VGR Resident Evil 4

Okay guys (and gals)...
This is it...
Episode 4.
This is the review people will probably disagree with me on...

Resident Evil 4 is a very well received game, everybody loves it, it even did receive some awards!
It "reinvented" the franchise, but is it true to its roots?
This game marked the big jump for this popular Capcom series in term of RE's plot, gameplay and feel.

I, for one, like to give any game its fair chances, and I'm not completly against changes and the evolution of a gaming series. As long as it follows the series' spirits and don't spit on the face of older fans who helped build the franchise's reputation and were there since the beginning...

Prepare for a very long, in-depth, review!

Also: Don't miss out my previous Resident Evil reviews! You can find them by using the VGR button link above! See my take on the earlier parts of the series~

VGR: Resident Evil 4
From Capcom
Played on Wii
Also available on Gamecube, PS2 and PC

Type Survival Horror
Year 2005/07

Leon is back...in SPAIN!!

Capcom started working on Resident Evil 4 long before the project of RE Zero started out...

Resident Evil, like RE2 (I'm gonna quote this one a lot, so have a look at its review beforehand ;) 'kay?) is a game that evolved a lot during its production and almost ended up like a completly different game at various points.
It started production during the Dreamcast era of the RE games, a team of Capcom even went to Europe for inspiration and research (or "disguised vacation??...), but since after Code Veronica the days ahead of the Dream' were numbered the project kind of died there...
Then it was reborn on the PS2. The game was beginning to take form this time. It featured Leon returning to the series after his original Resident Evil 2 appearance, the story was taking place somewhere in Europe, this time not featuring cities and facilities but castles and forrests... Then an exclusivity contract was made with Nintendo and all "main" Resident Evil games had to come out on the Gamecube... To keep all this work, this project changed radically. It became a more action-oriented game, the zombies evolved into demons, gameplay changed a lot and it finally came out as Devil May Cry.

Resident Evil 4 started all over once again as a Gamecube title this time.
But now the goal was completly different.
Capcom made a deal with Nintendo. They were supposed to make 5 exclusive titles, and as a throwback to the original 8 bits Capcom/Nintendo days, they would be aimed specially to hardcore gamers, more difficult, quite long and old school arcad-ysh.
Thus was born the Capcom 5 project. 
Resident Evil 4 would be part of this series, so would 4 original games; P.N.03 (a 3rd person action game), Killer7 (a very stylized FPS), Dead Phoenix (a Panzer Dragoon-like shooter) and Viewtiful Joe (a 3D old school sidescroller). All had very original concepts and directions. 
Dead Phoenix would sadly be canceled...but at least the 5th Capcom 5 would see the day (in my eyes) as a 2nd Viewtiful Joe game!

(it is funny to note that all these games were ported later on the PS2, except PN03...well they're still old school NES-like difficult and all..but it's kinda sad for the Nintendo/Capcom-throwback...) 
(bis: Also I plan to review some other of these Capcom 5 titles at some point!)

Killing peasants in Europe: The Video Game.

Alright, enough with the introduction and background, now to the review~


So Resident Evil 4 is at the same time a reinvention of the Resident Evil formula, an evolution in the series from a plot perspective and one of the Capcom 5 games, a game aimed at an older crowd who likes challenges... How did it turn out?

You're gonna hear that a lot...

You play as Leon Kennedy, who wasn't seen around since RE2.
He was now a secret agent, having survived the events of Raccoon City.

The story starts off quickly, the president's daughter, Ashley, as kidnapped by a very mysterious cult. Leon tracked them down to (and I quote) "somewhere, a location in Europe(...)" where everybody speaks spanish. This doesn't leave us with many possibilities, not like South America. Leon goes to Spain.
There, as soon as he arrived, his team lost contact with him, agents get killed and the local folks, acting pretty weird, attacks blindly Leon...

Are they zombies?!

