Resident Evil 4

Date Acquired: Game Cube Version 1.10.2005, HD Version-2.3.2012

Date Completed: Main game on 2.29.2012, Seperate Paths on 3.3.2012

Thoughts: First of all, I'm amused by the 'only for' blurb at the top of the box art. How long was that true for? Had the ink even dried on the box? It's landed on 5 different systems since then, and I'm sure it will wind up on IOS at some point...

RE4 is one of those seminal games whose praises everyone sings. A modern-day classic. I got the game when it first came out for the Gamecube and I really, really liked it, but I never beat it. I always had trouble with games like this, because I won't let myself play through the game with no health and no ammo. I have to reload my checkpoint every time I take an unnecessary hit or waste too much ammo, or what not, becuase I know how rare it is to get either of those in this game. It became a trial and error experience, rehearse the scene 10 times until I get it right, move onto the next scene. It was too much for me in 2005 and I moved on before finishing the 2nd chapter.

I did always mean to go back to it though, and this is a big year for Resident Evil, it's the 15th anniversary. (although I remember playing the first game in 1996, because I was still in Highschool, but whatever, I won't quibble with their numbering) and 3 high profile RE games are coming out this year. Because of that, 1up.com focused one of their short-lived and ill-fated lunchbreak segments on the RE series. Every day they played one of the games for about 22 minutes and talked about it as they played. I watched every episode, most of them live, and from the moment I started watching them play the first game, I knew I wanted to play RE4 again. I wanted to hold out for a sale. $20 is a little high for such an old game, but I didn't last long and soon caved. I liked the idea of playing a high-def version of the game, and of course was tempted by the achievement points.

Even after 7 years, this game holds up extremely well in all aspects. Graphically, it looks terrific. It looks like a current-gen game. And the great thing is, when I was playing through the Seperate Paths side mission, a lot of the same cut scenes from RE4 get replayed, but for some reason Capcom used the original cut scenes, not the updated HD scenes, and the difference is very noticable. Those cut scenes were blurry and out out of focus, but the HD graphics for all of RE4 are crisp and sharp. By far this is the best use of the HD conversion process for me. I haven't tried Shadow of the Colossus yet, which could give it a run for it's money, but it blows away the God of War Collection and Ico.

The gameplay holds up very well also. I really didn't have any complaints about it at all. Nothing felt archaic or underdeveloped. The over the shoulder view was sometimes a problem because of how limited your viewing area is ,but of course that's intentional so you're never sure what's behind you, it adds to the atmosphere. Even the escorting parts of the game were handeled better than some of the more modern day attempts. I only killed Ashley twice, both times with my knife. She avoided my gun succesfully, and stayed where I told her to be and hid when I told her to hide. The ability to quickly make a 90 degree camera turn was a godsend and I used this constantly.

I still found the game to be very challenging. My final log according to the game was 37 hours and I died 104 times. The 37 hours probably isn't entirely accurate, there were several times where I paused the game for a few hours and came back to it, and the timer kept counting while it was paused, so I probably beat it in more like 30. The 104 deaths is accurate, and it was probably more because I'm sure there were instances where I died and didn't save it. I played the game in much the same method as I had originally, I just had more patience for it now. By the end of the game I had 15 different ways to completely heal my character saved up in my briefcase. The briefcase by the way, is almost a mini-game in itself as you have to organize where things go and make everything fit. If things don't fit you have to leave them behind or go sell them to the merchant or use them up quickly. So having that much space devoted to healing items was a lot, and i really didn't need that much at all. If I played the game more normally and let myself take more damage, I would have probably been just fine. I wound up selling most of those healing items after I beat the game and started up a new quest.

The original gamecube version included one extra sidemission called Assignment Ada. This was a short mission with no save points, and even more limited ammo and health supplies where agent Ada has to infiltrate the Castle and retrieve 5 plaga samples. Of course she has a briefcase too, hers is smaller than the biggest case Leon has and wasn't upgradable as there were no merchants. So as you fill up on Plaga samples, you have to make a tough choice about what to keep and what to leave. The game makes it easier to choose by cutting off the supply of one ammo type (rifle) and increasing others (TMP and Shotgun) which lets the player know that towards the end of the level they may as well dump the rifle, which winds up being the correct strategy, as the rifle is useless against the final fight with Krauser, but you need the TMP and Shotgun.

The Playstation 2 version of the game has another side mission included called Seperate Paths. This was basically the story of Ada's journey throughout the game while Leon was having his quest. It showed a lot of back story that we weren't aware of earlier, and there were some minor connections: In a graveyard behind a house, a special emblem is needed. Ada finds it behind the church in a pressure sensative holding area. She replaces it with a yellow catseye and enters the church. When Leon arrives at this scene he gets the catseye (although he didn't have to put anything in it's place like Ada did) and has to travel much further to find an emblem to open the church door. It's also funny that this is supposed to be the story about what Ada was doing while Leon was fighting, but all the items that were there for Leon to find by breaking crates and pots or just lying around, are also there for Ada. Somebody apparently was able to go replace all these items after Ada took them so Leon would have something with which to tear through the castle's residents. I played through Seperate Paths a little differently than the main game. I didn't worry about finding every treasure or killing every enemy. I killed who I needed to and took what I needed. This playstyle seemed to fit Ada's character and certainly helped me get through the game faster.

When I had finally finished the main game and the side stories, the fruits of my labor resulted in a gun called the chicago typewriter, which was available for purchase for a mere 1 million pesetas, which I was able to afford by selling all the treasures I found, as well as the rocket launcher Ada gave me for the boss fight at the end of the game. I wound up not needing it. I couldn't get to it and just kept shooting Sadler with my upgraded Magnum pistol. It was effective though, and I killed him quickly and easily without finding the rocket launcher until after I was trying to make my escape from the Island. The Chicago Typewriter is fun to use, it's a tommygun that is ridiculously powerfull, has infinite ammo and never has to be reloaded. I have played through the first 2 chapters of the game much quicker, and with my only deaths (4) coming entirely from botched quicktime events. There are also unlockable costumes available for finishing the game and the extra missions. I chose to play through again with the 2nd set of costumes, which turned out to be hilarious. Leon is dressed up like a 20's gangster pimp, complete with hat and striped jacket, while Ashley is decked out in a full midevil suit of armor. It's not just cosmetic either, I can't hurt Ashley even if I try to kill her, which means enemies can't either. There are other small touches I appreciate as well; when Ashley is standing at a cliff and you are under her, she gets mad at you for looking up her skirt. In the suit of Armor she doesn't do that. Also when Leon catches her in the suit of armor, he holds his back briefly, in pain from the heavy suit.

So that was RE4. I'm stoked that I finally played through it to the end, and thrilled at how great it still is today. I'm ready for this year's forthcoming games, especially RE6, which is supposed to include both Leon and Ashley. For those who haven't played it, it is highly recommended. I understand the Wii Version is supposed to be the easiest because of the motion control, but the HD version undoubtedly looks the best.