas, one of which is the village, one of which is a castle and a third which I will not reveal to you. The levels are somewhat free-roaming, as you can backtrack as you please, but eventually, areas will become cut off to you.

You will encounter many enemies along the way, of course. Don't think you'll ever be lucky enough to be one-on-one, however. Unless it is a boss character, chances are that the whole point of the encounter is to put as many angry villagers (called Ganados) in your path as possible, and make you go insane as you struggle to survive. The game is incredibly effective at making you panic, especially at times when you are inside a small house and surrounded by Ganados busting windows to get in. These are terrifying sequences, and they seem incredibly real.

The boss characters you encounter are very unique. Starting off with a battle with you in a boat, only able to use spears as a giant sea worm charges at you, sends you into driftwood, and opens its gaping jaws as you swim back to your boat, you are automatically given the impression that this game means business. The bosses that follow never quite live up to the uniqueness of that first boss, but still are all fresh and challenging.

Of course, with this many enemies there should be some cool weapons. The weapons are very traditional, which adds to the realism of the game. You will be equipped with pistols, machine guns, shotguns, rifles, magnums, grenades and the occasional rocket launcher, but it is never too far-fetched in terms of weaponry. Granted, you will encounter such odd weapons as the Mine Thrower and the Chicago Typewriter.

To give you due warning, never put down your controller. In the middle of some cinema scenes, a prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen for you to press buttons quickly to avoid death. In fact, one mini-boss battle is fought entirely in a cinema scene. This is exceptionally effective for keeping the gamer on his toes.

For much of the game, you will be with Ashley Graham, and be forced to protect her. If she dies, the game ends just like if you die. You will be only able to command her to 'wait' or 'follow' normally, though occasionally the need for other commands will arise. It is a working system, as anything more would distract from the fast-paced nature of the game. Luckily, before most big battles, you will be able to tell her to hide away in a dumpster, and once you progress further into the game, there will be more and more times where you will not have to worry about her.

The design has few if any flaws. The game is consistently heart-pounding, exciting, eventful and interesting.

PLAY CONTROL: 19/20: The controls for this game are very unique. It is from an over-the-shoulder viewpoint. You cannot move and shoot, but by pressing the right shoulder button, it will zoom in slightly and the control stick will move the gun you are holding. It is tough to explain, but while at first it seems very odd, once you get used to it, it is a wonder why this has never been used before. The only problem is that, because it is over the shoulder, most shots veer to the left. This may add to the realism and panic factors, but at times, it can be very annoying. Overall, fresh and original controls prevail, and this is a great flagship for this setup.

GRAPHICS: 20/20: The graphics are simply stunning. Looking over a village filled with insane residents carrying torches, pitchforks and the occasional chainsaw, is a very hard task to accomplish. It all looks completely real. You can sense the madness these Ganados carry with them just by looking at them. All the creatures look original and incredible. The environment has this kind of washed-out effect to it, and it seems as dreary as it could possibly be. This game is incredible at establishing a mood through the setting.

SOUND: 5/5: I never have much to say about sound, and this is no exception. The sound captures the mood perfectly, and the voice acting is spot on. But a single sound (or lack thereof) in this game can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight.

SATISFACTION: 24/25: This is a game that is as good as it gets. The single player is among the best I have ever had the pleasure of playing, and is very replay-able, especially once additional modes are unlocked.

TOTAL: 98%: There is very little wrong with this game. This is the best title there is for the Gamecube right now. Screw Metroid Prime, screw The Wind Waker, screw SSBM. Resident Evil 4 is the best gaming experience I have had since Ocarina of Time.

Let's start off saying RE4 is an AWESOME game! Really. one of the best games for game cube, or even of all time! When i got this game, i couldn't put it down! all the gore and guns!! it was so sweet. My favorite part of this game was of course the wonderful storyline and voice actors. it wasn't one of those stories where you just try to skip it (and believe me, i have some of those games), but this one really drew you into it. I really wanted to know everything they would say! speaking of saying, the voice actors were wonderful! i loved them! they were so dramatic and just..good! The puzzles in RE4 are very good and sometimes, a little tricky! The guns were just great. they had so many you get find, or even buy from the merchant). i loved this game, and you will too. no doubt. right now it's 40 bucks, so get it! you will not regret it. perfect -10/10

I'd be lying if I said that I've always been a big Resident Evil fan, but upon hearing so damn much about the fourth installment, I decided to see what the fuss was about. I was not disappointed.

