[PS2] Resident Evil 4 - jin_kazama

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Developer - Capcom Production Studio 4
Publisher - Capcom
Platforms - Gamecube, Wii, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Mobile Phone
Release date - PlayStation 2: NA 25-10-2005, EU 4-11-2005, AUS 11-11-2005, JP 1-12-2005
Genre - Survival Horror/Third Person Shooter
Mode - Single-player
Rating ESRB: M
PEGI: 18+​

A marvellous game I finished playing some time ago (a week, actually). My thoughts about it are Capcom pulled it out for this game. I never liked Capcom games much; I only liked the second Devil May Cry, and I never saw anything special in MegaMan. I have never played any other game belonging to the Resident Evil series, but people tend to say the other ones are better. According to these opinions, the older games must be perfect, for this one almost was. Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games I have played for PS2 (understand me if I say this too many times about many games, but PS2 has an incredible games collection), and due to this fact, it earned the honour to be reviewed. From here on, my friends, I am reviewing Resident Evil 4, the magnificent.

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Leon fighting one of those hordes of Ganados you're sure to battle (and destroy). And behind him, you have a great sight: the Castle​

The first thing you see when you start the game is a ''short'' introduction. Unique images as the background, text over it, and the voice of Leon Scott Kennedy, the main character (who many of you may know from RE2). If you read the text along with Leon, you'll get what happened. He's talking about 1998. It was the year when some grisly murders occurred in the Arklay mountains. Soon after that, the news were out, saying it was the fault of a viral experiment conducted by an International Pharmaceutical Enterprise, named Umbrella. Apparently, the virus broke out in a nearby mountain community, Racoon City. This virus hit that peaceful little town with a devastating blow, crippling its very foundation. Not taking any chances, the president of the United States ordered a contingency plan - to sterilize Racoon City.

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One of the many bosses you'll fight (and probably one of the prettiest)​

With all the affair gone public, the US government issued an indefinite suspension of business degree to Umbrella. Soon its stock prices crashed, and for all intents and purposes, Umbrella was finished. However, sometime after this happened, an American traitor (who older players surely know) managed to kidnap Ashley, the president's daughter. But, later, they were told that a girl who was extremely looked with her was spotted in Europe. As he was previously related to the incident with Racoon city in RE2, he was sent to the place in which Ashley was seen. And here is where Leon's new adventure starts.

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That's why you don't want to get near chainsaw man​

In the clip next to the last you watched, Leon is travelling with two Europeans in a small van. Along the way, one of the policeman stops, and ''waters'' the plants nearby, if you know what I mean. In that foggy, freezing atmosphere, he has the correct feeling that he saw some thing moving. Yes, some thing, not some one. He ignores it, and they proceed. After it, they stop, and Leon finds a house. He meets a hostile and aggressive man, and asks him if he has seen Ashley. It turns out the man (as all the other villagers, also called Los Ganados (Spanish for The Cattle (??) ) ) is a maniac murderer, and grabs his hatchet, trying to split Leon into two pieces.

With no choice but to end the man's life, Leon hears one other engine, different from the one with he was a few minutes back. All of a sudden, cries are heard and gunshots fly. And then, a crash of two cars, more screams and one other crash. Like the man Leon killed, all the villagers were possessed, and they all have the objective to kill strangers. From here on, you're completely on your own, with hundreds and hundreds of Ganados and other creatures trying to destroy you any way they can.

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"Welcome to our Castle, Mister Kennedy..."​

The places you get yourself in are many, and they're all scaring good. It starts in a small village, filled with the most blood-hungry "people" ever. Actually, the size of the "village" makes me think about it. The village is, in fact, quite a town. You'll find merchants, houses, towers, undergrounds, wells, farms, cemeteries, lakes and churches, even more are to be explored in the immensity RE4 is. After the town, you visit a castle, and what a castle! Apart from hostile, it's a beautiful palace. It's gorgeously decorated, with fountains, suites, dinning rooms; treasures are found all over the game, as well as ammo, herbs and  hundreds of enemies. And after this enormous mansion we get to go to an island. It's likely that you'll find yourself fighting a scary enemy inside a refrigerator, or near a garbage disposal area, fighting soldiers with flails and crossbows. RE4 is a new world, and you're off to go for it.

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You'll be killed for reckless driving!​

As well as the places you visit, the locals also differ. From Villagers to Regenerators, going through Militia and Zealots, including bosses (very bad looking, I must say). And they all have their very own characteristics, because the Plague they're infected with always differs. Villagers are common people with common lives, usually farmers, wearing "weapons" like hatchets, pitchforks or knives. At a certain point, their heads turn into a savage monster with knife-like edges that do some nasty damage. Zealots are found in the castle, and they seem to be monks, or something, wearing flails and scythes, and sometimes shields. These homicidal heads' turn into a head-eater creature, that literally munches your head off. Militia are nothing more but soldiers, with helmets, shields, flails, and often, dynamite.

Bosses are also abundant; throughout the game you'll find more than ten bosses. All of them with their own horrendous style, vicious attacks and way of losing. Bosses are the most generous things in the game; as well as key items, they also give you large quantities of money, usually above thirty thousand pesetas. I think it's worth the effort.

Although the game is not considered a survival horror game (unlike the previous games of the same franchise), some parts gave me a good scare. This happened because of the great graphics put into the game, and because of the even greater soundtrack present all the time. These are, also, two of the reasons why this game received such a comfortable critique from the press. The graphics along the game are simply delightful. Detailed, fluid, sharp... The only graphical downside was the "polishness"; the game has a strange touch, everything looks plain and straight. The greyish accent the developers put are for some a downside too, but for me, they're a great upside, and one of the reasons the graphics look so good. The greyish accent darkens the game, giving it a touch of fear. One other thing that impressed me is the fact that Leon's hair waves in the wind. But something has been bugging me: why does his face keeps static, even though he faces terrible looking enemies? Who knows...

