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Tuesday 4 March, 2008
GAMEPLAY
As much as I loved the first few hours of RE4, I have to admit that the more I played it, the more disappointing it got. The game starts out so strong and intense that it loses its impact after a few hours. In most games, the intensity slowly builds up to a final climax but in RE4, the most shocking and exciting moments are experienced within the first 5 hours of the game.
Once the ridiculous plot started unraveling, the game started to lose a lot of its charm. The locations got more and more over the top (creepy castles, laboratories, etc.) and the terrible voice acting just pulled me out of the game. Also, the more I played, the more I felt like I was playing an action game rather than a survivor horror game. Sure it was still a lot of fun but for a game that takes itself so seriously and has so much potential, it’s a shame to see issues like this.
DESIGN
Technically RE4 is a stunning game. It has some of the most amazing graphics seen on the GameCube and really pushes the system to its limits. The textures, environments, and animations all look amazing. When it comes to the audio however, it fails to impress. The music is done well but it’s nothing special. The voice acting, just like every other RE game, is so bad that it hurts the overall game experience. From the fake Spanish accents to phrases that are repeated over and over again, the voice acting doesn’t even come close to some of the other titles out there on the market.
While the voice acting quality hasn’t improved much since the first RE game, the camera and controls certainly have. Gone are the old fixed camera angles and wonky controls. RE4 now puts the players in the center of the action. The game is viewed from an over the shoulder camera angle that works very well with the intense edge-of-your-seat action of the game. The controls are completely overhauled too. Instead of the slow and wonky controls of the past RE titles, RE4 has a very responsive control scheme that makes getting out of tight situation a lot easier.
As for the plot…well…it starts out pretty interesting but as I mentioned earlier it gets more and more absurd and unfortunately for someone like me who really enjoys good storylines, this game is a letdown. Some people may not be bothered much by it but for me, the plot is very important and RE4 completely fails in that department.
Overall Resident Evil 4 is a game that must be experienced. Sure some of the design elements like the storyline, the pacing, and voice acting threw me off a bit but I still enjoyed it.
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