Resident Evil 4

[pace]

Without trying to sound rude, but the people who are saying this game has scared them, are you experienced with other survival horror games like the Silent Hills, early Biohazards, Fatal Frames or Alien Resurrection? The one thing that has most surprised me in this thread is the constant mentioning of the game being scary - its not! At no time in this game have I felt under any sort of pressure, there is no tenseness, no shocks, nothing. Its just an action game with zombies. A remarkably good one at that, but certianly nothing scary whatsoever. It missed the key ingredients of a good SH game, the ammo is in abundance, its simple to dodge the majority of enemies, the camera angle means that well constructed, disturbing angles like those used extensively in Silent Hills are nullified, perhaps only one enemy in the game which I feel puts up any real serious challenge to my standard maxed-out Striker/Red9 combo. It has the 'wow' factor in abundance, but to me scary and tense are not two words Id use to describe RE4.

Again, pushing my luck here, but Id wager that the majority of people who are saying things like this is the best game ever and so on are more likely new to the series or genre and I can then appreciate why you might find this scary if thats the case. Seasoned SH gamers are not quite so in love with it from the people I have spoken to, many wishing that it had remained the dark and atmospheric game that those old movies from way back indicated it would be. Its a kind game for gamers to play, it helps you along, has non-taxing puzzles and very convenient save points. That isnt classic survival horror, and whilst its very welcome in this case, it does eliminate a lot of the threat and uncertainty found by any number of SH games I could mention.

I think it all depends on how how engrossed you are in the game if you put alot into imto the game emotion/tention wise it can be extreamly atmospgeric and there for scary as you are on the edge waiting for the next thing to happen and when it does it therefore takes you by supprise/scares.

[Pij]

ive not had any ammo shortages, but i have played it a bit like how i would other Resident Evil's by using the knife a fair bit, for 90% of the time ive had the shotgun ive had a good 30/40+ shells, but mostly used the pistol to head shot or floor them then get the knife out

[mezzanine]

I thought the start of game was by far the best. When the crazed villagers were a real threat, you didn't know what was going on and you didn't have overwhelming firepower. The atmosphere in the village was perfect too.

When the pace of the game changed to non-stop action with silly cutscenes inbetween, I didn't like it as much.

[Big Stu]

Episode 3-1 on my second playthrough.

My word, the bosses are quite easy aren't they. The first three in the game and i've killed them with no trouble at all, most trouble was

->Open Spoiler<-

harpooning the lake beast

but other than that...

Can't believe how far it feels i am in comparison to how long it felt when i played for the first time...have got here in surely under two hours...

[Rossco]

I've played through SH1 and 2 and some of 3 and every other Resi and I still think it's tense and to an extent, scary at parts.

[Big Stu]

Also, re: my second runthrough.

My first playthrough was done with the original shotgun, and the original handgun, both souped up...so i've started this attempt with the more advanced weaponry...enjoying it a hell of a lot, taking people apart with relative ease.

I can still see why i loved the game first time round though, i was a little worried a second go would jade the memories...

[Kotatsu Neko]

Again, pushing my luck here, but Id wager that the majority of people who are saying things like this is the best game ever and so on are more likely new to the series or genre and I can then appreciate why you might find this scary if thats the case. Seasoned SH gamers are not quite so in love with it from the people I have spoken to, many wishing that it had remained the dark and atmospheric game that those old movies from way back indicated it would be. Its a kind game for gamers to play, it helps you along, has non-taxing puzzles and very convenient save points. That isnt classic survival horror, and whilst its very welcome in this case, it does eliminate a lot of the threat and uncertainty found by any number of SH games I could mention.

Well, I've played through Resident Evil 1, 2, Code Veronica, REmake, and 0. And I finished Silent Hill 2, have got but not yet had time to finish Silent Hill 4, and finished Fatal Frame 1 & 2. So I know the genre pretty well.

The horror in RE4 is less about weird character designs and more about the feeling of being overwhelmed by enemies. The night of the living dead homage scene is the perfect example of this. It does differ from the genre's conventions and is much better for it, as I for one was beginning to tire of the retarded combat these games provide. It's moved the genre way forward rendering the competition completely obsolete.

Best game ever? Yeah, I would say so. I cetainly can't remember playing anything compelling, atmospheric, or visually intense before. It's a landmark game.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Episode 3-1 on my second playthrough.

My word, the bosses are quite easy aren't they. The first three in the game and i've killed them with no trouble at all, most trouble was

->Open Spoiler<-

harpooning the lake beast

but other than that....

I'm on 3-1 as well, first time through for me though. I quite agree about the bosses,

->Open Spoiler<-

El Gigante in particular was insultingly easy - I'm still in shock at what a walkover that thing was. I was expecting an almighty struggle but the wimp went down faster than the Columbia shuttle.

The boss in 2-2 (I think, it was the town chief torso thing) was one of the most atmospheric boss encounters I've seen.

I'm not finding it scary either, at least not yet. Absolutely thrilling at times

->Open Spoiler<-

(the house siege was outrageously intense)

, but not really very scary.

As for Silent Hill, I loved the first game (it was horrendous), but the rest frankly bored me. Meh.