Nope, no zombies to be found in this game, at least not your regular zombies.
You see this plague turn people into obendient "slaves", but they're not your usual flesh-eating corpses...
They capture you and try to hold Ashley prisoner, but it's not your brains they want..

The game still uses the dual character system that has been sort of present since RE1.
This time you'll play as Leon through your adventure and Ashley will tag along at different points, but unlike Rebecca/Billy in RE0, she won't defend herself and you'll have to protect her. And like Sherri in RE2, which had Leon as well, you'll even play a little portion from her perspective.

 EXTREME ACTION!!

So, Resident Evil 4 doesn't have a plot directly related to the previous games (like, say, RE0, RE1, RE2, RECV in this order) but the rest's not very different from past games...is it?

Well, no.
This episode already feels disconnected to the series because of its settings and enemies..and it is also the game were the big changes are made in the gameplay..
The game now uses a 3rd person perspective instead of the classic "cinematic presentation" of past episodes.
It still plays mostly the same, you stand stopped on your feet to shoot, you can quick turn (Action+backwards, like usual), you can combine objects (herbs, weapons..), you can interact with objects and places (see paintings, activate devices, trigger stuff...) and most of the classic RE gameplay..but from an over the shoulder point of view this time!

This really helps see the surroundings better, be involved "in the story" a lot more...
And it's easier to aim and shoot enemies too.
I'll be honest with you guys..
I tried to hate it..from the go, I tried to dislike how different this Resident Evil seemed to be, all the changes.. but in the end, honestly, I liked it. It grew up on me. And I can understand why everybody likes this game...

But this made me realize how the real problem disctracted me from loving this one as much as Code Veronica or Zero...

What are you buying?!?

Resident Evil 4 is aiming at a more mature audience. It takes itself very seriously this time.
The whole game looks more realistic than any other before... The foes are more violent (2 or 3 guys in the game will come at you with a chainsaw, running..they can kill you in one hit, decapitate you...you'll hear and fear them coming...), the atmosphere is more stressful, Leon and Ashley look more interesting and complexes than past characters, the acting's great and the music perfectly creepy...

Then it uses silly less realistic mecanics than other past Resident Evil games...
Forget the "magic teleporting boxes" from the original games... This time you'll find money, objects and stuff from the enemies you'll kill... Oh and they disappear now too.
And you can finally buy stuff in a Resident Evil now. You don't have to be careful about your weapons.. you can just buy some at your "magical teleporting merchant" (you can kill the guy...he'll just reappear in a later point of the game).
You tought the twins in Code Veronica or the leeches master in Zero was crazy? The plot is crazier this time too. The game can take itself as seriously as it wants, but the Napoleon-like local dictator and his army of monks will always make me smile~
Oh, and I thought (as described in past games) the Red and Green herbs properties were a speciality of Raccoon City (developed by Natives many moons ago)...But they can be found just fine in Spain too.

On the good side, Leon was transformed from his rookie cop persona into a super-invicible-extreme-badass hero. He can jump from roofs, bell tower, through windows, explode zombie heads (oops, I meant peasant heads) with his feet, punch large groups of people to death, survive explosions and blow up a whole organisation just fine...
He's almost a perfect 90s comic book hero now! :P

Meet the hidden side of Resident Evil 4...at the end of her gun!

At least the game's fun to play!
But maybe..too much fun...
For, you see, it isn't quite challenging, specially for being one of the Capcom 5 games!
The enemies are killed easily and don't do much damage, you'll always restart not far from where you'll die (with all the checkpoints and whatnot!) and the puzzles...
A very important aspect of the franchise in my opinion, that was very neglected in RE4...
I only saw, like, 2 real puzzles in this game.. (one in a cemetary and another one in a labyrinth). And they're solved pretty quickly...
After the more difficult entries, like RECV and RE0, this one fell a bit on the easy side...
Never I was stopped, blocked or had to let the game aside for a while... and I only play on the hard difficulties.
It's a very easy game. You will always progress and never stagnate (but it can be a good point for more nervous modern gamers).

