Background Synopsis
Our old friend Leon Kennedy is the main character of RE4. Those of you who have played through the series will remember Leon as one of the two main characters of RE2, a cop who wandered into Raccoon City for his first day on the job only to discover that the city completely overrun by zombies. After big adventure, falling in love and having his love (apparently) die, killing the mutated creator of the zombifying T-Virus and rescuing his daughter, you'd think Leon would be ready for a vacation, but no. Being one of... I've counted something like four or five people who actually made it out of Raccoon alive (those who were not pwned by zombies gave a happy hello to a nuke from the Pentagon) apparently distinguished Leon in the eyes of the US Government. He has been made a “US Special Agent” or something and now is off doing special missions for the gubmint.
Apparently, the president's daughter has been kidnapped. Now it's up to the one-man army, Richard Miller-- wait, wrong game. Now it's up to Leon to rescue her, following a tenuous lead that she was spotted near an obscure European hamlet. Leon figures he'll get in, kick some terrorist ass, and get out.
But terrorists aren't really something that belongs in a horror game. Now, a cult? Much better.
The game focuses on a village and the surrounding area, populated with bizarre spanish-speaking people who at first just seem to be barbaric murderers and are soon revealed to be creepy religious freaks with superhuman strength and durability.
Game Overview
Resident Evil 4 immediately sets an unusual tone that distinguishes it from the rest of the series.
To begin with, the game is in Europe (apparently. The accents of the spanish-speaking characters sound more mexican than spanish to me). It also takes place mostly during the day, a hazy sort of day that actually manages to retain a very creepy feel despite the lack of darkness that the other games heralded.
Another major departure from the feel of the series is the fact that you're ... not really fighting zombies. Yes, there's something very creepy and not at all human about the villagers of this barbaric little hamlet, but they're not your standard shambling corpses at all. They speak to one another, shout in anger and fear when they spot you, and stagger in pain when you shoot them. Yes, they stagger in pain after you shoot them in the face and then continue to come at you, but these people are still, for the most part, people.
Probably the most significant change has come in the form of the gameplay.
Rather than the fixed-camera viewpoints that the RE series has always had, the game has changed to a fully rendered environment that is viewed with an over-the-shoulder perspective behind Leon. Combat has taken a much more active role in the game, and although ammunition is still a major concern (the need for ammo conservation is something that I've always liked about RE), the combat has a much more action-y feel to it.
When you hold down the 'aim' shoulder-button, Leon brings his gun to bear and you can aim with the control stick, giving the game an FPS-like targeting system that can be tracked by the laser sight installed on his guns (including, inexplicably, his shotgun). Holding the other shoulder button will make Leon draw his knife and use it similarly, giving the weapon much more use than it has ever had in the previous games. Shooting a villager in a place where he is vulnerable may make him stagger, at which point you can deliver a devastating roundhouse kick that will knock him on his ass and allow for a quick finish with the knife or gun. All in all, the combat is alien but much faster and more capable, seeming to be more like a traditional third-person over-the-shoulder game than a classic survival horror game.
First Impressions
At first I was not at all taken with these changes. The control scheme seems extremely alien at first, a difficult deviation from the standard and an awkward fusion of FPS and SH controls. In addition, one of the very early parts of the game involves a full-on assault from the entire village of psychoes, including a nearly-invincible man with an insta-kill chainsaw and a bag over his head.
In short, I got my ass handed to me and thought that I had to do some kind of idiotic stealth mission.
Then I took a breather, read somebody's skeletal, unfinished FAQ about the village scene and started over. The second playthrough was much better; though the controls were still difficult, I discovered that it was possible to finish weaker villagers with only two or three bullets if I showed enough skill with my aim. In addition, I found (by accident) that by killing enough time fighting villagers, the scene would time out. I didn't have to fight the guy with the chainsaw at all.
That hurdle leapt, the game blossomed. The control scheme was natural-feeling, but still not tweaked enough to take away the sense of fear and helplessness inherent in the RE series. The greater control allows for some awesome stuff-- villagers sometimes carry dynamite, and shooting it while it's in their hand makes for a great ammo-saving technique. Knocking a villager down by shooting him in the leg as he runs and then slicing him dead with your knife once he's fallen is a strategy I pursue whenever I'm able.
Also, Leon's martial arts are totally sweet. He can only kick stunned enemies, but his style is totally an amalgamated kind of Jeet Kune Do.
Oh yeah, and the chainsaw guys? I've had to fight them now, and they're terrifying.
The villagers are scary, too; they have just enough humanity to make their unrelenting assaults and advancement fairly disturbing. They speak in harsh, terse spanish, saying only as much as they need to. “Shit!” “He's there!” and “Lord Saddler” appear to be some of their most frequent utterances. Though I've seen no children, the women of the village fight in addition to the men, and I was actually strangled to death by one of them.
One touch about the villagers that I really like is that every once in a while, during their disorganized assaults, their humanity slips away. It's infrequent and well-done, but sometimes their voices will go from being collected and mean to a gutteral, inhuman tone. They appear to become agitated if you let them live too long and they know you're there; though they act normally before they notice you, your presence seems to cause them agitation. They move faster and more angrily, they hiss and spit and howl, they moan and rasp. You knock their weapons away or force them to drop them and they grab your throat instead, their eyes blank and filthy mouths agape.
Hehe. I'm getting carried away here.
So. Here are my ratings as they stand.
Graphics - 3/5. They're good, but not remarkable. Given that the game came out two days ago, I guess I expected something a bit more stunning, given the leaps and bounds that RE Zero made.
Sound - 5/5. Good acting! I like it! Good monster sounds! Awesome! This game gets my seal of aural approval.
Control - 3/5. The controls are awkward, it's survival horror. I'm kind of fine with that, but these controls draw away from things and try to give a little more control while remaining a bit awkward. All in all, it's not too bad though, and one can feasibly get pretty good with the controls that are offered.
Challenge - 4/5. This rating would only be a 3 of 5 if not for the initial village scene, which is hard. The game's difficulty is otherwise a little bit lacking, but there are occasional bursts of real challenge.
Fright - 4/5. Not perfect; this is still a Resident Evil game and is therefore on the least scary end of the Survival Horror spectrum. However, this game manages to bring a fear that actually works during broad daylight in the game. That is very impressive and unique and I like the way it's done.
Overall - 4/5 so far. Despite my initial impressions, I really think I like this game. It's good and it's fun and the plot is interesting and the presentation is very well-done. We'll see how I feel as the game progresses, but I get the feeling that I'll keep liking it. I'll keep you posted.