| E3 2004 Coverage > Resident Evil 4 |
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| Resident Evil 4 |
Resident Evil 4 and this write-up are intended for mature audiences. Both include depictions of extreme violence and gore.
"Six years have passed since that horrendous incident."
Those words, spoken so plainly by Leon S. Kennedy, carry the weight of the Resident Evil series. Resident Evil 2, considered by many fans the pinnacle of the series, introduced players to Leon as a young, ambitious cop caught up in the a zombie-infested Raccoon City. Not coincidentally, 1998 was the release year of Resident Evil 2. In the above quote, the development team at Capcom speaks through Leon. They boldly imply, "You may have experienced something horrendously entertaining six years ago, but Resident Evil 4 will show you things you haven't seen before, things that defy nature. And when people toy with Mother Nature, she doesn't play softball."
It is with that gargantuan promise that Resident Evil 4 begins. As Leon steps out of his escort car, the drivers chide him for his "pretty boy" looks. Leon ignores them, partially because of confidence, partially because of focus. He has been sent on a one-man mission to find the President's daughter, Ashley Graham, who has been kidnapped and taken to a secluded rural village in Europe. It is here that the player takes control of Leon.
| Controller Input | Action |
| Analog Stick | Movement and aiming |
| C-Stick | Slight camera angle adjustments |
| A Button | Context-sensitive action (shoot, jump through windows, etc.) |
| B Button | Hold to run or press back on analog stick and b for quick turn |
| X Button | Inventory |
| R Trigger | Hold to aim |
| Z Button | Reload (redundant) |
| D-Pad | Major camera adjustments |
| Start Button | Map |
The effects of the new camera system strike the player immediately. As Leon walks, the camera follows cleanly four feet behind and slightly above Leon's right shoulder. From this perspective, "tank" controls and "Super Mario 64" controls act similarly. The camera's "forward" is the character's "forward," as are all other directions. This clever technique has allowed Resident Evil to keep its signature control scheme while appeasing players more comfortable with camera-based controls. When the player requires precise aiming, the camera cooperates by zooming in over Leon's shoulder. When the player needs to get out of a situation quickly, the camera zooms out to show a wider part of the environment as Leon runs. It's smooth, it's responsive, and it feels right.
Leon's character model, a constant figure of the game, is simply breathtaking. Leon is made of an abundant amount of polygons, and it shows in the complexities of his face, the individual joints of his fingers, and the curls of his ear. High resolution textures give Leon's jacket amazing depth, from its distinct seams to its subtle grain. No detail has been spared. Pockets line the legs of Leon's pants. A buckle adorns the lower part of Leon's jacket. The jacket zipper comes equipped with teeth, slider, and pull tab. Every element is complimented by the amazing lighting, which reacts dynamically to the direction, color, and intensity of the light source.
A great model is nothing without decent animation, and Resident Evil 4 delivers in spades. Leon moves with grace as he runs, with caution as he walks, and with poise as he aims his gun. His hair reacts realistically to sudden movements such as the turn of his head or the kick from a gunshot. Leon's pants even react realistically to the angle of his knee. Put together, these elements form a new standard in character modeling and animation.
Enter the Survival Horror...
The first encounter with the villagers provides more questions than answers. A man staring into a lit fireplace ignores Leon's questions regarding the President's daughter, gravely whispering, "No ha debido venir aqu." One question is answered: this is Spain, and the bearded man just told Leon, "You shouldn't have come here." The man swings his axe at Leon's head, but Leon's swiftness allows him to roll out of the way. After defending himself from the bearded man, Leon finds a cupboard stocked with human skulls under the staircase. From inside, Leon hears the desperate screams of his police escorts.
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| Sniping some strokes with the handgun. |
Stuck in a house with three menacing villagers waiting outside, the player is given a choice: side window or second floor window? The side window gives Leon some space between himself and the pitchfork-toting group, but it's a small area that might result in Leon being cornered. The second floor gives Leon a chance at some difficult sniping shots with the handgun, but jumping out of the second-story window will land him right in the middle of the crowd. The villagers are pounding on the door, and the player is left to figure out how to survive.
