Quite simply one of the best video games you'll ever play
Of course, you could criticize the controls for being a bit less than ideal, and you could also call attention to the occasionally corny dialogue, but I feel like both of these things would be a bit nitpicky. The controls are excellent once you get the hang of them - the first hour is tough if you usually play games with a faster pace, but once you're used to them, the controls make perfect sense and always feel accurate and responsive.
Those two very minor complaints aside, I have nothing but praise for Resident Evil 4. For those unfamiliar with the game, you play as a cop named Leon who's on a mission to rescue the presiden't daughter, Ashley. Things quickly go very, very wrong though, and as you complete numerous objectives to return her home safely, things seem like they just can't go right for Leon. Thankfully, you have a solid arsenal of weaponry at your disposal, and there are numerous ways to go about surviving this challenging game. While Resident Evil 4 does provide the player with a fair number of weapons, you'll never feel entirely invulnerable - especially during the first half of the game, ammo is scarce and health must be conserved as much as possible. The third-person shooter perspective doesn't change the fact that, at its core, Resident Evil 4 is very much a survival horror game. It's challenging, it's scary, and it's just memorable as hell. This is the sort of game that I'll still be pulling out 20 years from now - it really is that good.
I arrived to the Resident Evil party pretty late, but I'm sure glad I eventually came. Resident Evil 4 is a timeless masterpiece in nearly every sense of the word, and should be experienced by any gamer in search of a game that will keep them glued to the television in sheer terror for weeks on end. Even though this is a Gamecube game, the graphics are still amazing by today's standards, and of course the gameplay is just about as smooth as it comes. Resident Evil 4 is one of the very best games I've ever experienced. It's simply that good.