“Resident Evil” is back and it’s time for another round of shooting zombies in the head. Or should I say, another round of mindless (pun intended) fun?Anyway, the long running “Resident Evil” series has recently returned to the spotlight as the game’s developer, Capcom, has released “Resident Evil 4” (RE4) for the Nintendo Wii.
The game is essentially the same game that was released on the Nintendo GameCube and the Sony Playstation a few years back, but now it features the innovative controls of the Nintendo Wii to make the zombie hunt all the more personal.
For anyone unfamiliar with RE4, the plot is convoluted, but interesting nonetheless. Leon Kennedy, who was one of the two heroic protagonists from “Resident Evil 2” released for the original Sony Playstation back in 1998 returns for RE4.
Back in 1998, our buddy Leon was an unlucky policeman who — on his first day on the job no less — had to contend with zombies throughout Raccoon City after the biomedical/weapons research company, Umbrella Corp. released a virus into the town as a test of a new chemical weapon.
Well, after that trial under fire, it seems Leon has moved through the ranks of law enforcement because in RE4 he is a full-fledged special-ops agent tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter after she is kidnapped and taken to a remote Eastern European village.
Once he steps into town, Leon is assaulted by a lone villager. But, this time the enemy isn’t a mindless zombie. Instead, the person spoke Spanish and seemed to live a normal life until Leon showed up. Without ruining too much of the plot, Leon soon finds out that the inhabitants of this village have been infected by a new strain of virus (possibly created by Umbrella Corp. as well), and they turn hyper-violent and zombie-like when a foreigner is in their midst or when commanded by the leader of the religious cult that originally infected the citizens.
Anyway, soon Leon finds that the villagers are the least of his worries, as cult experiments have lead to the creation of crazy monsters, and in order to protect their secrets, the cult has created a trap-filled castle from which Leon must escape after he tracks down the president’s daughter.
That's the story in a nutshell, and it leads to some fantastic action and set-piece battles that players will remember fondly long after the game is over. But, honestly, many gamers knew all of this when the game was originally released back in 2005. So, what changes were made to update the two-year-old game and bring it to the Nintendo Wii?
Well, the biggest change is the interactive Wii controls. Players use the Wiimote controller to aim Leon’s weapons on-screen which leads to a more involving experience. Also, the controls feel much tighter, as players are able to point directly at what they want to shoot. The nunchuck controller attachment controls how Leon walks and runs. Also, when using a rifle with a scope, the nunchuck controls the aim and zoom on the scope.
Also, the Wii version includes the same special features that were included on the Playstation 2 and PC versions of RE4.
My only complaint is the fact that, as a huge fan of the Resident Evil games, I’ve played this before. I know where most of the secret items are. I know how to solve the puzzles. Capcom could have changed some things around to make parts of the game fresh for gamers who have already played the original version of RE4.
But, that’s a minor complaint, and if the developer changed things too much, I might find myself complaining that the game is too different than the original, so I’ll take this version any day.
Overall, RE4 is a wonderful game that gamers old enough to handle the excessive violence of Leon’s European excursion will enjoy and return to for as long as they own the title.
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