Resident Evil has always been a video game series near and dear to my heart. It was the first game that instilled fear into me as a child and nothing terrified me more than a zombie. We all remember the classic shot from the first game in the Spencer Mansion as Jill watches a zombie feast on one of her S.T.A.R.S. team members and turns to face her. My father played that game in front of me as a child and I never touched the game out of fear and I STILL haven't to this day. I'm less afraid of it now, but it still brings a chill to my spine. I would, however, play RE 2 and RE 3: Nemesis with that one being my favorite of the whole series. Resident Evil 4 came out and I was excited about it. We would step back into the shoes of Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the Raccoon City zombie outbreak and the game was all new territory in location and mechanics.
Leon now works as a special security agent working for the U.S. Government and he is sent on a mission to an unnamed island in Spain to rescue the president's daughter, Ashley Graham who has been kidnapped by a mysterious cult organization. What's different about the whole game is the presentation. I haven't played this game since the years of 2004-2006 but man the graphics have held up. The tank controls are much easier to deal with and the fixed camera angles are gone allowing you deal with large groups of enemies in equally large areas. The camera is instead focused behind Leon for a third person shooter-esque version of that. The only thing is that you can't stay in motion and fire your weapon. It sounds like a terrible oversight of game design but I find that this works well. Whenever you aim your weapon you can a laser sight on wherever your target lands and the aim is steady and accurate.
Yes, you obviously want to move in the opposite direction of enemies and fire to stay safe but this forces you to face your fears head on and defeat them if you want to progress. You can do that with tons of weapons as well via The Merchant. He's a character that appears to Leon that sells weapons (but no ammo) and can upgrade the ones you have in your inventory. You get the classic handguns, magnums, SMGs, shotguns etc. Whatever threat you want to deal with, it can be dealt with. There's also quick time events for Leon to perform special actions such as dodging enemies attacks, particularly bosses or being able to roundhouse kick or suplex enemies in a staggered state.
The changes were fun and made the game feel good. Then...I finally encountered Ashley where the game changes. I'm not the biggest fan of escort missions in games since they're always needlessly insufferable. The escort in question is always fragile and incapable of defending themselves and their AI in the game is always wonky so they end up placing themselves in terrible situations forcing a game over or burning through my resources to save them. Ashley is all of my frustrations of escort missions put into a game. She has much less health than Leon and it can be increased but it literally doesn't matter because she can be killed in two hits by enemies or by one shot from Leon. Game over conditions for Ashley are obviously her death or if she is carried away through a door by an enemy. So naturally in gunfights with numerous enemies, this becomes a problem. One area that has always given me trouble is the Castle chapters. There is a section where cult members armed with shields and maces will attack in droves and you and Ashley have to go to a room with pressure plates, stand on them to raise a crank and go up the bridge. Ashley has been taken from me, killed by my own bullets because an enemy picks her up and makes an awkward turn when going for the door, smashed by a mace countless times because the minute we separate to solve this puzzle, all of the aggro for me instantly shifts to her. I don't know if that's luck or game design but this has happened consistently through every iteration of RE 4 rereleases I've played. Don't get me started on getting through the castle entrance where you have to deal with catapults. Ashley is an interesting idea to do two-person puzzles and there are some genuinely good ideas with her that aren't fully fleshed out but her in-game design is poorly handled and makes it more of a hassle to care for her.
Resident Evil 4 makes for a really fun revisit. It still has tons of replayability. I still finished the game despite my small misgivings for it and I plan to do so again. The game still holds up after 13 years and its right in time to prepare for Resident Evil 7 coming later this month.
