Resident Evil 4 (Hands On) (GameCube) Preview

Whilst previous outings in the series have been notorious for their fixed camera positions and often awkward and restricting controls, this time around the franchise has been set free. This means that without even playing the game for more than a minute it already feels impressive. The level we got to play at E3 and in London was purely for demonstration purposes, and was far from the finished product (so say Capcom). You start off in an amazingly realistic and eerie looking forest, where you are sent to recover someone who has gone missing. Your mission is of great importance, and everything about it is shrouded in mystery. Having been dropped off the obvious move is to move towards a run-down, scary looking house...

The firing system is pretty simple. When you pull out your pistol and take aim, the camera moves closer to Leon's shoulder, allowing you to aim with more ease and precision. Whilst it can be difficult at first, we soon got to grips with following the laser sight.

What really strikes you about this game is the detail, it looks stunning. Everything is perfectly textured, perfectly detailed and stunningly realistic. This is without doubt the best looking game on the GameCube. Do not be under the illusion that we have a penchant realistic game, before today Wind Waker was probably the most stunning game on the GameCube, but now there is a new champion.

Having taken some serious damage we came to a village square. Taking out our binoculars to get a good look at what was going on we saw a fire, with a man being burned at the stake, also of note was a woman hanging from a meat hook with blood still oozing from her...disgusting, but wonderful!

The binoculars are a very good feature too. You are able to zoom in on things that are way off into the distance, meaning you can get a better idea of what is going on and not walk into a seemingly calm looking area that is in fact full of maniacs. Sadly, even after looking at a man burning at the steak and a load of axe wielding, pistol touting hillbillies, we couldn't resist going for a quick run towards them.

We got bored of using a simple gun, and resorted to some kung-fu, which we have to admit is much more preferable, if a little less deadly. Kicking a bearded idiot in the face has never been animated any better, and the sound effects are pretty effective too. Be it slow, eerie footsteps, or full on skirmishes, Capcom have really pulled the boat out on this one!

In between being smacked around the head generally abused we took a quick look around. The fire that has been used to burn someone to death in was fantastically animated and looked utterly realistic. The houses and buildings surrounding the square we were soon to die in were also perfectly realised. Then, before we could take in any more pretty views Leon fell to the ground and You Are Dead filled the screen. We're still gagging for more...