A few weeks ago I bought a demo disc
for Resident Evil 4 off of eBay. People who pre-ordered RE4 received
this disc which has about thirty minutes to an hour of gameplay.
Here is my very tiny review based on what I played.
First off,
yes - the game is amazing. Everything from the E3 videos fits in
perfectly, the running, shooting, item collecting, and the killing -
its a breath of fresh air into a dieing series. The game starts off
with you, Leon, being dropped off into a back-water town somewhere in
Europe. Your basic equipment is a handgun and knife
- along with a bottle of first aid spray. Any fan of the RE
series will feel at home right away. The controls are very tight and
responsive. Moving around feels great and shooting villagers is both
fun and challenging. I swear, I got stabbed six times by guys with
pitch forks before I started blowing up some heads.
Yes, the
game is beautiful. The game really pushes the Gamecubes hardware and
shows that the little console is just as powerful as its competition.
Hopefully people will start to recognize the Gamecube as a great
machine for all types of gaming - not just some family-targeted
Nintendo console. The game draws you in with its fantastic visuals,
ambient sound effects, and eerie mood set
by the fog and the odd emptiness of the village. Don't worry though,
you won't be alone for long. The environments are much more rich in
detail now. Say goodbye to the pre-rendered scenes of past resident
evil games and say hello to full 3D environments with great foliage
and construction.
The camera is great, although somewhat slow
at times. Swinging around to shoot someone who is trying to stab you
in the back can sometimes lead to you getting a pitchfork in your
noggin. However this problem may have just been me, and probably
could have been fixed by tweaking some sensitivity
settings. But don't worry - the camera is still solid, it just takes
a bit of getting use to.
Item collecting is somewhat similar
to other RE games, but this time it is a bit more interactive. Items
such as handgun bullets, grenades, herbs and others are sometimes
sealed away behind glass cabinets or inside
of wooden crates which will require you to break the barrier between
you and your spoils. RE4 is also much more interactive this time
around. No longer are you thrown into pre-rendered environments
and forced to track down the sparkling key to open the door with a
carving of a sword embedded into it. Now you need to go into houses,
look around the village, and sometimes even blow away the villagers
themselves to revel a small reward. The action button that you see in
some games is also in play here. When available,
you can use your action button to knock down ladders, push shelves to
block doors, jump out windows for a quick escape or give an enemy a
quick kick to the face when he is invading your personal space. I am
just hitting the tip of the iceberg here
too - since this was a demo I wasn't
treated to the full array of ways that this feature can be used. The AI is great. Enemy's try to
distract you while others sneak up behind you. When spotted by a
villager he will call out to the others, alerting them of your
presence and starting the party. Enemy's will dodge out of the way of
your laser emitted from your pistol and will rush towards you in an
attempt to grab you by the neck or take a nick chunk of flesh from
your body.
Finally, the gameplay, enemy's, and arsenal. The gameplay was great. Since this was quite a short demo I was only given the simple move-and-shoot gameplay, but the gameplay wasn't too linear. Instead of waiting for all of the enemy's to storm into my field of vision, only to be blown away, I could take refuge inside of an abandoned house, barricade the door, and run upstairs only to find that the villagers have other ways of getting into the house. Lets just say that they aren't quite ethical nor are they safe. I only got to see a few enemy's. When I say 'a few', I mean different models. I was only treated to two enemy's in the demo which were the normal pick fork, axe, and crop-cutting bladed villagers. I was also treated to the gimp with a chainsaw enemy, which will quickly free you from that pesky head of yours with his fast-powered blade of death.
I still need to explore the demo to
find all of the hidden weapons. While playing for the short time I
did I found a hand-grenade and a shotgun - along with my pistol and
knife that makes four weapons. Although I
am quite sure there are a few more weapons lying dormant inside of
wooden crates, bedrooms, or anywhere else these villagers stash their
stock of man-made mayhem devices. The basic pistol can dispatch
enemy's in a few shots while the shotgun can quickly put the enemy to
rest. The hand-grenade is great for clearing up piles of enemy's and
I didn't have a chance to test out the knife ? although I
will.
Thats it. A tiny review, written by me, about a short
demo for Resident Evil 4. The game is showing a lot of promise and I
will definitely be picking up a copy when
it comes out on the 11th. Until then, twiddle your thumbs and perfect
your aim - you'll need it.
[addsig]
.
Sounds great!
