Resident Evil 4 PC

RESIDENT EVIL 4 PC REVIEW

General Perspective:

I have just finished playing the survival horror/adventure game, Resident Evil 4, for the PC, and let me tell everyone now; it is simply an incredible masterpiece!

Now, as a side note, many people experienced high discomfort with both the PC version's controls, and the PC (Un - Patched version's) version's washed out graphics -- however, the late 1.1 patch fixed most of these issues, as well as the user contributed Texture Patch 2.0, which overhauls the rest of the blurry textures

So once I had my 360 controller in hand (yes, the PC version is rather awkward without it), I was off...

(Texture Patch 2.0: http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showtopic=1631&st=0#entry3303286)

First Impression/Story: Resident Evil 4 takes place six years after the previous three resident evil games (re1, re2, re3), and sets the player back in the familiar shoes of now government secret ops guy, Leon Scott Kennedy...

We soon learn the truth about what happened to the Umbrella Corporation, the ones responsible for the horrible outbreaks in Raccoon City, and we learn about their crash in stocks after public exposure to the world, all leading up to their eventual downfall (Quote: "Umbrella was Finished")...

Now Leon Kennedy, being the ops man that he is, starts out on his first ever mission for the U.S. Government, only to get caught up in more than he bargained for...Ashley Graham, the president's daughter, has been kidnapped, and someone looking similar to her was last seen by your convenient Spanish contacts, near a remote little village in the south of Spain...



And that's it for an introduction, for Leon's reminiscing of the previous few years is soon cut short by the axe head of one of the local villagers, and it's REALLY time to do some blasting (while conserving the little ammo that's available) and of course, once I took my first steps into the wilderness, I could already see the perfect setting placing itself in my mind: rural mountains, remote village, a horde of angry villagers (did I say that? No they are NOT zombies this time! Hooray! Or maybe not...because they are WORSE), and a hauntingly thick, unsettling atmosphere to boot...

Game - play Impressions:

The gameplay isn't just kind of satisfying -- it really makes you feel desperately strong, yet highly outnumbered, when you pull out that shotgun, and fire that precious round into the middle of a horde of approaching villagers, wielding pitchforks, brandishing torches, and firing up everyone's most feared opposing weapon...chainsaws...

Instead of the epic camera angles we used to have in the previous installments, we have a brand new, easy to use, over the shoulder action - cam view...perfect for blasting away hordes of the undead...sorry...hordes of these creepy villagers (i.e. ganados), with a fully upgraded winchester rifle, and aiming your laser point - crosshair right at whatever part of the ganado you wish to injure (stun the head, injure the knee, dislodge the leg, you name it`)...

Also, a big addition is the moving black market that moves along through the game with you, popping up at random corners, always ready to buy and sell anything you set your eye on...as long as you have the cash of course, and this adds a nicely done, solid rpg element to the game's already super - intense gameplay...

There are also a variety of guns and precious treasures to pick up along the way, which you can either sell, in the treasure's case, or upgrade/buy, in the gun's case; and here is a quick taster of the guns you might happen to pick up/Buy:

Handgun...

Tmp...

Shotgun...

Grenade...
Flash Grenade...
Incendientary Grenade...
Sniper 43 Caliber Rifle...
Automatic Rifle...

...ETC...

ENEMIES:

Mainly you will be fighting angry villagers and ganados (Not to spoil too much) of many different sorts, many that really don't follow the standard cliche of your average monsters -- because these terrifying (bosses especially) creatures are absolutely Horrifying, and most of the time, ugly and grotesque...and have mostly too real AI, as well as vulnerability on any specific section of themselves...



As a final on the solid game - play, a handsome few of the cut - scenes are semi - interactive, in a button mashing/combo sense, which basically never allows you a moment's rest, even when the cinematic mode starts...

Graphical Appearance:

Here, there isn't much to say, except that the graphics' unsettling appearance, with that touch of dreary, brown and gray fog, finish off the final presentation with a fantastic looking, and chilling, at some moments, exceptional graphical appearance...

Even by today's standards, these immersive environments, and believable characters, never leave a dull moment for the player's lust for hauntingly realistic sets and scenes...

Final Conclusion:

Everything ties together in the end, well, maybe not everything, story - wise, after all, there's got to be a resident evil 5, now, doesn't there?



So without further ado, get this game if you like either, Action RPG'S with a few tactical elements here and there, survival horror games with some good action in between the rather diverse scares, or plain ACTION games -- it works either way, and will never leave you board, even after you put down the controller (or keyboard) at the end, because there is nearly always more content to unlock: new costumes, missions, weapons, gamemodes, ETC...you name it!

Graphics: 9/10

Story: 9/10

Gameplay: 10/10

AI: 9.5/10

Re - Playability: 10/10

Conclusion: 9.8/10

-- Sir Mordred

(P.S. Leon S. Kennedy, is now one of my new favorite Action/Paranormal Characters -- he is that awesome in Resident Evil 4)