Before I begin this review, I would like to state that the game I played for this game was the PS2 version.
Resident Evil 4 is a hugely popular and highly praised video game from Capcom and was released in 2005. Considered as one of the most influential video games in the 2000's, Resident Evil 4 is a commercial and critical success.
In general, the plot centers around Leon S. Kennedy, recruited by the US Secret Service, who must travel to a remote village in Europe to rescue the US President's daughter, Ashley Graham, that had been kidnapped by a mysterious cult, Los Illuminados. Along the way, he met several key characters like the mysterious agent Ada Wong, the suave researcher Luis Sera, the former comrade Jack Krauser, the local castellan Ramon Salazar and the cult leader, Osmund Saddler.
As a horror-action video game, the plot was entertaining and engaging eventhough it was not really connected to the main storyline of the Resident Evil series which pretty much about the Umbrealla Corporation and its evil deeds. It's great to see how the main character, Leon, has grown since we last saw him in Resident Evil 2. Although the plot sometimes focus too heavily on action especially at the last half of the game, Resident Evil 4 still generally had a good horror storyline and manage to keep the tradition of the franchise in putting horror into the story.
The characters were pretty well-designed. I like how Leon was portrayed in this game, tough yet very cool. The President's daughter, Ashley, can be pretty annoying sometimes with her constant cry for help, but I like her voice actor and the way she delivered her dialogues. We had one tough girl in the game in the form of Ada Wong, who was a great addition to the game. She was just as mysterious as she was in Resident Evil 2. The primary antagonist, Saddler, was very good a character too, although I wished the developer polish him more to be a great villain, instead of just good.
A lot of the enemies that the player had to dispose however reminiscent of fantasy and action video game rather than a horror video game. The only enemies that creep me out are the generators. The breathing sound they made was really creepy. To be fair, although most enemies seem human (and some were regular animals), the game does have its scary moments like a burning enemy running out of a standing oven and enemy sneaking up on you with a chainsaw.
The visuals were, needless to say, amazing. The settings, especially the remote village and the big castle were ample in bringing in the spook feelings that associated with the previous installments. The island setting in the last half of the game however was too emphasized in action with its war-like setting which making me feel like I was playing an action or a world-war based video game rather than a horror one. The laboratories however reminded me of the previous games in the franchise, which was pretty good in keeping with the RE tradition.
The gameplay was a major shift from the previous installments of the series. The over-the-shoulder camera view was refreshing and very engaging when the characters get into action in blasting the skulls of the enemies. I read that many people criticized the fact that you can't move while in the aiming position, but for me personally, I don't really mind because I think I wouldn't use that feature anyway if its incorporated into the game (not because I'm a great player, but because I'm a novice player who can't even beat Devil May Cry chapter 3).