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Your beloved man, the merchant, waiting for you to get some money with his always blue torches​

The gameplay addicted me to this game. Seriously. There are many weapons in the game, and to have them all is somewhat challenging. Although the camera gets irritating at times, the battle system compensates it. Every weapon has a laser sight (except the rocket launchers, the mine launchers and the rifles, and these have scopes), and every weapon is upgradeable. The upgrades consist of Firepower, Firing Speed, Reloading Time and Capacity. Gathering money for each level is the greatest challenge in the game. The money is either gotten by selling items (ammo, treasures, herbs, eggs, weapons or weapons' add ons) or by simply gathering them each time an enemy drops it. From enemies you regularly get money. If there isn't money, you'll get nothing. But if there is something that isn't money, then that's ammo. And unless you shoot the atmosphere, you won't be running low on ammo.

But none of these things is what I like the most. What I like the most is the merchant. The way he greets you and comments the weapons, it's just fantastic. He also is the key for your survival. Without him, you wouldn't be able to sell treasures, weapons, ammo, etc. But on top of all, you wouldn't be able to buy nor to upgrade your weapons. But, of course, everything has a price, and nothing is cheap for him.

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The so called "Bella (Beautiful) Sisters". What exactly is "bella" in them?!​

Presentation: 10/10 - RE4 presents itself with simple and easily navigated menus, making it easy for the player to find everything. The HUD is extremely simple and functional, as well as the weapons menus, etc.
Graphics: 10/10 - Spectacular. Sincerely. Nothing further to add.
Sound: 10/10 - Even better than the graphics. Unfortunately, the count only goes up to ten.
Gameplay: 9/10 - One of the best aspects in the game. Greatly innovative. However, Leon is a bit move-restricted, and that cost it one point.
Lasting Appeal: 10/10 - You have new weapons, you have the weapons upgrades, you have the treasures to collect, and one of the best games to play again. Want more? Ok, here goes. Besides replaying through the entire game (which is great), you have other games to play, like "Separate Ways", in which you play Ada's role in the game, you have "Ada's Assignement", to play also with Ada and collect the Plaga samples, and plus, you have "The Mercenaries", an arcade minigame in which you can play with Leon, killing Ganados; the more stars, the more characters you unlock to play it again. Have fun.

TOTAL SCORE: 49/50 - Do I need to say anything else?

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Long review Jin, nice!

 

Just to bug you...

MISTAKE FREE!!!!

 

;D notice the comma you forgot to put

 

It is, because I made it on purpose, although something exists, some thing also exists.

 

Awesome review Jin.

 

Thanks.

Not really, no, that comma is optional; I chose not to put it.

 

you put 49/10.

oh snap! lol

 

Pwned Jin. And you normally add commas in sentences like that for a pause. A few mistakes here and there.

 

Wow, that 49 out of 10 is a mistake, did you know that 4 out of 3 people have trouble with fractions?

anyways, I'm just here to mess with you, I did read the review while looking for mistakes (Of course) and well, it's enough to make me play it again o.o

 

I hate this game...

its nothing like the other Resident evils at all.. :-[

 

it's nothing like the other resident evils but it is by far the best out of them all.

perhaps that change is for the better.

 

I'm proudly ashamed to admit that I've purchased this game three time - once on the CGN, once for the PS2, and once for the Wii, and, out of all of the versions that I've played (fully aware that there is also a PC version 0.o), I must say that, personally, the Wii version is my favorite, while the PS2 version pales in comparison to the other two.

In a direct comparison, the Wii, the notably weak current-gen system whose hardware is on par with latter-gen system (I think XD), seems to pull off better graphics than the PS2, as well as greatly improved sound - the sounds in the PS2 are muted, hallow, and flat versions of any other Resident Evil 4, and the textures, in a few of the areas on the PS2, especially those found in the inventory, are noticeably horrible.

On its own, however, the PS2 version is a great, accessible version of the game that offers up content not seen in the CGN version at the great cost of graphics and sound, seeing as how the PS2 is definitely less as powerful than the CGN. I'm still diggin' the Wii version, as it's the only system that I have the Handcannon on, but, again, that's just me.

Oh, and the review is great - very detailed and without obvious error. Keep up the good work.

 

the ps2 is less powerful than the GCN by far.

but the ps2 games have better graphics.

nintendo was just lazy on designing games that would use the graphics card to its fullest benefit.

also look at how bulky the GCN is compared to the ps2 slim.

With that much space, it better have superior hardware.

also, comparing the wii to the ps2 is like comparing psx to xbox (the first one).
crossing generations is hard to compare.

the graphics for this game are pretty good on any system that you play it on.
as far as sound quality, remember that ps2 is pretty old now, if it were re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-released, maybe they would be smart enough to put better sound outputs on it.

 

well now there's dolby 7.1 and its OVER 9000! .1

 

well if the sounds sound crappy on the PS2 (that has 5.1)
and it sounds fine on the GCN, (without 5.1)

then the developer was lazy to utilize the 5.1 capability.
same thing that paralleled the graphics comment.

use everything to its fullest.

 

you should also have a lower end setting for those that don't use it.

this reminds me of my friend's cobalt ss/sc that has to use premium gas for it to function, but it can also use the budget fuel because of the injectors and the computer setup that enables it to run with 89 octane. it cuts back on the power and basically, you can use any fuel that you want.

most cars with superchargers HAVE to use premium gas.

also, it doesn't help that the ps2 (and ps3) still use the crappy Y cables. (Yellow, Red, White)