Resident Evil 4

I don't know why I'm surprised, but dang. This game truly is the masterpiece everyone said it was.

I played the (excellent) HD Project mod on my PC (with a controller).

Something that I think caught me off-guard was the fact that this is way more of an action game than I expected. I'd heard that was the case, yes, but I suppose I still thought it'd be "Resident Evil" under-the-hood. Instead it's a fairly linear romp that has RE-aesthetics and trappings, yes, but plays way more like a predecessor to Uncharted than I'd predicted. Combat is constant and ammo is plentiful, you're pretty much always making forward progress and the puzzles, while not nonexistent, feel like they're only there because that's what the series is known for. They're pretty much all your standard "put item you just picked up in slot you just walked by".

There's no storage chest in this as it's effectively been replaced with the merchant. That may seem like an odd replacement, but you have enough room in your attache case for everything you might want to lug around and you can sell off anything else at one of numerous merchant locations to keep your inventory from getting too full. This change is a smart one as it keeps you focused on the items that you actually care about rather than the constant back-and-forth ferrying you'd typically be doing in a traditional Resident Evil game.

While you still save your game at typewriters, there aren't ink ribbons any more and checkpoints are frequent enough that I could play it far less safe and not need to worry about losing an hour of progress. You can also save your game at the end of each chapter, which I did, making the in-game typewriters almost superfluous.

The pace of the combat feels reminiscent of one of the lightgun games (or, even, Gaiden). Aiming is somewhat awkward, yes, but it's almost never an issue. Enemies will make their presence known but once they're within a certain distance their speed slows dramatically and they'll trudge towards you at a slow enough pace for you to line up headshots. Moving your reticle around is slow, yes, but enemies are slower so the controls never get in the way of the action. There's a satisfying "pop" to headshots and about half of your enemies will drop useful items or currency so the constant feedback and rewards are incredibly satisfying.

One segment of the game has you ride down a minecart like something out of Donkey Kong Country and shortly after you need to ascend a tower while enemies throw barrels at you down staircases like the original Donkey Kong. Between those two sequences there's also a bit where you run away from a giant mech shaped like the villain. This is a video game.

I love video games.

The quicktime events and button-mashing are relics of their time that can be... annoying to deal with and despite how linear the game was I still felt lost a handful of times, but for the most part this game is darn near perfect. I feel like coming up with more complaints would just be nitpicking, this game really is that good.

But wait, there's more!

I played through Separate Ways, the Ada sub-campaign, and found it mostly enjoyable. It's largely just a quick-and-dirty retread of events and enemies from the base game but it's not bad by any means. Ada's always been a likeable character so putting the focus on her makes for a nice change but I feel it doesn't differentiate itself enough from the main campaign. Revisiting events from the main campaign from a new perspective has some appeal as it reminds me a bit of the earlier games' multiple protagonists, but overall I don't have a whole lot more to say about it. It's a fun mini-version of the standard game, complete with its own accelerated progression curve, and that's about it.

I also played Assignment Ada, which I thought was fine but forgettable, and a (very small) bit of The Mercenaries, which seems neat but also isn't something that interests me much right now. If I felt like sinking more time into this game, maybe, but for now I've got a pace I want to keep up with my marathon so it's onto the next game for me.

I played this on PC with the RE4 HD Project mod and greatly enjoyed it, but I'm thinking that whenever I end up inevitably replaying it (it's SO GOOD) I'll give the Wii version a shot. Given how this already feels paced like a lightgun game motion controls seem like they'd be a perfect fit.

For some closing thoughts, this game is incredible. One thing I've failed to mention is that it especially stands out because of the way I've been playing these games. Coming hot on the heels of the Outbreak games and Silent Hill 4, which each also had their own takes on escort missions, the ease with which you can manage Ashley here is a welcome relief. She almost never gets in the way despite there being long portions of the game where you need to keep her safe. Also, while there are some aspects that feel a slight bit dated or archaic, nothing about this game feels bad. The slow movement and aiming all feels deliberate and easy enough to wrap your head around.

I don't know how many ways I have to say this but I absolutely adored this game and totally understand what all of the hype was about. I still have a ton of stuff to get through before I'll be able to have an opinion on it, but I'm eagerly looking forward to playing the remake of this because, by some accounts, it's even better than this.