|
Resident
Evil 4: Daily Entries
First Impressions:
After nearly two weeks
of steady prodding by my "friends" I finally gave
into the pressure to join the Resident Evil revolution.
I must say that I'm sorely disappointed that Capcom
didn't make the effort earlier. To sum up the next
few paragraphs for those of you who want my real opinion,
here is an expletive: "Holy Crap!"
The first thing I usually
notice about a game is the graphics. Probably because
it's the first thing you see before you are able to
control your character. I must say I was very impressed
right away with what the Gamecube can do. Because
I'm incapable of noticing particular lighting effects,
hair physics, or dynamic weapon construction I won't
comment further than this game looks absofuckinglutelybeautiful.
Any series veteran will
know that RE4 marks the first major game overhaul
since the series inception. Gone are the days of really
really really poor control and I personally welcome
the new point of view and ability to control the camera.
The third person perspective (over the shoulder) is
pretty new and for the most part your character stays
neatly out of the way of anything important. I mention
this especially because there are times with bad camera
angles where your character will obstruct lots of
things that you want to look at.
The gameplay marks the
biggest change in the whole Resident Evil experience.
This game is NOT about conserving ammo, running from
zombies, and solving extremely bizarre and absurd
puzzles. This is much more of an action game where
ammo grows on trees, almost literally, and the action
can get really intense. Even the "fodder" class enemies
offer a wide range of attack patterns and variety
to make things different EVERY time you play. Especially
notable is the ability to get a realistic reaction
from enemies when and where they get shot. Slow an
enemy or drop them to their knees by shooting them
in the leg. Force them to drop their weapons by shooting
the arm, or go for the one hit kill that happens if
you're accurate enough to hit the center of the head.
Other notable improvements
are the unlimited number of saves, save as much or
as little as you want without the need to collect
ink ribbons. The ability to hold a much larger cache
of weapons and ammunition and an almost RPG type weapon
upgrade system where you spend "money" to enhance
weapons and purchase new ones.
I know I'm going to sound
like a broken record here, but the only thing that
detracted from my gaming nirvana was the lack of a
strafe feature. Yes, I'm talking about the controls
again. Ok, I love that Nintendo likes to take chances
with their designs (DS anyone?). But I would have
hoped that the success of the PS2 controller and horrible
design of the N64 controller would have prompted Nintendo
to make a change to a dual analog setup. Heck, even
Microsoft took a hint. I blame the controller design
for my ills and not the game creators. Even with that
being said, there is almost nothing to make me want
to give up this gaming experience. Even the occasional
annoying actions of your comrade.
-wileee
|
