Resident Evil 4 finally spooks stores

There's no question that Resident Evil 4 was one of the most anticipated games of 2004. But that all changed in August when, after months of sticking to an ambiguous "winter 2004" release date, Capcom announced that the game would just miss the holiday season and ship on January 11, 2005.

However, once committed, Capcom has stuck to its schedule. Resident Evil 4 has indeed shipped and begun arriving in stores across North America. The ultragory survival horror game is rated M and retails for $49.99. It is currently available only for the GameCube, although a PlayStation 2 version is due later this year.

Set after the events of previous RE installments, Resident Evil 4 follows series protagonist Leon S. Kennedy on an all-new adventure outside Raccoon City, the setting of the most of the previous games. This time around, the US government operative has been sent to a small European village in search of the president's missing daughter. However, since this is a Resident Evil game, he instead finds a town full of strangely hostile inhabitants. So, armed with a variety of firearms and melee weapons, he fights his way through the horde to learn of the first daughter's location and his enemies' origin.

Capcom had been hyping Resident Evil 4 as a "bold and new direction" for the series. Read GameSpot's full review to learn if that is indeed the case.