I figured that the game would be enjoyable for a while, but I wasn't sure about longevity; I didn't think it would hold my interest. I assumed that once I'd played it for ten minutes, I'd basically seen all it had to offer. I couldn't have been further from the truth. The game's strongest point (there are many, believe me) is its sense of horror. While this may seem obvious, many games (Alone in the Dark, Eternal Darkness etc) fail to accomplish this. No zombies in RE4; you'll be up against fast, smart humans (not to mention some seriously creepy monsters). The sense that you are constantly battling for your life is unrivalled, yet the rewards are also great. The feeling you get from defeating one of the spectacular bosses is reward enough, but there are several unlockables to hold your interest for a LONG time.

Even if there was nothing to unlock, it wouldn't be important; I found that as soon as I completed the game, I wanted to start again. The game's length is superb too. At roughly 20 hours long, it provides days of entertainment without being overly long.

How can I go this far without mentioning the graphics? I'm sure you've heard all about them already; the best fire ever seen in a video game, along with excellent water and outstanding character models and locations make RE4 the best looking console game ever.

What more can I say? The voice acting is much better than we're used to from videogames, helping the narrative involvement. But the best thing to do is go out there and play it yourself: although I don't think I could make myself recommend it to squeamish gamers...

While not a die-hard RE fan, Capcom has always presented exceptional games in every aspect of play (My personal favorite is the Onimusha Trilogy). Even is the early Street Fighters, the graphics for an old system were something else. Now, with the latest installment in the Resident Evil series, the greatest graphics in the world have possibly been found.

Thus, I shall start with graphics. The graphics in the game are so intense that I can only describe them as Onimusha tripled (sad to say). This, coupled with spectacular shots and "camera" movements make for the most spectacular "cinematography" in a video game ever. (Sadly enough, though it's a close tie with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the latter lacks the astonishing graphics and shots in the few cut scenes to make it just right.) It's amazing to finally see a video game that presents realistically moving body parts, such as the finer details like the hair. However, the chief flaw in these is the lack of definition on more minor things, such as enemies. The Old-Western hue of everything and the fall scenery and dull enemy clothing provides a difficulty in seeing your enemies (unless, of course, they're brandishing scythes or sticks of dynamite.) Otherwise, the game merits some sort of award for graphics.

And, the crucial component: gameplay. The over-the-shoulder shooting style is a new and unique fighting mode that prevents you from moving while attempting to shoot. Of course, this provides more of a sense of realism. You can't ACTUALLY aim quite as well as C.J. from GTA: San Andreas while speeding in a car or running from the cops. This style also provides you with an intense problem when you're being attacked in large numbers ("en masse!"). If you've got people surrounding you, you've gotta break out of shooting mode to run away, and that's a half-second that you never have to spare. Which, in turn, brings me to another original aspect of gameplay: split-second input! I have never seen a game with interactive cut scenes. You can never stop to just watch the cut scenes anymore. Now, you must be on the lookout for either the "L+R" or "A+B" button combinations in order to avoid gruesome death. In some cases, you just have time to catch the colors before you can press the combination. And, while there are only two possible combinations, you can NEVER be sure which one it is. Each time you play the scene or point in gameplay, the combination could potentially change. If you don't like a challenge, DON'T PLAY THIS GAME! As for voice-acting, it still has the occasional corny line in all Capcom games, but from other Resident Evil games, it has improved. However, in all actuality, it lacks a sense of realism. That, and something else I can't quite put my finger on. I'll get back to you.

All-in-all, one of the most intense, visually stunning games I've ever played. 9 outta 10.

I got this game yesterday, and already it is kicking a lot of ass. The action is already intense, and I know I'm am NO WHERE near the halfway point of the game.

Pros: Just about everything! Graphics, action, and enemy AI have never been better in the resident evil titles. Very few games out there can match the AI and action. The game even has a decent sense of humor, and the game challenges you from the start.

Cons: Saving is still not that easy. Though those annoying, horrendous ink ribbons are finally gone, you still need to find a typewriter to save the game. However, there are several located throughout the game. Like I said, the game challenges you... A LOT. This is one of the hardest games I have, and I own more than my fair share.

Overall, this game is easily the 2005 game of the year. If you have a gamecube and not this game, why? What are you waiting for? If you have a PS2, go out and get this NOW. I said the game was hard, but I, like many others, love a challenge. Though it may seem hasty to submit a comment the day after I get this game and haven't beaten it, this should give you the idea of how great it is.

10/10. Brilliant.