By Sebastian Isaac-Gooden

Resident Evil. The name brings different things to the minds of different people. Some think of it as the game series that defined the survival horror genre. Some think of it as a series too scary for them. And some think of it as the game with that royal lady. It is some of these things, but it is so much more, and the perfect introduction is Resident Evil 4.

Resident Evil 4 is one of the greatest games of all time. It’s ‘96’ rating on Metacritic is well deserved. This game is a blast, sometimes literally. Released in 2005, the game follows Special Agent Leon Kennedy on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter from a village in Spain. However, all is not as it seems, because all the villagers are immediately hostile towards Leon, and some alien parasites are involved. 

The game offered several, at the time, groundbreaking mechanics such as the over-the-shoulder camera, the ability to organize your inventory and upgrade your weapons, and being able to shoot specific areas on the bodies of your opponents. These all add to the game in unique ways. The earlier games in the series make you feel as if you’re playing a horror movie, keeping a tense atmosphere throughout, whereas Resident Evil 4 makes you feel as if you’ve been thrown into a massive blockbuster action movie with a sense of tension that is entirely unique. It keeps you on the edge of your seat without delving into straight-up horror. 

However, this is not to say that the game doesn’t have a sense of humour. The Resident Evil series has always firmly planted itself into B movie territory, and this game is no different. Leon constantly makes jokes about his situation, and the game never lets you take its main villains too seriously. 

The visuals are also impressive, especially for 2005. The developers at Capcom, the studio and publisher, used motion capture to use for the movements during cutscenes. This gives the game’s movements a sense of realism and keeps the animation from looking awkward and aging badly. The facial expressions were also painstakingly sculpted, each expression at a time.

However, all these qualities mean nothing if the gameplay isn’t enjoyable, and luckily, the gameplay is solid. The at-the-time groundbreaking mechanics and overall pace give an enjoyable gameplay experience with rewarding payoffs and not too scarce checkpoints.

Overall, Resident Evil 4 is an entertaining experience and is one of the games that has been ported to the highest number of consoles, with 12 ports. You can buy it for approximately 20 dollars on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, GameCube, Wii, and Switch. That’s why Resident Evil 4 is an old-school masterpiece that you should play.