[Adam Stone]

Well, I've played through Resident Evil 1, 2, Code Veronica, REmake, and 0. And I finished Silent Hill 2, have got but not yet had time to finish Silent Hill 4, and finished Fatal Frame 1 & 2. So I know the genre pretty well.

The horror in RE4 is less about weird character designs and more about the feeling of being overwhelmed by enemies. The night of the living dead homage scene is the perfect example of this. It does differ from the genre's conventions and is much better for it, as I for one was beginning to tire of the retarded combat these games provide. It's moved the genre way forward rendering the competition completely obsolete.

Best game ever? Yeah, I would say so. I cetainly can't remember playing anything compelling, atmospheric, or visually intense before. It's a landmark game.

I agree wholeheartedly.

For me personally...

...I don?t doubt that the Silent Hill series are far more disturbing. They coerce the player to experience some truly disturbing scenes and characters ? it evokes a sense of unease through imagery. But? were they scary? Was the Exorcist scary? Was The Ring scary? They are disturbing? but scary? Meh.

Personally for me RE4?s focus on survival is far more tense and frightening then the disturbing imagery used in the silent hill series. Its more ?real? to me?. And that sense of reality evokes a far deeper fear.

and as GAMES go... there hasnt been a game as fun, entertaining, gripping and as beautiful as RE4 for a long long time. Not since Ocarina of Time imo.

[SUMIRE]

I can't say any game has ever scared me. Resident Evil 4 never scared me, but it did cause me to panic a few times with the sheer amout of enemies, and some of the quick-time set pieces.

To be honest, the thing that made me jump the most was the snakes hidden in the crates etc.

I found the game easy in places, but there were times were I only just managed to complete some sections because I had run out of ammo. I think the thought of running out of ammo can be a great feeling in a game like this, it adds to the tension. Most of the best bits of the game I remember is were I struggled through with just my standard handgun against all odds.

I'm having a hard time thinking of ways to improve the game, maybe I could have done without the crappy storyline, but that would be a personal thing. I don't think it distracts from the actual gameplay, it just makes the game a little more "hollywood" which to be honest isnt my cup of tea, but some people may like it.

Anyway, 9 or 10, it doesnt really matter, its another reason to keep your Gamecube.

[VR46]

Spent 90 minutes on it last night and must say it lives upto all the hype, not usually my sort of game but the ease of controls, helpfulness of the map etc means even a wally like me can see where he's going and not wander around aimlessly for hours (ala Silent Hill 3 etc). Fantastic game alround, dies 6 times on 1-1 but feel difficulty level is just right. Playing in the dark with headphones is highly recommended, jumped about 3 times so far

Essential purchase in my opinion.

[Scythe]

I think the term unsettling, rather than scary maybe more apt.

[hankwangford]

Without trying to sound rude, but the people who are saying this game has scared them, are you experienced with other survival horror games like the Silent Hills, early Biohazards, Fatal Frames or Alien Resurrection? The one thing that has most surprised me in this thread is the constant mentioning of the game being scary - its not! At no time in this game have I felt under any sort of pressure, there is no tenseness, no shocks, nothing. Its just an action game with zombies.

Like Neko, I've played all the main Resi storyline games and assorted others, Dino Crisis, Fatal Frame, Enemy Zero (which is the scariest survival horror game EVER), and the Silent Hill series.

Whilst RE4 is not scary, it is very edgy, unnerving and unsettling; to the same degree that Silent Hill is not *THAT* scary, just unnerving and unsettling (tbh very few survival horror games give actual scares, not just zombies bursting through the window; Fatal Frame and Enemy Zero are probably the only ones - I've never found previous Resi's scary). Although I wonder if you are really feeling RE4, Marcus, if you haven't found an encounter with Chainsaw Man/Woman tense and pressurising.

[Uli]

got the game yesterday and played through the first 2 chapters. my first impressions: stunning graphics, good voice acting. controls got slightly better and now fit the action oriented gameplay. i especially like the quick time action elements. but why they did't implement a sidestep function is beyond me! a button for weapon switching would have been nice too! also, a bit too much copy and paste regarding the enemy character design.

at this point, i must say the game is very atmospheric and fun to play but i can't agree with statements like "best game ever" at all. RE4 is more about action and shooting than survival and horror, that's for sure. so if this game will be named as the best game from the series remains to be seen.

[rjpageuk]

Chatting to a few people about this it seems as though the way you feel about this is dependant on how you approach the game.

I have been cautiously tip toeing about even using the zoom on the rifle to check areas far ahead because I dont want to get caught out. To be honest I dont know why I feel like this because I have rarely (if ever) died outside of QTEs/bosses its just the game makes me tense and scared of what is coming up.

However other people seem to just be running wading into every location knowing they are able to deal with the enemies they face (even though I have been able to every time I have needed to for some reason I dont share this confidence) which as you can see would take some of the tension away from the situation.

I literally couldnt believe anyone here ran straight into the centre of the first village in the game in order to get into the house and trigger the different cut scene. Why would you do that? I just sat on the side carefully picking someone off before the entire town came after me and I ran away like a girl.

Maybe this is telling me something about my personality .


(EDIT: The sidestep issue raised above and raised a few times throughout this thread and the omission of a strafe were directly answered in this months Edge magazine by the developers. They claim they included a strafe option originally but it made dodging the weapons and checking out new buildings far too easy and risk free which upset the balance of the game so they took it out)