One of the things I love most about video games is every once in a while I encounter one which allows me to indulge in the private, disturbing areas of my psyche.  The wicked indulgence that really get a rush out of stuffing a loaded shotgun point blank in the face of an advancing baddie and disintegrating his zombified melon in a shower of crimson slime.  The part of me that likes to think that if I was trapped in a supply closet with just a 9mm pistol, 3 clips, a fire grenade, and my steely resolve – I’d do exactly what any tragically unsung hero would:  charge out through a crowd of advancing zombies, my expert marksmanship and my wit the only things standing between me and a Miike style bloody end.  Resident Evil 4, courtesy one of the industries cornerstone crews, Capcom (think back to the logo that flashed on the screen when you fired up that old Street Fighter II cartridge) is just such a game.

To enjoy this game to the fullest you need to get forget everything you ever knew about the old Resident Evil series.  Forget the fixed view camera relying on cheesy horror movie style “boo” scare tactics.  Forget the clunky, unresponsive controls and how frustrating it was properly turn 180 degrees just to protect your spine from being ripped open like a Fed Ex envelope.  Forget Milla Jovovich in that consistently skimpier outfit picking off zombies like a professional marksman… or perhaps… well, maybe don’t forget her.  But as far as the gaming is concerned, do not look approach this (whether you pick up the visually superior Gamecube version or the well polished PS2 one) with a single preconceived notion because this is not your granddaddy’s Resident Evil.

The plot is fairly straight forward at first.  You control Leon (yes good old Leon!  Of early series fame) who is now a secret service agent after the debacle in Raccoon City so many years ago.  The president of the Unites States’ daughter has been kidnapped, and your job is to find her.  Rest assured, it just gets more interesting from there.  By the end, you’ve encountered ogres of mammoth strength, been trapped in the heart of mind-controlling ritualistic cults, crashed through underground labs in a Mac truck, encountered old rivals and new terrors, and so much more…

What exactly is it that’s given a breath of life to this old jalopy of a series?  First, incredibly gorgeous graphics abound here.  The character mapping is fantastic.  Movement, expressions, even what is typically a clunky dialogue scene goes far beyond expectations in its cinematic presentation.  It’s almost easy to forget you’re just playing a game as you watch Leon wile his way through a variety of surprising and gruesome plot twists which reveal themselves in a series of well placed Hollywood worthy cut-scenes that, if anything, enhance the stop and go horror-style pace the game so perfectly captures.  The environments also are stunningly well designed.  There’s never that feeling you get in other games of ‘this part of the map is on the path, and this part is off the path.’  Seamless fields of view from where you can and can’t go abound here, and it naturally makes sense why you can’t traverse some terrain.  No question, the graphics simply are some of the best I’ve ever seen.  I also helps that they scooped the story out of suburban American (boooooring) and dropped it into the European countryside (how chic!).  Picture Dracula’s backyard with some modern amenities here and there.

Secondly and most importantly, they revolutionized the game-play.  Controls are intuitive and the view ranges a full 360 degrees.  Your character is able to walk cautiously, or bolt in a full out run.  He can turn left, right, spin around 180 degrees on a dime, whatever the situation calls for.  And most importantly the camera follows you in a smooth and never detrimental over the shoulder view.  A poorly designed camera can turn a good game into a frustrating nightmare (ever play the PS2 shitbox Rygar?).  Not only does the camera not inhibit game play here, it actually enhances it. I am fully convinced this game would

be ten times harder if the camera was just a tad slower or sluggish.  Instead, you rarely feel like you’ve been presented with a constricted view of what’s going on around you.  And never once do you feel limited by what the game won’t let you do – a big downside to the series’ predecessors.

Lastly, a factor too many games still overlook is how the artificial intelligence has become key factor in the level of immersion that is achieved.  Not only is it believable here, but the game actually finely tunes itself to adjust to your style of play, and you’re constantly improvising and improving tactics to avoid getting caught in a rut.  Example: three baddies charge at you, so you unload your pistol into their legs and they fall over (the location based reactions to your gunshots is a fantastic touch), then you unload your shotgun and make some hastily splattered zombie.  The next time three baddies see you?  One will charge, the other two hang back.  Then the second one will advance slowly while the third one hangs back, then charges while you’re focusing on when the second one will run at you.  They’re smart, and the level of difficulty progresses perfectly with your skill.  Just when you think you’ve got some effective methods down, a new breed of baddie enters stage left forcing you to rethink your entire approach.  A game that can take what could be a mindless gore-fest and firearm orgy and turn it into a tactical mind-fuck gets my vote any day.

Overall, Resident Evil 4 does a damn good job at making you feel like you are personally experiencing one of the freakiest horror movies you’ve ever seen, while at the same time indulging in that sick enjoyment of emptying eight rounds of high-powered shotgun shells into a bad guy and watching his guts explode like he just dined on a healthy portion of lit dynamite.  Take my advice: pick this one up, turn down the lights, and prepare for an adrenalin rush you haven’t had since watched Jack Nicholson crash through the door with an axe yelling “Heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny!”