Resident Evil 4 is a surprisingly good action game with excellent production values and gameplay variety. Its essential.
User Rating: 9.5 | BioHazard 4 GC
After playing Resident Evil 5 with my brother and growing ever so tired of it, I thought I would find number 4 to be just as dull. Luckily I was wrong. Resident Evil 4 is a excellent game with such strong production values and terrific gameplay variety that even if your not a fan of Resident Evil (such as myself) its still a worthy purchase. Firstly the story is very easily followed and is portrayed through several well done cinematics. The voice acting does a good job of giving life to these characters but occasional goofy dialogue ruins it. However the main meat of the game is of course the gameplay and the game does a brilliant job of moving you through the different set pieces. One minute you'll be sniping enemies to defend Ashley as she pulls a switch, another minute you'll be riding a mine cart as hordes of enemies jump on board to attack you. The game never grows stale and there are also quite a few puzzles that help break up the action. There is also a nice amount of strategy involved whether it be deciding what item to buy or what weapon to upgrade or trying to shuffle your items in your case to make more room. On top of that the game features some great boss battles and smart enemy A.I that constantly bombard you and push you to the limits of survival. All of this is topped off with a fantastic graphical presentation with good looking character models, detailed environments and impressive water and lighting effects. However there are a couple of large blurry textures throughout the game although it can be forgiven considering the quality of everything else. The games single player runs at a good 15+ hours and there are plenty of extras to keep you busy, as well as the ability to replay the game with all your gear from your last play through. Simply put Resident Evil 4 is a essential purchase and miles better then the poorly done fifth sequel.