Worry not, cause it has a pretty long campaign.
The story is long, the levels are many and huge..yes, it is still an exploration/open-like game but a bit more straighforward than the previous installments. And divised not in "levels" per see, but more like "chapters" that will open more areas and advance the plot.

And there is a lot of replay value.
You can collect figurines of the characters in mini-game bonus shooting contests.
You can try different difficulties.
There's also other modes like the usual Mercenary arcad-ysh mode.
And the Wii port as well as the PS2 port added more content...
You'll be able to play the side story of Ada Wong, another Resident Evil 2 returning character. And much like the A and B scenario in RE2, you'll go through the same places and see the events happening simultaneously, and using your save, you'll experience these events as you made them turn out to be like. She also has a little own arcad-ysh mode taking place around the events of the game (using recycled places from the main game).

Overall, it's quite a different game from any of the other Resident Evil games.
The gameplay is a nice change, not an improvement or step backwards. But another take on what the past games used to be like.
The graphics look great, even if a bit dull sometimes... Let's just say the story doesn't take place on a very shiny day. At least, everything's well detailed and the protagonists and antagonists look quite realistic and alive. 

The game is not bad. But I do have my problems with it...
It changed lots of stuff in the feel of the game and is also a separate unrelated story...
My main problem is that it tries too much at the same time and fails at some basic elements...
The game isn't scary anymore.. Monsters and creatures as many as they can be or huge as some are, they don't pose much problem... You never run out of ammo, never have problems of health... And if you die at a boss, you can just buy a bazooka (which kills all enemies, peasants or bosses in ONE HIT. ONE HIT!!) for the next try...
The puzzles are almost non-existant... The challenge, which for this Capcom Five series was the main goal, is barely there...
I personally zip through the game in a breeze... it took me a lot of time (like 70 hours-ysh) because there's lots to see, and many things to do, but not because it was difficult. Kinda like watching our current mainstream blockbusters. Sure it takes you long (2-3 hours nowadays...-sigh-) but it's not like you'll have to think a lot about it, use some of your grey matter like a good book.

Resident Evil 4 offers nice ideas, new stuff..but feels kind of detached from the whole series... sadly it's the direction Capcom chose to take the franchise from now on.
One great thing about the game is the feeling you'll have of it.
Sure, peasants running at you with forks and such screaming stuff in spanish may be funny..but the grey-ysh tone of the game, the calm moments, the stressful quick time events here and there and great soundtrack & voice acting give this game a very disturbing feel.
Not very Resident Evil-like (running for your lives, being scared the hell out of your shoes, gory/violent bosses and monsters, the voices and steps of the monsters coming at you from out of the screen...) but good though~

It seems a better evolution of the series should have been something closer to the Ubisoft game Cold Fear.
(keep an eye out on this blog for this one...)
Closer to past RE games, using the same tone, gameplay and feel with adding a few modern touches here and there.

The Wii version seems to be the best port (in terms of graphics, content and controls, well improved specially for the motion controllers). The original Gamecube one has the less bonuses (but nice graphics) and the PS2 is has nice add-ons but clumsy visuals...

I give it:

 2 / 3 Quacks!

VGR Red Dead Revolver

With the release of a new Old West game, something that doesn't happen that much like say WW2 or modern spy themed games, I decided to put on a review of a little cult favorite of mine.

This is a review about the original Red Dead Revolver, not the new sequel on Xbob360 or PS3.
I didn't buy the new one nor plan to try it right away...
It seems like a pretty decend new Old West game, but kinda far from what the original game was, its original "spirit". More like surfing on a little cult game...
The should rather call it under a new name. (since it isn't the same kind of game). I would have been more motivated in Red Dead Redemption if they would have used a new name! (were they afraid of competitors games' reputation? like Call of Juarez and Gun? maybe.. so they turned their game into a fake Red Dead 2)

Anyway, we kinda got sidetracked... Back on the 2004 game now.

