Resident Evil 4

Year: 2005
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Console Played: Playstation 2

Being a massive fan of the first 3 Resident Evil games and having grown up with them, I was super excited about all the hype Resi 4 was getting, especially after the incredible leap to PS2 that was Code Veronica. Now I heard it was going to be different, which would make a change from all of those "SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE" endings and such, but little did I know I was about to be absolutely BETRAYED!!! I'm all for things trying to be fresh and change genre and such, but A) This game isn't remotely scary or intense, B) The storyline is dreadful (and story wasn't the Resi Evil strong point to begin with) and C) It's not even a survival horror game. It's something I just couldn't get passed. It's a shame because there were some great elements in the actual gameplay. The over the shoulder cam, the careful picking off of your enemies, the puzzles and locations were intruiging, and the visuals were spectacular for the time. However the story mode is repetitive and gimmicky, there is no Resi Evil atmosphere. I couldn't buy into any of the characters, especially Leon's sudden transformation from inept rookie cop to super acrobatic ass kicking gun toting badass. Ashley is one of the most annoying in game co stars, and the monsters feel more like something out of Lord of the Rings. And the Ganados?! Fuck, infinitely less cool than zombies, lickers and hunters.

At the time of the release and the rave reviews, I just felt everyone was like "ZOMG, they changed genres, therefore it's a masterpiece". But I would have actually preferred it if the developers had stuck to their roots and, you know... ACTUALLY MADE A RESIDENT EVIL GAME!!! This is so removed from Resi Evil that it should have been called something else altogether... Oh wait Capcom already did that with Devil May Cry, Onimusha and Dino Crisis, which you can tell blatently started off as Resi Evil games and just kind of drifted off course... As horrible as the story, characters and atmosphere of this game are, I DO think in terms of gameplay, and strictly gameplay only, this is a pretty good puzzle/platform/3rd person shooter game. Whilst it does get tediously repetitive at times, the game had a good difficulty curve at least. Some of the boss battles were hard as fuck and it does have its frantic "backed into a corner" moments, which is one thing that does carry over from the original games. The whole interactive cutscene thing was a popular fad at the time and it felt needlessly tacked on just for the sake of it. The most depressing thing is that I've only completed the main story mode once in my life. Ever since I have found the bonus mini game, Mercenaries much more playable, as it basically delivers just the platforming and frantic shooting parts that I actually liked, and cuts out all of the horrific story line and tediousness. I really don't even want to play the story mode again. When I think of Resident Evil, I dont think of creepy castles, Lord of the Rings style monsters, pseudo gothic fantasy bullshit, and Leon jumping off buildings and doing acrobatics and shit. How could they fuck up Resident Evil so bad?! All of the previous main games that involve zombies and actual survival horror are practically masterpieces that I still love revisiting even now. I seriously hope Resident Evil go back to their roots and rediscover zombies, otherwise my connection with the series will most likely become cut off.