Resident Evil 4 Preview

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Resident Evil 4 was shown at last years E3. It was a stunning display for Capcom and gamers were salivating at the chance to play the game. However the developers were not happy. They knew that gamers were getting tired of the static controls and gameplay of Resident Evil 4. Sure the version of RE4 shown at last years E3 would have been great but Capcom wanted to do more to keep the franchise alive. When the first scenes of the “new” Resident Evil 4 were shown, gamers were shocked. This didn’t look anything like the Resident Evil we knew before, this was something different.

The first big difference you will notice about the game are the graphics. The graphics are much grittier then any of the previous Resident Evil games. The look of the game has a very strange dirt look where it appears the screen display is very grainy and dirty. But this is intentional by the developers to add to the atmosphere of the game. Another big difference is the way you control Leon now. The game is presented in a strange and unique third person perspective where you are right behind Leon. Imagine looking over someone’s right shoulder while walking through a mall the entire time. This is probably the closest description I can give you for the game’s view.

Even with all of the changes the graphics are incredible. This is the goriest RE game ever. Blood flies everywhere when you shoot someone. The headshots are much more extreme then previous RE games just because of the new presentation with the graphics. The village itself was also amazing in detail with all of the houses in the village having a run down look. But once again imagine seeing the biggest run down building you can think of and multiply that by five and this is RE4. Not even the remake of RE1 on GameCube compares to the brutality and grit that make up the graphics of RE4.

The story of RE4 starts several years after the incidents in RE2. Leon Kennedy has been selected by the President to rescue his kidnapped daughter. When Leon arrives in the city where the President’s daughter is believed to be held, the villagers are acting very strange. As Leon goes into the first house in the village he asks one of the villagers if he’s seen the President’s daughter. The villager yells at Leon to leave but before you can leave the villager attacks Leon. Now Leon has a game of survival (survival horror!) in making it out of the village. All of the villagers are now chasing after Leon, so this isn’t surviving the normal zombies chasing after you. Another big shock was how strong the villagers are. When one of them grabs you, it’s possible they can toss you lack a rag doll.

But Leon isn’t just packing a handgun this time; he has other moves he can use. One of those is a kick attack that he can use to escape the villagers. If a villager attacks you Leon can perform a swing kick to knock several villagers down at a time. Another interesting feature was the ability to shoot at specific body parts of the villagers. If you shoot a villager in the leg, the villager will start holding his leg and then fall down. This is something that hasn’t been done in previous versions. The gun also includes a laser scope that allows you to see where you are shooting. This allows you to try for more head shots or aim for specific body parts.

Resident Evil 4 is starting to become one of my most anticipated games. The brand new graphics, new controls, view perspective and new combat moves all make this a much needed overhaul to the RE4. The video demo on displayed even showed some footage that wasn’t even included in the game demo. Some of this footage had my mouth watering with anticipation. Look for RE4 in November of 2004.

For All E3 2004 Previews