Well, it took me two weekends to smash RE4 Wii Edition. No walkthroughs and only a little help from 'Ginger' Martin, my 13 year old gaming expert, that I sometimes employ to get me through the most bollock breakingly frustrating parts of games!
And OH! The ecstasy to be found within this title! The awe, the wonder the marvels! You see this game has it all for me. Its a horror survival game. It has elements of a Light Gun game, even though its a third person shooter. Shooting, is a delight and aiming is easy. Heads explode gloriously, and enemies fly back in a most satisfying manner.
You get to solve puzzles, play a mini game... (a rifle range where you can win 'bottle caps', each with a miniature figurine of a game character attached, ... A tad like those damn addictive capsule toys in Shenmue!)
And talking of Shenmue, another common feature to both games is the use of QTEs (or Quick Time Events) that appear at random, and rely on the right Wiimote shaking or A+B button pressing in response to a certain perilous situation. And its got mutants, mutants whose heads explode to reveal a second head, with razor sharp tendrils that can slice you up.
Then theres the pant wettingly scary landscapes and environments, the chilling atmosphere and the oppressive music. Mad monks, in-bred villagers, mutated soldiers, gimp-masked scientists and chainsaw wielding bag ladies! Oh... and did I mention the giants? The monster leviathan like sea creatures, the train rides, the cable car rides, the truck rides, all peppered with psychotic peasants? OH YES!
Then there's our characters... Leon S. Kennedy... Thats right! LEON. S-FUCKING- KENNEDY. Like some rock hard David Beckham (sort of...its the hair!) Leon rules!!!
He's dead cool! He even turns down a shag from the well endowed President's daughter Ashley (after a ball shrinking, sphincter shredding, adrenaline pumping rocket ride on a jet ski whilst avoiding a tidal wave, avalanches and several explosions!!!!) That's 'cos he's in love with Ada Wong!!! (See below...)
What about Salazar? An eighteenth century, decrepit 20 year old, high pitched squealing, midget! Or Ada Wong? A slinky red dress wearing Asian super-spy, with a suspender belt full of gadgetry and weaponry? Or Luiz? A Hispanic, law enforcing, renegade scientist-cop, always after (and failing to get) a coveted cigarette? Or Chief Mendez... the bald headed, beardy, one eyed mutating boss man? Jeez!
OK, rant over! The re-invention of the Resident Evil franchise has been reinvented on the Wii!
Wiimote and Nunchuck have never felt so natural. There are plenty of chances of weapon upgrades (thanks to our good mate, gravel voiced Australian flasher, the Merchant), tons of health regeneration, generous save potential, luscious graphics and sound track, spine chilling atmosphere and treasures galore to be collected.
Gamecube owners were the first to get their hands on this amazing game. PS2 owners got the revamped and upgraded version, with the unlockable Ada Wong missions, ("Separate Ways") -which not only allows you to continue roaming the RE4 world when you've clocked the game, but also allows you to understand what Ada was up to when she disappeared from the main storyline- and now Wii owners have the opportunity to revel once more with the oh so natural Wii control system!
If you own a GC, a PS2 or a Wii, you must play this game. I still rate Shenmue 1 & 2 as my favourite games of all time, but I'm no longer sure why! So many things contribute to a person's enjoyment of a game...
The Dreamcast became an obsession of mine through playing Shenmue. Shenmue, became an obsession of mine because I owned a Dreamcast! The two things have become such a major part of my life, and have generated so much pleasure, that they are the pinnacle of my gaming experience!
However, RE4 has got to be the most playable game I have ever experienced for all the right reasons...
"Little Mart", (middle Ginger), was so encapsulated by the snippets of RE4 Wii that I let him complete for me, that he started, and played through, the PS2 version in 17 hours unlocking EVERY treasure, secret and mystery...
I'm not making any sense whatsoever, and I could just keep on rambling, but the PC screen is giving me a headache and I need to stop. I've still got to add pics and links, so I'll sign off now!
Oh! and for a coherent review look here... For screenshots look here... And for some lovely RE 4 videos look here...
Goodnight dear children wherever you are!
7 comments:
Another fine piece by Father Krishna the Faterly it is then. Excellent work, my friend, excellent and way more innovative -slightly absurdist too- a game review. I'm already sold. I'll go for it asap.
Cheers!
Bloody brilliant review! And bloody brilliant game! Now that I think of it there's just so many things RE4 did in a brilliant way.
We had fucking awesome environments, both varied and über detailed, we had awesome boss fights, awesome weapons, the best knife fight EVER, and I could go on, and on, and on... but I thing I've made my point.
Unfortunately due to my short attention span, along with my giant collection of PS2 games (over 100, I think) that doesn't allow me to concentrate too much on a single game, I just barely finished the main mode, without having the time or patience to complete the other bonus modes. But I still have the save on my memory card, just in case if I want to come back someday.
Anyway, hope RE5 will be just as good.
no need for a coherent review, this one makes me want to dig out Ada Wong all over again.....
..erm...sorry, play Re4 all over again....
bit carried away with the passion of a most excellent review you've written.....
Thankyou for your comments my esteemed bretheren! And thanks for visiting FKWS! i think its beginning to achieve a life of its own!
Cool review. I was playing Resident evil 4 earlier this evening.
OMFG! It's alive!
eeek!.... (runs away.. shouting)
kill it!.. kill It!
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