Welcome, What Are Ya Buying?

I probably should have done this post last Monday, and saved the Mega Man 4 post for this week, but what the heck, I'm gonna talk about Resident Evil 4 now.

I've seen people say that if only RE4 had come out sooner, it could have really helped the Gamecube. I guess the thinking is the Gamecube was typecast as the "little kids' games" console, and this gore fest would have disproved that notion. Personally, I don't get the big deal about blood: I mean, if Super Smash Bros. Melee had made it where Link could cut Mario's arm off, with a Kill Bill-esque fountain of blood, would that have somehow improved the game? Perhaps gamers are reaching the stage superhero comic fans are at, where they don't want things to be kiddie-friendly because they want it to be taken seriously? For the record, I don't have a problem with the level of blood and dismemberment in Resident Evil 4, I just don't think that's what defines an "adult" game, or whatever it was people wanted the 'Cube to do more of. End rant.

Resident Evil 4 did not offer anything up in the way of scares, compared to RE2. Maybe it was the camera being improved, so you weren't as likely to get surprised, or maybe I'd just been rendered immune to Resident Evil's powers by Silent Hill 2. With RE4, it was less "walk around a corner and AHHHH!", more that you walked into a room, saw a humongous boss, and went "Oh, crap." It was still a tense game, but in a different way. With Resident Evil 2, it was that expectation of the attack that got me; Resident Evil 4 was more about the difficulty of the challenges I faced. Still a hell of a game though.

I don't know if RE4 is the first game to make cut scenes interactive the way they did. I mean, I'm sure there have been games where you might be asked a question during a cut scene, and your response affected what happened next, but to have cut scenes abruptly become knife fights? Wowzers. I must really like Leon Kennedy, since the only two Resident Evil games I've played starred him. I suppose it was his earnest desire to do good in RE2, and at least some of that has carried over to RE4. He's older, wiser, sees the world a little more clearly now after all the death that surrounded the G-virus (or was it the T-virus?) in Resident Evil 2. Still, he seems to want to believe the best in people, which is probably why Ada can still manipulate him so effectively. She does just enough to help him (because I guess she does like him a little), that Leon keeps giving her the benefit of the doubt, and she's professional enough to take advantage of that.

I like that the plot doesn't seem to involve Umbrella, at least not as the driving force (I suppose Ada could be working for them, I was a little unclear on all the background machinations). I like the Merchant, though I can't helping laughing every time I walk up to him with Ashley in tow. There's something about the way he pulls back his coat in front of the young woman that strikes me as hilarious. 'Welcome', indeed. I can't say I care too much for having to protect Ashley. I know she comes in handy a few times, but I'm always happier when she's caught and I have to find her, than I am when I actually find her and having to protect her. The moves you might make on your own, you can't make with her, because she has to react to you, so if you like to stand in the face of onrushing enemies, blasting away, then dodge at the last moment, don't be too surprised if that last moment isn't long enough for her to avoid taking a mace upside the head. Maybe it should be mandatory that the President's children get trained in the lethal arts of self-defense, so they can better protect themselves?

The creature I really enjoy for some reason is the weird camouflaged bugs. They cloak themselves, Predator style, and you can only see them by these odd lights on their head. Plus, you can usually hear them, for what that's worth. Just don't forget to look up. That's how death happen, you don't watch your major blind spot.

I think my favorite level has to be the mine cart ride. You've already ventured into what looks like an underground temple and squared off against the burlap sack-wearing chainsaw wielders, and the Ceiling of Lowering Spikes, and all sorts of other crap, and now here's a mine cart. You got infected peoples dropping down into the carts as you go, and if you get too busy killing them, you may just miss some vitally important stuff, like boards across the tunnel, and, other stuff.

I heard on X-Play, long ago when I still watched it, that Resident Evil 5 would be like Blackhawk Down. I'm not really sure how excited I would be for that, even assuming it was going to be released on a console I have. I guess as a cooperative game with your buddies, that could be fun, in sort of a Gears of War mode, perhaps? But I wouldn't want to play relying on computer A.I. for my fellow squad guys. Too many bad gaming experiences with that. Granted, they were mostly air combat games, but still, never, ever trust the game to watch your back.

After all, the game isn't just what's on your side, it's what your playing against, and I am a strong believer that the game likes to win as much as I do. It just has more ways to cheat than me. The punk.