Game: Red Dead Revolver
By Rockstar/Rockstar San Diego
Played on Xbox
Also available on PS2
 
Type 3rd Person Shooter/Arcade
From 2004

I've always loved the Western/old west genre. Yep.
Yes, it kind sound strange but I do love Scifi, B movies, horror movies, slashers, monster movies, kaiju flicks, adventure/action ones, 80s/90s blockbusters, Chanbara movies AND Westerns! Strange mix? I would rather say wide range of tastes : P

Anyways...
I like Old West, it's a pretty fun and entertaining genre which offers a lot of original stories and type of characters!
But it's also a genre that hasn't been very much used in gamings! We play games taking place in either our "current" world or the future most of the time.
And with the past, we prefer war-filled themes of World War, or Age of Empires, or anywhere along those lines..

But lately, since the 2000s, there's been a handful of Old West games.
The Gun or Call of Juarez series have been using a John Wayne-type of Western.

His name's Red. And he ain't here to kid' around...

For the Gamecube and the PS2, Capcom started working in the early 2000s on a Old West game.
Yes. Capcom. Check it out!
But it was around Capcom's financial problems. When they canceled a bunch of other future would-be hits. Like Dead Phoenix, a Capcom 5 game, but we'll discuss more on that on a future Blog post...
The game was gonna be a japanese take on Spagetti Western, something pretty fun since the other Old West games are more based on the John Wayne-western. Plus it was a japanese game so it would be pretty unique for the genre, a bit more arcade for sure!
Then Capcom canceled it.
Very sad news that day...
The game was very advanced in its development. But you gotta understand...
They had financial problems, the game wasn't a big blockbuster game and it surely wouldn't be a huge success in japan.

However, like the name of the other canceled game previously mentioned, it raised again like a Dead Phoenix!
Rockstar games bought the project in development, all the work done so far & everything else around it (the engine, the IP, etc..).
Yes. Rockstar finished the game!
The content was mostly over anyway.
Red Dead Revolver came out finally on Xbox and PS2!

The game was well received by critics (even if they nitpicked some little details), it has since became a cult favorite!
But like many other games of that time, it didn't sold that much and was a bit ignored for more mainstream series.
(it was a time when many great underrated games went totally ignored for new Marios or Sonics... like Psychonauts, Billy Hatcher, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Beyond Good & Evil...)

The Magnificent Five

So... We just talked about the story around the game.
Now, the story of the game itself!

You play as Red Harlow. A bounty hunter on the hunt of evil Governor Griffin, responsible for his parents death alongside a General Diego and a Colonel Dare.
The game is pretty unique in its gameplay, it tries not be be repetitive with many original levels such as the attack of a train, a bridge to blow up and mines to explore.

Plus you'll get to play with many unique character, the game changing characters each chapter for the story.
You'll play Red when he's a kid, later as a bounty hunter on various bounties and later trying to find Griff and Diego, but also the characters that will be joining him in his quest of vengeance and justice.
Such as Annie Stoakes, a kickass "cowgirl" (not that kind!), Jack Swift, a badass English gunman, Shadow Wolf, Red's native half brother and a US Army soldier just known as Buffalo Soldier.
Each character play a bit differently from Red. Be it different weapons or gimmick.

Yes gimmick, main character Red has a special ability.
Called Dead Eye, it's used for duels, a slow mode/bullet time allowing the player to aim at different places on the enemies or multiple targets.
Very fun and quite effective, it charges slowly, so you don't over uses it, each time being quite unique and not too much gimmick-y as well.

The man who shoots faster than his shadow... with his Dead Eye.

So, how exactly was Red Dead any different from any other and future Old West game?
Well, champ', easy answer.
The game was originally a japanese Old West game! It wasn't designed as a big immersive 100+ hours world, nor as a first person shooter game. It was a pure arcade game!
Rockstar mainly finished texturing/level designing/coding/story telling and testing the product!
It kept his "core" experience.
There's score/money (to buy better weapons during levels) for kills and speed.
The game's based around original fun levels. Something you'd want to replay.