This initial test gives Leon a chance to show off some of his new combat abilities. The three static aiming states (up, forward, and down) have been replaced with a fully analog system. The default was not set to vertically invert aiming, but this was quickly fixed in the options menu. In a welcome addition to video games in general, Resident Evil 4 encourages players to aim for areas other than the enemy's head. A running villager shot in the leg falls to the ground, opening him up for an easy kill. Shooting a villager's arm while he brandishes an axe will cause him to drop his weapon. In fact, one of the most rewarding experiences of the E3 demo was shooting down the first axe flying toward Leon's head. If a villager happens to get too close for comfort, Leon can knock him to the ground with a powerful roundhouse kick.
Unfortunately for Leon, his new abilities are balanced by the incredible increase in the ferocity, speed, and intelligence of his enemies. Villagers do not wait to get within striking distance of Leon--they run to flank him and surround him. A villager with the aiming laser painted on his face won't stand idly. He'll dodge or he'll cover his head with his arms as he approaches Leon. The experience of this new balance is truly exhilarating-with every feeling of confidence comes the despair of being completely overwhelmed. After dealing with the initial band of enemies, Leon walks slowly through the trees toward the main village.
Something Wicked this Way Comes
The path leading to the village center gives the player time to appreciate the immense amount of work that went into the environments of Resident Evil 4. Fences and bridges are modeled with every piece of wood in mind. The forest is dense with trees, but their grey, bear limbs speak of autumn's death. The fallen leaves mix with the foreboding shadows of the forest, and a thick brown fog rolls across the path. Even the grotesque is treated with equal care and detail. In one of the shacks lining the path, a completely disfigured woman hangs on a wall, a pitchfork through her head. Leon remarks, "I see they don't practice gender discrimination here," but the cleverness is drowned out by the morose atmosphere. The visuals are augmented by a very nice grain filter, giving the forest an extra coat of grit.
Along the path wait small groups of villagers, scouts and perimeter defenses hoping to fend off curious intruders. As Leon nears the center of activity, a systematic effort to defend the village from outsiders becomes apparent. Trip wires trigger nearby dynamite. Bear traps are carefully hidden in brush-covered areas. Even the thick brush is worthy of note. It appears not as a single, blurry texture, but as a tangle of clear, wiry bushes. It may not seem like a big difference, but it's the difference between something being in an environment and something being put in an environment by a development team. In one of these traps, a wolf is caught. Leon can help the wolf escape with the hope that it will eventually help him out. Unfortunately, when Leon gets caught in a trap himself, the wolf returns to attack the wounded Leon. Even when Leon gets caught in one of these traps, the camera chooses a dramatic and useful perspective, simultaneously showing the source and the feeling of Leon's pain.
In a quiet moment among the trees, the player can explore the revamped item interface. The most obvious shift for the series is Leon's ability to carry an unrestricted number of items. This has allowed Capcom to remove the magical item boxes of previous Resident Evils. In the dilapidated shacks, wooden boxes hide items such as herbs and ammo. A typewriter is tucked away into the corner of one shack, but the E3 demo (for obvious reasons) did not allow saving. Reloading, previously accomplished by selecting the ammo and combining it with a gun, has been streamlined with the ability to select the gun and choose the "reload" option in the submenu. Leon will still reload his gun automatically, but at the cost of valuable seconds. In a very interesting move, Capcom has included the Spanish coinage, the Peseta, as a cumulative collectable item. It seems plausible that Leon will encounter someone to sell him items or services.
Approaching the town, Leon grabs a magnified view of the village center with his binoculars. Villagers amble about, some tending to animals, others walking about aimlessly. Chickens chase each other, occasionally pecking a bit at the ground. A cow stands calmly in its shelter. All seem ignorant of the fact that Leon's escorts are burning on a stake in the center of town. The technical aspects of the fire are impressive, from the realistic flickering of the flames to the black smoke, but the really striking element is the juxtaposition of the police officers' horrid deaths with the complete apathy of the villagers.
The central village acts as the crucible where all the standout elements of Resident Evil 4 melt together in stew of beautiful panic, satisfying violence, and triumphant fear. Instead of contriving freedom with gameplay trees, Capcom has created a freedom that better simulates life, albeit with the sole objective of survival. With the town as its petree dish, the villagers as its intelligent virus, and Leon as its outnumbered antibody, Capcom has set the stage for a wonderful gameplay experiment. Each encounter is different, and each failure drives the player to try something new.