Resident Evil 4
Review
The fourth installment of the fourth...installment?
by zr122
reviewed on WII
Where is Umbrella?
But what about the zombies! The one thing that seems to be missing from this official fourth installment is the lack of zombies. Sure, you have to deal with hordes of human-shaped enemies, and eventually you will meet some that have weird tentacles bursting out of various parts of their bodies, but you find out relatively fast that these enemies are not the zombies of old. Why is the series going in this direction? Isn't the whole basis of Resident Evil the fact that a virus is turning people into walking undead?
The absence of the Umbrella Corporation is also blindingly obvious. One quick mention in the opening FMV (wherein Leon quickly reviews everything that happened since the beginning of the series) is all that we hear for most of the game. I won't spoil the surprise for those who haven't played the game, but I will bet those of us who have played older versions are laughing right now.
Crazy mutated creatures interested in you as a main course? Check.
Resident Evil 4 features a story that moves forward through chapters. Each chapter has its various plot revelations, new weapons, and bosses. Chapter One features a giant sea creature named Los Lagos. The second has a giant ape-like being whose only weak point is an uncomfortable growth on its back.
The action is evenly spaced out with investigation, however. You seem to spend as much time facing off unending hordes as exploring each area of the map for clues, ammo, and key items, which is a great improvement over the monotonous exploration in the original half dozen games.
Controls
As expected, pointing the Wiimote at your screen and moving it around moves your targeting reticule, but only when in attack mode. The Control Stick on the Nunchuk acts as control for both movement and inventory selections, while the D-pad is only used for menus and reloading.
Being able to aim your weapon is so much more satisfying than moving an analog stick around that auto-selects. Entering aim-mode is as simple as holding down the 'B' button and pressing 'A' fires whichever weapon you have currently equipped. This controller setup works very nicely although it would have been more intuitive to flip the functions around, and have the 'B' button act as the trigger.
Aside from aiming, you can use the Wiimote for various other actions. Certain sequences require waving the Wiimote violently back and forth to shake off enemies that latch onto Leon, or dodging giant falling rocks. Shaking the Wiimote while moving causes Leon to swipe out with his combat knife. Holding the 'C' button while shaking will make his knife do even more damage. The 'Z' button is used to make Leon run, and can work opposite the 'C' button for zooming when viewing the map.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
