Geek Kingdom : Resident Evil 4
by Liam Lavoie
My name is Liam Lavoie, and I’m here to bring you another issue of…
GEEK KINGDOM!
CONTENT WARNING!
This issue of Geek Kingdom will be talking about a video game that contains extreme amounts of blood and gore. If you aren’t comfortable with this, I would suggest that you skip this review.
In the past decade, the popularity of horror games has seen a massive surge in popularity thanks to games such as Slender: The Eight Pages and Five Nights At Freddy’s terrifying millions of people around the globe. Yet these games owe their success to the original horror series that truly gave birth to the horror game scene that we know today; Resident Evil. A long running series of survival horror games with 8 mainline games, along with many ports and remakes of their most popular games, even spawning a truly bizarre movie franchise that will certainly boggle the mind of anyone who dares to watch it. Out of the dozens upon dozens of games that make up the Resident Evil franchise, none of them can truly compare to the game considered one of the best entries in the entire franchise, Resident Evil 4. Why is it so revered by the fanbase, and is it worth checking out today, despite the game being almost 20 years old? Thankfully that’s what I’m here to figure out. So, grab your jet skis and shotguns, because we’re diving into the heart of rural Spain to answer the question of whether Resident Evil 4 still holds up today as a true horror masterpiece.
What about the graphics?
Graphically, the game is pretty solid and is still a treat to look at. Most of the colours are muddied browns that can get tiring for some after a while, but there are thankfully a few sections that don’t look like a construction site, such as the lab near the end of the game and the boss fight with the sea serpent. Character and NPC models are really well done, with detailed facial expressions that help the characters easily display the emotions they feel during the story cutscenes - especially compared to some modern AAA games that shall not be named. Enemy designs deserve a special mention as every single enemy you encounter in the game is extremely well designed, from mind-controlled villagers and cultists, with head worms that come out if you shoot their heads off, to the spiky Iron Maidens with sharp points constantly reaching towards you out of their long, lumbering bodies.
How’s the story?
The story for Resident Evil 4 is a fairly simple one, albeit with many twists, turns and corny one-liners. A few years after the Raccoon City Incident from Resident Evil 2 and 3, rookie cop turned secret agent Leon Kennedy has been given a mission by the president of the US to rescue his daughter from a strange cult operating in rural Spain. After arriving, Leon and the president’s daughter Ashley are infected with Los Plagos, a parasite that allows certain people to have total control over their minds. The two are then locked in a race against time to take down the cult and escape while also destroying the parasite inside their bodies that threatens to turn them into mindless thralls. Along the way the two are helped by a cast of colorful characters, from the charming Luis Serra to the mysterious Ada Wong, revealed to be working for the evil bioweapons manufacturer Umbrella.
What about the gameplay?
Although graphics are important to a game’s quality, it’s the gameplay that truly decides whether or not a game has aged well or poorly. Thankfully, Resident Evil 4 remains an extremely engaging experience despite its age. Gunplay is simple yet tense as you use a variety of weapons to take on cult members and horrible mutants by hitting weak points to deal more damage. Puzzles are scattered throughout the various locations, far less than the previous entries with them mainly being relegated to optional treasure hidden in the map or Ashley’s section, and not being particularly difficult to complete. Also included are minigames and sidequests to keep you occupied, such as the blue medallions which give you the Punisher handgun if you destroy 10 and access to upgrades if 15 are shot, to a shooting gallery where you can earn bottle cap standees of characters and various monsters seen throughout the game. Overall, Resident Evil 4 has an amazing gameplay loop with plenty of variety thrown in to keep things fresh.
Overall
Something worth mentioning, however, is the Resident Evil 4 remake, which came out last year. I haven’t personally had the chance to play it for myself yet, but there are many changes in the remake that might interest you more than the original, such as a darker story, new locations and major enhancements to combat. If you’re willing to pay extra for a more modern experience, then the remake is the way to go. But, if you want to save money for other games, the original will give you a truly amazing action-horror experience.
Verdict: 9/10
Anyway, my name is Liam Lavoie, and I’ll see you next time on…
GEEK KINGDOM!