The setting is that of spaghetti westerns.
The characters are pastiches of the spaghetti western genre. Red's the typical "Man with no name"/Clint Eastwood character. There's the strong native brother, the southern and northern soldiers, the southern belle dangerous with a gun, the rotten governor and many others!
The music is also perfect!
I'm glad Rockstar bought so many old songs from spaghetti western composers, such as Ennio Morricone.
The theme song, from Lo Chiamavano King by Luis Bacalov is forever one of my favorite Western tunes now!

You'll travel a lot of visually different places, from ghost towns to cemeteries and many more!

But the game isn't without his problems.
The game is a bit grey/grainy. Which people criticised back then.
The dust & scratches effects are present and look great, but it could be a bit more detailled and colorful.
The models aren't that great, animation and details-wise, which for 2004 should and could be a bit better!
I'm okay with playing old 3D and less "next gen" games. But for 2004, it could be a bit better!
However, have in mind it was a early 2000s Capcom Arcade game at heart.

There's a multiplayer, but I never really bothered with that much... Only tried it once or twice..
There's the classic deathmatches, team/free for all fighting modes you'd expect from Quake 3 or Unreal...

Overall, it's a very fun experience!
I'd say, if you're a bit interested in a different Old West game, Capcom arcade games or just something for your PS2/Xbox. Try it!

The story is original, the character unique and the gameplay actually pretty good!
Riding a horse, a bull, attacking a train, duelling under the sun in the street... The game is never dull!

My only complaint is that you need to create a new game to replay through old levels...
There's a bounty mode (aka Mission mode) were you're allowed to replay any level you want. But not all of them (mostly Red's) and with very specific goals in game (under 3 minutes, protect someone, don't do something...)

I really like this one, a cult favorite of mine. But it has its flaws and isn't the "best perfect game evaahh"!
The music, settings and general mood is what I like the most in this one.

You can play it with the Xbox 360 (like me!) but since the last Retro-compatibility patch (as of today) it has been a bit buggy in textures... Nothing that awful, mind you.
But there's a little glitch during a boss fight (google it!) that can freeze the game! Nothing impossible however, don't worry.

Anyway, it's a great arcade spaghetti western game, and how many of those is there anway??

I give it:

 2 / 3 Quacks!

What did ya play this weekend??

Hey gang!
How was your weekend?

Here's a new feature - from time to time on Mondays, I'll ask you what you've played/read/watched/etc.. and tell you what I did as well!

Don't be afraid to use the comments section, it doesn't bite! Plus it's simple to use~

This is my own weekend-selection and o- waaaAAIIT! Why is there only CAPCOMTM games?!

Those are the games I've mostly played this weekend : P
As you can see... Waaaaait, what?! Only Capcom games?? I didn't plan that! It just seems like I did it, logically!

I've been playing lots of Super Street Fighter 4, like so many others.
I've always been a big fan of fighting games (as you may already guessed from some of my older posts) amd this SSF4 is a nice overhaul of last year's Street Fighter 4!

Now, Fighting Street or Street Fighter 1 is a strange yet addictivie oldie.
I have a review about this one coming up, so wait and see~

I've also been playing some gamecube games, thanks for the wii retrocompatibility (hey! I already have to much systems plugged in my tv!). Those 3 are part of the "Capcom five" project, more on that on the future review of Resident Evil Zero maybe. But I'll have to publish the Resident Evil Code Veronica review first.
Viewtiful Joe and P.N.03 are very original and fun games.
I've been playing those 3 games for a while, alternating between them from time to time.
Viewtiful Joe is very hard, old school 8 Bit hard! P.N.03 is easier but I find myself on this one during small playthrough every now and then, to keep it fresh.
Resident Evil 0 is strangely pretty difficult and needs a bit of adaptation over the original Resident Evil games...

Well, that's for me, what have you guys and gals been doing? Write/comment/answer in the comments below!

Resident Evil review
Resident Evil 2 review
Resident Evil 3 review