Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) Preview

By Mark Sedge 20.04.2004

As Capcom's flagship title for 2004/05, many Resident Evil fans eagerly await this game - and they are not alone. This game is already looking to pull in more non-fans than ever before with a revamped combat system, new enemies, new locations and plenty other surprises. Read on to find out more...but make sure you have a cushion to hide behind!

After ensuring that Sherry (the only person known to have the G-virus inside her) is reunited with her father (the President) and safe within Government security, Leon S. Kennedy started an investigation into the origins of the mutagenic viruses and where the HQ of the Umbrella Corporation might be, while the secret war against Umbrella continued. After collecting sufficient information, Leon has travelled over to Europe to further his efforts. Somewhere along the line, rivals of Umbrella kidnapped or killed Sherry, but it is now clear to Leon he has stumbled upon something big

I like saving the best things until last. Resident Evil 4's graphics and sound is taking the GC further, much further than it has ever been. We have already seen examples of games that have really pushed the machine's capabilities to what we then thought was the edge, but this game seems to be taking what has been done before and building on it more than twice over! Every character model is beautifully and painstakingly life-like and realistic. The enemies have a surprising amount of detail put into their faces, so much in fact, that you can guess when they are about to attack. Leon has had substantial work put into his model as well, with there being little difference between the in-game and pre-rendered footage of him, which is a true achievement.

Delving further into the graphics, the level of detail present in Leon's surroundings is astounding at this stage. The level of textures and attention put into any one visible surface goes way beyond initial inspections. Houses have cracks in the walls, wooden doors have grainy textures, water is murky and clouded like my local stream, background features

The most important aspect of the graphics in this game is, by far, the lighting. It certainly adds greatly to the fear factor of the game

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it. This game has been at the top of many people's wish lists for a while now and with good reason. There will undoubtedly be more news and tantalising secrets about this game revealed at this year's E3 event. Already rumours are spreading like wildfire on online message boards surrounding additional developments, but only time will tell. The company has predicted sales of nearly two million copies of the game, and we would like to think that it would do even better, ridding the memory of the other exclusive Resident Evil GameCube sales...Even the writer of this article, who has never had any previous interest in the Resident Evil series, now has his proverbial 'tail' (ahem) is wagging every time it receives a mention. A good sign, no?

Also known as

Biohazard 4

Developer

Capcom

Publisher

Capcom

Genre

Horror

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10 (140 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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