This is the most relentlessly thrilling, tightly controlled, and awe-inspiring game ever made.
Then Resident Evil 4 came out in January of 2005. I was quite happy with my plethora of PS2 and Xbox games, but when I saw the video review on Gamespot, my heart began pounding violently. After watching that video three times in a row, and seeing the brilliance of the gameplay, I knew I had to buy a 'cube, a memory card, and Resident Evil 4.
To this day, I feel bad for every minute I don't spend playing the game, after two good playthroughs. As Greg Kasavin has said it, this game feels 2 or 3 years ahead of its time. In this era of plagiarism, where FPS multiply exponentially, and RPGs are more and more the same, not to mention those cursed EA games, with companies using the same game engine on several games, Capcom went bold, truly bold, and created something new, something fresh.
It is not only because of its originality that the game shines, however. It is because from the first time you fire a bullet at a target to the last, it feels right. It feels satisfying. The hit-detection along with the animation of the enemies make Resident Evil feel like the pinnacle of light-gun type games. The shooting, and there is a whole lot of it, is perfect. It is indeed ahead of its time.
But Resident Evil 4 is not just about the shooting. The incredible graphics, combined with the enthralling enemy design, world design, and mission design combine to create a game all on its own. It lasts for a solid 20 hours also, and never once does this time seem artificially prolonged, either by backtracking, stupid quests, or nonsense. If the game only lasted 10 hours, I would've been in bliss, but Capcom went the extra mile and delivered a full 20 hours of mind-bending adventure.
I shouted out of fright, I cursed, I sweat, I laughed, all while playing with amazement in my eyes. I am primarily drawn to RPGs, or story-driven games, mostly for the complete experience these games provide. Resident Evil 4 didn't need a convoluted stories with many characters to make me feel engaged. Rather, Resident Evil 4 delivers its experience right through the veins, exciting the senses in a raw, animal, instinctual manner. It feels so good. It feels so tight. It feels so perfect.
If you have yet to play Resident Evil 4, for any reason whatsoever, stop what you are doing and purchase it now. Now that it is also available for the PS2, there is no reason you cannot play it. I have only played the Gamecube version (again, I bought my Gamecube solely for this), and it is hard for me to imagine the game playing better with the Dualshock controller of the PS2 than the GC controller, as the latter seems configured precisely to work with Resident Evil 4.
In any event, this is the gaming experience of a lifetime. You should not miss it.